Sermon for 1/22/12 "God's Promises, No Matter What" Genesis 50:15-21

Sermon “God’s Promises, No Matter What” Genesis 50:15-21

The audio link is a little experimental, as I was working on deciding what to pick up for a couple of home-bound families in our congregation. There may be a drop-out of a few minutes at one point. Please forgive the experiment :). Audio is at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23575548/120122Genesis50.mp3

Lord, confirm to your people your covenant love and promises, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

If you've been following our Bible Reading Challenge this past week you read over a good portion of Genesis, reaching the end just recently. Remember, five chapters a day, five days a week, and we'll have read through the Bible in about fifty weeks. In our readings this week we saw Joseph emerge as the main character. And there was a pattern in his life which I think we can see in our own lives as well. We know this will happen, after all, because Joseph was a sinful human just like we are. He was a recipient of God's blessing and he reacted much the same way we would. He took God's blessings and used them for his own advantage, at least a good part of the time.

Let's remember what happened to Joseph. It was revealed to him that he would find his family bowing down to him. He decided it would be a good idea to tell his family members about this revelation. The young brother who was already known to be a favorite of his father, who was never known for doing a good day's work, bragged to his brothers and showed himself to be exactly the kind of arrogant young man they would like to sell to slave traders.

When Joseph was humbled in that circumstance, he was again raised by God's mercy to a position of leadership, this time a higher position of leadership than he had before, in the household of Potiphar. Once again, his self-righteousness shows through even as he is being entrapped by Potiphar's wife. So Joseph is humbled again and sent to prison. In prison, by God's mercy, Joseph finds himself in a position of leadership and assures his fellow prisoners that his interpretation of their dreams will be accurate. He gives glory to God but also to himself and gets to wait longer for his release from prison. When he is sent for in prison because of Pharaoh's troubling dreams, he seems to have been humbled adequately, though he still can't resist suggesting that Pharaoh should elevate someone who is really smart, like himself, to the position of leadership in anticipation of a famine. During this period of Joseph's exaltation he is made a pagan priest, he marries two daughters of Pharaoh, and is glad that God has raised him up and blessed him to make him forget his life in his father's house. He glories in God at the same time that he says he is glad that he is not in the position he used to be in, as a member of the household of God's promise. Meanwhile, Joseph is Pharaoh's instrument to enslave all the people of Egypt and gain possession of all their lands.

When the famine became severe Joseph's brothers came to buy grain. They found themselves in the position of bowing down to Joseph, exactly what God had revealed to him that they would do. How did Joseph use this situation? He tormented his brothers with their past failings and sins. Yet at the same time he did serve as God's instrument to preserve their lives and deliver them into the land of Egypt where they could live and thrive.

At last, Joseph seems to have come to his senses. This arrogant young man has been both blessed by God time and again and has been humbled by God time and again. He has seen that God fulfills his promises and claims all the glory for himself, no matter what his servants try to do. Over and over again, Joseph has seen that the Lord who promises his favor on his chosen people will show his favor on those people. Our Lord is the God who blesses us. And no matter how much credit we try to claim for God's blessing, our claims are nothing. It is not by our own righteousness, not by our trying hard, not by our circumstances, not by our intelligence, not by any of our resources, but only by the power and grace of God that we are delivered from death and destruction. Joseph has seen this time and again.

How are we to react to this grace of God? We see those reactions in our lectionary readings for today as well. In Jonah, when confronted by the majesty of God the people repent and plead for God's forgiveness. In 1 Corinthians we turn our cares and concerns over to our Lord and trust that he can use our resources and our very lives for his purposes. In Mark we see that when the Lord calls his disciples they drop what they are doing to go and follow him. There's this dynamic that we can call “Repent, Believe, Follow.” God shows his grace to us and we realize our sin. We repent. He gives us the things of the faith, delivering them to us through Word and sacraments, passing them down from one generation to the next, and we trust that he is still the Lord of promise. We see that Jesus loved us and died for us, revealing his authority to take our sin and to put it to death, rising to newness of life. God calls us by revealing specifics of his work in our world, and we respond by entrusting our very lives to him, running our business as if it is his business, governing our families as his family, loving our wives as he loves his Church, trusting and obeying husbands as the Church trusts and obeys the Lord. This “repent, believe, follow” dynamic shows up over and over in Scripture. And it fits the life of Joseph as well.

We read in Genesis 50, beginning in verse 15 (NIV):

“15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.
19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.”

God has called Joseph to repentance. He has done it again and again. And finally, here in Genesis 50, that repentance seems to be genuine and lasting. Joseph is no longer trying to put himself on the throne. He is no longer exalting himself as an object of worship. He knows that it is God we worship, none other. May the Lord work this same kind of repentance in us, humbling us. I recall in one of the confessions of sin that is often used, though it isn't as common today as it used to be, we say, “I am heartily sorry” for sin. I ran into one person whose father, when he was about eight years old, told him that he needed to be reading the confession of sin out of the hymnal. Quoting it from memory wasn't doing well for him. The reason? The boy was being quite frank, saying what we all admit to. “I am hardly sorry” for sin. Isn't that the truth? Our Lord confronts us with sin and we're sorry. But really we are hardly sorry. We aren't sorry enough. And it will pass, all too soon. May the Lord show us the weight of our sin before him. May God the Father remind us that our sin is so crushing that when God the Son took it upon himself he was abandoned by God, forsaken, cast into torment. Our sin crushes us. Like Joseph we are imprisoned again and again, and all our efforts to rescue ourselves fall apart. We need a deliverer. May the Lord grant us repentance so we may be forgiven.

What did the Lord work in Joseph for belief? What will he do in us? As Joseph was driven from one place to another, again and again he saw that God was using him in the lives of people who surrounded him. God's gracious will was at work even in slavery, even in prison, even in his decades of separation from home and family. Did Joseph believe that God was accomplishing his good will? Do we believe that our Lord is accomplishing his good will in and through us, regardless of our circumstances? Do we see that whether we are in want or in plenty, whether we are in sickness or in health, whether we are in sad or happy circumstances, the risen Lord Jesus Christ is working out his will, and that his will is to bring his blessing and favor on our world? He who died for us has also risen from the dead and will bring us to rise in newness of life as well. Even in this difficult providence that the Lord brings about, bringing his chosen people into captivity in Egypt for five hundred years, yet the Lord is using the children of Abraham, the children of promise, to bless the whole world. We may not understand how this is happening. In fact, I'll just about guarantee that we won't understand it. Yet it is God's promise and our Lord always keeps his promise. Blessing he will bless us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He will be with us always, to the very end of the world. Our role is to believe that he is working out his good, not evil. That's just what Joseph confessed. That's just what we confess. Even when life looks difficult, we know that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has called us to faith and will carry us through the world we are in, using us as his instruments of grace.

So how did Josph follow the Lord? Most of the time he didn't seem to have much choice, did he? He was probably tied up, literally tied up, for many of his journeys early in his adulthood. And once he was in Pharaoh's household he had political ties which would have been nearly impossible to break. Maybe we feel like we are bound by circumstances. Maybe we think we aren't free to follow our Lord like he would like us to. But that isn't so. Where God has called us, he will always make a way for us to follow him. Has the Lord given you gifts? He will make ways for you to use those which he desires, in the way and at the time he has prepared. You know I don't like to stand up and give you a “thus says the Lord, this is how to follow God in obedience.” Where the Lord calls us we can follow him. Is the Lord calling you to be witnesses to him? This is always his call. Has he given you access to his written Word that you can read and study? Has he put you in the surroundings of a local church where you can gather on a weekly basis, and maybe even more frequently, to receive encouragement, exhortation, and training in righteouseness? Do you have a pastor who will read the Scripture and pray with you and take you around on visitation, doing studies, and preparing and working in worship services as you consider whether the Lord might wish you to serve in pastoral ministry or to train as a deaconess or as an elder or deacon in the local church? Has the Lord surrounded you with friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers whom he would desire to bless? Hs he provided you with finances that you can use to show mercy? Maybe he has even provided you with some vacation or personal time from your job that you can use to devote yourself to study, worship, or service. Maybe he has given you gifts to feed the hungry, to deliver goods and services to people who need them, to bring prosperity to an employer that can use that prosperity to keep many people employed and provide them with wages so they can live and serve the Lord. Our Lord has made many many ways that you and I can follow him in our vocations. May we see all these opportunities as opportunities to be our Lord's instruments of blessing to our world. As Joseph found he could take no credit for God's blessing, we also see that we receive no credit for God's blessing. Salvation is of the Lord, not of us. May we be God's instruments, giving glory, honor and praise to him.

Now may the Lord of all grace bless us by making us his instruments of grace in our world, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Bible Reading Challenge - Week 3 Day 5 Genesis 44-50

Our reading challenge for the day is Genesis chapters 44-50. I'll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?

At long last, Joseph is humbled and reveals himself to his brothers as the one who will watch over them and care for them. Does this mean his character changed entirely? Observe that he still proceeded to work as Pharaoh's instrument to enslave the nation. But then again, the people were left being able to work the land and pay a total tax rate of 20%, which is considerably lower than the taxes I pay as a self-employed citizen of the United States.

There's a big picture here. Joseph is used as God's instrument as well. For some reason, and we don't know the reason, God planned to keep his people in Egypt for some 500 years, in captivity, as they grew into a great nation which would inherit the land promised to Abraham. We never know how we will be acting as our Lord's instruments. We also can't predict reliably what he will do through us. All we can do is be faithful with the situation he has placed us in. May we grow in grace as we seek to do our Lord's will.

Bible Reading Challenge - Week 3 Day 4 Genesis 39-43

Our reading challenge for the day is Genesis chapters 39-43. I'll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?

A very long time ago - my - twenty-eight years ago, I spent a year at an undergraduate Bible college where I took an Old Testament course. When we were confronted with the narrative of Joseph the professor repeated again and again, "Cream always rises to the top." This view of Joseph influenced me fairly strongly. Yet when I have been reading the text of Genesis in recent years I have found that all the patriarchs are just like the rest of us. They are deeply flawed people. Joseph is no less flawed. He starts out as an arrogant young man, the kind of man his brothers would frankly like to sell to slave traders. When that happens, Joseph has several cycles of exaltation but he always rises to the occasion by showing a haughty spirit. See that happening in today's reading. There's a striking statement in Genesis 41:51. Joseph says that God has made him forget all his hardship and his father's house. He comes to that realization as he has become a priest to the Egyptian deities and has been instrumental in enslaving all of the people of Egypt to their government. Joseph then goes on to confront his brothers, dangling their hopes over his angry memories of the way they treated him in the past.

Cream may rise to the top. But it's the sinful nature that rises to the top in the children of Adam, even those who are being blessed by God.

Bible Reading Challenge - Week 3 Day 3 Genesis 34-38

Our reading challenge for the day is Genesis chapters 34-38. I'll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?

Genesis 34 - In the case of Jacob's Family versus Hamor's Family, notice that Jacob and his sons, though wronged, used deception in a matter of religious conscience in order to accomplish their goal. There is never a biblical sanction for saying one thing about a matter of faith, such as circumcision, then acting in opposition to that statement. Everyone is about as wrong as wrong can be.

Genesis 35 - God renews the covenant with Jacob, now called Israel. We still see that the covenants are established by God out of his own good pleasure, despite the sinful attitudes and behaviors of the recipients of the covenant. This mercy of God should bring comfort to us when we see our own failure.

Genesis 36 - When we see lengthy genealogies like this we probably do well to observe that many of the tribal peoples we will meet later spring from these foundations. Knowledge of who one's people might be is important in the Old Testament, particularly as God traces the lineage of the Messiah to come.

Genesis 37 - Sometimes we idealize Joseph. I observe that he seems to have a haughty attitude and to treat his brothers and even his parents as someone who is superior to them. Of course that doesn't excuse deciding to sell him . . .

Genesis 38 - Consider the importance of raising up offspring for your deceased relatives. This was a serious issue in terms of inheritance and providing for future generations of a family. The sin of Er is not mentioned. The sin of Onan is that he refuses to risk his inheritance for the benefit of his older brother's widow. Judah? Guilty of self-protection. We don't find out much about Shelah. Yet we continue to see that the people of God's promise have just as many flaws as we do ourselves.

Bible Reading Challenge - Week 3 Day 2 Genesis 29-33

Our reading challenge for the day is Genesis chapters 29-33. I'll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?

Rather than break up by chapter, I read the whole passage and looked for the big point. See how Jacob begins as the deceiver who tries to take advantage of every situation he can. He seems selfish. Yet over the years, he finally starts to see that he doesn't win anything by himself. By the time he has departed from his twenty years' service to Laban, he is realizing that though he wants to take credit for his prosperity, the credit really belongs to God. When he is about to meet up with his brother again he has a stroke of realization. He has become a great prosperous man, a fact which weighs on him heavily. He could lose a great deal and begins to have concern about the well-being of his family and flocks. God rewards him by meeting with him, letting him struggle all night, and having Jacob realize that he is not the master of his own destiny. Thus empowered, Jacob is re-named Israel and carries on into his ancestral land where he will be much more the kind of man God appoints him to be.

Bible Reading Challenge - Week 3 Day 1 Genesis 24-28

Our reading challenge for the day is Genesis chapters 24-28. I'll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?

Genesis 24:1-25:18 Abraham finds a wife for Isaac. See the divine intervention involved. Also see the fact that the marriage is built on commitment, not on knowing and loving the person previously.

Genesis 25:19-26:35 Isaac's children set up a future conflict as Easau, the older, sells his birthright to Jacob. The family spends time among the Philistines where Isaac presents Rebekah as his sister, not his wife, causing problems similar to those faced by Abram and Sarai in Egypt. We do tend to fall into the same conflicts as our ancestors, don't we?

Genesis 27-28 Jacob deceives his father into giving him the blessing which Isaac had intended for Esau. It looks like the blessing Isaac could give was a one-time blessing, something which God would grant but could not be changed. How do we view the blessings we give? Do we bless and then revoke that blessing? Or do we trust that the Lord's blessing will work through our words as we pray God's blessing on others? See in Genesis 28 that God's blessing comes upon Jacob not because of Jacob's faithfulness but because of God's faithfulness.

“The Death Which Brings Life” - Genesis 3

Sermon “The Death Which Brings Life” - Genesis 3 audio link http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23575548/120116Genesis3.mp3

May the Word of the Lord dwell in us richly, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Here we are in the season of Epiphany, the second Sunday. It's still the season for the realization of the person and work of Jesus. We saw the baptism of the Lord last week, realizing that he was the one who would walk ahead of us wherever we go, even through the waters of death. And we keep recognizing Jesus' work this week in our readings.

In 1 Samuel we read about how God is the God who calls people. He comes to find us where we are, asleep, ignorant, maybe even hiding. He interrupts us with his call, with his purposes, with his intentional voice. And he can do so even in a dark world like the one in which Samuel lived. He still calls people to himself today, to life in repentance and faith. He still calls people to service, both in our many more routine seeming vocations and sometimes into more special vocations, such as pastors and teachers or other churchly workers. Our Lord is the one who can come and call his people, appointing them to the service that his kingdom needs. How do we like being on call, 24/7/365, for God's purposes? I'll guarantee you that there are some occasions when it isn't the most pleasing idea that comes to our minds.

In our reading from 1 Corinthians we see that our Lord has made us for obedience. He has made us members of Christ. He has separated us from evil in order to give us good works. He shows himself to be the Lord of our lives, of our bodies, the one who has purchased us and who can govern us for his own purposes. We are to live as holy people, only for him, not for ourselves. And we realize that it is through Jesus Christ's work on the cross that we have been purchased for this purpose. How do we like being enslaved? Even to good works? We know they are good and right, but deep down we confess there are things about our own self-centered sinful attitudes and behaviors that we like.

In our reading of the Gospel we see that Jesus is the Lord who walks with us, who knows our inmost thoughts, who knows where we came from and where we are going. Again, maybe this is a comfort to us but maybe not. I remember a time when I was young and full of vinegar. The world was level, and I could go to accomplish anything I wanted to. I had plans, and those plans were good plans. I was the king of my own destiny. Know what happened? Jesus came and walked me along a different path. He knows me. He knows what I can and can't do. And he's shown me quite a few things that I can't do. I don't think he's done with that job yet. But over and over again he shows me what he can do, and it's always better than the things I thought I could do but found I couldn't. Jesus knows what we need. He knows where we are going. He knows what he wants to do with us. And the longer we live, the more we find out, bit by bit, that his plan is good.

Yes, in today's readings, we have seen our Lord. We've seen him shine his light on us. He's exercised his authority and knowledge. He's shown us right and wrong. He's shown us his sinlessness and we have ended up confronted with our sin, our selfishness, our weakness, our lack of understanding, our inability. Are you comfortable with that? I mean, entirely comfortable with that? Do you really like it when our Lord points out your mortality, your corruption, your utter failure to live a perfectly holy life in his sight? I know I'm not. When God's light of perfection starts shining on me I start to feel like a cockroach. Ever see what they do when the lights turn on? They scatter. They run and hide. They see their weakness and they take off. And when God's perfect light shines on our lives we often do the same. We see our sin, our failure. And when we see that we want to hide. We want to blame someone else for our failings. We want to do whatever we can to escape. Do we know better? Of course we do. But we don't do better.

Enter Genesis chapter 3. In our Bible reading challenge, if you have kept up, this week you've wrapped up Matthew's Gospel and moved on to Genesis, about five chapters a day, five days a week. We're taking in the word of God. And I want you to know, week after week, that God's Word is unified. This is a time of realization. It's Epiphany. And what do the people realize in Genesis chapter 3? They realize sin. But God isn't satisfied stopping there. If it had been me, I know what I would have done. The man and woman are decreed to die in the day they eat of the tree. They eat of the tree. Game over. Sin realized, death realized, no fuss, no muss, too bad it was such a short run.

Aren't you thankful that I'm not God? He's very different than we are. What do the people do? Yes, they sin. Yes, they were tempted. But they sin. The woman eats, she gives to the man who was with her in the temptation and who did nothing about it. The man eats, they realize their guilt, they try to hide, they try to blame one another, they try to blame Satan, they try to blame God. And none of it works. Let's see how it plays out.

In their sin, who comes to find them? Do they go running to God asking for his forgiveness? No, not at all. They are busy hiding. But starting in Genesis 3:8 God comes to them. He calls out to the man, making the man answer, even though God knew where he was all along. Just like God calls Samuel, just like God calls Nathanael, just like God calls us, he calls out to Adam. He can't hide. God seeks him out. Do we feel like hiding in our sin? I have news for you. All those sins that you brought in with you today? I don't know what they are, at least not many of them. But our Lord knows what they are. And when you confessed sins in thought, word and deed, omission and commission? Our Lord knows exactly what they are, in every detail. You may not be comfortable with that. But do you know what? When our Lord called me to serve you as a pastor, he called me to come and forgive you in the stead and by the command of Jesus. He appointed his servants to pass out forgiveness. How much of that sin did I forgive? Some of it? The sin that I thought you repented of well enough? The sin that I thought you wouldn't do any more? No, not at all. Our Lord seeks us out. He uncovers our sin, and he forgives it all, not part, but every bit of our sin. God is the one who seeks us out. Why do we try to hide our sin from our Lord? Please, may the Lord grant that we will realize in this time of Epiphany that he already died for our sin. We don't need to hide it. We can repent freely, confess our sin, and receive his forgiveness, full and free. We serve the Lord who comes to seek and to save sinners. He is the one who seeks us out.

Now what is the fix for the sin? It isn't hiding, we established that. How about passing blame? After all, I might be able to get off if I'm not as bad a sinner as, for instance, maybe you! How many times have we heard children do this one? They aren't as sophisticated as adults. But they do the same thing. Back to Genesis chapter 3. If you're following along, start looking around verse 11, where I start paraphrasing. “Adam! You're naked? Well, the fact is, I knew that. I'm the one who made you that way. But who told you that?”

“Well, I don't like to say things about the gifts you give me. But, Lord, it's that woman what you give me. She done give me the fruit. Now I don't know why you'd want to give me someone like that, but it sure wasn't my fault.”

So now we see that the man has blamed the woman and he has blamed the God who gave him the woman. He has avoided the blame for himself. He does confess to eating the fruit. But it really wasn't his fault.

Do we do this? “Why did you hit your brother?” “He made me mad.” “Why did you abandon your husband for another man?” “He just wasn't the kind of husband the Lord should have given me.” “Why do you drink so much?” “They ruined my self-worth so now I have no choice but to get back at them.” We try to pass the blame around. But when our Lord looks at us, do we really have any excuses? No, hiding didn't work, passing blame didn't work.

It looks like we're down to death. Are we back to the way it would work if I were God? Sin, death, game over? Not precisely. Look what kind of death we see here in Genesis chapter 3. There's a promise of defeat to the serpent, the tempter. There are consequences for sin – cursing, pain, suffering, hard labor which isn't fruitful. No doubt there are consequences. The world has been suffering those consequences ever since. But then, in verse 21, what does God do? He brings death. And to whom does he bring death? God himself covers Adam and Eve with animal skins. And there's not one of us who knows how to get an animal to give up its skin without death. Our Lord has brought death into the world, himself, by his own hand, on his own terms, to cover up the sin and shame of our first parents. He who gave life to the people in the first place has taken another life on their behalf. He has given them life again at his own expense, through the sacrifice he makes.

In this time of realization, may we also realize that the God who knows us, who knows the very depth of our sin and shame, is the very same God who calls us to himself, who appoints us for good, not for evil, who walks along with us, guarding our paths, and who himself covers our sin and shame. May we realize that it is through Jesus' death that we have life. May we realize what it is to be clothed in Christ, the one who died for us. May we see that in his bloody sacrifice he has redeemed us from the curse of sin. And it is only through that death that we have life.

When the light of God shines on us through His word, as he convicts us of sin, as he shows us his righteousness, may we also see that he is the perfect sacrifice who has died in our place. He is the one who has the death that brings us life, just as he was in the garden when our first ancestors condemned themselves. Jesus' forgiving love is right here, right now, for you and for me, because he has given his life for ours. He is the one who will work in us and through us, nurturing us in his loving forgiveness.

Now may the grace of our Lord and savior be with you all, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Bible Reading Challenge - Week 2 Day 5 Genesis 19-23

Our reading challenge for the day is Genesis chapters 19-23. I'll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?

Genesis 19 - As God had promised his angels would search for righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah. But they would not find even a minimal number to spare the cities. Out of mercy the Lord preserved Lot and his family, who continued in their faithlessness and brought forth the Moabites and Ammonites, enemies of the people of Israel.

Genesis 20-21 - In this family of promise, Abraham and Sarah have all sorts of sin and strife. Abraham misleads Abimelech about the identity of Sarah, leading Sarah to be taken into Abimelech's harem, only to be rescued by God. Isaac, the child of promise, is born and raised, resulting in Sarah's casting off of her maid Hagar and Ishmael, the child fathered by Abraham, who is later rescued by divine intervention. Who is the hero? Certainly not the family of promise, but only the God of promise.

Genesis 22 - Again the God of promise preserves his people, showing clearly to Abraham that though Abraham is incapable of bearing and maintaining the child of promise, God is perfectly capable of doing this. Consider how it is God the Father who is the father of the true child of Abraham, the child of promise, and that that very child of promise, Jesus Christ, is the lamb who is offered as a substitute for Isaac himself.

Genesis 23 - Consider how the rich man, Abraham, purchased the only piece of land he ever owned, a burial ground, late in life. What do we consider riches and security?

Bible Reading Challenge - Week 2 Day 4 Genesis 14-18

Our reading challenge for the day is Genesis chapters 14-18. I'll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?

Genesis 14 - Notice the actions of Abram and the actions of Melchizedek. See where else Melchizedek is mentioned in the Bible and in what context.

Genesis 15 - Observations about how God makes his covenant with Abram - one-sided, based on God's promise, not Abram's, God's presence passing through the torn animals signifies that God may be torn apart if he fails to keep his promise. Notice Abram was not allowed to bind himself the same way.

Genesis 16 - Human plans to bring about the child of promise ultimately fail and lead to strife. What does this say about our ability to accomplish the promises of God?

Genesis 17 - God's covenant of circumcision re-establishes his promises granted in chapter 15 but is a sign passed down from generation to generation to be received by faith. With the clothing customs of the Semitic people this is a barely visible covenant.

Genesis 18 - The promise of Isaac, the child of promise, brings laughter to Sarai. The name Isaac means "laughter." Even as God promises this child through whom his covenant will be lived out, he also speaks against the sin of man. Abram pleads with God to be merciful and God does state his mercy in elaborate terms. We will see in future chapters whether God's mercy will be exercised.

Bible Reading Challenge - Week 2 Day 3 Genesis 9-13

Our reading challenge for the day is Genesis chapters 9-13. I'll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?

Genesis 9-10 See how God establishes his covenant with Noah and his descendants. Consider how God is the one who initiates covenants and establishes them. The commands he gives are for the good of his people, so they will receive his blessing. He gives a sign of the covenant which is a reminder to God, not to man. It is God who binds himself to be the one who will bring blessing.

Genesis 11 God's displeasure shows when the people try to claim divine rights for themselves. Though we are created in the image of God show his image in this world we do not have divine power and authority. Yet as God's command is that people should multiply through the whole earth, the work of scattering the people at Babel continues the work of spreading them throughout the world to take dominion.

Genesis 12-13 Once again God establishes a covenant, this time with Abram, who promptly shows himself, though a partaker of God's covenant, to be a man with a sinful and selfish nature. Yet through this fallen vessel God promises to bless all nations.

Bible Reading Challenge - Week 2 Day 2 Genesis 3-8

Our reading challenge for the day is Genesis chapters 3-8. I'll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?

Genesis 3 - God protects the people he has created even though they wish to blame anybody but themselves for their disobedience which is bringing them death.

Genesis 4 - The offspring of Adam and Eve proves to be bent toward self-serving violence. Yet God's nature as the loving and forgiving one still shows forth. He puts his protection upon Cain, the one who deserves condemnation.

Genesis 5 - Notice that Seth the son of Adam dies only a few years before Noah is born. Also notice that Adam was in the image of God but the children of Adam were in the image of Adam, partakers of his sinful nature.

Genesis 6-8 God's judgment on the sin of the world is clear. Yet he remembers his promise that he will destroy sin through the offspring of the woman. By preserving Noah and his remnant family through the flood he preserves the line of the Messiah and foreshadow the washing of regeneration found in baptism as all humanity passes through the waters of death.

Bible Reading Challenge - Week 2 Day 1 Matthew 26-28, Genesis 1-2

Our reading challenge for the day is Matthew chapters 26-28 and Genesis 1-2. I'll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?

Matthew 26:1-25 Even as people are plotting to kill Jesus he shows himself as the Lord who does not worry about his death. The sorrow belongs to the one who betrays him.

Matthew 26:26-29 See the covenant language in the institution of the Lord's Supper. Jesus gives himself as the one who is purchasing forgiveness in communion. He presents this as a supernatural meal.

Matthew 26:30-56 Jesus prays, is betrayed, and arrested. We continue to notice Jesus' perfect trust in the Father's providence.

Matthew 26:57-27:26 The arrest and trial of Jesus doesn't go as the people who arrested him expect. The whole situation is more charged with emotion than Herod or Pilate could imagine. We see how Jesus comes to bring division. How does the true Gospel divide our families, friends, and nation?

Matthew 27:27-66 Compare Psalm 22.

Matthew 28:1-20 Jesus in his resurrection appears to his disciples. The authorities try to cover up what happened. See Jesus' promise to be with his people always. See also the way they are to disciple all nations - the spread of the Gospel happens through the very simple means of baptizing and teaching.

Genesis 1:1-2:3 See the step-by-step order of creation. God first creates the heavens and the earth then he fills them. Even in perfection the creation has duties - multiply and fill the earth, and the people are to care for and exercise wise dominion. Think of ways we can care for and exercise dominion over our surroundings.

Genesis 2:4-25 Here we have an account of the creation more from the point of view of God's interactions with the people. See the roles that husband and wife are to have.