“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
Exodus 3.
What would you rather have, God’s blessings without His presence, or God’s presence without His blessings?
Exodus 7:21-22
How were Pharaoh's Magicians able to perform signs and wonders? Well they could only manage for the first three. On the first, their serpents were eaten by that of Moses. On the second and third they made things worse. More blood, more frogs! And no undoing Moses curses.
Hardly a resounding demonstration of their skills, though it served to allow Pharaoh that false-sense of superiority that his men could conjure just as well as Aaron and Moses. By the fourth occurrence though even they conceded defeat admitting that 'this is the finger of God'.
While the magicians recognised God's authority however, Pharaoh wouldn't. For the next three trials he would face ludicrously small foes of gnats, flies, and a pathogen too small to see at all. An interesting episode for sure.
Exodus 4:15-16
Have you ever wondered why God had Aaron speak for Moses? A lesson that even the great prophet Moses struggled with self-doubt and human failing.
Matthew 10:19-20
Have you ever been in a situation where your fear and anxiety have suddenly given over to clarity and words have just come, like some miracle?
It is a miracle. It is the Holy Spirit working within you!
Genesis 11:4-5
Man said let's make a name for ourselves, and build a tower which will reach into Heaven. Then God came down to see the city, and the tower, which the sons of men had built...
Having shown Saul how much he must suffer in God's name, The Lord Jesus sends Ananias to open his eyes, and bring upon him the Holy Spirit.
Altarpiece depicting the conversion of Saint Paul by Ananias, 1786
Benjamin West (American, 1738-1820)
Ezra 9.6
I am ashamed to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.
Matthew 9:5-7
Which is easier? To say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
Acts 7:58
Stephen is stoned to death.
Saul of Tarsus looks on, safeguarding the cloaks of those watching.
Genesis 7:24
And it rained.
Genesis 7:8-9
Two and two they went into the Ark with Noah, as God had commanded.
Acts 6:13-15
Stephen faces the Sanhedrin. He readies his defence.
This one line is so incredibly complex. And there it is, central to Christ's model prayer. As a child, who learnt the Book of Common Prayer version of the Lords Prayer by heart, I never gave it much thought. But now, when I think on it, I realise how incredibly profound it is.
Got Questions has an interesting article that illustrates just how rich with meaning these words are.
Painting by Ilya Efimovich Repin
'Follow me, Satan', 1895
45×61cm
Genesis 2:4
The first 'toledoth' (תּוֹלְדֹת) introducing the progeny that came forth from God's first act of creation - the Heavens and the Earth.
What a beautiful way of rooting man back to nature and the cosmos.
Genesis 49:11 Israel's promise to Judah.
Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
Genesis 45:7 Joseph and his brothers are reconciled.
"God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors."
Joseph's foresight, borne out of slavery, saves not only Egypt, but Canaan and 'all the world'.
Genesis 34:7. Dinah is dishonoured. Jacob's sons seek vengeance.
This is a difficult story. Sin against us is never put right by our own sin. Genesis 34 shows what happens when we trust in ourselves. Better we should trust in God. HE will ensure justice.
I found this commentary, by David Vanacker of Grace Church Wyoming, very helpful in properly understanding this chapter. It is a complicated narrative, with more than surface level lessons to be learnt.
https://gracewyoming.com/the-defiling-of-dinah/
Perhaps the best overall take-out for me, is that 'the narrative passages of the Bible are not meant to teach morality. They are only meant to show the result of the moral choices people make.'
Genesis 32:28 Jacob wrestles with God.
When we pray, when the Spirit helps us with our insecurities, and we can barely describe our fears or our needs, our prayer is wrestling with God.
Jeremiah 1:4-5
And John knew Jesus from the womb.
Isaiah 65:17 and 20.
Not a description of the eternal Kingdom, nor a description of a millennial new Jerusalem... there's no death or sin in either... but hope and inspiration for the believer, perhaps, that things can and will get better.
Isaiah 61:11
For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
The Suffering Servant
Genesis 24:11-14
Abraham's servant seeks a wife for Isaac.
I do love how the servant entrusted with such a significant undertaking, uses such a simple approach to discerning a kind and generous heart.
And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.
Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
