Tag Genesis

The Likeness of Christ

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As told in Genesis, Joseph served Pharaoh faithfully.  Even after being wrongly accused and imprisoned, he served while in prison and eventually rose again to prominence in Pharaoh’s kingdom.  When Pharaoh dreamed of famine, Joseph interpreted the dream, and under God’s direction, came up with a plan to survive it.  “And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” – Genesis 41:38

In the gospels, Peter and John began as uneducated fishermen, yet they were personally discipled by Jesus for 3 years.  In Acts chapter 4, these former fishermen forcefully proclaim the gospel, and about five thousand people came to faith in Christ.  “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” – Acts 4:13

Pharoah recognized the Spirit in Joseph and people noticed Peter and John were different – do people notice the Spirit in you?  Can they tell you’ve been with Jesus?

“A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ.” – Charles Spurgeon

Cats are Not the Only Things I’m Allergic To

Todd R 1 Comment

Although highly allergic to cats, I love the two we have, but sometimes wonder if it’s worth the trouble.  One past Saturday night, one of the cats, named Misty, was up crying much of the night, waking us up regularly.  Eventually, I realized she must have been upset about her litter.  The store was out of the “usual,” so I tried to get away with a replacement, even though I know how finicky cats are.  Sure enough, once I changed it to what I had left of the usual stuff (kept in reserve in case of finicky cat trouble), she stopped complaining.

Why am I telling you this?  Because what happened next reminded me that God is concerned about even the most minor details of our lives, and about every living creature He has made.  That Sunday morning my reading schedule began with Psalm 8, which includes this:

“You have given [man] dominion over the works of your hands;
            you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
            and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
            whatever passes along the paths of the seas.”- Psalm 8:6-8

Misty, an indoor cat who may feel like she’s trapped in the ark.

Under the mandate given in Genesis, mankind is supposed to take care of whatever God has given us – the earth and everything in it.  My study Bible helpfully noted that this includes pets, which reminded me of Misty’s crying!  I thought maybe our cats were worth the trouble after all, but God wasn’t finished making the point.

Also on my reading schedule was Genesis 7, which includes: “And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.” – Genesis 7:24

During the flood, Noah and his family were flooded in the ark for 150 days with two of each kind of animal (but seven of each kind of clean animal, because provision was made not only for the survival of Noah’s family, but also provision for continued worship of God).  After the 150 days, they had to wait months longer for the waters to recede and the land to dry before coming out of the ark.  Noah’s family took care of an ark full of animals for more than 150 days.  They probably lost a lot of sleep!  As for me, I only have two cats and get to leave the house.  I also have allergy medicine to make it more tolerable.

Looking back at Psalm 8, the last verse declares: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

This Lord is the same one who brought Noah, his family, and those animals through the flood.  He also cares about my family and even my pets.  In seemingly small acts like taking care of pets God has given us, we can declare the majesty of God’s name!  In whatever influence we have, big or small, God wants us to participate faithfully in the work started at creation, with the authority He has given us.

In addition to perhaps cats, what else might we be allergic to? Sin is not just a list of things we shouldn’t do, but it is our allergy to God’s dominion over the world and the way we each should have dominion over it and under him. We’re too often allergic to loving this world the way He did on the cross, yet we claim to hope for a world where that sacrificial love governs 100% of all actions.

Our Lord wants nothing more than to greet us in Paradise and say “‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’”[1]  He literally died to make such a greeting possible.  Therefore, consider what creatures or people our Sovereign God has delegated to each of us.  What tasks or roles?  Jobs or ministries?  Do some of those things irritate and annoy us, as if we were allergic?

In aggregate, the church’s role is to have dominion over His entire creation, but not in the way the world would, exploiting everything for our own benefit and casting aside what doesn’t seem useful, but as a servant would.  Like a God who abhors all our sin as if He were allergic but decided to cover our sin with His own precious blood.  The same blood that covers us so that, like a compassionate Father, our Lord can gently say on a Sunday morning after a bad night of interrupted sleep:

“Be thankful you aren’t stuck in an ark for 150 days with thousands of animals.”

[1] Luke 19:17

Godly Offspring Aren’t an Accident

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“And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” – Genesis 1:28
“Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking?  Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.” – Malachi 2:15

The first recorded words that God spoke to man and woman were “be fruitful and multiply”.  So, as close to man’s beginning as you can get, God created the family.  If God’s intention from the start was to build His kingdom, it needed people in it for Him to love.  Malachi confirms: “what was the one God seeking?  Godly offspring”.  He wanted a family for Himself, and for each other.

After this early command, one might expect the Old Testament between Genesis (the first book) and Malachi (the last) to be an instruction manual on having a Godly family, and many are only familiar with the “hero” stories learned in Sunday School.  In total though, it’s difficult to find examples of good parents in the Bible.  There are plenty of examples of bad parents, but the most striking story is perhaps that of Judah in Genesis 38.  (And here I feel I should provide a warning that this story has a lot of sexual content.  The full Bible is not a PG movie)

The story[1] starts with Judah taking a foreign (Adullamite) wife, named Shua, against God’s guidance to only marry Israelites so as not to be tempted by foreign gods and religious practices[2].  Judah fathers three sons by Shua, named Er, Onan, and Shelah.  Judah takes Tamar to be Er’s wife, but Er died before having children.  Preserving the family line through descendants was extremely important in ancient Israel, and a brother would marry his fallen brother’s widow to bear children in his place[3].  Therefore, Judah told his second-born, Onan, to take Tamar, but Onan would “waste the semen on the ground” because he selfishly didn’t want the children to belong to his older brother.  Onan also died before having children.  Having lost two sons, Judah sent Tamar to live with her father instead of giving the last son, Shelah, to her.  Judah claims that the reason was that Shelah was not old enough, but it’s implied in the story that Judah thinks Tamar is somehow responsible for the two son’s deaths.  Judah had created his own narrative to explain his misfortune as Tamar’s fault, when it was really God’s judgment for the sins of Judah and his sons.  Genesis makes it clear that God was displeased with Judah marrying a foreigner, that Er died for his own wickedness (verse 7), and that Onan died for avoiding his responsibility as a brother (verse 10).

When Judah’s wife died, he waited a while, but then decided to seek a prostitute.  Tamar, having never been wed to Shelah even though he was now old enough, sought offspring by disguising herself as a prostitute and soliciting Judah.  He did not recognize Tamar, and she conceived a son by him.  Prostitution was common in the land then and was often associated with cult fertility rituals for local gods.  Not only did Judah commit a sexual sin, but he was probably also worshiping other gods.  Later, when Tamar is clearly pregnant, Judah accused her of immorality, but she was able to prove that Judah was the father by producing items he left with her when she was disguised.  Ashamed of being discovered, he “did not know her again”.

In just one chapter, we have the command to produce Godly offspring violated by: foreign marriage, wickedness, refusal to conceive, refusal to offer the third brother, and prostitution.  God must be frustrated with His struggling family, but He does not give up.

In the last chapter of Malachi, shortly after the “Godly offspring” reference and before going silent for 400 years, God ends the Old Testament with:

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.  And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” – Malachi 4:5-6

A restoration of proper family relations is the promise that ends the Old Testament.  “Elijah the prophet” is later revealed as a reference to John the Baptist, also spoken of in Isaiah 40:3 as the one who would prepare the way for the Lord Jesus.  The same Jesus who is announced in the genealogy that opens the New Testament in the gospel of Matthew:

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.…and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram” – Matthew 1:1, 3

Here is the miracle of the grace of God: the children born of Judah and Tamar were twins named Perez and Zerah[4].  Matthew could have chosen only those “heroes” of the Bible taught in Sunday School to show Jesus’ superior lineage, but instead chooses to highlight the story of Genesis 38.  Why include these people?  Because there is no other kind.

God’s purpose in creating His kingdom, populated by His family, will not be thwarted by sin because sinners are the only people available to join His family and to raise His family on earth.  Isaiah 53:6 declares:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;
             and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Through the death of His only begotten Son on the cross, God became Father of His people through adoption into His eternal family.

But if God’s purpose is inevitable, then why should we bother to be good parents and people?

In the movie Tenet, released in 2020 during the pandemic, there is a scene where one character sacrifices himself for another.  The movie revolves around a technology called “inversion” which allows objects and people to be reversed in time.  Near the end of the story, two characters have a conversation “before” one character travels backward to sacrifice himself to save another character, but “after” the other character has been saved.  They both realize the sacrifice was essential to victory, but also that in the “before” character’s timeline, it hasn’t happened yet.  Can the sacrifice be avoided?  Then comes one of the best quotes of the movie: “What’s happened, happened. Which is an expression of faith in the mechanics of the world. It’s not an excuse to do nothing.”

In God’s view from eternity, “what’s happened, happened”, but He has taken into account all the sins and successes of mankind.  The choices we all make, including the mistakes, are part of the “mechanics of the world”.  All the mistakes will be borne in judgment either by the sinner, or on the cross with Christ.  But we also know “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10).  Doing God’s work is His will, is our purpose, and will be rewarded in heaven.  Doing nothing is not an option.

[1] The following two paragraphs summarize Genesis 38
[2] Deuteronomy 7:3-4
[3] Deuteronomy 25:5-10
[4] Genesis 38:27-30

The Way of Escape

Todd R 1 Comment

Reliable knowledge of good and evil is hard to come by, and the wisdom to follow it even harder.  A well-known and oft-quoted Proverb is 1:7, which says:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
            fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

This Proverb tells us that we only gain useful knowledge, wisdom and instruction when we have an attitude of reverent respect for God, and that we are fools if we do otherwise.  Fear of the Lord should be the rudder that guides us through the waves and storms that buffet us in this world.  Every decision we make should have as its foundation: does this honor God?  No other foundation is good enough for our lives to rest upon.

What’s left unsaid here in Proverbs is that we can’t expect this to come easy.  We are constantly tempted to not fear the Lord in our minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, and day-by-day decisions.  It’s hard, and not just because we aren’t perfect.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

In the account of the serpent’s confrontation with Eve in the garden in Genesis 3, the serpent’s whole objective was to get Eve to make one decision that wasn’t based on fear of the Lord.  “He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?””[1]  “The serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’”[2]  Eventually he wore her down and she ate from the tree God told her not to eat from, all because her reverence for God had been worn down by constant criticism of God by the serpent.  He wanted her to decide for any reason other than the fear of the Lord, to become a fool, and thus bring down humanity.

When we make decisions, are we always being guided by the fear of the Lord, or do we sometimes think “He didn’t really mean that”?  If you’re like me, you find yourself constantly confronted by influences that oppose God.  Are we foolish when we follow these influences?  Yes.  Do we do it anyway?  Yes.  Could there be a hostile spiritual influence pulling us in that direction?  Sure, but it could also just be our own broken wills, prone to go our own way.

However, in 1 Corinthians 10:13, Paul assures us that “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”  And if we fear the Lord, we will believe it.

If we fear the Lord, when we’re tempted, we will know that “he will also provide the way of escape.”  We need to look for it and pray for it until we find it.  When we do, God will remain in the driving seat of our decisions and knowledge and wisdom will be ours.  He can overcome any of our temptations if we let Him and we fear Him.

Let the fear of the Lord be your guide.  There is always a “way of escape.”

[1] Genesis 3:1b
[2] Genesis 3:4

Edom’s Grudge Match

Todd R Leave a comment

Does life seem unfair?  Have you ever lost a game to a cheater?  Or were passed over for a promotion by someone you consider unethical?  Or did someone you just don’t like get something you wanted?  There are many reasons we might hold a grudge.

Esau, son of Isaac and Rebekah, surely felt that way about his twin brother Jacob.  The rivalry of these boys began as early as their birth.  Esau was born first, but Jacob came right after, holding on to Esau’s heel.[1]  The name Jacob can mean “he takes by the heel,” but also it can mean “he cheats.”  The twins even had a rivalry over the favor of their parents: “Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”[2]

Esau, as the firstborn (barely), was entitled to a double portion of inheritance, but he found that Jacob was still grasping at his heel, as told in Genesis 25:29-34 – 

“Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted.  And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom[3].)  Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.”  Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?”  Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”

Instead of a double inheritance, desperate Esau got only a meal of stew.  There’s more to this story, but the rivalry continued through centuries in a grudge held by Esau’s descendants (the nation of Edom) against Jacob’s descendants (the nation of Israel).  The one-chapter Old Testament book of Obadiah is a response to Edom’s schadenfreude[4] over Judah and Israel’s problems.

This short book is worth a read, but it is essentially a condemnation of Edom for their hate of Jacob’s descendants, summarized well in verse 10:

“Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
            shame shall cover you,
            and you shall be cut off forever.”

Photo by Hugo Fergusson on Unsplash

Under God’s judgement for a long-held grudge, the nation of Edom no longer existed by Jesus’ time.  Therefore, the message of Obadiah is that, even with all the reasons Esau may have had to justify it, his grudge was unjustified.  God’s favor is not a function of whether we deserve it, but a function of His mercy given to those who do not deserve it, and He expects us to treat others with the same love and mercy.  While God’s love for us is unconditional and purchased for us by Jesus on the cross, Jesus did say in Matthew 6:14 –

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Mercy is better than any grudge.

[1] Genesis 25:24-26
[2] Genesis 25:28
[3] The words for Edom and red are similar in Hebrew
[4] Enjoyment of someone else’s misfortune.