• Please pray.

    Pray I get my voice back
    1. Hope you are enjoying your read through the Bible this year. As always, I am coming across new and exciting things in God's Word.
      1. Gen. 17:7 Many people make the error of suggesting that with the establishment of the New Covenant, Christ's Covenant with the Church, that the Church has replaced Israel, becoming a new spiritual  Israel. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The Abrahamic Covenant is not a temporary one. God says it is everlasting, drawing its eternal nature from the character of God Himself. "I will keep my covenant," assures us that even when Israel false into apostasy and fails to maintain their obedience, God will keep His promise to Abraham. In part, God has already kept it in bringing a great number of people to an incomparable blessing through the faith in God's promises that Abraham had, but at the same time, God is not yet finished with Israel. He will keep a portion for Himself, who will be instrumental in the final days, spreading the Gospel to a world facing God's wrath. They will once again become a great nation, serving the Lord in His kingdom.
        1. Jonathan sent me a question the other day concenring why Noah cursed Canaan for Ham's sin. Rather than trying to explain this in my own words, I am copying a good resource that does a much better job of explaining the thought and culture behind these events. It's lengthy, but worth the read. Feel free to comment any thoughts you might have.  " The curse of Canaan (9:18–29) This passage has several interpretive problems that have always plagued Bible scholars. It is important to remember the purpose of the book, for this passage has V 1, p 41 direct reference to the nature and destiny of the Canaanites, Israel’s antagonists. 9:18–23. Those who came out of the ark are identified, with the special note that Ham was the father of Canaan. From Noah’s three sons descended all the world’s people. The descendants of Shem were the Shemites from whom Abraham descended (cf. 10:21–31; 11:10–26). Noah, “the man of the earth” (as the rabbis translated the words a man of the soil), began to plant a vineyard. Though wine is said to cheer the heart (Jud. 9:13; Ps. 104:15) and alleviate the pain of the curse (Prov. 31:6), it is also clear that it has disturbing effects. Here Noah lay drunk and naked in his tent. Intoxication and sexual looseness are hallmarks of pagans, and both are traced back to this event in Noah’s life. Man had not changed at all; with the opportunity to start a “new creation,” Noah acted like a pagan (cf. Gen. 6:5; 8:21). The basic question concerns what Ham, Noah’s youngest son, did (9:22, 24) and why Noah cursed Ham’s “son” Canaan (vv. 25–27). Many fanciful ideas have been proposed. The rabbis said Ham castrated Noah, thus explaining why Noah had no other sons. Others claim that Ham slept with his mother, thus uncovering his father’s nakedness, and that Canaan was the offspring of that union. Others have said that Ham was involved in a homosexual attack on his father. But the Hebrew expression here means what it says: Ham … saw his father’s nakedness (v. 22). He was not involved with Noah sexually, for in that case the Hebrew would be translated “he uncovered (causative form of gālâh) his father’s nakedness.” Instead Noah had already uncovered himself (wayyiṯgal, reflexive form, v. 21), and Ham saw him that way. To the ancients, however, even seeing one’s father naked was a breach of family ethic. The sanctity of the family was destroyed and the strength of the father was made a mockery. Ham apparently stumbled on this accidentally, but went out and exultingly told his two brothers, as if he had triumphed over his father. So what seems to be a trivial incident turned out to be a major event. Noah’s oracle (vv. 25–27) showed that the natures of his three sons would be perpetuated in their descendants. In all but one of the verses in Leviticus 18:6–19, Moses used the causative form of the verb gālâh to refer to the Canaanites’ (Ham’s descendants) “uncovering” another’s nakedness (rendered in the niv, “have sexual relations”). This euphemism reports the actual licentious and repulsively immoral behavior of the descendants of Ham (cf. Lev. 18:3). Ham’s disposition toward moral abandon thus bore fruit in the immoral acts of his descendants, the Canaanites. 9:24–29. Because of this incident Noah prophesied about his sons’ descendants. He began with the direct words, Cursed be Canaan! However, Noah was not punishing Ham’s son for something Ham did. Instead, Noah’s words referred to the nation of Canaanites that would come from Ham through Canaan. Ham’s act of hubris could not be left without repercussions. A humiliation in like measure was needed, according to the principle of retributive justice. Ham had made an irreparable breach in his father’s family; thus a curse would be put on his son’s family. It has been suggested that Ham may have attempted to seize leadership over his brothers for the sake of his own line. This would be similar to other ancient traditions about a son replacing his father. But if he did his attempt failed, and his line through Canaan was placed not in leadership over other clansmen, but under them (v. 25). Noah’s oracle predicted that the Canaanites would be in servitude to the Shemites and Japhethites (vv. 26–27). But this was because the Canaanites lived degrading lives like Ham, not because of what Ham did. The point is that nationally, at least, drunken debauchery enslaves a people. This is why, in God’s program to bless Israel, the Canaanites were condemned. They were to be judged by God through the Conquest because their activities were in the same pattern and mold as their ancestor Ham. The enslavement of Canaanites is seen in many situations in the history of the Old Testament. Such a case turned up fairly soon; the Canaanites were defeated and enslaved by eastern kings (chap. 14). Another example was the Gibeonites who later under Joshua became wood choppers and water carriers for V 1, p 42 Israel’s tabernacle (Josh. 9:27). If the subjugation of Canaan to Japheth’s line is to be carried to the extreme, as ‘eḇeḏ (slave, Gen. 9:26–27) sometimes implies, then it would go no further than the Battle of Carthage (146 b.c.) where the Phoenicians (who were Canaanites) were finally defeated. But Noah’s words seem to be more of a general than a specific prophecy, that the line of Shem will be blessed and the line of Ham in Canaan will be cursed. This blessing-cursing motif is crucial in Genesis. The Canaanites would have to be dispossessed from their place by Israel under Joshua in order for blessing to come on Shem (v. 26) and for the Japhethites to dwell in the tents of Shem (v. 27). This meant that the Japhethites would live with the Shemites on friendly terms, not that the Japhethites would dispossess the Shemites. So verses 24–29 actually set the foundation for Israel’s foreign policy in the land (Deut. 20:16–18)." John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985). Page . Exported from Logos Bible Software, 3:14 PM January 8, 2017.
          1. In Genesis 3:1, we see the first question asked in the Bible. sadly, it is Satan who asks it, and it is for the expressed purpose of raising doubt concerning the Word of God. Some would suggest that this is a good example why we should never question God's Word; however, it is important to remember Satan's purpose in the question. Satan sought to drive a wedge between God and man. Questioning God's Word is never a bad thing when it helps us to better understand what God has said so that we may draw closer to Him, but they should never be used to deter our faith or lead us to doubt His goodness and faithfulness.
            1. In John 1:1-3, John draws our attention to the eternal nature of Christ, in His existence as the eternal incarnate Word of God. In his discourse, John places Christ postitionally, relationally, and experientially in the Godhead, as the person of God orchestrating the creative work of God, through whom everything was created. Psalm 8 can be said to be a dual purpose declaration. On the one hand, it highlights that man's dignity is a result of God's sovereign decision to elevate man above all other creation, "a little lower than God" (some translations say angels or heavenly beings, but this is not an accurate translation of Elohim), based solely on God's graciousness election rather than man's merit. On the other hand, as several NT writers have pointed out, this pslam also serves as a prophetic utterance concerning the authority God has granted Christ, placing ALL things under His dominion, excluding nothing (1 Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:22; Heb. 2:5-8). In Psalm 104, the psalmist focuses his reflection and praise on the sovereign authority and power of God. Thorugh His creative work, God has established the "natural" order that we see in the world around us. The seas have God-ordained boundaries, all creatures have natural rythems that govern thier lives, and every aspect of Creation responds to His slightest whim. The result this understanding produced in the pslamist was a desire to praise the Lord and see anything that was not in harmony with God's Creation to be removed from it completely (sinners). All of this should provide in us the same desire to praise Him for whom He is, rather than only for what He does or did on our behalf, and to see that which defies His sovereign will removed from His Creation, beginning with our own stubborn will. This does not condon the destruction of all those who do not beleive, but instead should motivate us to pursue the Great Commission, as we truly pray, "Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven."
              1.  — Edited

                As you begin reading through the book of Genesis, it is helpful to pay attention to the structure of the book. The structure is where we get the English name of the book, based off the Greek tranlation "Geneseos" of the Hebrew word, "Toldot", (Gen. 2:4)  which can also be translated as record, account, or generations. The book is a record of the generations of man and the origin of the land in which God's people would eventually dwell.  The Toldots, or records, can be spoted throughout the book, which slowly narrow their focus their attention on the family that God would set apart for His own and through whom the Messiah would eventually come. This shows us that whicle God is the primary character in His story, the theme of His story is the redemptive work of Christ and the restoration of man to God. Here is a breakdown of the various Toldot's, or records, as found in the book of Genesis. Creation (1:1–2:3) 2. Ṭôleḏôṯ of the heavens and the earth (2:4–4:26) 3. Ṭôleḏôṯ of Adam (5:1–6:8) 4. Ṭôleḏôṯ of Noah (6:9–9:29) 5. Ṭôleḏôṯ of Shem, Ham, and Japheth (10:1–11:9) 6. Ṭôleḏôṯ of Shem (11:10–26) 7. Ṭôleḏôṯ of Terah (11:27–25:11) 8. Ṭôleḏôṯ of Ishmael (25:12–18) 9. Ṭôleḏôṯ of Isaac (25:19–35:29) 10. Ṭôleḏôṯ of Esau (36:1–8) 11. Ṭôleḏôṯ of Esau, father of the Edomites (36:9–37:1) 12. Ṭôleḏôṯ of Jacob (37:2–50:26) Allen P. Ross, “Genesis,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 22.
                1. The translation that comes with the app is the Lexham English Translation. Other Bibles can be added, but the LEB is an excellent Translation that is only available in a digital format.
                  1.  — Edited

                    If you're looking for the Chronological read through the Bible plan, click on "Logos Documents" on the menu bar and select "Chronological Reading Plan."