January 15, 2010 Daily Reading

I hope it isn’t sacrilegious to say this, but the Genesis saga is better than any reality television show I have ever watched! I mean I’ve read or heard all these stories at one point or another in my life, but never have I read them straight through as one large narrative. I am starting to fill in some mental gaps and the Old Testament, which was once so scary to me, is actually turning out to be quite intriguing.

The story makes a clean break from the narrative and gives us Esau’s lineage. Why is that important? I think we’ll find out as we keep reading because I noticed some names that I remember from my childhood Sunday school class in that heritage that will reappear much later (i.e. Amalek=Amalekites, and the land of Edom, which is named after Esau). Also, we find that physical lineage has been a very important part of the story this far and will continue to be until the birth of Jesus…and then…we see an even more important lineage granted to those who would believe, namely the sonship/heir/adoption that we have received in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

I think everyone is pretty familiar with the Joseph story so I won’t beat the dead horse by retelling it. However, here are some things that I noticed:

• Israel loved Joseph more than any other son because he was born in his old age, yet Benjamin is the youngest (which means he was really born in Israel’s old age) and he doesn’t receive that beloved affection.
• Joseph’s dream bears striking similarity to what God told Rebekah, “The younger will serve the older.” We never really see Esau “serve” Jacob (in fact we see the inverse sometimes in Jacob’s language toward Esau and the gifts that he gives), so could God have beeen speaking prophetically in this case to mean future generations?
• I was very surprised at Reuben’s grace toward his brother even though he hated him.

Much can be said about our NT reading concerning Jesus and the Sabbath, but I think Lionel poignantly pointed out that great truth in yesterday’s post: Jesus Christ IS the Sabbath; we find our rest IN Him. However, I hope it’s appropriate for me to focus a bit on the endorsement of Jesus Christ by God, through the words of Isaiah (vv.18-21). “He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles,” “he brings justice to victory,” and “In His name the Gentiles will hope.” Justice. Justice. Justice. It is at the heart of God, and He used His own Son as a conduit. Not only is He the means through which justice is available on the earth, HE IS ALSO THE MERCY (v. 7) BY WHICH JUSTICE IS EVEN POSSIBLE! That, my friends, is good news! Because of the mercy of Jesus Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, we can hope in His name, and justice is served. In light of the Haitian tragedy, that is good news!

My heart is burdened for Haiti (as I assume yours is, too. If not pray right now and ask Jesus to come into your heart ). Please pray earnestly for the Haitian people. And if you have a few extra dollars to spare, please donate. My husband and I donated to Compassion International https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/disasterrelief.htm?referer=105910

Desiring God has compiled a list of organizations here. http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2188_11_charities_collecting_donations_for_haiti/

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