Matthew 3:1-12 presents John the Baptist preaching repentance. He came to prepare the way of the Lord. John the Baptist baptized in water for repentance. He prophesied that Jesus would baptize in the Holy Spirit and fire. John the Baptist is still under the law but prepares the way for Jesus
In stark contrast to the New Testament gospel Exodus 21 and Exodus 22 contain regulations on servanthood and slavery, penalties for manslaughter and personal injuries, all Mosaic law.
Matthew 2:1-12 . We get to read about the Magi (probably about 15 of them including servants) who came to Jerusalem to ask about the King of the Jews. This worried King Herod and all Jerusalem, and Herod asked the Scribes and the other learned men where he was to be born. They answered “In Bethlehem of Judea”, but were otherwise remarkably uninterested. The wise men went to Jesus (he is by now at least a few months old), but did not report back to Herod, instead they returned another way.
In Exodus 16 God gave them Manna (what is it?) and quail, and Moses gave the instructions on how to gather it. And they ate Manna for 40 years.
In Exodus 17, lack of water is a recurring theme in the desert. In Rephidim there was no water at all, so God told Moses to strike the rock at the foot of Mount Horeb. Water gushed out and they were all filled with good water. Good it was, for the Amalekites attacked them right afterwards. Joshua and his men fought a good fight, and Moses helped by raising his hands, and as long as he held them high Joshua prevailed. But Moses got tired, so Aaron and Hur held up his hands until sunset, and so the Amalekites were defeated.
Exodus 18 tells of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law when he visited Moses, who now was in a difficult situation trying to lead his people all by himself, and Jethro gave Moses good advice about real leadership, delegation of management, a practice essential for all governing.
John 21 tells of the eighth miracle of Jesus. This miracle, a great catch of fish happened after Jesus resurrection and was a sign of new beginnings. Jesus reinstated Peter and told him: “Feed my sheep.”
Exodus 12 tells of how God instituted the Passover. The name comes from the action that night, when the angel of death came to kill every firstborn in Egypt, if he saw the blood of the pascal lamb om the doorposts and the lentil of the house, he would pass over that house. The chapter is fantastic, read it and marvel!
In Exodus 13 the feast of unleavened bread is defined and the consecrating of the firstborn to the LORD. The Hebrews have escaped from Egypt, and a proposed route is suggested.
John 8 begins with a sinful woman who was about to be stoned for adultery. Jesus last words to her was “Go and sin no more”. Jesus did not condemn her for the past but forgave and pointed to the future. Then he got into an argument with the religious powers about his and their ancestry. They claimed to be descendants of Abraham, and they questioned the legitimacy of Jesus. Jesus answered “Before Abraham, I am”. Jesus claimed to be God. This was of course blasphemy, unless it is true.
Genesis 21 tells about the birth of Isaac and when Ishmael made fun of it, Sarah got angry and Hagar and Ismael were sent away to die in the desert, but God protected them. The chapter also features the treaty between Abraham and Abimelech at Beersheba. This was the first treaty between men in the Bible and it was about water rights.
In Genesis 22 Abraham was told by God to offer up his son Isaac to be sacrificed on Mount Moriah, the same mountain where Jesus was to be crucified. Obeying God he did what he was told, but at the last moment God provided a substitute sacrifice in the form of a ram.
These three chapters are significant. Read them through twice and ponder their importance: Jesus claiming deity, The birth of the Ishmaelite nation, later becoming the Islamic nations, the importance of water (The Bible begins and ends with water and a healing river in the middle) and Abraham’s faith being severely tested.
The four chapters chosen for today are thought provoking and begins with
John 6:25-71. Jesus had fed the five thousand and been seen walking on water. In spite of these miracles the Jews demanded a sign. Jesus responded in kind by saying he is the bread of life, and if people want to have eternal life they must come to him and eat of his flesh and drink of his blood. When hearing this, many abandoned Jesus, but Peter said: To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Then in Genesis 12 Abram was called to leave his home in Ur. He obeyed and traveled to a land he did not know, promised by God, but when a famine came he went to Egypt and acted deceitfully rather than trust God completely.
In Genesis 13 Abram and his sidekick Lot went back from Egypt and separated their paths. Lot chose the fertile plain of Jordan, and Abram went to the hills of Mamre.
Finally in Genesis 14 Lot got in trouble and was taken captive by a local Mafia. Abram rescued Lot, and on the way back gave a tithe to Melchizedek, king of Salem – (later to become Jerusalem), after God had given him success in battle.
Question: Who was Melchizedek, and why is that important? He is mentioned again in Psalm 110 and in Hebrews 5-7.
John 4, speaks about the first real evangelist spreading the good news of Christ the Messiah. It is the woman at the well, a Samaritan, scorned and rejected by her many ex husbands, yet used by God to tell the good news.
Genesis 6 . Sin and wickedness got worse and worse on earth. God saw it and decided to start over. But Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, eight in all found favor with God, so God told him to build an ark. This Noah did, and it was the biggest ship built until the time of Ptolemy (around 215 BC.)
Ponder that the first evangelist was a scorned woman who happened to meet Jesus, and that Noah, being obedient to God built the ark on dry land, too big to be of any use unless there was going to be a giant flood. This takes faith!
The Holy Bible is the most influential book ever written. According to Wikipedia it has been translated in its entirety into 724 languages, and the New Testament has been translated into 1617 languages. At least one part of the Bible has bee translated into 3,589 languages, and more translations are coming every year, especially from the Wycliffe translators.
Both the New Testament and the Old Testament begin with the words “In the beginning”.
John1:1-18 deals with creation spiritually.
Genesis 1 deals with the physical creation with spiritual emphasis, laying the groundwork for spiritual understanding of how and why we exist.
We are existing in time and space. The question is: What was there before time and space existed, before the beginning?
Answer: God, existing in three persons, God the Father, God the Son (the Word) and God’s Spirit, (the Holy Ghost).
The Three-in-one God alone are eternal, everything else, including time and space, is created.
Another Question: Why did God say “it was good” for day 1,3,4 and 5 but not for day 2 and it was very good after day 6?
Answer: The ecosystem is a work in progress and will function differently for each phase and finally come to completion when all parts are set in place, which includes people. We are responsible to God to be good stewards of the earth and leave it a better place than we found it.
Mark 15:1-20, Early in the morning Jesus was brought before Pilate since only the Romans could execute capital punishment. Pilate, trying to get out of the situation offered to release Barabbas, a known murderer and insurrectionist, or Jesus, and the crowd chose Barabbas. Pilate gave in to the crowd, the Soldiers mocked Jesus, and the verdict was that Jesus the King was to be Crucified.
1 Samuel 5. The Ark of the LORD brought nothing but trouble to the Philistines.
So in 1 Samuel 6 the Ark was returned to Israel together with a guilt offering of five gold tumors and five golden rats.The Ark was brought back as far as to Kiriath Jearim.
1 Samuel 7. Samuel grew up and became Judge over Israel. He subdued the Philistines at Mizpah, and there he raised his Ebenezer (stone of help). He judged Israel all the remaining days of his life.
1 Samuel 8. Samuel’s sons were not following the Lord, so Israel demanded a King. Samuel complained to the LORD, but He answered : “Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king.”
John 16:1-16. Jesus continued his instructions to his disciples, telling why it is good he leaves and sends the Holy Spirit. He also promised they would be persecuted for following Jesus.
Genesis 48 describes how Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh. He blessed Ephraim ahead of Manasseh, even though Manasseh was the older of Joseph’s sons.
In Genesis 49 Jacob blessed all his sons with a different blessing for each of them.
And finally, Genesis 50 tells how Jacob was buried back in Canaan near Mamre where Sarah, Abraham and Rebecka also were buried. Joseph forgave his brothers; “Ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good”. Finally even Joseph dies, and he wills that his bones will be carried out when they depart Egypt and enter into the promised land.
Hebrews 10:1-18. This chapter deals with Christ’s sacrifice of himself “once for all“. This is what constitutes the new covenant. and since sacrifice for sins are done away with it means we have the privilege to live in the age of grace, not the age of the Law.
Ezekiel 43. In his vision the Prophet saw the glory of the LORD returning to the temple, the Lord’s dwelling place, the altar and the consecrating thereof.
Ezekiel 44. The East Gate is to remain shut (this is important prophecy), only the Prince may sit inside the gate. Only clean people are are admitted to the temple, and there are many laws concerning priests.
Ezekiel 45. The dimensions of the holy district are defined, the properties of the city and as for the prince, he will execute justice, live in peace and live under the laws governing the prince, including keeping the feasts.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 