Today's Readings and Stiff == Thursday, 02 January 2020

Another day in the month of January.
As others have been pointing out, the year 2050 is as near to us as the year 1990. 

We're being quiet here.  Probably calling the doctor in the morning.  Wife's troubles, one section of them anyway, recently got worse.  The issues in question seem to have followed closely the change to a new blood pressure drug.  The two or three she'd been on before, the Valsartan being an example, have been yanked off the market, something about being potentially cancer-causing or something.  So they put her on a new one.  Now she has MUCH worse bladder pain, MUCH worse pain and swelling in the feet and ankles, and, laterly, some very noticeable dark discoloration around the ankles and foot uppers.  She went out on the 'net and did some looking around.  It appears that this new drug is VERY discouraged for people with kidney diseases such as hers.  We really don't be needing her kidneys to shut down, they're not good to start with.  So we've gone two days without the BP drug now, and we're seeing some slight improvement in that swelling.  But we're also seeing a distinct rise in the BP.  Not a good situation.  So, apparently, we need to make yet another change.

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As we read the book of the Genesis, we see the seeds of the problems that afflict the world to this day, and which will until the End.  But we also see, even here, the promise of the future Savior.

Genesis 3

The Temptation and the Fall

1Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’? ” 

2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” 

4“No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman.  

5“In fact, God knows that when  you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God,  knowing good and evil.” 

6Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.  

7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Sin’s Consequences

8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,  and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  

9So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you? ”

10And he said, “I heard You  in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

11Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? ”

12Then the man replied,  “The woman You gave to be with me — she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

13So the Lord God asked the woman, “What is this you have done? ”  And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.” 

14Then the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal.  You will move on your belly

and eat dust all the days of your life. 

15I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.

He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. 

16He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children in anguish.  Your desire  will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you.

17And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. 

You will eat from it by means of painful labor  all the days of your life.

18It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 

19You will eat bread  by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, 

since you were taken from it.  For you are dust,  and you will return to dust.”

20Adam named his wife Eve  because she was the mother of all the living. 

21The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

22The Lord God said, “Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”  

23So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 

24He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life. 

Genesis 4

Cain Murders Abel

1Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.”  

2Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. 

3In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord.  

4And Abel also presented an offering — some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions.  The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,  

5but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent. 

6Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious?  And why do you look despondent?  

7If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” 

8Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”  And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 

9Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel? ”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian? ”

10Then He said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground!  

11So now you are cursed, alienated, from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed.  

12If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” 

13But Cain answered the Lord, “My punishment  is too great to bear! 14Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.” 

15Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case,  whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.”  And He placed a mark  on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. 

16Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

The Line of Cain

17Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son. 

18Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 

19Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. 

20Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of the nomadic herdsmen.  

21His brother was named Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and the flute. 

22Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.

23Lamech said to his wives:  Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words  For I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.

24If Cain is to be avenged seven times over,

then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times!

25Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given  me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” 26A son was born to Seth  also, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of Yahweh. 

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Psalm 2

Coronation of the Son

1Why  do the nations rebel  and the peoples plot in vain? 

2The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and His Anointed One:  

3“Let us tear off their chains and free ourselves from their restraints.”  

4The One enthroned  in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them. 

5Then He speaks to them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath: 

6“I have consecrated My King on Zion, My holy mountain.” 

7I will declare the Lord’s decree: He said to Me, “You are My Son; today I have become Your  Father. 

8Ask of Me,  and I will make the nations Your  inheritance and the ends of the earth Your  possession. 

9You will break  them with a rod of iron; You  will shatter them like pottery.”  

10So now, kings, be wise; receive instruction, you judges of the earth.

11Serve the Lord with reverential awe and rejoice with trembling. 

12Pay homage to  the Son or He  will be angry and you will perish in your rebellion,  

for His  anger may ignite at any moment. All those who take refuge in Him  are happy. 

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This is a wonderful, marvelous account.
And yet .....  we too rarely teach or preach or consider the reality of the other side of that, as detailed in verse 16 and following.  Some medieval artists produced works under titles like "The Slaughter of the Innocents".  It's a tough subject.  Do I understand it all?  By no means.  I think it evident that these babies had done nothing to earn the Lord's condemnation.  But, as we see too often and question, why do bad things happen to "good" people?   I believe that this evil conduct by Herod and his willing servants does not imply the Lord's eternal condemnation of those children, or of their parents either.  But it's a hard subject, and we do wrong in ignoring it.


Matthew 2

Wise Men Seek the King

1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem,  2saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we saw His star in the east   and have come to worship Him.” 

3When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes  of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.

5“In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:

6And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the leaders of Judah:

because out of you will come a leader

who will shepherd My people Israel.”  

7Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him.”  

9After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was — the star they had seen in the east!  It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. 11Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  12And being warned  in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

The Flight into Egypt

13After they were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him.”  14So he got up, took the child and His mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. 15He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called My Son.  

The Massacre of the Innocents

16Then Herod, when he saw that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two years  old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.  17Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

18A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping,  and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children;

and she refused to be consoled,

because they were no more.  

The Holy Family in Nazareth

19After Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,  20saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, because those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21So he got up, took the child and His mother, and entered the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus  was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.  23Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that He will be called a Nazarene.