Genesis Chapter 1

 

 

 

We decided to start the New Year at the start of everything. with Genesis Chapter 1.

 

There is no historical context for this story as it is the first story in the history of God’s relationship with mankind. There has been some debate over the years among bible scholars as to when the story was written and by whom; some proposing dates as late as the Babylonian exile, others favouring the time of the Temple under Solomon, and various dates in between. All this seems very late in the history of the Hebrews for the Law to have been in written form, it makes sense from a historical point of view to believe that the five books of Moses were indeed written by Moses during the time when the Hebrews were in the wilderness. Moses was an educated man, he was given an Egyptians prince’s education at the court of Pharaoh, the Ark of the Covenant and the Tent of Meeting were constructed during this time so the Hebrews had sacred objects and a place to keep written documents as they traveled. Having come out of Egypt and been freed from slavery, the story of who they were and why God had saved them was an important part of their identity and it makes sense that the oral traditions of the early patriarchs and the story of their deliverance from slavery would be drawn together and recorded at this time in their history. The rhythm of the first chapters of Genesis and the repeated refrain are indicative that these stories were passed down orally from one generation to the next before being written down; oral story telling and record keeping having been a part of early human civilisation for millennia, pre literate people were very good at remembering stories, they would sit around the fire at night and pass on their wisdom and history through the generations. Judaism today uses story telling in the Seder meal and Jesus understood the power of a well told story to help people to remember his teaching. We imagined that God himself told this first story to Adam as they walked in the garden together in the cool of the evening and that Adam passed it on to his own children.

The creation itself is told in six sections, each bracketed by the refrain  “And there was evening, and there was morning” followed by the number of the day.

Light is created on day 1, the Spirit of God hovers over the formless Earth and speaks a word of power and creates Light, although the sun, moon and stars do not appear until day four, so the source of light in the universe is not the sun or stars but God himself. Cross reference to John chapter 1 to see that the word and the light are Jesus, present and active in the Trinity from the beginning.

On day 2 the water is separated into two areas, above and below the sky.

On day three water and land are separated and the land is covered with plants, we imagined an explosion of colour and scent as the bare ground burst forth with all the growing things, trees and flowers, mosses and fungi, grasses and bushes.

On day four the lights are arranged in the sky, sun and moon and stars to act as signs so that time and seasons can be measured.

On day five the waters are filled with fish and all other swimming creatures and the sky is populated with birds. again we imagined a great explosion of life and movement and noise as the sea boiled and swirled with living things and clouds of birds appeared in the sky, all singing and flying around, trying out their wings.

Day 6 sees the land filled with living things, wild animals and livestock, and then God decides to create mankind in his own image. Out of all the amazing things God has called into being he singles out human beings as a special creation, to be made in his image. We are like God in our very being, we are creative and we love to create, because God is infinite we are all different, an infinite variety of expressions of the image of God, an infinite variety of skills and talents and personalities and gifts. God then gives all the rest of creation into our stewardship, he ordains a special place for us among the other living things he has created.

We reflected that God remarks after each creation that “it is good”, and when the whole is finished he sees that it is “very good”. God is pleased with what he has made, he calls it good, we need to remind ourselves when we are self critical or judging others that God made us and we are “good”, God was pleased when he made us and we are the work of his hands.

We ended our study by reflecting on the goodness of God and the aptness of responding to this passage in a creative way.

Joseph the Dreamer, Genesis 37

Joseph the dreamer, one of the best known stories of the Old Testament, thanks to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, is also a story with which it is easy for us to identify.

Jacob has a large family, two official wives and two concubines, the servants of his wives, who have also borne him children. He has twelve sons in total and possibly a number of daughters – only one is mentioned by name but daughters were not generally counted in a man’s descendants so there may have been more. Jacob is also known by the name Israel and his sons will become the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel in due course.

Joseph is a younger son, born to Rachel after many years of barrenness while her sister and the two serving girls gave birth to their children. Rachel was the wife Jacob worked for 14 years to marry, he fell in love with her as a young man and so her son becomes his favourite child. Given his family history of rivalry with his brother, Esau, you would think Jacob may have had more sense! Joseph does not help the situation either, he brings his father bad reports about his brothers, definitely not a good way to promote sibling harmony!

Joseph has been singled out, not only by Jacob, but also by God; he has dreams and visions which seem to foretell an important role for him in the future, he sees visions which suggest that he will be set up as ruler over his brothers and is foolish (or vain) enough to tell his brothers and his parents about them. Even Jacob rebukes his son for sharing the dreams, although he does not see the danger Joseph is in from the jealousy of his brothers. We noted here the pattern of God choosing the younger members of a family, the small and overlooked, features in this story reminding us that we often judge importance and seniority by quite different criteria than God does. Jacob wonders what the dreams might mean, echoed later when Mary stores up all the things she has seen and heard about Jesus in her heart.

One thing which really stood out from this story was the destructive nature of jealousy.

Jealousy is an ugly emotion. We all feel it from time to time; maybe we hear someone talking about a great holiday they went on while we are struggling to pay the bills, or a friend has a bigger, more expensive car, a nicer house, a more helpful husband and we feel hard done by. We can be jealous of another’s looks, intellect, health, age etc., there are so many ways in which we can hold up our lives in comparison and feel that we have been short-changed or somehow cheated out of something to which we were entitled. As a parent of a disabled child I can be guilty of looking enviously at friends whose nests are emptying and being jealous of their freedom, knowing that will never happen for me. We all know someone who just seems to have it better than us, and that can make us angry and bitter. The terrible thing about jealousy is that it steals joy, it taints everything we have and makes us feel discontented as well as poisoning our relationships with those of whom we are jealous.

Shakespeare called jealousy the “green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on”, when we look through the lens of jealousy all we see is coloured with our resentment and anger; when we live with jealousy nothing we have is good enough, we cannot enjoy anything because we want more or better. The world loves to foster jealousy, advertising is all about making what we have seem inadequate so that we have to buy more stuff, or persuading us that this or that product will give us the figure or face or hair we want and make us the envy of others.

Joseph’s brothers are jealous of the relationship Joseph enjoys with their father and the suggestion that Joseph may be destined for greatness irks them even more. The relationship between Joseph and his brothers is damaged by their envy, they begin to hate him and plot to get rid of him, their bitterness has reached such depths that they are prepared to commit murder. Here is a stark warning for us – if we allow jealousy to take root in our lives we will soon lose our friends, we will be unable to rejoice with them in their victories and our sympathy for them in sorrow will be false because we will be inwardly happy to see them brought low. No relationship can live and grow under those conditions, true friends want only good things for one another, if we love one another we are happy for the success of others and sorry for their troubles, we do not need to measure them against our own victories and failures, for each of us has our own road to travel. Jealousy leads to hatred and Jesus warns us that to hold hatred in our hearts against another is the same as to murder them.

Their jealousy also poisons the relationship the brothers have with their father, Jacob may be a fool to favour Joseph so openly but there is no suggestion that he treats his other children badly. Simeon and Levi almost started a war when they killed the Shechemites and Reuben slept with one of Jacob’s concubines but there is no mention of any punishment from Jacob towards his sons. If the brothers had been able to focus on their own positions with their father, they had no reason to be discontent, they were well provided for and all had their own households within the tribe. The antidote to jealousy is to look at what we HAVE, to count our blessings and to be content with what God has given us. If all our needs are met by our Heavenly Father why do we need to concern ourselves with what other people have? The Holy Spirit can give us strength to take captive intrusive thoughts and deepens our relationship with a God through prayer and praise, when we cultivate an atmosphere of praise and thankfulness there is no room for bitterness to get a foothold.

After Joseph is sold off into slavery, his brothers then have to live with the knowledge that they have caused their father great sorrow, they have to carry the lies they have told with them and it is their lives which are blighted by their actions. When they come to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph they interpret his harsh behaviour towards them as a judgement for their treatment of him, clearly their consciences have not been quiet even though many years have passed.

As I read this story I am reminded again to beware of comparing myself to others, to be happy with what I have and to thank God for all he gives me.  The antidote to jealousy is worship. More than this I want to be the kind of friend who will happily rejoice with others without reservation and who can come alongside others in their times of trouble and comfort them in humility and grace, because the greatest gifts God has given me are the friends who walk with me through the ups and downs of life, sharing my joys and sadness as I share theirs without measuring ourselves against one another but with open hearts and hands.

 

Micah and the Magi: Matthew 2 and Micah 5

This month in our bible journaling group, we studied the prophecy which told the Magi where to find the baby Jesus after they went to Herod by mistake. Matthew 2 tells the story of the Magi, or wise men, who see a new star in the sky and follow it to find and worship the king whose birth it announces. They travel from the East and arrive in Jerusalem, where they visit the palace of Herod the Great. When they tell him they have come to worship the new born King of the Jews Herod is troubled and “all Jerusalem with him”. Summoning his priests and scholars, Herod asks where the Messiah will be born and the priests quote this prophecy from Micah “you Bethlehem Ephrathah, although you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come a ruler to rule my people Israel.” Herod pretends to be very interested and asks the Magi to report back to him once they find the prince so that he, too can worship him. The wise men are warned by an angel not to return to Herod and they go home another way while Joseph takes Mary and Jesus into Egypt and Herod, in frustration, kills all the young boys in Bethlehem.

Herod is the pantomime baddie in nativity plays, he has the babies of Bethlehem slaughtered in order to protect his throne and may have been planning to kill the Magi as well. History shows that he was indeed an unstable and brutal man, he had wives and children murdered when he felt that they were a threat to him so it is entirely in character for him to kill 50 to 100 children in a small hill town if he felt that would benefit him. Herod styled himself “King of the Jews” and had spent a fortune rebuilding the temple and marrying into the Jewish royal family in order to legitimise his rule, in reality he was little more than a Roman puppet but he had a lot of autonomy as long as his kingdom remained peaceful and a good source of revenue for the Roman Empire.Having married a Hasmonean princess he murdered her and most of her family when they outlived their usefulness, as well several of his own sons. The Jews did not love him despite his sponsorship of the temple, he was seen as a foreigner and a usurper. The arrival of a deputation from the East looking for a new king of the Jews would have been a direct challenge to his claim and came at a politically sensitive time when the tax burden for the Roman Empire was increasing under Augustus and the people of Judea were restlessly looking for deliverance from occupation. God had been silent for 400 years, no prophets had spoken in Israel and the priests eagerly looked for the arrival of the promised Messiah, the anointed leader who would free them from bondage to foreign masters and establish a kingdom of Israel like the golden age of King David. When the strangers came looking the scholars knew straight away where to find the prophecy for they would have studied it carefully many times before. Jesus fulfils the prophecy, being born in Bethlehem, and undermines the authority of false kings such as Herod, he also attracts worship from non Jews in the form of the Magi, showing right from the start of his life on earth that he is for everyone.

We wondered about the star leading the Magi, as Christians we are to have nothing to do with astrology or using the stars for divination, why is a star used to bring the wise men? Many ancient civilisations studied the stars, Stonehenge and other Neolithic sites and archeological findings in temples show that the ancients were very interested in the sky and used the stars and planets to construct calendars and make quite complicated calculations. In the East Zoroastrianism was one religion which focussed heavily on knowledge of the stars, there were men who devoted themselves to the study of the heavens so it is possible that God used the language they already knew in order to communicate with them and bring them to witness the birth of the Saviour.

In the prophecy itself, Micah foretells that a foreign nation will subdue Israel, he predicts the fall of Israel and Judah because of the corruption of Canaanite practices, King Ahaz gives his own sons to the fire, he also predicts the silencing of prophecy for a time before the restoration begins. 

” but you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are of old, from ancient times.

Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labour gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.

He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they will live securely for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.” Micah 5, 2-5.

We noted several common threads in this prophecy, God uses the small to achieve greatness, Judah is the brother who offered his life for Benjamin in Genesis, shepherding as a model for the care and concern God shows to his people. Jesus is the ruler whose origins are of old, he predates David and Moses and Abraham, he is the ancient of days who was with God in the beginning. The reference to Israel’s brothers returning reminds us that Jesus was for Jews and non Jews alike.

We noted that the first half of the prophecy has been fulfilled and that the second part is being fulfilled as we live securely under Christ’s ruling, and also as his glory and greatness are preached unto the ends of the earth there is still some way to go. We marvelled that this message feels so personal to each of us, as his flock, and yet was written 3,000 years ago by a rural prophet in a tiny kingdom. As Micah heard the words from God and proclaimed them, God already knew the day and the hour when we would read those same words because all the days are in his book. We felt inspired that God is so great and wise and that he speaks to us so clearly and personally through his living word. We were reminded of Peter telling his readers to study the prophets in 1 Peter 1 and Jesus praying for us even in Gethsemane in John’s gospel and we stand again in awe of the great and loving Father whose name we lift up in praise.

Praise the Name of the Lord Our God

We sang the anthem “Praise the name of the Lord our God” in church the other day and a vivid picture began to form in my mind …

Imagine the scene in Heaven, while Jesus stands bound in front of Pilate, the angel armies stand ready to swoop down at a word and destroy the whole earth in order to rescue him. Legions of angels stand at attention, watching and waiting, while their Commander stands silent before his accusers.

Pilate offers the crowd their choice of prisoner and a murmur of anger and disbelief sweeps through the ranks as the people call out for Barrabas. Still the command does not come, the angels can only watch as Jesus is handed over to be flogged. Their spear tips quiver with suppressed fury at each stroke of the lash, their boots scuff the ground as they unconsciously prepare to charge, they heft their shields into position, visors snap down, surely now the trumpet will sound and the forces of heaven will be released?

But no, the order is not given, there will be no last minute rescue, they will not be entering this battle, this time the Commander is fighting alone.

As he is nailed to the cross and hangs there, naked and bleeding, the shields lower, the army goes from a state of readiness to a shocked stillness. Great tears rolls down the faces of these warriors of light, their shoulders heave with weeping as they watch him die alone. Heaven turns away and the earth isplunged into darkness as he cries out “It is finished!” and gives up his spirit.

For a long, long time, silence falls. Then another sound is heard, far away, but getting louder and more confident. They recognise the voice of their fallen brother as Lucifer laughs and they stand helpless.

But wait, what sound is this?

From the depths of hell the screaming of the damned is replaced by cheering, the sound of crashing metal and falling masonry interrupts the devil’s laughter as the gates of hell are broken asunder and the captives are freed to flee to the light.

Now it is the turn of Satan and his dark minions to stand silent, open mouthed and dumbfounded, as the Victorious King strides out of hell itself and reverses the curse of death and darkness.

The angel at the gates of Eden lays down his flaming sword at the feet of the Prince of Peace and the Son of Man comes to present the blood of sacrifice at the mercy seat of the Ancient of Days. Only the pure offering of a sinless sacrifice can be accepted to wipe away the sins of the world, only Love, pure and whole, can defeat fear and hatred and even death itself.

The sacrifice is accepted, the Father smiles on his beloved Son, who now returns to the tomb he needs no more to reveal himself to his followers. The stone rolls away, the guards fall back from the glory of heaven as the Resurrected King steps away from his discarded grave clothes and the angels roar!

Their victory song resounds through the heavens, swords and spears beat on shields, feet stamp and voices ring out the anthem of praise to Christ the King.

“Worthy is the Lamb!” they cry

“Holy, holy, holy!” the redeemed from hell join in

“Hosanna in the Highest” through the ages the voices of the saints join the chorus. Two thousand years and they are still singing, joined in heaven and on earth by all he came to save.

Our victorious Saviour, risen and glorified, restored to the right hand of the Father, to whom be glory and honour and power through all eternity. Amen.

Matthew 4,18-22

Jesus calls his disciples

Matthew tells the story of Jesus calling Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John in quite bald fashion. There is no conversation recorded; Jesus just rocks up on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and says to them “come with me” and they come. Men whose families depend on them for food and money, sons who are working in their father’s business, ordinary, everyday men just drop everything ad go to follow Jesus, an unknown teacher whose only associate so far has been the man who lives in the desert and baptises people in the river Jordan.

What did Jesus do or say to make the men follow him? There must have been more to the encounter then Matthew records; the only inducement Jesus offers is that they will become fishers of men if they come with him. Jesus himself has just come from his time in the wilderness, he has been baptised by John the Baptist and tested by the devil, he is filled with the Holy Spirit and ready to begin his ministry, the end game of his time on earth has begun and he needs to choose companions who will bear witness to all he says and does for the next three years. He needs someone to whom he can explain his mission, someone who will pass the story on, someone who will explain how the Old Testament prophecies are being fulfilled in him, so he is looking for the right person .

The men are busy, they are fishing and working to feed their families and yet, when he calls they answer. If it is not what he says that convinces them, is it the way he says it? There is undeniably something about Jesus that draws people, he is followed by great crowds of people during his ministry and he inspires acts of adoration from his followers, such as the woman with the perfume and the boy with the loaves and fishes. The word “charismatic” in its purest sense – full of the Spirit – applies to Jesus as to no other man, he is full of truth and Grace, he brings the light of salvation in his train and he manifests the love of God in his every word and action. The mystery then is perhaps why didn’t all the fishermen by Galilee that day follow him? Because he only called the four that day, he chose them specifically for qualities which would become clearer as time went on.

Simon Peter, the brave and impulsive, acting from the heart, rushing in and blurting out whatever he was thinking; Andrew the calmer brother who maybe acts as a brake on Simon’s energy, the man who will have stood back and taken in the situation, a reliable witness; James and John, the sons of thunder, big and strong enough to deal with life on the road, bold and brash enough to preach without fear when the time comes.

All these men had a purpose in God’s big plan, and so do we. We all have qualities which god put into us and which he is calling out of us for use in his service. We are all part of the big plan and we can all be fishers of men, we need to make sure we are listening for the call and be ready to drop whatever seems most important in our lives in order to answer it.

Jonah