Psalm 3:5-8 Trust in Trials
5 I laid myself down and slept. I awakened; for Yahweh sustains me. 6 I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people who have set themselves against me on every side. 7 Arise, Yahweh! Save me, my God! For You have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone. You have broken the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation belongs to Yahweh. Your blessing be on Your people. Selah."
Observations: 3:5-8 (See post on Genesis 6-9 for notes on Psalm 3:1-4) Betrayed by Absalom (2 Samuel 15:1-17:29) and fearing for his life, David calls to the God who answers from His holy hill (Mt Zion, where He is praised for answered prayer), for protection and salvation. Because of his confidence in God's protection, David didn't stay up all night fretting, but placed his concerns in God's hands, who sustained him in the past, and would continue to do so. He asks God to destroy the power/teeth of his enemies, and proclaims that salvation and blessing belong to God who gives them to His people (cf Philippians 4:6-9).
Application: When overwhelmed with difficulties and difficult people, don't panic, but pray, asking the God who saves to deliver you and bless you. That's His speciality.
Prayer: My Savior, thanks that I can call to You, knowing You are mightier than anything I face, You answer prayers, and bless Your people. Amen.
Proverbs 1:17-19 Suicidal Greed
Observations: 1:17-19 As Rome was crumbling, monks were compiling a list of the sins that did the most damage to people. Avarice or greed made the list of the top seven. Greed or covetousness is called idolatry (Colossians 3:5), because we look to things to meet our needs rather than God. A bird will see a trap and avoid it, but those who covetously seek to deprive others of their rights and life are actually laying a fatal trap for themselves, and they don't see it. While seeking to enrich their life (at the expense of others) they will, in reality, lose it.
See: “Digging Deeper” below, for the complete list and an explanation of the picture: Hieronymus Bosch's Seven Deadly Sins and the Last Four Things {Death, Judgment, Hell, Glory}. Truthbase.net has a series on Deadly Desires if you want to do some spiritual Spring cleaning.
Application: Valuing things over people is a sure sign that one is headed to destruction.
Prayer: Heavenly Father of us all, please keep me mindful of the reality that You are sufficient for all my needs, and don't let me be tempted to use others to satisfy my temporal desires. Amen.
Genesis 10 Cultural Lay of the Land
 |
| Three cities of Nimrod mirror the belt stars of Orion as do the Great Pyramids of Giza |
21 To Shem, 25 To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. 32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations. Of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood."
10:8 Nimrod whose name means “to rebel” is identified with Gilgamesh by some cultures, and Hercules by others. The best insightful overview is this link which has great archeological graphics and background, and is largely accurate (although it misses the graphic of Egyptian gods arriving by boat from Mesopotamia). He is also the founder of the Mother-Child Queen of Heaven Cult, the forerunner of cultural Easter. The main point is that Nimrod leads the rebellion against the God of the stars and the Scriptures, setting up the opposition to God and His chosen people, Israel.
10:25 is the general statement, elaborated upon in chapter 11.
Application: Appearances can be deceiving. What looks magnificent today, might be a barren mound of dirt tomorrow (and vice versa).
Genesis 11 When Will We Ever Learn?
11:1 "The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. 2 It happened, as they traveled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there. 3 They said one to another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”
5 Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. 6 Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. 7 Come, let Us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth."
Observations: Chapter 10 mentions cultural divisions and languages. Chapter 11 starts out with everyone unified. Another obvious “contradiction”? Or perhaps we have that same stylistic device where chapter 10 gives the overview, and chapter 11 gives the specifics explaining the overview. In 10:25 we're told of the division which occurs in chapter 11. No problem.
11:4 The Tower was a ziggurat or stepped pyramid, found all over the Ancient Near East, some in the cities mentioned in the text.
Verse 4 is in direct opposition to God's instruction to fill the earth in Genesis 1:28.
11:5 The narrative hinges on this verse, God appears on the scene and reverses all that man was previously doing. This will happen again.
11:10-31 From Ham, the cursed son, we get Nimrod, the curse of Israel. From Shem we get Abram, in whom everyone gets blessed.
Application: People are still trying to make a name for themselves while ignoring God's commands. Do they really think they'll succeed in the long run? Do you?
Prayer: Lord, thanks that You are accessible and I don't have to build a tower to reach You, because You reach down to me. Amen.
Digging Deeper: You could spend or lose a lot of time exploring the background of pagan societies and religion. (Trust me on this one, I teach a course on it.) But you won't find anything that will help you be more pleasing to God than what He's already revealed. So dig to your heart's content, but remember the lesson of the ant.
God in a nutshell: Lets us do our own thing for a while (cf Flood and Babel), but eventually shows that He's God, and we're not.
Us in a nutshell: We tend to want to make a name for ourselves, ignoring God. Silly mound makers.
Where to Go for More:
Please see the links in the commentary above.
Genesis 10-11 (complete text)
Genesis 10
10:1 "Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 Of these were the islands of the nations divided in their lands, everyone after his language, after their families, in their nations.
6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush became the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Yahweh.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 Out of that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (the same is the great city). 13 Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (which the Philistines descended from), and Caphtorim.
15 Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth, 16 the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, 17 the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, 18 the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad. 19 The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as you go toward Gerar, to Gaza; as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, to Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their languages, in their lands, in their nations.
21 To Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad became the father of Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. His brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 30 Their dwelling was from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their languages, in their lands, after their nations.
32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations. Of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood."
Genesis 11
11:1 "The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. 2 It happened, as they traveled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.3 They said one to another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”
5 Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. 6 Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. 7 Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.
10 This is the history of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of sons and daughters.
12 Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah.13 Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of sons and daughters.
14 Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber: 15 and Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of sons and daughters.
16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg. 17 Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of sons and daughters.
18 Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu. 19 Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of sons and daughters.
20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug. 21 Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of sons and daughters.
22 Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor. 23 Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of sons and daughters.
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah. 25 Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of sons and daughters.
26 Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah. 30 Sarai was barren. She had no child. 31 Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. 32The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran."
No comments:
Post a Comment