Well, I missed my post yesterday, but not the reading, so today it's time for a double dose!
Here are my thoughts from Day 2:
Genesis 6:6-7
God was grieved and sorry that he had made humanity. If God was grieved then, how much more must God be grieved with the state of the world now? Or have we actually improved and the world isn't actually as corrupt as we perceive it to be?
Genesis 6-8
Noah doesn't speak AT ALL throughout the entire flood story. There is no dialogue with God, just obedience. The only time he speaks, the only words we have of Noah's are his cursing of his son Ham.
Genesis 9:6
"whoever sheds the blood of a human shall that person's blood be shed". Does this condone revenge killing, or the death penalty? God obviously values human life highly, for it says that we are made in the very image of God.
Genesis 9:22-27
Does Noah curse Ham and Canaan because Ham saw Noah naked, or because Ham told his brothers about it instead of covering his father up?
Matthew 1-3
There is a lot of quoting of the prophets. Matthew really wants to make the point that everything that was said about the messiah was fulfilled in Christ.
Overall thoughts:
How would it have looked to God, who had just wiped out humanity except for these 8 people, when the first story we have after the covenant was Noah cursing an entire line of descendants? How do we handle that information, and what do we do with the question of why Noah did it? Was it out of embarrassment? Was it to punish Ham for running to his brothers for a laugh at the fact that their old man had passed out and was naked? And was it really necessary to curse all of the generations of Ham?
Day 3
Genesis 12:1-3
God calls Abram for no apparent reason. With Noah, it says that he had found favor in Gods eyes, but not with Abram. Abram does follow God and do what is asked of him, building altars and worshipping God.
Genesis 12:10-20
Abram saves his own skin by basically giving his wife, Sarai, over to another man, telling her to go along with it in order to spare Abram's life. Was God really okay with that, especially since God brought plagues upon Pharaohs house as a result? And Abram gets rewarded for the whole thing for being Sarai's "brother"!!!!
Genesis 15:1-6
God told Abram that a great nation of descendants would come from Abram, more then there are stars in the sky, but Abram doubted, questioning how it was possible, pointing out to God the reasons for his unbelief. But God tells him again, ad Abram believes, and God "reckoned it to him as righteousness".
Matthew 4:17
Jesus goes about proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." But in his ministry, it seems that people come to him for healing, that his message wasn't what was getting people's attention. He proclaimed and healed, but it only mentions people coming to him for healing.
Overall thoughts:
God chose Abram, made promises to him, a covenant with Abram and his descendants, but what was the reason? It doesn't mention Abrams devotion to God before God chose him. Sure, he helps other people out, try's to resolve conflict, stands up for things that need defending. But it isn't until Abram questions and doubts how God can do what God is promising to do, and then the giving over of those doubts and questions that Abram is mentioned as being seen by God as a righteous man.
I think the message, the underlying point in all of that, is that regardless of your riches, the accomplishments that you've achieved, righteousness and a true relationship with God cannot be established until you've given up the doubts and the questions.
I think it was fine that Abram had questions, that he turned to God and asked, "How are you going to pull that one off? These are the facts, this is the situation at hand." But God told Abram again what was going to happen, what was being promised to him by the God of all creation. And Abram believed. Not the easiest, or the most sane, thing to do in that situation, but he did it. And God reckoned it to him as righteousness. And God stayed true to that promise, no doubts or questions about it.
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