January 3rd Bible in a Year Readings

Genesis 5:1-7:24 + Matthew 3:7-4:11 + Psalm 3:1-8 + Proverbs 1:10-19
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Old Testament - Today in Genesis chapter 5 we read about the genealogy from Adam to Noah.  You will note that there are some long life spans here in this genealogy!  I do believe these ages in this genealogy are literal for the following reasons offered up by many Biblical scholars: 1.  the human race was more genetically pure in this early time period, so diseases did not shorten life spans; 2. no rain had yet fallen on the earth - until the next chapter - so the expanse of water above the earth protected people from environmental factors; and/or 3. God gave people longer life spans so they would have time to fill the earth - per Genesis 1:28.  Below is a portrait of Noah and his wife by Guy Rowe:

In Genesis 6 we read about the Flood.  Most evangelical commentaries  say that this was a literal flood that covered the entire earth, which I agree with. Below is "Noah's Ark" by American folk painter Edward Hicks from 1846:

Chapter 6 verses 5 & 6 stood out to me in today's readings: "Now the LORD observed the extent of the people's wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil.  So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart." I think it was this last sentence that really stood out to me - It broke his heart.  God's heart was broken over our behavior.  I love realizing that God has this type of compassion and care for what we do.  What we do matters to God!  When we are obedient and faithful and loving, God rejoices!  When we are not, it breaks his heart.  I hope it encourages you to know that God did not just create you and doesn't really care whether you do well in this life - he is rooting for you!  He wants you to run the race well and receive the prize!

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Genesis titled "Coming to Grips with Genealogies" is at this link, "The Flood" is at this link, and "The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men" is at this link. Please click on this last link to learn more about the Nephilim from today's readings in Genesis 6:4. A quote from this link is: "According to this view, the ‘sons of God' of verses 2 and 4 are fallen angels, which have taken the form of masculine human-like creatures. These angels married women of the human race (either Cainites or Sethites) and the resulting offspring were the Nephilim. The Nephilim were giants with physical superiority and therefore established themselves as men of renown for their physical prowess and military might. This race of half human creatures was wiped out by the flood, along with mankind in general, who were sinners in their own right (verse 6:11,12)."

New Testament - Today's Matthew readings are incredible on so many levels.  We begin by reading about John the Baptist scolding the Pharisees and Sadducees!  John is not joking around here...  I think one verse that really stood out to me was verse 8: "Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God."  and verse 10: "Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire."  I think what I hear John saying here is that we are called to truly repent and change our ways.  Not just to say some nice words or just show up to church on Sundays - but to be transformed.  Our lives should be visibly different from our past if we have really turned from our sins and turned to God.  And this change will be evident by our lives producing "good fruit" - examples of which can certainly be seen in any of the Ten Commandments or loving our neighbor as ourselves and above all loving God with all our hearts, minds, soul and strength.  Our lives should look very different from our past.  Do they?  Does yours? Below is a stained glass image of John the Baptist used by permission and copyright held by cambridge2000.com/gallery:

Verses 16 & 17 are phenomenal as we see the three persons of the Trinity interacting with each other! God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit: "After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him.""  Jesus' baptism is very significant because it is the act that opens up the public ministry phase of Jesus' life.

Now - I think what happens just after Jesus' baptism is something each of us should take heed of - the devil comes in full force after Jesus.  I heard someone tell me just before I was baptized many years ago that whenever we make a public declaration that we love God: the Father, Jesus the Son, & the Holy Spirit and that we want to follow Him, the devil and temptation very likely will appear.  The devil isn't happy when we are moving forward in our love of Jesus and loving others - and he wants to derail it.   And that's what we see here in chapter 4 - God: the Father, Jesus the Son, & the Holy Spirit have just declared "Game On!" with Jesus' public ministry via the baptism - and then who should show up coming after Jesus?  If the devil showed up to tempt Jesus, don't you think he might try to show up in our lives when we are starting something big in our faith walk?  Fortunately, Jesus gives us all the answers we need in chapter 4 to thwart the devil's attacks.

Chapter 4 verse 4 I believe is one of the most important verses for us to commit to memory in all of the Bible: "But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, `People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.'" (NLT).  Or, you might recognize this verse a bit better in NIV format: "Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”  This is such a powerful spiritual truth that Jesus is conveying - we will not live full and true lives if we live simply on bread alone.  We need spiritual nourishment - food - from every Word of God.  Where do we get this Word of God?  You got it - the Bible.  And note that Jesus says "every" word of God.  This means the whole Bible is spiritual food for us.  All of it.  Not just the parts we like the best.  :)  We can learn something and be nourished by even the long genealogies!  Seriously.   So - I want to applaud you for going through the One Year Bible - you will be getting nourishment from "every" Word of God this year!  Below is an oil painting by Juan De Flandes from 1504 - (he actually painted this piece for Queen Isabella of Spain's private altar at that time):

One other important point to make in Matthew 4:4 and the 2 other temptations in this chapter.  We see the devil tempting Jesus with things that may look enticing to Jesus or to us.  But they are lies.  And note - this is important - how Jesus fends off the devil's temptations and lies - by quoting Scripture!  Jesus knew Scripture (well, yes, technically He is Scripture...:) The point is this. I do believe that we need to do more than just read the Bible.  We need to memorize many portions of the Bible to protect us when the devil is attacking.  If we have Scripture memorized, when we are tempted, we can quickly call to mind a verse or two that will bring us back into right state of mind - focusing back on God: the Father, Jesus the Son, & the Holy Spirit and their love and strength available through the Holy Spirit.  If we don't have Scripture memorized, as Jesus clearly did in this chapter, we are at risk of falling prey to the deception and lies of the temptation.  So - I am mostly preaching this to myself!  :)  But, I really want to do more memorization of Scripture this year.  I have several verses down - but not enough.  Proverbs 3:5-6 certainly comes to mind for me often when I am worried or stressed and it transforms my state of mind immediately!  What can you apply in your life today based on how Jesus rebuked the devil's temptations?

Very important to note is what happened when Jesus rebuked the devil's temptations with Scripture, the Word of God, in verse 11: "Then the Devil went away."  Amen to that!  :)

Bible.org's commentary on our readings today in Matthew titled "The Baptism of Jesus" is at this link, "The Temptation of Jesus, Part 1" is at this link, "Satan's "Leap of Faith"" is at this link, and "The Third Temptation of Jesus" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 3 is a wonderful Psalm of David's, when he was fleeing his own son Absalom - details of which we will read about later this year.  Verse 5 stood out to me today: "I lay down and slept. I woke up in safety, for the LORD was watching over me."  God watches over us as we sleep!  I like that a lot!  I hope this verse comforts you as you sleep tonight!

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 1 verses 17 and 18 teach us this today: "When a bird sees a trap being set, it stays away.  But not these people! They set an ambush for themselves; they booby-trap their own lives!" I think these verses basically say that birds are smarter than those who conspire to do harm to others - Are you with me on this thought??  :)  Speaking of smart birds and one who conspires to do harm to another...:

Worship Video:  Today's readings in Matthew about Jesus modeling to us how to defeat Satan’s temptations with the Word reminded me of Matt Maher's beautiful song “Lord I Need You” performed here live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaVPupbNFAo

Do you know you need the Lord?  Click here to Need Him!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Matthew 4:4 NIV

Prayer Point: Pray for God's leading in ways that He might be calling you to memorize Scripture this year.  Pray that this year you literally will live on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Pray for our world to repent and not live on bread alone, but on God's Word.

Comments from You and Questions of the Day:  Back to my reflections above about how Jesus rebuked the devil's temptations today with Scripture.  Are you memorizing Scripture on a regular basis?  Are you bringing Scripture to mind when faced with temptation or sadness or whatever ails you? I would love to know which verses you have found useful in your life?  Do you have advice on how to best go about memorizing Scripture?  Will you join me in my plan to memorize more Scripture verses this year?  Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

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Comments

[Kamil]

Christ as man was guided immediately by the Word of God: wherefore He needed not be guarded by an angel. Again as regards His soul, He was a comprehensor, although in regard to His passible body, He was a wayfarer. In this latter respect it was right that He should have not a guardian angel as superior to Him, but a ministering angel as inferior to Him. Whence it is written (Mat. 4:11) that "angels came and ministered to Him."

[Deedee]

I noticed this time around in the geneology: two Lamechs..one under Cains family. The first polygamy in the bible. Then Seth had a Lamech/under lineage of Enoch, Jared, Mathusalah. Also, about the "Son's of God." I have a theory..when God created man and woman and was creating the earth..the life lines are longer..however the Lord created and put additional "men" on earth to help create the earth..especially since there were no other men or women except through Adam, Eve, and their children and the children or kids reproducing with each other..just my theory..however..it didn't come close to redemption as "Son's of God" as the 1st Son-Jesus who was, is and has always been.

I love to hear John get the high and pompous Pharisees and Sadducees! I love how he doesnt flinch or hold his tongue. He was a man who knew who he was and didn't waver. I love the faith of John! He was an incredible example of faith and a disciple of Christ.
I believe in Matthew 4 it shows why scripture and staying armored up with Christ is so important...because even the devil 😈 knows scripture however our gain is to be one step ahead of him! Amen!!

In Psalm, 3 it talks about sleep..my sleep patterns have been off. I pray for my heart and my rest to be at a stable level. I have been exercising lately and trying to get back on a good system for health as I should.

Proverbs makes me wonder in comparison..with the pharisees and saducees, are they caught in their own trap..? Do they booby trap themselves.hmmm

[Nancy]

In regards to Bible memorization...
On an index card copy the verse you want to memorize. On the flip side write the 1st letter of each word in a row. These letters will act as prompts. You can flip the card to see the actual verse to see if you got it correct or to see what the word is that you missed. Keep the cards of verses you know together for review. Continue to review the cards. This reinforces what you've learned. Really works.