November 7th, 2010
My Bible reading schedule was Genesis 16 – 18 on Nov 5th and chapters 19 – 22 on Nov 6th. Here are some verses that stood out for me.
When Abram was 99 years old his name was changed to Abraham: “And your name will not be called Abram anymore, and your name must become Abraham, because a father of a crowd of nations I will make you.” (Genesis 17:5)
Abraham’s wife also had a name change. “And God went on to say to Abraham: ‘As for Sarai your wife, you must not call her name Sarai, because Sarah is her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son from her; and I will bless her and she shall become nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’ ” (Genesis 17:15,16)
Having past childbearing age, Abraham and Sarah had a hard time believing that they would give birth to a son through whom God’s promised covenant would come true.
“At this Abraham fell upon his face and began to laugh and to say in his heart: ‘Will a man a hundred years old have a child born, and will Sarah, yes, will a woman ninety years old give birth?’ ” (Genesis 17:17)
Sarah laughed when she overheard angels telling Abraham that she is about to be the mother of a son. The angels reassured the elderly couple that it will indeed happen as promised.
“The Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Will I really have a child when I am old?” Is anything impossible for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.’ ” (Genesis 18:13,14)
Angels visited Lot but “Before they could lie down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from boy to old man, all the people in one mob. And they kept calling out to Lot and saying to him: ‘Where are the men who came in to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have intercourse with them.’ ” (Genesis 19:4,5)
Due to the deviant sexual desires of some of the inhabitants of Sodom, God brought destruction on the city. “The sun had just risen over the land as Lot reached Zoar. Then the Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord.” (Genesis 19:23,24)
As promised Sarah gave birth to a son in her old age. “The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised. So Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. (Genesis 21:1-3)
Genesis chapter 22 is a powerful passage in the Bible. Image being told that you would have a son after you are past child bearing age, then miraculously having the son as promised. This son was to be a very special son because through him there would be a very prosperous nation. However the God above asked you to sacrifice this son. Abraham must have thought “This does not make sense.”
However Abraham showed remarkable faith and trust in God. He reasoned that if God was responsible for the miracle that happened when he was 100 years old and his wife was 90 years old then he can surely perform another miracle if his son is sacrificed.
Also imagine a strong healthy young man allowing his father who was probably 120 years old, to tie him to an alter. That young man was informed of God’s promise and the miracle that resulted in his birth. He did not resist his father’s attempt to take his life.
“Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son. But the Lord’s angel called to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Here I am!’ he answered. ‘Do not harm the boy!’ the angel said. ‘Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.’ ” (Genesis 22:10-12)
A TRULY FASCINATING BIBLE STORY!
Categories: Genesis - Deuteronomy
November 5th, 2010
On Nov 3 I read Genesis chapters 8 – 11 and on the 4th I read chapters 12 – 15. Here are a few things I picked out from those chapters.
Gen 9:1 And God went on to bless Noah and his sons and to say to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth.
This command was originally given to Adam and Even and now it is appropriate to repeat it since there were only 8 people on the face of the earth, Noah and his wife and Noah’s 3 sons and their wives.
Gen 9:3,4: Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for YOU. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to YOU. Only flesh with its soul—its blood—YOU must not eat.
Initially mankind was instructed to be vegetarians. Now they are allowed to eat meat. However there is a stipulation that flesh with its blood should not be eaten. An animal was to be bled as much as possible.
Gen 12:1-3: “Go your way out of your country and from your relatives and from the house of your father to the country that I shall show you; and I shall make a great nation out of you and I shall bless you and I will make your name great; and prove yourself a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and him that calls down evil upon you I shall curse, and all the families of the ground will certainly bless themselves by means of you.”
These words were spoken to Abram whose name was later changed to Abraham meaning “Father of a crowd.” Abraham was not the firstborn of his father Terah but evidently due to his great appreciation for the Godly way of life, he was chosen by God for special consideration.
Genesis 13:5-12: A fine example of conflict resolution is mentioned here. A dispute over the use of limited land space arose between Abram’s men and Lot’s men. Abram’s simple solution was “Please, separate from me. If you go to the left, then I will go to the right; but if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
Abram basically said take the better part of the land. I will be content with the less desirable portion. A remarkable example of peace-making.
Categories: Genesis - Deuteronomy
November 3rd, 2010
I started my Bible reading on Monday Nov 1st 2010. The first night I read Genesis chapters 1 to 3 and chapters 4 – 7 on the second night. Here are some things of note from those chapters.
Gen 1:27: And God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
God is a spirit and we are not able to see him. Therefore this verse is taken to mean that man was created in his likeness in that man reflects the qualities of God such as love, wisdom, mercy and compassion. Man is not like God in the physical sense.
Gen 1:30,31: And God went on to say: “Here I have given to YOU all vegetation bearing seed which is on the surface of the whole earth and every tree on which there is the fruit of a tree bearing seed. To YOU let it serve as food. 30 And to every wild beast of the earth and to every flying creature of the heavens and to everything moving upon the earth in which there is life as a soul I have given all green vegetation for food.”
Humans were initially vegetarians according to these verses. It was after the flood of Noah’s day that man was allowed to eat meat.
Gen 2:21-24: So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man…That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
According to this passage of the Bible God performed the first marriage when he brought the newly formed woman to the man.
Gen 5:27: So all the days of Methuselah amounted to nine hundred and sixty-nine years and he died.
Methuselah was the oldest man according to Bible history; 969 years old at death.
Gen 6:15: And this is how you will make it: three hundred cubits the length of the ark, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height.
The widely held view is that a a cubit is close to 18 inches or 1.5 foot. Therefore the approximate size of the ark is 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Interestingly the proportion of 6 to 1 (450′ long to 75′ wide) is used by naval architects today as the best dimensions to prevent toppling of a boat/ship.
Categories: Genesis - Deuteronomy
November 1st, 2010
Hello,
My name is Anthony but I will take on the Bible name Jonathan for this blog.
I recently found a Bible reading schedule that will allow me to complete my Bible reading in 1 year. So I started this blog to share with you some of the interesting verses, passages and stories in the Bible.
As I read about the unfortunate events around world I often wonder what does the Bible have to say about them or how would Jesus have reacted if he witnessed some of these events.
The Bible records events that took place in human’s history and so I always try to find parallels to events that has taken place in our lifetime. I am interested to see how God’s servants handled these situations and what lessons we can learn from them.
This brings to mind a Bible verse that says, “For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope.” (Romans 15:4 New English Translation)
Furthermore Bible reading is uplifting as we get an insight into the mind of our heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ.
So let’s have fun together as we explore the history of mankind through the pages of the Bible. Please share your thoughts and questions with me.
Oh by the way, I have access to several translations of the Bible and comprehensive explanations of Bible scriptures that outline things like chronological dates, maps and the line of descendants leading to the Messiah.
Pleasant reading!
Jonathan
Categories: Bible books
