Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 12 January 2021

We are now well past the 1/3 point in the month of January.  Progress, yes, though a very long way to go until the ice giants who inflict this region are -- temporarily at least -- banished from the landscape.  So that is A Very Good Thing.

Other than that, well, one struggles to find positive signs in our land.  I realize that, in comparison to the conditions of the Early Church, we have it pretty good all in all.  But having spent too many years as a data analyst and investigator, there are some pretty awful patterns to be seen.  The Lord is in control, certainly, and He is good all the time, even when the circumstances aren't.  But the road ahead is likely to be bumpy.  We are duty bound to make certain that those who will shortly be taking our places are fully prepared.

==================

GENESIS 29

Jacob Meets Rachel

1Jacob resumed his journey  and went to the eastern country.   2He looked and saw a well in a field. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it because the sheep were watered from this well. A large stone covered the opening of the well. 3When all the flocks  were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the opening of the well and water the sheep. The stone was then placed back on the well’s opening.

4Jacob asked the men at the well, “My brothers! Where are you from? ”

“We’re from Haran,” they answered.

5“Do you know Laban grandson of Nahor? ” Jacob asked them.

They answered, “We know him.”

6“Is he well? ” Jacob asked.

“Yes,” they said, “and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with his sheep.”

7Then Jacob said, “Look, it is still broad daylight. It’s not time for the animals to be gathered. Water the flock, then go out and let them graze.”

8But they replied, “We can’t until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone is rolled from the well’s opening. Then we will water the sheep.”

9While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10As soon as Jacob saw his uncle Laban’s daughter Rachel with his sheep,  he went up and rolled the stone from the opening and watered his uncle Laban’s sheep. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept loudly.  12He told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father.

Jacob Deceived

13When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him, and kissed him. Then he took him to his house, and Jacob told him all that had happened.

14Laban said to him, “Yes, you are my own flesh and blood.”  

After Jacob had stayed with him a month, 15Laban said to him, “Just because you’re my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”

16Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. 17Leah had ordinary  eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. 18Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, “I’ll work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 

19Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay with me.” 20So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

21Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is completed. I want to sleep with  her.” 22So Laban invited all the men of the place to a feast. 23That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. 24And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave.

25When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me? ”

26Laban answered, “It is not the custom in this place to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. 27Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.”

28And Jacob did just that. He finished the week of celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. 29And Laban gave his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave. 30Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. 

Jacob’s Sons

31When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved,  He opened her womb;  but Rachel was unable to conceive.  32Leah conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben,  for she said, “The Lord has seen my affliction;  surely my husband will love me now.”

33She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “The Lord heard that I am unloved and has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. 

34She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “At last, my husband will become attached to me because I have borne three sons for him.” Therefore he was named Levi. 

35And she conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him Judah.   Then Leah stopped having children.

GENESIS 30

1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. “Give me sons, or I will die! ”  she said to Jacob.

2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in God’s place, who has withheld children  from you? ”

3Then she said, “Here is my slave Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she’ll bear children for me   so that through her I too can build a family.” 4So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; yes, He has heard me and given me a son,” and she named him Dan. 

7Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8Rachel said, “In my wrestlings with God,  I have wrestled with my sister and won,” and she named him Naphtali. 

9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11Then Leah said, “What good fortune! ”  and she named him Gad. 

12When Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, 13Leah said, “I am happy that the women call me happy,”  so she named him Asher. 

14Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field.  When he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

15But Leah replied to her, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes? ”

“Well,” Rachel said, “you can sleep with him tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

16When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with her that night.

17God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband,” and she named him Issachar. 

19Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20“God has given me a good gift,” Leah said. “This time my husband will honor me because I have borne six sons for him,” and she named him Zebulun.  21Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

22Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb.  23She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my shame.”  24She named him Joseph:  “May the Lord add another son to me.” 

Jacob’s Flocks Multiply

25After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland. 26Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go.  You know how hard I have worked for you.”

27But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28Then Laban said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.” 

29So Jacob said to him, “You know what I have done for you and your herds.  30For you had very little before I came, but now your wealth has increased. The Lord has blessed you because of me. And now, when will I also do something for my own family? ”

31Laban asked, “What should I give you? ”

And Jacob said, “You don’t need to give me anything. If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock. 32Let me go through all your sheep today and remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted, every dark-colored sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the female goats. Such will be my wages. 33In the future when you come to check on my wages, my honesty will testify for me. If I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not black, they will be considered stolen.”

34“Good,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”

35That day Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats — every one that had any white on it — and every dark-colored one among the lambs, and he placed his sons in charge of them. 36He put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob, meanwhile, was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flock.

37Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane wood, and peeled the bark, exposing white stripes on the branches. 38He set the peeled branches in the troughs in front of the sheep — in the water channels where the sheep came to drink. And the sheep bred when they came to drink. 39The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young.  40Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face the streaked and the completely dark sheep in Laban’s flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and didn’t put them with Laban’s sheep.

41Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs, in full view of the flocks, and they would breed in front of the branches. 42As for the weaklings of the flocks, he did not put out the branches. So it turned out that the weak sheep belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob. 43And the man became very rich.  He had many flocks, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys. 

=====================================================

MATTHEW 10

Commissioning the Twelve

1Summoning His 12 disciples,  He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every  disease and sickness.  2These are the names of the 12 apostles: 

First, Simon, who is called Peter,

and Andrew his brother;

James the son of Zebedee,

and John his brother;

3Philip and Bartholomew; 

Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;

James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 

4Simon the Zealot,  and Judas Iscariot, 

who also betrayed Him. 

5Jesus sent out these 12 after giving them instructions: “Don’t take the road leading to other nations, and don’t enter any Samaritan  town. 6Instead, go to the lost sheep  of the house of Israel.  7As you go, announce this: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’  8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with skin diseases, drive out demons.  You have received free of charge; give free of charge. 9Don’t take along gold, silver, or copper for your money-belts.  10Don’t take a traveling bag for the road, or an extra shirt, sandals, or a walking stick, for the worker  is worthy of his food.

11“When you enter any town or village, find out who is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12Greet a household when you enter it,  13and if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it. But if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you.  14If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet  when you leave that house or town. 15I assure you: It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment  for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. 

Persecutions Predicted

16“Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves.  17Because people will hand you over to sanhedrins  and flog you in their synagogues,  beware of them. 18You will even be brought before governors and kings because of Me, to bear witness to them and to the nations.  19But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you should speak.  For you will be given what to say at that hour, 20because you are not speaking, but the Spirit  of your Father is speaking through you. 

21“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will even rise up against their parents and have them put to death.  22You will be hated by everyone because of My name.  But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.   23When they persecute you in one town, escape to another.  For I assure you: You will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes

=============================

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 08 January 2021

A  quiet day here.  Yes, there is shouting and noise in much of our world.  We are taking a break from that, thankful for the opportunity for a few hours or days of peace.  We need it.

 It is, I think, not possible to overstate the significance of these passages below, as well as the others from the past few days.  Nor the echoes of them that continue to this very day.  For example, note the references to the  Abraham's son Ishmael.  As the Lord promised, Ishmael was the founder of a numerous people who still remember, with rancor, their ancestor.  Huh?  you say.  Yes.  The name Ishmael is regarded as the ancestor of the Arabs and their cousins.  So the Arabs, and by extension, the Muslims, trace their heritage back to Ishmael, and thence to Abraham.  I won't comment upon the effects that these groups have had upon the world, but you can read the news and the histories.

But see as well the continuing echoes of the fidelity that Abraham and Isaac had.  Here we see a picture of the coming Christ, the Lamb that the Lord provided for the sacrifice, just as was told here.

And need we say much about the Sermon On The Mount?  Jesus' words carry their own weight.  I will say that the first phrase in Chapter 7 contain what I regard as the most mis-used and mis-characterized in all of Scripture.

============================

GENESIS 20

Sarah Rescued from Abimelech

1From there Abraham traveled to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived in Gerar,  2Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.”  So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

3But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.” 

4Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent? 5Didn’t he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I did this with a clear conscience  and clean  hands.”

6Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience.  I have also kept you from sinning against Me. Therefore I have not let you touch her. 7Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet,  and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”

8Early in the morning Abimelech got up, called all his servants together, and personally  told them all these things, and the men were terrified.

9Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said to him, “What have you done to us? How did I sin against you that you have brought such enormous guilt on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.”  10Abimelech also said to Abraham, “What did you intend when you did this thing? ”

11Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘There is absolutely no fear of God in this place.  They will kill me because of my wife.’ 12Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13So when God had me wander from my father’s house,  I said to her: Show your loyalty to me wherever we go and say about me: ‘He’s my brother.’ ” 

14Then Abimelech took sheep and cattle and male and female slaves, gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him. 15Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you.  Settle wherever you want.”  16And he said to Sarah, “Look, I am giving your brother 1,000 pieces of silver. It is a verification of your honor  to all who are with you. You are fully vindicated.”

17Then Abraham prayed to God,  and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they could bear children, 18for the Lord had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household on account of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

GENESIS 21

The Birth of Isaac

1The Lord came to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised.  2Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him.  3Abraham named his son who was born to him — the one Sarah bore to him — Isaac.  4When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.  5Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 

6Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.”   7She also said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him  in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away

8The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. 9But Sarah saw the son mocking  — the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham.  10So she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac! ” 

11Now this was a very difficult thing for  Abraham because of his son. 12But God said to Abraham, “Do not be concerned  about the boy and your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac.  13But I will also make a nation of the slave’s son  because he is your offspring.”

14Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away.  She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. 16Then she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die! ” So as she sat nearby, she  wept loudly. 

17God heard the voice of the boy, and the  angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from the place where he is. 18Get up, help the boy up, and support him, for I will make him a great nation.” 19Then God opened her eyes,  and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink. 20God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer. 21He settled in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Abraham’s Covenant with Abimelech

22At that time Abimelech, accompanied by Phicol the commander of his army,  said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.  23Swear to me by God here and now, that you will not break an agreement with me or with my children and descendants. As I have been loyal to you, so you will be loyal to me and to the country where you are a foreign resident.”

24And Abraham said, “I swear it.” 25But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the water well that Abimelech’s servants had seized. 

26Abimelech replied, “I don’t know who did this thing. You didn’t report anything to me, so I hadn’t heard about it until today.”

27Abraham took sheep and cattle  and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.  28Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock. 29And Abimelech said to Abraham, “Why have you separated these seven ewe lambs? ”

30He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand so that this act  will serve as my witness that I dug this well.” 31Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba   because it was there that the two of them swore an oath. 32After they had made a covenant at Beer-sheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines.

33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and there he called on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God.  34And Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines for many days.

GENESIS 22

The Sacrifice of Isaac

1After these things God tested Abraham  and said to him, “Abraham! ”

“Here I am,” he answered.

2“Take your son,” He said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love,  go to the land of Moriah,  and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

3So Abraham got up early in the morning,  saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4On the third day  Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” 6Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac.  In his hand he took the fire and the sacrificial knife,  and the two of them walked on together.

7Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”

And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”

Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? ”

8Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide   the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.

9When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac  and placed him on the altar  on top of the wood. 10Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

11But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham! ”

He replied, “Here I am.”

12Then He said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.”  13Abraham looked up and saw a ram  caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide,  so today it is said: “It will be provided  on the Lord’s mountain.”

15Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16and said, “By Myself I have sworn,”  this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son,  17I will indeed bless you  and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky  and the sand on the seashore.  Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies.  18And all the nations of the earth will be blessed  by your offspring  because you have obeyed My command.”

19Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba.

Rebekah’s Family

20Now after these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne sons to your brother Nahor:  21Uz his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23And Bethuel fathered Rebekah.  Milcah bore these eight to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

=====================

MATTHEW 7

Do Not Judge

1“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.  2For with the judgment you use,  you will be judged, and with the measure you use,  it will be measured to you.  3Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye?  4Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? 5Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs,  or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.

Keep Asking, Searching, Knocking

7“Keep asking,   and it will be given to you.  Keep searching,  and you will find. Keep knocking,  and the door  will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds,  and to the one who knocks, the door  will be opened. 9What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you then, who are evil,  know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them — this is the Law and the Prophets.  

Entering the Kingdom

13“Enter through the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction,  and there are many who go through it. 14How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.

15“Beware of false prophets  who come to you in sheep’s  clothing  but inwardly are ravaging wolves.  16You’ll recognize them by their fruit.  Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  17In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  20So you’ll recognize them by their fruit. 

21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord! ’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,  but only the one who does the will  of My Father in heaven.  22On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons  in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? ’  23Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’   

The Two Foundations

24“Therefore,  everyone who hears these words  of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. And its collapse was great! ”

28When Jesus had finished this sermon,   the crowds were astonished at His teaching,  29because He was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.