February 16

Journey-through-the-Bible-with-us

READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 16, 2014: GENESIS 10, MATTHEW 10, PSALM 7:8-17                            GENESIS 10                                                                                                                                                    Another chronology. YEAH! This one starts with Noah and includes his sons, his grandsons and his great-grandsons.  The listing for Noah’s son Shem, however, includes Shem’s sons, Shem’s grandsons, one of Shem’s great-grandsons, two of Shem’s great-great-grandsons, and 12 of Shem’s great-great-great grandsons.  In checking the chronology of Jesus in Luke 3, we see that Adam’s line to Jesus goes through Shem, not the other sons of Noah, 

The families began to migrate throughout the Middle East. It states several times that the people divided up according “to their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.”  Interestingly, we see that Canaan’s territory included Gaza, which is of vital interest to all the world today. 

Only one person, Nimrod, has his profession included. He is called a “mighty hunter before the Lord.”  How wonderful to be considered as a mighty doer of our jobs before the Lord: a mighty piano teacher, a mighty office assistant, a mighty stay-at-home mom, or a mighty grandparent. Colossian 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”  Pray to the Lord now that this is how you will approach the tasks in front of you today, no matter what they are and even if only the Lord notices: “Render service as to the Lord, and not to men” (Eph. 6:7).

MATTHEW 10                                                                                                                                                 It is helpful to know that the human authors of the Bible did not include chapter markings in their manuscripts; it was one document without any divisions. The Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton gave us the chapter divisions, likely around 1200. This was very helpful, but sometimes it is easy to forget that the start of a new chapter is more connected to the end of the previous one than we might think. This is the case moving from Matt. 9 to Matt. 10.  

At the end of Matt. 9 we find Jesus worried about the masses of people and seeking laborers to minister to them. At the start of Matt. 10 He prepares the 12 disciples to be those laborers. Here are their marching orders:   

  • Go only to Jews, not to Gentiles or Samaritans at this time. Jesus was sent to the Jews first. Israel, though God’s chosen people, was lost and needed salvation. Jesus tells his disciples to go to the ends of the earth later. This is our mission, too. 
  • Preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Their Jewish audience would know something big was up: “God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever” (Dan. 2:44).                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 16, 2024 CONTINUED: MATTHEW 10, PSALM 7: 8-17

  • Heal the Sick. It says in Matt. 10:1 that Jesus gave them authority to heal every kind of sickness. After Jesus, healing might be less part of outreach to unbelievers than part of the normal life within the church. In 1 Cor. 12:9 some in the church are given the gift of healing to serve within the body. In James 5:13-15 the James, half-brother of Jesus, tells the sick in church to ask the elders to pray for and anoint them.  Why don’t we see more divine healing today?
  • Don’t take money with you but stay in a worthy person’s house. A husband (Biola grad.) and wife (Taylor grad.) currently spread the gospel in Indonesia. They take their rickety boat down the river to stop at various villages. When they find a “worthy person” they pile into the person’s house, unfurl their sleeping bags, and stay a week or so until they have talked about Jesus to everyone in the usually Muslim village. They are just crazy enough to trust the Bible and put it into practice. It works, at least for them.

The rest of the chapter does not paint an unrealistically rosy picture about being workers for Jesus. Jesus said some would be arrested, which certainly happened to many of the disciples.  As Jesus mentioned, though, this would be an opportunity to testify before the Gentiles about Jesus—as Paul later did in Caesar’s own house. Some would be killed, as most traditions say happened to all of them. He told them, if they are persecuted, leave town and witness at the next one.  He said don’t worry because these people can’t kill the soul or send them to hell.    

It is in this bleak earthly context that Jesus reminds them/us that they/we are worth more than sparrows and all their/our hairs are numbered. Those willing to confess Jesus before men will not be denied by Jesus before the Father. Those losing their life for Jesus will find it. Do we really believe that whatever rejection we face for Jesus now, for these few earthly years, it is more than worth it for the joy of His presence now and our eternal joy after our earthly lives?  

PSALM 7:8-17          

David declares that God will judge those called wicked and those called righteous. David refers to God as a righteous judge who “saves the upright in heart” but allows whoever has dug a pit to fall “into the hole which he has made.”  The New Testament also teaches this, but in a sense David might not have foreseen. In Rom. 1:16 Paul writes, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of salvation to everyone who believes.”  But a few verses later he writes, “Professing to be wise, they became fools...Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity” (Rom 1:22 and 24). If we believe the Gospel of Jesus, our salvation is assured. If we reject the Gospel of Jesus, we will not be rescued from our sins but experience the natural consequences of them.