Episode 247 - "Noah did all the LORD commanded him" - Genesis 6:11-22

Gen. 6:11 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. 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.

OK. Sometimes, I pick a few verses and say a lot about them. Now is the occasion to pick a more extensive text and say relatively little. Why? In either case, the purpose is to highlight what’s important. To begin with, let’s begin by exercising one of my favorite interpretive questions. Do you see anything repeated? We ask that because repetition often brings emphasis. Here’s a hint. Read or listen through this text again and listen for what sounds like hyperbole, words that describe extreme quantity or degrees of something.

The setting of this sub-narrative is a repetition and emphasis of what has already been described earlier in chapter six. The point the author is clearly making is how bad people had become in the days of Noah. Verse 13 records, “the earth was filled with violence.” It paints a pretty graphic scene for us, doesn’t it? But the word I’m thinking about in particular is the word “all.” Verse 12 says, “for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth,” and God’s response to that in verse 13, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh.” The extent of the wickedness and violence evident by humanity at that time was evoking a corresponding response of judgment by the LORD.

Why is this important to observe and consider? I believe it’s easy for people to downplay the seriousness or extent of the human condition to not act according to God’s character. We think, “Surely it wasn’t that bad.” The subsequent thought could then easily be, “That seems a bit of a harsh response by God.” My question is, “What are we doing when we entertain those thoughts?” Fundamentally, we make ourselves to be God. We decide that we can adequately judge what is right or wrong, and then we act as though we are God’s judge. Perhaps it’s better to read this and think, “Wow! What would that look like in our world right now if the earth was absolutely ‘filled with violence?’” That would be horrible, wouldn’t it? Clearly, things had come a long way from the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve’s simple act of disobedience had a significant impact far beyond themselves. I think the same thing holds true for us today. Our simple acts of disobedience can have a significant negative impact on others.

The next thing that stands out to me is the specific details of how the ark should be built. Why is this important? Scholars of ancient cultures point out that there are cataclysmic flood stories in various cultures and suggest that this story is borrowed from another culture. They suggest that a flood story is simply a fictional story that is important in those cultures for one reason or another. But one has to ask themselves what the purpose would be of the LORD instructing Noah to make it of gopher wood, have three decks, and construct it according to very specific dimensions. It seems to me that in a world that had moved so far from following the LORD, the fact that God gave very specific commands concerning the construction of this ark and Noah “did all that God commanded him” (notice the all again) reveals that these details are historical and this isn’t early fantasy/adventure literature. It’s a story about humanity’s unfaithfulness to the LORD, the LORD’s sovereign judgment upon their violence, Noah’s faithfulness to obey the LORD, and the LORD’s faithfulness to preserve life and blessing.

This last element of the LORD’s faithfulness is revealed in the covenant he promised to establish with Noah. A covenant is a solemn promise by which the covenant maker accepts a curse upon themselves if they do not fulfill their part of the covenant. In this case, God is taking sole responsibility for the covenant. Notice that this covenant does not just promise that Noah and his family will survive the flood. But in his detailed instructions for this ark, the LORD commands that male and female of every animal come into the ark, suggesting the LORD has long-term plans for reestablishing a continuance of life on the earth as the LORD had planned it.

This story reveals the holiness and righteousness of the LORD. While the LORD is patient, he will not tolerate injustice and violence indefinitely. In his sovereign authority, it is his right to bring judgment upon violations against his righteous standard. Yet the LORD will preserve the righteous as he did with Noah. These principles remain true for us today. As we witness the violence and injustices in our world today, we can be confident that God will someday judge the earth again but will deliver those he deems righteous.

Episode 243 - "God appoints a son" Genesis 4:25-26

Gen. 4:25 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.

So last week, we read about what happened through rebellious Cain’s descendants. To put it briefly, the narrative describes it as a “like father, like son” outcome. We are left wondering what hope there is for “the seed of the woman” to crush the head of the serpent. Abel, whose worship was accepted by the LORD, was dead, and Cain’s descendant Lamech, also a murderer, demonstrates even a greater defiance and mocking of God than Cain. This heightens the crisis of humanity’s distance from the presence and fellowship with the LORD.

As chapter four closes with these two verses, it sets up a genealogy of Adam in chapter five that advances the greater narrative in the direction of hope. It is sometimes amusingly said that the only command from the LORD that people have faithfully obeyed is “be fruitful and multiply.” So, Adam and Eve have not failed in this command and have another son. They exercise their God-given authority to name this son Seth. Notice that our text offers an explanation for his name, “for she said, ‘God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.’” (Gen 4:25b) How does this explanation fit with this name? The name “Seth” in Hebrew sounds almost exactly like the word that means “appointed.” Let’s stop for a minute and reflect upon the importance of this revelation.

From the standpoint of the greater narrative, this recognizes the crisis that I just identified. Righteous Abel is dead, and Cain and his line continue on a path of rebellion against the LORD. The narrator reveals that Eve identified the problem but somehow recognized that this son had been appointed by the LORD to replace the righteous Abel. How did she know that? Did she just assume it, or did the LORD somehow reveal that to them? It’s not clear from the text. I am inclined to think that if the LORD felt the need to specifically explain that to them, it would be in our Scriptures. Therefore, it seems to me that Eve is drawing this conclusion based on God’s previous revelation and promise that she would have a descendant who would crush the head of the serpent. Why is this important to us? Eve has learned a hard lesson in not only listening to what God says but trusting that the LORD will fulfill his promises. This is beautiful in that Eve is learning about grace. Even though she has messed up, and it has had tragic consequences, she recognizes that God has not disowned her and reneged on his promises. His provision of this son is a gift to her, but also a divine provision to ultimately bring fulfillment of his promise, proving that he is faithful to his word. Awesome, isn’t it?

What do you think? Am I reading too much into this? Consider the next verse. Seth has a son Enosh, and the narrator tells us, “At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD.” (Gen 4:26) Is this not the narrator reinforcing how this appointed line trusts in the LORD? I think so. Our hope in the “seed” is sustained. The crisis is mitigated for now.

Our lesson is to know God’s word and trust that he is good, faithful, and able to fulfill his promise to redeem us to his good plan and life with God.

Episode 167 - "God is faithful" - 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In these few years I’ve been producing this blog and podcast, we covered the Gospel of John and, most recently, the Epistle of James. It’s time to walk through one of the Apostle Paul’s letters. This is the first of two letters to the Christians at Corinth that is included in our New Testament canon. The style of the introductory verses is very common in Paul’s letters. He identifies himself and his role as an apostle through the divine will and “call” of God. Paul is not one of the twelve who were with Jesus through his earthly ministry. We don’t get to know anything about Paul until we get to the book of Acts. Acts begins with the ascension of Jesus to heaven and the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles at Pentecost, which is the initiating event for the church. It’s not long before we read about an antagonist of Christianity who is a Jewish leader named Saul. Saul participated in the stoning of Stephen, a follower of Christ, and sought to persecute as many Christians as possible. On a journey to Damascus for the purpose of arresting Christians, Jesus appeared in a bright light and spoke to Saul from heaven, and Saul became a follower of Christ. His name was changed to Paul. (See Acts 7-9) He is the most prolific author of our New Testament books.

Paul introduced himself as an apostle, but specifying this role is not something he chose or sought himself. He was called by God to fulfill this role. He mentions a brother in Christ named Sosthenes as well as though he has something to contribute to this written message that has been delivered to them. There is no indication I’m aware of regarding Sosthenes’ contribution to the letter. However, in Acts 18:1-17 we read about Paul’s first recorded trip to and ministry among the people he is now writing to. We discover that Sosthenes was with Paul and had been beaten by Jews for their witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul had been there for around eighteen months, teaching people about Jesus. Maybe Paul mentions Sosthenes's name to remind these Corinthian believers what he and Sosthenes invested in them to get their attention.

After introducing himself, he addresses his readers with specific statements about who they are. First of all, they are “the church of God at Corinth.” They are “God’s assembly.” The primary thing these people have in common besides their residence in Corinth is that they are brought together in fellowship by God's will. Furthermore, they are sanctified in Christ Jesus. The word “sanctified” means set apart for a holy purpose. Followers of Jesus are in Christ intended for God’s holy purpose. He adds these believers are “called to be saints (or holy) together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (v. 2) We may have local fellowships of Christ followers. But we are also part of a greater fellowship of everyone everywhere who follows Jesus. This should remind us that by trusting in Jesus, we have been intentionally set apart for God’s purposes, and our lives should reflect the holiness to which God has called us.

Paul expresses his blessing to them of God’s grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful thing to know that God wants peace with us and intends to bless us with his grace.

Paul then explained that he always gives thanks because God’s grace to them was evident in how they had been “enriched in him (Christ Jesus) in all speech and knowledge” (v. 5), and they did not lack any gift. (v. 6) What does this mean? It appears to me that when he says in verse 6, “even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you,” he means that as they believed the gospel and the word taught them as Paul discipled them, he witnessed how the Holy Spirit enabled them in ways of understanding and communication so that they could encourage, and teach others as well. That’s how the testimony of Christ was confirmed. The work of the Holy Spirit in their lives was obvious. This affirmation by Paul is intended to encourage them. He tells them they are not lacking any gift “as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (vs. 7-8) The point is that God is with his people. He will provide what they need.

He concludes his introduction and thanksgiving in verse 9 by saying, “God is faithful.” Paul understands that these believers were facing challenges and needed encouragement by reminding them that God has not abandoned them. His grace and peace are extended to them. He has enabled them through the power of the Holy Spirit, and we are to be holy and focused on Him.

Paul is about to chastise them for getting off track. So, he began this letter by reminding them of what God had done for them and his purpose for them. What encouragement we can draw from knowing that God is with us and is faithful to us.

Episode 159 "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you" James 4:4-10

4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

I could probably write a blog post for every verse in this section. But I just couldn’t bring myself to split it up. This is a powerful message that resonates with a theme that began in the Garden of Eden. Look at the indictment that begins this section.

“You adulterous people!” (v. 4) Who is he talking to? He is writing to Christians. We often use the word adultery for someone who is unfaithful to their spouse. But James uses it to accuse the recipients of this letter of being unfaithful to God. Isn’t that what Adam and Eve did when they disobeyed the LORD’s command not to eat the fruit of one tree? The LORD had given them instruction to enjoy as much as they wanted from every other tree except for that one. However, the serpent sought to first deceive Eve and then provoke her pride; “You will be like God.” (Gen. 3:5) She already was “like God” in as much as she had been made in God’s image. However, the serpent convinced her she could be more if she only ignored God’s command and warning. The LORD had been more than faithful to her. But she chose to compromise her fidelity to the LORD.

The theme of spiritual adultery against the LORD continues throughout the Old Testament and is especially highlighted as the Israelites repeatedly fail to obey the LORD during the departure from Egypt and later after the time of Joshua and throughout the divided kingdom after Solomon’s death. Time and again, we see the LORD graciously redeeming His people and showing them mercy and love, but people doing “what is right in their own eyes.” (See Judges 21:25) They are unfaithful to the LORD. 

James says there are two kinds of people; friends of God and friends of the world. As a person who sees strong consistency between Paul and James rather than a contrast, this teaching reminds me of Paul’s argument in Romans 5 where he describes our natural state as an enemy of God. Yet he writes that God’s love for us is so great that Christ died to make his enemies his friends. That is love and fidelity beyond imagination and where I think James takes us in verses 5-6. How tragic it is that people who’ve accepted God’s love, mercy, and grace and have experienced that divine faithfulness choose to disregard that and become adulterous and act in ways consistent with our natural, fallen condition. That is the indictment James is leveling against these believers.

Notice after the harsh indictment of verse 4, James’ tone turns toward a redemptive call to these same people. “Do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? This reference to Scripture is not a direct quotation of any particular passage I could find, and scholars seem to be stymied by this as well. What is clear is that James understands the “Scriptures” ( What we call the Old Testament) to communicate the idea, at the very least, that God wants our devotion to being directed toward Him. Why would this be? It’s because He wants what is best for us. James follows this with “But He gives more grace . . . (v. 6a) 

Do you see this? James says to these Christians to whom he is writing, “You are being unfaithful to God. But God will not be unfaithful to you.” (My interpretation) What does Paul say about this notion? “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar” . . . (Rom. 3:3-4a) James and Paul both extol God’s grace as a means to woo his unfaithful followers back to Him. 

The path to getting back where the LORD wants us requires humility in contrast to the kind of pride evoked within Adam and Eve. In verse 6, James says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” and in verse 10, he says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” 

Verses 7-10 offer a number of actions we are to do as we decide we want to follow the Lord and seek His ways over our own. We must “submit to God” and “resist the devil.” (v. 7) I believe the key to all of this is found in the first part of verse 8, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” (v. 8a) Have you ever experienced a significant betrayal by someone close. If so, you understand the difficulty in wanting to draw near to them even if they apologize and want to make amends. Our tendency is to avoid setting ourselves up to be hurt again. Yet, God is ready to draw near to us when we will draw near to him.

I am going to leave you with that thought and this prayer.

Lord, thank you for being faithful to me even when I’ve not been faithful to you. Help me draw near to you and to remember you are with me. You are a faithful and loving God.

Episode 107 - "Whoever kills you . . .will think he is offering service to God" - John 16:1-4

John 16:1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

The opening words of this section should cause us to go back and read Jesus’ words leading up to this warning. Jesus is not trying to scare them. He is preparing them. Everything that Jesus has been telling them about the importance of them abiding in him and his words abiding in them is to help them remain steadfast in their faith WHEN (not if) they are persecuted. Jesus repeatedly promised that he would ask the Father to send them the Holy Spirit who would help them remember and understand what Jesus taught them. Furthermore, the Spirit would advocate for their needs to the Father. Jesus encouraged them with a promise that prayers asked in his name would be answered. Finally, he promised them that they would be with him and the Father for eternity. That would mean they would be resurrected sometime after they had died. These promises would serve to encourage them during such a crisis of persecution for their faith in Jesus. 

Jesus explained that he told them all this to keep them from falling away. Through Jesus’ ministry, there were people who initially were following after Jesus. But, John helps us understand these are people who want what they want. The people who had been miraculously fed in the wilderness recognized the significance of the miracle they watched him perform and received the benefit. Yet, when they followed Jesus and he told them they needed to drink his blood and eat his flesh, they didn’t want what Jesus was offering. They wanted Jesus on their own terms. They “fell away.” 

These disciples of Jesus’ have already witnessed the persecution of the man born blind who received his sight by Jesus, was cast out by the Pharisees for his pronouncement that Jesus was from God, and still worshipped Jesus when Jesus revealed his identity to him. These disciples would receive this kind of treatment and worse. Jesus is preparing them for it.

It’s easy to imagine that maybe non-religious and/or atheistic people might persecute these disciples of Jesus. But, Jesus explains to them that it’s religious people. He says in verse 2 that such persecutors will persecute them thinking they are doing God a favor. But, then he explains in verse 3 that these people don’t truly know God. 

How often have we heard about terrible things being done in the name of God or Jesus? But, their words and actions are in utter contradiction to the teachings of Jesus. 

If I were  told that a time is coming soon when people would beat me up, throw me in prison, and kill me for my faith, I imagine the anxiety and stress that might create would be significant. Like these disciples, I hope that the promises of Jesus would keep me steady in my faith and ministry. Jesus did tell his disciples these things would happen to them just as he told them that they would be his witnesses. The disciples had a purpose and mission from God to tell others about Jesus regardless of the consequences. That mission and purpose is for us today. Perhaps we will experience persecution of some manner for our witness. 

We know that that this promised persecution of the disciples happened soon after Jesus’ ascension to heaven. You can read about these in the book of Acts. That is one more indication that Jesus’ promises are true. If that promise is true, then we can also trust that his promises about answered prayer, the Holy Spirit advocating for us and a future resurrection and eternal life with God are also true.

Let us think about these things in order that the Holy Spirit will encourage us with Jesus’ promises.