Tag Archives: Proverbs 1:7-9

Daily Bible Study

January 2, 2015 Bible Study — The Original Sin

For today, One Year Bible Online links here. Well, it is the second day of the new year. I am sure that one of these days I am going to publish this blog before I catch the fact that I typed 2014 as part of the date.

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Proverbs 1:7-9

    Fear of the Lord is the starting place of knowledge and understanding. When we fear God’s discipline we begin the process of acquiring wisdom. Those who despise discipline also despise wisdom. They are immoral fools.

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Psalm 2:1-12

    The rulers of the nations of this world do not want to be limited by rules laid down by God. They wish to be free to do as they please without fear of any consequences. They refuse to recognize that God laid down those rules because that is how He designed the world to work. Those who fight against God are destined for defeat because not only is He infinitely more powerful than anyone else, but He created the rules which govern how everything works.

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Matthew 2:13-3:6

    When the wise men left, once more God sent a messenger to Joseph. Joseph took his family to Egypt to escape Herod. Herod then demonstrates both the reaction of the powers of this world to God’s actions and the futility of that reaction. Jesus is a threat to the powers of this world because He demonstrates that our first loyalty must be to God. The powers of this world demand that we give them our first loyalty and attempt to make our religion subservient to them. God will never accept that position and as a result there is inevitable conflict between those who serve Him and those who have power in this world. And as we see in this passage, every attempt by the powers of this world to stop God’s plans results in actually fulfilling them.

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Genesis 3-4:26

    We often blame women in the form of Eve for original sin. However, Adam was standing right there when Eve had her conversation with the serpent. He could have, and should have, argued for obeying God. Instead, he merely stood there and allowed Eve to be convinced to eat the fruit and then, once she had done so, did so himself. One could argue that the original sin was a sin of omission. The original sin was Adam’s failure to stand up for what was right.
    Ultimately, the serpent’s argument was , “What harm can there be in that?” All too often our response to such arguments is, “Yeah, that rule is just there to keep me from enjoying myself.” We learn to late that the rule was there to keep us from pain, even when we were told that was the case when the rule was given. I have learned that, even when I cannot understand how it can work that way, when God tells us that something is a bad idea, it is a bad idea.

Daily Bible Study

January 2, 2014 Bible Study — So You Believe, What Will You Do Now?

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Genesis 3-4:26

     This passage contains the account of original sin. A casual reading of the passage makes it easy to blame the woman, Eve, for this sin and give Adam a pass because “he only ate it because she gave it to him.” However, if we read the passage closely we discover that Adam was at her side while the serpent made the case for eating fruit from the tree which God had told him he must not eat. In the part of this account which we covered yesterday, we learned that Eve was not yet present when God told Adam that he must not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So, it was Adam who should have told the serpent that they must not eat that fruit. Instead, Adam allowed the woman to be convinced and then followed her into committing the sin. Rather than help his wife resist temptation, by not contradicting the serpent’s arguments Adam subtly encouraged her to accept them.
     This passage also includes the story of Cain and Abel. In this story, we are told that God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s (or looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but did not look with favor on Cain and his offering). The passage does not make clear why God looked differently on their two offerings. One possibility is that while Cain offered “some” of his crops as a gift, Abel offered from the firstborn lambs of his flock. Nevertheless, we do not know what Cain did wrong, but the passages says that God told him that if he did what was right, he would be accepted. God warned Cain that he must not let sin control him. However, Cain did not listen. In his anger and jealousy, he asked his brother to join him out in the fields where he killed him. Rather than mend his ways and do what was right, Cain instead chose to murder his brother for “making him look bad.” How often do we blame others for our own shortcomings? I will take responsibility for my own actions and seek to change my ways when I discover that I have done wrong.

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Matthew 2:13-3:6

     After the wise men left, an angel appeared to Joseph warning him to take Mary and the baby and flee to Egypt. Joseph left Bethlehem with Mary and the baby at once. Herod on the other hand proved that his words about worshiping the baby was a lie by ordering his troops to kill all of the baby boys in Bethlehem who were two years old or younger. I just realized that these two men, Joseph and Herod, demonstrate that believing is not enough. What is important is what actions our belief inspires us to take. Both Herod and Joseph believed that a new king of the Jews had been born in Bethlehem. Herod did everything in his power to make sure that king did not grow up to take His throne. Joseph did everything in his power, what little power he had, to give the baby a chance to grow up. It also tells us about doing as God instructs us, even when our chances seem to be nonexistent. Herod had a lot of power, and the ability to call on the Roman Empire for support. Joseph had only one thing going for him, he was doing God’s will. Yet in the end, it was Joseph who was successful and Herod who failed.

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Psalm 2:1-12

     The psalmist asks why the people of the world rage against God and plot together against Him. The kings and rulers of this world join together in an attempt to overthrow God’s rules for living. Yet they rage in vain, the Lord will rebuke them and place His Chosen One on the throne over the earth. Those rulers who are wise will serve God and fear Him. They will see that freedom comes from listening to God, not from rebelling against Him.

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Proverbs 1:7-9

     The starting place to obtain knowledge and wisdom is fear of the Lord. Sinful fools reject wisdom and discipline. They believe that they can go against God’s instructions with no unpleasant consequences. Those who fear the Lord obey His instructions and learn how doing so makes things better than they could have imagined. If you want to do well in life, listen to your parent’s instructions. No matter how foolish they are, they have much more experience than you do.

Daily Bible Study

January 2, 2013 Bible Study — Joseph Or Herod, Which Will I Be?

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
     

Light Against the Night

Genesis 3-4:26

     The serpent approached Eve in the Garden and convinced her to eat from the tree that God has forbidden them to eat. The serpent did not come right out and suggest that she eat from it. He first made it seem that he thought the command was applied in areas and ways that it did not. Then he told her that God’s reason for telling them not to eat was petty. An important point is that while Eve, the woman, took and ate the fruit first, Adam was standing there the whole time listening to the exchange between Eve and the serpent. Adam failed to counter the serpent’s arguments or to tell Eve that she should not eat of the fruit. He made no attempt to convince her to not violate God’s command, suggesting that he wanted to eat but wanted her to go first so that he could blame her.
     After Adam and Eve are cast out of the Garden, they have two sons, Cain and Abel. The two brothers gave a gift of the produce of their labor to the Lord. Abel brought the best of the firstborn lambs of his flock. Cain brought some of his crops. God preferred Abel’s offering and Cain became jealous. Abel put thought and effort into giving God a gift from the best of what he had gained. Cain just took some of what he had and made that the gift. God wants our best, not just our leftovers. But Cain, rather than accepting this and resolving to do better in the future, killed his brother. This points up a human tendency to blame those who do better for our own shortcomings. Just like yesterday there is a lot more in this passage that I could talk about, but I need to move on.

Presents Awaiting Delivery
Presents Awaiting Delivery

Matthew 2:13-3:6

     After the wise men leave, Joseph has a dream warning him to flee with his wife and child to Egypt. Joseph heeds the warning and goes to Egypt. When Herod realizes that the wise men are not going to return and tell him where to find the child that they were seeking, he decides to have every boy in Bethlehem who was the right age to be the child killed. Herod takes this action even though he knew the child was the prophesied Messiah. That is not quite true. He knew that either the child was the prophesied Messiah, or the child was no one of any particular significance. If the former, than his attempt to prevent his rise was pointless and he was doing battle with God. On the other hand, if the latter, Herod’s actions were pointless cruelty.
     When Herod died, Joseph had another dream instructing him to return to Israel. While they were preparing to travel, they discovered which of Herod’s sons was ruling in Judea. Joseph has yet another dream warning him away from Judea. As a result, he takes his family and settles in Galilee, in Nazareth. A lesson I need to take from this is that Joseph was very receptive to God’s leading. He followed God’s lead to marry Mary. He listened to God’s warning and fled to Egypt. He listened again to God and when he returned he went to Nazareth.

"Sometimes I Can't Believe My Daughter"
“Sometimes I Can’t Believe My Daughter”

Psalm 2:1-12

     This psalm is appropriate to follow today’s reading from Matthew. I commented how Herod’s action in killing the baby’s in Bethlehem was fruitless and this psalm points up how often the rulers of this earth take similar fruitless undertakings. The psalmist points out that attempting to resist God’s will is a losing enterprise. Rulers time and again attempt to overthrow God’s control over the world. The psalmist tells us that rebelling against God’s rule is destined to end in sadness for those who rebel. On the other hand those who submit to God will experience joy. I will strive to emulate Joseph who listened carefully in order to follow God’s will and not Herod who chose to rebel against what he believed to be God’s will.

1913 Santa Claus
1913 Santa Claus

Proverbs 1:7-9

     Today’s proverb completes the theme. Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge and wisdom. If our starting point is a fear of going against God’s will, we will seek to know and follow His will. On the other hand, fools often act according to their desires without thinking through the implications of their decisions. When you are young, listen to the instructions of your parents allow them to correct your actions and learn from their greater wisdom. Always be prepared to learn from those with more experience.