Thursday, June 12 ~ Miriam

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 2 Kings 9-10; Psalm 117; Acts 28

Today's scripture focus is Genesis 8:1-19

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. 2 Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained; 3 and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased. 4 In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. 5 The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

6 Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; 7 and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; 9 but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. 10 So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. 11 The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. 12 Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.

13 Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.

Well, trust Mr. MacArthur to point out something that never would have occurred to me in a million years.  We`ve all see the illustrations of the first rainbow and Noah and his family and the animals exiting the ark, with green hillsides and trees all around, etc.  Everything is beautiful and refreshed and renewed... of course, if probably doesn`t help that I`ve know the story ever since I can remember and one cannot illustrate children`s books and Bibles with the pictures of what the Earth probably actually looked like after the Flood.

So to put it in the words of Peter, in 2 Peter 3:6, "The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished." So when they came off the...the ark, they came into a completely different world which 2 Peter 3:7 calls the heavens and the earth which now are. That was a different planet than what we now experience. The land that had once teamed with animals and people and vegetation have been replaced by an incredibly desolate wilderness. The air, which formerly was warm and gentle, now moved in stiff and sometimes violent winds. And there was a chill on the mountain slopes of Ararat where the ark was resting and dark clouds rolling across the sky, which had once been perpetually and pleasantly bright. Seemed to threaten more rain and recurrence of flood conditions...

The earth had surely been purged of the wicked humanity that had made its physical beauty only a mockery, and...and that was good. But what was left was bleak and barren and foreboding. Dr. Henry Morris says there were, no doubt, physical changes along the lines of these. "The oceans were much more extensive, since they are now contained all...they now contain all the waters, which once were above the firmament inser...in the subterranean reservoirs of the deep. The land areas were much less extensive than before the flood, with a much greater portion of the surface of the earth uninhabitable for this reason. The thermal vapor blanket was dissipated, so that strong temperature differentials were inaugurated, leading to a gradual buildup of snow and ice on the polar latitudes, rendering much of the extreme northern and southern land surfaces also essentially uninhabitable. Mountain ranges uplifted after the flood emphasized the more rugged topography of the postdiluvian continents, with many of these regions also becoming unfit for human habitation. Winds, storms, rains, snow were possible now, thus rendering the total environment less congenial to man and animals than it had been before. The environment was also more hostile because of harmful radiation from space, no longer filtered out by the vapor canopy. A gradual reduction in human longevity after the flood. Tremendous glaciers, rivers, and lakes existed for a time, with the world only gradually approaching it present state of semi-aridity. And that is what is known as the Ice Age. The Ice Age occurring after the flood."

He says, also, "The crust of the earth was in a state of general instability reflected in recurrent volcanic and seismic activity all over the world...which we know very well in southern California...and continuing...as he says....to some degrees even to the present." Obviously so. So they step out into a totally different world in a totally environment. And life, instead of living for 900 years, begins to be shortened and shortened and shortened and shortened. And Noah, at the time he steps off the ark, is 601 years old, and life from then begins to shorten and shorten and shorten and shorten till you come to the time of Jesus Christ, even, and long before that. And people are dying in their 20s and 30s and 40s." Medicine has extended a little bit of that today. The Bible says that a man's life may generally be three score and ten, 70 years. Very different from the pre-flood world.

It must have been a tremendously exhilarating moment, and yet mixed for the people that stepped off onto the ground after a year and ten or eleven days. What was their first response? This is really where you come to the culmination of this passage. The first thing Noah did in verse 20 was build what? "He built and altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animals, every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar."

Can you imagine stepping off of the ark and seeing the devastation?  Death and desolation would have been everywhere.  That never, ever occurred to me before.  And Noah and his family offer burnt offerings.  Probably thankful that they were spared, yes, but even more so, as MacArthur believes:

Noah saw the staggering judgment of God. He saw the extreme anger of God against sinners. And he offered to God a sacrifice of total dedication that, at the same time, acknowledged that himself and his family were sinful, and their sin was worthy of death...

And, of course, this picture of a sacrifice on behalf of sinners becomes the key to understanding the death of Christ, doesn't it? So Noah is a priest for the new humanity. There are only eight people in the human race, and he's their priest. And he offers blood sacrifices as a recognition of the need for atonement, the need for propitiation...And I think it was because of his penitence, because of his recognition that the only reason they all weren't drowned was grace. That they were sinners. They needed atonement. They needed a sacrifice to pay for their sins. I think it was that integrity in his worship, that honesty, that expression of true repentance that brought about the response of God.

Tomorrow's scripture focus:  Genesis 8:20-9:17.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage:  2 Kings 11-12; Psalm 118; Romans 1

Wednesday, June 11th

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 2 Kings 7-8; Psalm 116; Acts 27

Today's scripture focus is Genesis 7

Genesis 7

English Standard Version (ESV)

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.
17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

Accompanying Bob Deffinbaugh sermon: The Flood
Accompanying John MacArthur sermons: Judgement on the Horizon,  The Flood of Judgement, The Power of Divine Judgement in the Global Flood

The flood was an actual historical event that covered the entire globe.  The Biblical record mentions the age of Noah and how long it rained and which month it happened and how long water was on the earth, in order to leave no doubt that this was an actual event that happened at an actual time to real people.

It is mind boggling to me that there were only 8 people who believed in God on the entire earth - which may have been populated with up to billions of people.  The faith of Noah and his family is even more inspiring when you realize that they had literally no one else to support them in their faith and in their works done as an expression of this faith, ie building the ark.

I found an article that has a lot of interesting facts about the flood including the following:
* the length to width ratio of the ark was 6 to 1 which is the same ratio that ship builders use today because it is the best ratio for stability during stormy weather
* God told Noah to bring two of each kind of animal (seven of the ones that were later used for sacrifices), not each species or variety.  For example - Noah would have brought only two of the dog family which includes wolves, coyotes, foxes, etc.  He didn't need to bring two of each species, only two of each kind.

MacArthur points out, and I think it's important to note, that in these passages about the flood Noah never speaks.  God speaks, God instructs, God brings the animals, God shuts the door of the ark (if Noah did it, perhaps he would've opened it to allow people inside when the waters started to rise and they started to panic).  God takes full and absolute responsibility for the flood and the judgment it brought upon every single living person and animal on the planet.  He also receives all the glory for His mercy displayed by rescuing the righteous remnant.

The flood would have been a cataclysmic change to the entire earth.  Torrents of rain poured onto the earth, the fountains of the deep opened up, tectonic plates crashed together, mountains and valleys instantly formed, gysers of lava and scalding water churned beneath the ark.  This is very likely when the continents were split apart in the way we see them today.  I can only imagine the shocking difference in the earth before and after the flood - Noah and his family are the only humans who ever witnessed both versions of the earth.

The flood was global, not local.  How do we know this?
The flood covered all mountains (which were not likely very high before the flood) - it covered the highest one by at least 20'. If the highest mountains in the middle east were covered, it must have affected the rest of the world.
The ark was built and it was huge.  If the flood was local, God would not have had Noah build an ark, He would have just told him to move. Instead, God instructed Noah to build a boat (barge shaped, not ship shaped) large enough to rescue 8 humans and all the different kinds of animals.
Humans had multiplied and populated the face of the earth. The population would have been too large to have been contained to the Mesopotamian area.
All humans died in the flood.
All air breathing, land animals died in the flood.
It was a cataclysm, not a mere flood.
Noah had to stay in the ark for more than a year which would have been absurd had it been a local flood.
God promised to never flood the entire earth again.  If He was simply referring to a local flood than He's broken that promise over and over again - and God does not lie.

The entire earth was devastated.  God makes the fact of a world wide flood very clear in the biblical record.

And, as we've already seen in our study on the flood, the flood is indicative of the coming final judgment at the end of human history, as well as God's saving grace in providing us an ark of safety in Jesus Christ.


Tomorrow's scripture focus: Genesis 8:1-19

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 2 Kings 9-10, Psalm 117, Acts 28

Tuesday - June 10 - Tiffany

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 2 Kings 5-6; Psalm 115; Acts 26
Today's scripture focus is Genesis 6;13-22

¹³ And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. ¹⁶ Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷ For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. ²¹ Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” ²² Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Noah did all that God commanded him.

Even though he lived in a wilderness (sometimes translated desert).
Even though rain was scarce (some argue it had never fallen from the sky before).
Even though it sounded crazy.
Even though he was probably scared - I mean, wouldn't you be scared? God just told you everything and everyone on earth was going to be destroyed and it was up to you and your three sons to build an ark to save your family and EVERY type of animal.

I got to say, this is the part that stresses me. I plan for a month to go on a week long trip with my family. I can't imagine trying to plan for an indefinite trip in an ark filled with animals (some of who are natural enemies), making sure everyone has food, making sure everyone has space, not to mention dealing with a FLOOD (something that had never happened before).

But Noah trusted God, he did all that God commanded. 

My kids are learning Philippians 4:4-14 this summer. Today we learned 4:6a - Do not be anxious about anything.
My 5 year old asked me what anxious means. I explained it means to be worried, nervous, or scared, and that in this verse we were being instructed NOT to be those things, but to rely on God.

I think if the New Testament had been written when Noah was building the ark, Phil 4:6a might have been his family's verse during that time.

It is what we all need to practice - not being anxious, and doing all God commands. 

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Genesis 7

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 2 Kings 7-8; Psalm 116; Acts 27

Monday, June 9th

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 2 Kings 1-2, Psalm 113, Acts 24

Today's scripture focus is Genesis 6:5-12

Genesis 6:5-12

English Standard Version (ESV)

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah and the Flood

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

Accompanying Bob Deffinbaugh sermon: The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men, and The Flood
Accompanying John MacArthur sermon: The Destruction of Mankind Part 1 and Part 2

All calamity is due to sin.  All of it.  All the calamity that exists in our world today is the result of the Fall and the world that we live in now because of the Fall.  Illness, suffering, pain, death - it's all written in to the fabric of a fallen people living in a fallen world.  Sometimes, God brings extra calamity on top of this every day calamity in the form of judgment, like He does here with the flood - and that He will certainly do it again at the Second Coming.

However, God always warns before judgment.  Noah preached righteousness for 120 years before God destroyed the world in the flood.

And He is patient before He brings that judgment.  Sometimes, from our perspective, too patient!  After all, when we've been offended, we want justice now.

But eventually, God determines when iniquity is full, and His patience reaches its limit, and He intervenes with judgment.  He did it with the flood, with Sodom and Gomorrah, with Israel, with the northern kingdom of Israel, with Jerusalem in about 70AD.  He warned them time and again, sending prophet after prophet, being patient and giving opportunity for repentance.  But eventually, when iniquity had reached its limit, God's patience ended in completely deserved judgment.  And all of those times are previews of the ultimate judgment awaiting humanity at the end of human history.

However, this passage is not only a lesson on judgment.  It is also a lesson on grace.  God offers redemption, He offers forgiveness, He offers salvation.  Despite our wretchedness.

V5 is devastating in it's summation of mankind's spiritual condition.  The intent and thought of everyone was only evil all the time.

God saw the evil heart of man, and He grieved.  He did not change His mind - God's character, purposes, and promises never change.  But His emotions do.  God grieves about our sin and about the consequences of our sin because His holiness demands judgment.  Mankind's sin did not surprise Him, but it still grieved Him, and it did not alter His purposes.

The good news, however, is that it is possible to be saved from judgment!  Noah was righteous, not because of his good works, but because of his faith.  He believed God.  And he lived in light of that belief.

MacArthur: You know what's encouraging? God knew the heart of Noah, He knew the heart of his wife and the heart of his sons and the heart of their wives. And God always knows who belongs to Him in the midst of any judgment. 

Judgment can only be escaped by God's grace.  That was true in the flood and it will be true at the time of the Second Coming as well.

God provided an ark for Noah, and He provides an ark for us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.


Tomorrow's scripture focus: Genesis 6:13-22

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 2 Kings 3-4, Psalm 114, Acts 25

Friday, June 6th

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 1 Kings 17-18; Psalm 112; Acts 23

Today's scripture focus is Genesis 6:1-4

Genesis 6:1-4

English Standard Version (ESV)

Increasing Corruption on Earth

6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

Accompanying Bob Deffinbaugh sermon: The Sons of God and The Daughters of Men
Accompanying John MacArthur sermon: Demonic Invasion

MacArthur contends that there are two important questions to consider regarding this passage.
1) What does it mean?
2) Why is it here?

There are varying interpretations of what this passage means, but traditional Jewish interpretation, as well as both MacArthur and Deffinbaugh, agree that the term sons of God refers to demons, and daughters of men refers to human women.  The point is the contrast between the creatures of God and the creatures of men.

Every time the Old Testament refers to sons of God it is referring to angels - either fallen or holy.  (Job 1:6, Job 2:1, Job 38:7,  Psalm 29:1, Psalm 89:6, Daniel 3:25).  What we have here is heavenly beings contrasted with earthly beings, those who come directly from God versus those who come directly from man.

These demons defied God by leaving the realm of the spirit world and took the form of, or inhabited the bodies of men, in order to marry human women and have children with them.

The passage starts by reminding us that this was a time period where "normal" life was simply occurring.  People were living under common grace - God had blessed humanity with the ability to marry and have children and just enjoy every day life.  Perhaps this ability to procreate gave them the feeling of invincibility, or that they, not God, controlled the future.  But they were wrong.  They were presuming upon the grace of God, and God was about to show them His righteous judgment, after rescuing the righteous remnant.

The Bible teaches that this is how we too, will be living before God's ultimate and final judgment.  Life will be going on as normal.  The redeemed and the unbeliever alike will be enjoying common grace.  But just as God destroyed all but the righteous remnant in the flood, after multiple warnings and opportunities to receive grace had been rejected, someday God will destroy this world in an act of ultimate judgment after He rescues the redeemed.

Notice how, in v3, God does not put the responsibility for this on the demons, but on the humans. This text shows us how very wicked mankind had become, and why God sent the flood in an act of righteous judgment.  Humanity, aside from one family of 8 righteous people, had become so wicked that, in God's eyes, they were no longer redeemable. In fact, their wickedness was such that not only were they not seeking God, they were pursuing demons.  Likely they had been deceived into thinking this would help them beat death and/or judgment, or become like God.  Satan always promises heaven but delivers hell.

1 Peter 3:18-20, Jude 6-7, and 2 Peter 2:4-5 tell us that God sentenced these demons to the pit for disobeying God and overstepping their bounds in this way, and His grace towards mankind has limits as well.  In our passage, God's limit has been reached - and He still, in His grace, gave them 120 more years to repent!  Noah preached righteousness for 120 years, and had absolutely no converts, save his own family (2 Peter 2:5)

Here is MacArthur's take on the Nephilim....

In verse 3 in the middle it says, "My Spirit will not always strive with man forever because he's also flesh." Just a very important point. He says you may think...you may think you're demons coming in and filling you and taking your demon power into your sexual actions are going to produce some godlike children. You may have some illusion about this supernatural power to transcend and to produce some kind of wonder child or to elevate you beyond the power of God to judge and to bring you into godlike status, but I'm telling you, when it's all said and done, you are only flesh. That's the point, you're just flesh. You're just mortal, you're not half man and half angel, you're just depraved flesh. And then he says in verse 4, "And there were Nephilim on the earth in those days." Nephilim is just a term that means great men, men of stature, men of power, men of influence. It is used only one other time in the New (meant Old) Testament and that's in the book of Numbers when the spies went in to Canaan in Numbers 13 and they came out and said there are giants in there, we can't knock those people off, they're giants and we're just like grasshoppers. And the reason they used Nephilim there to describe them is because they knew the word from Genesis. Not a race of people, it's not a race of people that shows up again later in Canaan because they would have been all drowned anyway, cause only Noah and his family survived. It's simply a term used in Genesis to describe great men, powerful men. And it was borrowed by the spies in Numbers 13 coming out of the land of Canaan because everybody knew the Nephilim as great powerful men. It's just a generic word for that kind of person. They were called...the term actually means falling ones, the kind of people that fall on you and crush you, powerful, fierce warrior-type people. But he says they were on the earth in those days.

It's important to say that because somebody might think they were the product of these unions and that angels, demons and men got together and produced some monsters. No. There were powerful men on the earth and when the sons of God, verse, went into the daughters of men and bore children to them, those were the mighty men and were men of old, men of renown. All you have is men, men, men. There were already some powerful men and out of those unions there came some more powerful men. The point being that those unions didn't produce anything different than already existed. That's...that's a reasonable interpretation of this, it's hard to be doctrinally dogmatic about it. Nephilim is simply a term that speaks about powerful, fierce, great, strong. They were already on the earth, they were already there, just a genetic pool produced them. And there were probably many of them that close to the fall of man when they were still living into the 900 of years and the corruption of sin hadn't taken its effect on their brains and their physical abilities. They must have been some great and powerful and mighty men. They were already there and out of these unions came more of them, but they were men, men, men, men. They were of flesh. And so what you have here is that all of the demons promised, all that Satan always promises never does change human nature. It doesn't change human depravity. They're just of the flesh, man, man, man. Renown man, yes. Powerful, fierce warriors attaining reputation and fear and all of that, but men

All men are mortal and God's judgment will fall on all.  The only way to escape the final judgment is in the ark that is Jesus Christ.



Monday's scripture focus: Genesis 6:5-12

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 1 Kings 19-20
Sunday's passage: 1 Kings 21-22
Monday's passage: 2 Kings 1-2, Psalm 113, Acts 24

Thursday, June 5 ~ Miriam

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 1 Kings 15-16; Psalm 111; Acts 22

Today's scripture focus is Genesis 5.

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.

3 When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. 4 Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. 5 So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

6 Seth lived one hundred and five years, and became the father of Enosh. 7 Then Seth lived eight hundred and seven years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters. 8 So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

9 Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. 10 Then Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters. 11 So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

12 Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel. 13 Then Kenan lived eight hundred and forty years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters. 14 So all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Jared. 16 Then Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters. 17 So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.

18 Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and became the father of Enoch. 19 Then Jared lived eight hundred years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters. 20 So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.

21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. 22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

25 Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamech. 26 Then Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters. 27 So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.

28 Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son. 29 Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will [c]give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed.” 30 Then Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters. 31 So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.

32 Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Well, we all know that genealogies aren't all that exciting or interesting to read, unless one is attempting to find a Biblical name that hasn't been used 1,000,000 times already, or counting generations to make extra sure that the prophecies about Jesus' ancestry were fulfilled down to the minutest detail.

The thing that always stands out most to me from this passage is about Enoch.  "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him."  He is one of only two people that we know of in the entire history of humanity who did not die before going to be with God.  I kinda wish we'd learn more about Enoch, other than that Jesus descended from him, he was the father of Methuselah who lived longer on Earth than any other recorded human being (Perhaps a blessing because he walked with God as his father did?  We don't know, but it's interesting to speculate.), and he was 187 years old when Methuselah was born.

Anyway, there is a whole other side to the genealogy other than just defining the lineage of Noah, and thereby Jesus.  Yesterday's passage talked about the descendants of Cain, the ungodly population on the earth at the time, and today's passage talks about the descendants of Seth, the godly branch of the family tree.  There are some differences between the two to take note of, as per Bob Deffinbaugh's sermon:

Moses begins chapter 5 with the terminology of chapters 1 and 2 (e.g., ‘created,’ ‘in the likeness of God,’ ‘male and female,’ ‘blessed them’) in order to indicate to the reader that God’s purposes and program for man begun in the first chapters are to be carried out through Adam’s seed, but not through the line of Cain; rather through Seth. The whole of chapter 5 is a description of the ever-narrowing line through which Messiah will come.

The contrast spiritually between the two lines is obvious. It can easily be illustrated by the two ‘Lamechs’ of chapters 4 and 5. Lamech (the son of Methushael, 4:18) of Cain’s lineage was the initiator of polygamy (4:19). Worse than this he was a murderer who boasted of his crime (4:23) and made light of God’s words to Cain (4:24).

The Lamech of chapter 5 (the son of Methuselah and the father of Noah) was a godly man. The naming of his son revealed his understanding of the fall of man and the curse of God upon the ground (cf. 5:29). It also indicated his faith that God would deliver man from the curse through the seed of Eve. I believe Lamech understood that this deliverance would specifically come through the son God had given him.

In the account of Cain’s descendants no numbers were employed, while the line of Seth has a definite numerical pattern. 

The length of the lives of the men in chapter 5 is unusually long, but every effort to explain this fact in some way other than taking the numbers literally has proven futile. Conditions were undoubtedly different prior to the flood.

Moses surely intended the length of the lives of these men to impress us. This is undoubtedly one of the reasons why they were so prominently included. The long length of life would facilitate the population of the earth. My wife and I have had six children in our 17 years of marriage. Imagine what could be done in 900 years?

Furthermore Moses would reveal by this that man was originally intended to live many years, even after the fall. Surely the promise of a millennial kingdom in which men would live to a ripe old age (cf. Isaiah 65:20) is buttressed by this chapter. Length of life was nothing new, but simply something regained.

The main contrast between the lines of Cain and Seth is that of the emphasis of each. Cain’s line is credited with what might be called ‘worldly progress’ and achievements. Cain built the first city (4:17). From his descendants came the technological and cultural contributions. Metal workers, ranchers, and musicians were of this line.

Now what is it that is emphasized about the line of Seth? No mention is made of any great contributions or achievements. Two things marked out the men of chapter 5. First of all, they were men of faith (cf. Enoch, 5:18, 21-24; Lamech, 5:28-31). These men looked back and grasped the fact that sin was the root of their troubles and travail. They looked forward to a redemption that God was to provide through their offspring.

That brings us to the second contribution of these men of chapter 5—they produced godly seed through whom the purposes and program of God would continue. Now we are not told that every child of theirs was godly. But we do know that these were godly men and that through them and their children a line was continued which culminated in Noah. While the rest of mankind would be destroyed in the flood, through Noah, the human race (and more than this, the seed of Eve) would be preserved. The hope of men rested in the preservation of a godly seed.

So, in spite of the eye-glazing factor of genealogies in the Bible, there are things that can be gleaned, not only from the text, but from what comes before and after it.  As our friend Bob says:

There is a verse of Scripture which will not let us pass by Genesis 5 without a serious study of this genealogy: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (II Timothy 3:16).

May we walk with God and be people of faith, as were the descendants of Seth.

Happy Thursday!

Tomorrow's scripture focus:  Genesis 6:1-4

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage:  1 Kings 17-18; Psalm 112; Acts 23

Wednesday, June 4th

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 1 Kings 15-16; Psalm 111; Acts 22

Today's scripture focus is Genesis 4:17-26

Genesis 4:17-26

English Standard Version (ESV)

17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
    you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:
I have killed a man for wounding me,
    a young man for striking me.
24 If Cain's revenge is sevenfold,
    then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.”

25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

Accompanying Bob Deffinbaugh sermon: The Fruits of the Fall
Accompanying John MacArthur sermons: The Origin of Society Part 1 and Part 2

In our passage today we see the contrast between the godly (line of Seth) and the ungodly (line of Cain).

Often the Bible does not give specific commentary on the actions of people - whether they were morally right or wrong.  That's because it shouldn't have to.  Here we see that Lamech took two wives (he may not have been the first to do so, but he is the first mentioned in the Bible).  We know that this is wrong because of Genesis 2:24 - marriage is defined by God as being between one man and one woman.  And we see, over and over again, the sorrow that comes from disobedience to this command (Abraham and Sarah/Haggai, Jacob and Rachel/Leah, etc).

In this passage we also see God's gift of common grace.  Cain's descendants made huge strides in cultural and scientific development.  Can you imagine how strong and intelligent these first people were?  Yes, the effects of the fall had begun, but they were falling from a state of perfection and they were incredibly healthy, strong, and intelligent.  Imagine how well you could perfect your craft if you lived over 900 years!  Or how far 900+ years of research, and trial and error would go towards advancing technology. Cain's descendants became experts in animal husbandry, music, metal forging, and poetry (demonstrated in Lamech's boastful poem).

Man at his worst is able to produce things beneficial to mankind.  But man at his worst is also quickly able to use those same things for evil - sin enticing music, idols made from metal, etc.

We also see Lamech's penchant for violence and utter lack of humility.

Deffinbaugh: Lamech brings us to the point in the history of man where sin is not only committed boldly, but boastfully. He bragged to his wives of his murder. More than this he boasted that his sin was committed against a mere youngster who had only struck him. This murder was brutal, bold, and volatile. Worst of all, Lamech shows a disdain and disregard for God’s word: “If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” (Genesis 4:24).

God had spoken these words to assure Cain that he would not be killed by the hand of man. He also warned men of the seriousness of such an act. These words were spoken to reveal the fact that God valued human life. Lamech twisted and distorted them as a boast to his violence and aggressive hostility toward man and God.

Thankfully, the chapter doesn't end there....

“But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20).

Sin surely abounded in the line of Cain, but the chapter will not end without a glimmer of the grace of God.....
Eve had hoped for salvation through her first son, Cain. It would surely not come from him or from his descendants. Neither could it come from Abel. But another son was given whose name, Seth, means “appointed.” Not only was he a substitute for Abel (verse 25), he was the seed through whom the Savior would be born.

Seth, too, had a son, Enosh. It began to become clear that the deliverance Adam and Eve hoped for was not to be soon, but it was nevertheless certain. And so it was that in those days men began ‘to call upon the name of the Lord’ (verse 26). I understand this to be the commencement of corporate worship. In the midst of a perverse and crooked generation there was a believing remnant that trusted in God and hoped for His salvation.
The New Testament offers a lot of commentary on this chapter actually.

Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah! (Jude 11).

Jude warns his readers of those who are spiritual counterfeits (verse 4). They are not saved, but they endeavor to pass as believers and to pervert the true faith and to divert men from experiencing the grace of God. In verse 11 these men are described as being like Cain. They are like him in that they are rebels who hide under the banner of religion.....

For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous (I John 3:11-12).

Those who are evil cannot stand those who are truly righteous. They proclaim brotherly love but they fail to practice it. It is no wonder, then, that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day rejected Him and put him to death with the help of the Gentiles....

For those who would walk in the way of Cain there is little reason for hope. There may be the illusory gains of culture or technology, but they must ultimately suffer the fate of Cain. They must spend their days away from the presence of God and they will find their days on earth full of sorrow and regret ultimately.

We can rejoice that there is another better way, and that is the way of Abel.

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks (Hebrews 11:4).

In order that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house of God; yet, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation (Luke 11:50-51).

And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24).

That which made the difference between Cain and Abel was faith. Abel trusted not in himself, but in God. His sacrifice was a better sacrifice because it evidenced his faith and it reflected that the object of his faith was God. No doubt he also had some grasp of the value of the shed blood of an innocent victim.

But Abel was more than an example of an early believer, he was, according to our Lord, a prophet. Perhaps by his lips, but surely by his works, he proclaimed to his brother the way of access to God. He was also a prophet in that he predicted in his death the fate of many who would come later with a word from God to unbelieving men.

While God valued the blood of Abel that was shed for his faith, it is not to be compared with that better blood that was shed by Jesus Christ. Abel’s blood was a testimony to his faith. Christ’s blood is the cleansing agent by which men are purged of their sins and delivered from the penalty of eternal separation from God.


Tomorrow's scripture focus: Genesis 5

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 1 Kings 17-18, Psalm 112, Acts 24

Tuesday - June 3 - Tiffany

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 1 Kings 13-14; Psalm 110; Acts 21

Today's scripture focus is Genesis 4:1-16

 

Cain and Abel

4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” ² And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. ³ In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, ⁴ and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵ but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. ⁶ The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸ Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” ¹⁰ And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. ¹¹ And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. ¹² When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” ¹³ Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴ Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. ¹⁶ Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

I've heard several sermons (and John MacArthur agrees) that somewhere along the line, God had commanded animal sacrifices. So when Cain brought "fruit of the ground" (we don't even know if it was the best of the crops, or the first harvest, or what), he wouldn't be following a command of animal sacrifice.

It could be that Cain's attitude about the offering wasn't correct.

Either way, Cain's offering wasn't accepted, and he was angry about it. And though Adam and Eve and their sons obviously still spoke with God, Cain took his anger out on his brother, Abel.
And like his parents before him, he didn't want to face his sin.

Cain doesn't repent in these verses, he just complains that God handed him a death sentence.

God's mercy is ever present. Even in Cain's sin, his unrepentant heart, his turning from the presence of the Lord, God protects him from being killed the same way he, Cain, killed Abel.

God gives us every chance we need. His mercy and love never fails.

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Genesis 4:17-26

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 1 Kings 15-16; Psalm 111; Acts 22

Monday, June 2nd

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is  1 Kings 11-12, Psalm 109, Acts 20

Today's scripture focus is Genesis 3:20-24

Genesis 3:20-24

English Standard Version (ESV)

20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Accompanying Bob Deffinbaugh sermon: The Fall of Man
Accompanying John MacArthur sermons: The Promise of Redemption Part 1 and Part 2, and The First Sacrifice

In today's passage we find the first time that God is presented as Saviour.  We see the beginnings of His plan of redemption, to bring salvation to a fallen humanity.

MacArthur: From man's side there are essentially two things...faith and hope.....We have to believe in the Lord to be saved. We have to believe His Word, put our trust in what He's said and what He's promised. And then having believed we live in hope for something we have not yet seen or received. And so it is required that we be characterized by faith and hope. That's on our side.

On God's side two things are necessary...atonement and security, atonement and security. God has to provide a suitable atonement to cover our sin and then He has to hold on to us to keep us saved until we get to glory. So from man's side, faith and hope, from God's side, atonement and security, those are the essential elements of salvation. That is the necessary mix in the plan of God. And you find all four of them in this text....Now not all the fullness of those great truths are here. But the first glimpse of those truths is here. This is the first glimpse of what is progressively revealed in Scripture and perfected in the coming of Christ and the New Testament.

In our passage, we see Adam put His faith in God.  He names his wife Eve, which means life, because she was the mother of all the living.  At the time he named her, she wasn't a mother of anybody.  This was an act of faith.  God had said that a seed from Eve would bruise the head of the serpent and Adam believed God.  And truly, that's what faith is.  Believing God.  Believing all that He has revealed to us.

We know way more than Adam knew.  But what God had revealed, Adam believed.  Adam and Eve were sorry they had fallen for Satan's deception and chosen to believe Satan instead of God, that they had chosen to enjoy the immediate gratification of sin instead of the joy of obedience to God.

Deffinbaugh: Satan always emphasizes the present pleasures of sin while keeping our minds from their consequences. Sin is never worth the price.

The desire for the pleasures of sin comes at the cost of disobedience and unbelief which results in the loss of blessing - whether that was the blessing of Eden, the blessing of the Israelites living in the Promised Land, or the blessing of eternity in the presence of God.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable grace!  The consequences of sin are high indeed, but God's mercy reaches to even greater depths, if we but believe God and daily live in that faith and hope.

God has to provide atonement or covering for sin.  In our passage we see that represented by God killing the first ever sacrifice - an animal - to provide a covering of clothing for Adam and Eve, to cover their shame.

I find it so sad, that even among a married couple, with no other human being in sight, they were ashamed and filled with evil thoughts in their nakedness.  Sin destroys every relationship.

But God provides redemption through atonement.  God required death for sin.  But rather than requiring the immediate physical death for Adam and Eve, God kills a substitute in order to satisfy His wrath and judgment.  Now the animal's death didn't do that, it couldn't.  Only Christ's death could satisfy God's wrath and judgment.  But the animal's death foreshadowed Christ's death and was the picture of what was to come in its fullness in God's timing.

God also keeps the believer secure.

And it was His grace that kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden, away from the Tree of Life.  If they had eaten of that tree, they would've lived in a state of sin and decay forever - truly hell on earth.  And God's grace didn't allow that to happen.  Truly death, in this sinful world, is a blessing.  It doesn't seem that way to us because it's so hard for us to see beyond this temporal world, but it really is.  Imagine living in unimaginable pain without the possibility of death bringing release.  Imagine the evil and horror that would be wrought by evil men if they knew they could do anything they wanted to you and you wouldn't die.  No, death is a blessing for the believer as it ushers them away from this sinful world of death and decay and into the eternal presence of God to live forever the way He intended us to live - free from sin and its effects forever.

In grace God saves us, and in grace God keeps us.

Currently, we are not fit for the fullness of His presence, and so we live in hope of the day that will come when we will be fit for His presence.  And the reason we hope, is because we've experienced sin and the curse, and we long to be cured from its consequences.

Adam and Eve, along with all the saints that came after them, are now experiencing that blessedness that we still hope for.

This passage shows us, not only the awfulness of sin and its consequences, but the introduction of the gloriousness of salvation.


Tomorrow's scripture focus: Genesis 4:1-16

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 1 Kings 13-14, Psalm 110, Acts 21