Category: Religion

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 26:17-35, Genesis 27
NT: Matthew 9:1-17
Ps: Psalm 10:16-18
Pr: Proverbs 3:9-10

Gospel Thread – OT:

Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

Genesis 27:36 (NIV)

Matthew Henry’s commentary on this chapter gives great insight into its connection with the gospel.

Gospel Thread – NT:

⁵ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” ⁷ And the man got up and went home.

Matthew 9:5-7 (NIV)

Jesus came to earth to overcome sin. He has that authority because he lived a sinless life. This exchange illustrates that Jesus is concerned both with our physical well-being and our spiritual well-being.

Gospel Thread – Psalms/Proverbs:

The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.

Psalm 10:16 (NIV)

Jesus Christ is Lord – the King over the earth for ever and ever!

The One Year Bible Blog´s comments for today.

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 24:52-67, Genesis 25, Genesis 26:1-16
NT: Matthew 8:18-34
Ps: Psalm 10:1-15
Pr: Proverbs 3:7-8

Gospel Thread – OT:

The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

Genesis 25:23 (NIV)

Separation: the result of the gospel. As a result of salvation through the gospel, not only are we separated from the slavery and wages of sin but we are also set apart from those still under sin’s curse. God desires for a people who emulate His Holiness, and thanks to the Gospel we are free to pursue that holiness. God demonstrates this separation in the Genesis story of Abraham and his descendants: first, calling Abraham to leave the land of his fathers, then choosing the line of Isaac rather than the line of Ishmael, and in today’s reading choosing the line of Jacob-Israel rather than the line of Esau. Just as these lines of descendency are set apart from their bretheren, so also are we set apart when we are grafted into the line of Abraham through Christ.

Gospel Thread – NT:

“What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

Matthew 8:29 (NIV)

Those who exist in the spiritual realm – even the rebellious ones – know that the day will come when Jesus Christ reclaims His rightful position of authority over all creation, and on that day those judged to be unrighteous will face eternal suffering. Perhaps it is to this day of ultimate judgement to which the demons refer here? While it is not wise to dwell upon hell being the just reward for those judged to be unrighteous, it is equally unwise not to recognize that the righteous and unrighteous will come to opposite ends at the day of judgement.

Gospel Thread – Psalms/Proverbs:

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.
⁸ This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

Proverbs 3:7-8 (NIV)

We are created in God’s image, meaning that we are spiritual beings; we are spiritual beings living (to borrow Paul’s analogy from II Corinthians 5:1-10) in tents of flesh (see also I Corinthians 15:42-48). Our flesh is sustained by our spirit. When we are reborn in Christ, we have a new spirit – the Holy Spirit living within – that literally sustains our flesh.

OYB Photo of the Day:

Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. (Matthew 8:26)
Photo © Chip Bennett. All rights reserved.

The One Year Bible Blog´s comments for today.

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 23, Genesis 24:1-51
NT: Matthew 8:1-17
Ps: Psalm 9:13-20
Pr: Proverbs 3:1-6

Gospel Thread – OT:

I am an alien and a stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.

Genesis 23:4 (NIV)

Faith: the vehicle through which the believer receives salvation. Abraham demonstrates his faith in chapter 22, by requesting a burial place in the land of Caanan, in which he was still an alien and stranger. Paul explains Abraham’s faith in Hebrews 11:13-16 (NIV):

¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Abraham believed that the nation he would beget would one day possess the land in which he lived in tents – and he believed so much so, that he bought land in which he and Sarah could be buried. We are called to this kind of faith: to call things that are not, as though they are (Romans 4:17).

Gospel Thread – NT:

⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

Matthew 8:8-10 (NIV)

The ultimate purpose of the gospel is not merely the salvation of the individual, but the restoration of Christ’s rightful place of authority over all creation. Jesus realized that the centurion not only understood the principle of authority in the spiritual realm, but also recognized Jesus as the rightful, sovereign ruler of that realm. Jesus credits that understanding and recognition as the greatest faith He has observed in all of the land of Israel.

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”

Matthew 8:17 (NIV)

From the NIV footnotes, this verse fulfills Isaiah 53:4.

Gospel Thread – Psalms/Proverbs:

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

For the believer, the gospel doesn’t just mean salvation from sin and its wages. The believer also has access to the will and direction of the Father, who desires to guide each of us in His perfect plan for our lives. Once we are released from our slavery to sin, we have the freedom to pursue God’s holiness, and His plan.

OYB Photo of the Day:

Proverbs 3:5-6
Photo © Inspirational Bible Verse. Used with permission.

The One Year Bible Blog´s comments for today.

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 20-22
NT: Matthew 7:15-29
Ps: Psalm 9:1-12
Pr: Proverbs 2:16-22

Gospel Thread – OT:

⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

Genesis 22:7-8 (NIV)

Isaac is another type of Christ (miraculous birth, son through whom God’s redemption would come, offered in sacrifice by his father, called his “only son”, etc.). Also, Abraham – called a prophet by God earlier in chapter 20 – foreshadows God’s eventual provision of The Lamb whose sacrifice took away the sins of the world.

Gospel Thread – NT:

¹⁷ Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

Matthew 7:17-18 (NIV)

The seal of the gospel is the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer. The unregenerate person bears unregenerate fruit: that is, evil. The redeemed person bears the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The fruit borne of one’s life testify to the condition of salvation.

Gospel Thread – Psalms/Proverbs:

⁷ The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. ⁸ He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.

Psalm 9:7-8 (NIV)

Jesus Christ has been given this authority; He will occupy the Judgement Seat, and He will govern with justice. I’m not sure David intended an explicit reference to the Messiah here, but certainly one can infer an implicit reference.

OYB Photo of the Day:

Psalm 9:9-10
Photo © God’s Wonders

The One Year Bible Blog´s comments for today.

Posted 9 January 2007; back-dated.

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 18:16-33, Genesis 19
NT: Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 7:1-14
Ps: Psalm 8
Pr: Proverbs 2:6-15

Gospel Thread – OT:

Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

Genesis 18:32 (NIV)

Mercy: perhaps God’s second greatest gift to mankind, behind only His gift of grace. Grace and mercy go hand-in-hand: grace is getting that which we do not deserve, and mercy is not getting that which we do deserve. It is because of God’s freely given grace that He also extends to us His mercy. It is because God poured out His wrath onto Jesus Christ on the Cross that we are spared the just recompense for our sin. We see in this exchange between Abraham and the Lord the near-limitless extent of our Lord’s mercy.

Gospel Thread – NT:

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

Here we see again the way in which Christ’s covenant surpasses all other covenants. Again, it is not enough merely not to mistreat others; rather, we are to treat them in the same way would would have ourselves be treated. In other words, we are to hold others in the same esteem in which we hold ourselves; we are to love others to the same extent as we love ourselves.

Gospel Thread – Psalms/Proverbs:

⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
⁵ You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
⁶ You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet

Psalm 8:4-6 (NIV)

This passage has dual meaning. On one level, David is praising God for the honor he has bestowed upon humanity in creation. On another level, David is speaking of the Messiah: God, taking on humanity, and then being elevated again. Throughout Scripture, often the term “son of man” refers to Christ. Paul understands this very passage to be such a reference. After quoting these very verses, Paul writes in Hebrews 2:9 (NIV):

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

That Jesus was the “son of man” indicates that He is both the Messiah and that He came in human flesh.

OYB Photo of the Day:

Psalm 8:1
Photo © Stone Soup Music. Used with permission.

The One Year Bible Blog´s comments for today.

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 16-17, Genesis 18:1-15
NT: Matthew 6:1-24
Ps: Psalm 7
Pr: Proverbs 2:1-5

Gospel Thread – OT:

¹⁰ This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.

Genesis 17:10-11 (NIV)

Today we read the next major weave of the gospel thread: circumcision! The physical circumcision by the hands of men was a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, and served as a symbol and foreshadow of the spiritual circumcision of the heart by the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel prophesies about this truth in Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV):

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Paul explains in Romans 2:28-29 (NIV):

²⁸ A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. ²⁹ No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.

Paul later makes a very important point, that God credited Abraham’s faith as righteousness long before the establishment of the covenant of circumcision. Here is excerpted from Romans 4:9-25 (NIV):

⁹ Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! ¹¹ And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. ¹² And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Gospel Thread – NT:

³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:3-4 (NIV)

¹⁴ For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

I once heard my pastor in a sermon preach that the gospel can be summarized as “give and forgive”: God gave (His only Son, to die), and then He forgave (us of our sins, because of the atoning sacrifice of His Son); likewise, we are to give (our lives to God), and then forgive (others who have sinned or will sin against us). I don’t necessarily think Jesus’ intent in this part of the Sermon on the Mount was to summarize the gospel directly; however, reading these two statements so close together evoked the words of that sermon. And “give and forgive” is an accurate summary of the gospel. Because God gave and forgave, we likewise have an obligation to give and to forgive.

Gospel Thread – Psalms/Proverbs:

If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.

Psalm 7:12 (NIV)

Repentance is a pillar of the gospel – an outward manifestation of inward conviction of sin and submission to the will of God. Salvation does not come through repentance, but rather repentance is evidence of the saving work of Christ in the life of the believer. As John explains in I John 3:7-10 (NIV):

⁷ Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸ He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. ⁹ No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

OYB Image of the Day:

Matthew 6:14
Image © Sue. Used with permission.

The One Year Bible Blog´s comments for today.

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 13:5-18, Genesis 14-15
NT: Matthew 5:27-48
Ps: Psalm 6
Pr: Proverbs 1:29-33

Gospel Thread – OT:

¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, ¹⁹ and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. ²⁰ And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Genesis 14:18-20 (NIV)

The mysterious Melchizedek! Melchizedek is another type of Christ, which Paul explains:

¹ This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, ² and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” ³ Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.

Hebrews 7:1-3 (NIV)

¹⁵ And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, ¹⁶ one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.

Hebrews 7:15-16 (NIV)

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6 (NIV)

The bedrock of Christianity: righteousness credited by God through the faith of the one who believes (see Romans 4:18-25).

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Genesis 15:17-21 (NIV)

And here is the fourth of six Old-Testament covenants. The Abrahamic covenant confirms God’s promise and blessing to Abram (whose name is very soon to be changed to Abraham) – a promise that, through Christ extends to all believers.

Gospel Thread – NT:

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:48 (NIV)

In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is explaining the more complete/more perfect understanding of Mosaic laws concerning adultery, divorce, making oaths, vengance, and loving one’s neighbors and enemies. In so doing, Christ demonstrates that the Mosaic law was a shadow of God’s ultimate law and standard. The Mosaic law intended to show man how not to sin; Christ shows man how to be holy.

Gospel Thread – Psalms/Proverbs:

No direct gospel/messianic references in today’s Psalms/Proverbs reading.

The One Year Bible Blog´s comments for today.

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 11-12, Genesis 13:1-4
NT: Matthew 5:1-26
Ps: Psalm 5
Pr: Proverbs 1:24-28

Gospel Thread – OT:

² I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Genesis 12:2-3 (NIV)

Today we read God’s promise to and blessing upon Abram! Here God begins to separate further the line of men from whom will come the Messiah. God specifically blesses what will become the nation of Israel. Note the last line of the blessing: and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Through Christ, the promise and blessing of Abraham is extended from the nation of Israelites to the whole world.

Gospel Thread – NT:

¹⁷ Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

Matthew 5:17-18 (NIV)

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to, covenants with, laws of, and plans for man!

Gospel Thread – Psalms/Proverbs:

No direct gospel/messianic references in today’s Psalms/Proverbs reading.

OYB Photo of the Day:

Psalm 5:3
Photo © Mark (A Spot of Blogger). Used with permission.

The One Year Bible Blog´s comments for today.

Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 8-10
NT: Matthew 4:12-25
Ps: Psalm 4
Pr: Proverbs 1:20-23

Gospel Thread – OT:

When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.

Genesis 8:11 (NIV)

Throughout Scripture, the olive is a symbol of God’s peace and blessing – which, of course, comes to us through Christ. Lee Woof explains this symbolism:

It is no accident that the dove with the olive leaf in its mouth has become a symbol of peace. Olives were the source of the oil in the lamps that lit the people’s houses, and also in the lamps that gave light in the temple of God. Olives represent God’s love and kindness working in peoples actions.

Here it is explained from the perspective of Judaism (and also an explanation for how the olive tree symbolizes the Holy Land:

The end of the flood is the end of G-d’s war against man. The dove with the olive leaf in its beak is the first sign that the flood is over and it has come to represent a symbol of peace.

This site further explains how the olive/olive branch symbolize peace, developing the symbolism to include forgiveness, gratitude, hope, and, love (all of which Christians find in and through Christ):

In this case, “peace” must have a deeper meaning that includes profound emotions such a sight would trigger – forgiveness, gratitude, hope, love – not simply the absence of war (unless you felt at war with God or nature’s God).

If you recall from yesterday’s comments, the Branch is symbolic of the Messiah. We will further explore the symbolism of the olive and olive tree as we advance through the Bible.

⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: ⁹ “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you ¹⁰ and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. ¹¹ I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

Genesis 9:8-11 (NIV)

This covenant, the Noahic covenant detailed in verses 1-7, is the second of six Old Testaments (Edenic, Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic) leading up to the complete, perfect, seventh, New Covenant of Christ. (I neglected to point out the Edenic covenant in Genesis 2:28-30 and the Adamic covenant in Genesis 3:17-19.) Each of the six preceding covenants point to the coming Messiah, and in Christ each preceding covenant is perfected, completed, and fulfilled. The Noahic covenant introduces the altar, upon which the animal sacrifice is offered to God.

²⁶ He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. ²⁷ May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave.”

Genesis 9:26-27 (NIV)

The full text of Noah’s prophecy here is incredibly profound in terms of socio-political world history. It is worth a study of its own. But specifically in terms of the gospel, here we see that the descendants of Shem (the Shemites – or Semites) are given the unique blessing of relationship with God. Indeed, it will be through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-Israel through whom God gives his Law and Covenants, and eventually, His Son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. (Note, we also see that this prophecy also gives a place for God’s blessing to extend to the descendants of Japheth, who “may live in the tents of Shem…”)

Gospel Thread – NT:

¹² When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. ¹³ Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— ¹⁴ to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: ¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— ¹⁶ the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

Matthew 4:12-15 (NIV)

From the NIV footnotes, this fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-2.

Gospel Thread – Psalms/Proverbs:

How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Selah

Psalm 4:2 (NIV)

This verse could refer to Christ, since “turn my glory into shame” is alternately translated “dishonor my Glorious one”, according to the footnotes. Not going to delve too deeply on that one, though.

OYB Photo of the Day:

Blessed be the Lord… (Genesis 9:26)
Unattributed

The One Year Bible Blog´s comments for today.

More additions to the 2007 OYB Blogroll:

IndyChristian and Loving Change (IndyChristian), welcome to the OYB Blogroll! (And hello from an Indy native!)

Red Threads (Ray), welcome to the OYB Blogroll!

Morsels From God (Johnnie Ruth Hamill), welcome to the OYB Blogroll!