June 21st, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

Today we’re going to look at what is sometimes referred to as the “Abrahamic covenant.” [aka: God's promises He made to Abraham.] We will refer back to this “land, nation, and leader” promise many, many times throughout these Old Testament posts… and it all starts here in Genesis 12!

Genesis 12:1-3
Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

I have highlighted for you in that passage the three elements of God’s promise:
1. Land
2. Nation
3. Leader

“Land” and “nation” are obvious. Where did I get “Leader,” you ask?

In Galatians 3:8, Paul refers to this verse by saying, ‘And the Scripture…preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”’ Where is the gospel in this statement?

Think back to our earlier discussion about the promise of the “Seed” back in Genesis 3:15. One Seed, through the line of Eve, would have the ultimate victory over Satan and deal him a deadly blow. He would make things right again. Now in Genesis 12:3, God is giving more details: The Seed would come from Abram’s line, so through Abram, all the nations of the earth would be blessed!

All three elements of this promise to Abram are not separate from the Seed promise in Genesis 3:15. They are very much connected to one another. Let’s look at each element in detail and see how they relate to the Seed promise.

Nation
In Exodus 19:6, God tells the Israelites, ‘And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
What did a priest do? He taught the people about God and His requirements, laws, and forgiveness; he served as a mediator for them before God. God tells Israel that the whole nation will be a kingdom of priests. If they are all priests, who are they teaching? The rest of the world!

Land
Most of the land given to Israel is not a lush, bountiful land. Why is this piece of land so important? In the map I attached to this post you can see how Israel was really on the crossroads of the world. All major world powers during this time would have to travel through Israel, due to constrictions of water and desert that were too treacherous to travel. Why put them there? If God had settled Israel in, say, North America, they wouldn’t have had the position of influence to truly function as a kingdom of priests, telling the world about their God. God brought the world to their doorstep, and they were to tell everyone Who God is and how his plan was unfolding.

Leader
This one should be obvious, after our earlier discussion. The Seed is the leader! He’s coming!!

Abraham, one man in the midst of a generation falling away from the True God, had been given an unbelievable promise. He had no idea just how intricate the plan was, or how long it would all take, but He knew it was true. God’s word is powerful and trustworthy, and He will continue to prove it to be so.

**For more reflections on the Old Testament with personal application, you might want to download a free Bible study ebook!**

May 11th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

We’re in Genesis one through three today – essential truths to understanding the rest of Scripture!

If you skim through Genesis chapter one, the very first words in the Bible, what does the emphasis seem to be on? Let me point out some repetition:
1“…God created…”
3“Then God said…
4“And God saw…and God divided…”
5“God called…”
6“God said…”
7“Thus God made…”
8“And God called…”
9“Then God said…”
10“And God called…God saw…”
11“Then God said…God saw…”

We could go on, but that’s surely sufficient! Who is in existence at this time? GOD. He’s the only one. Do you think it would have caused any confusion whatsoever if Moses had used a personal pronoun here or there? (When I describe my morning, for example, do I say, “AG played with blocks. And then AG was bored. And then AG said, “Is it snack time?” And AG thought the crackers were good.”) Why the repetition over and over and over?

Because He is the point. It’s all about God.

The other obvious repetition throughout that passage is the power of His Word. It’s God saying, calling, making (by His word)… His Word is powerful. It is trustworthy. When He says something it happens!

Now look at Genesis 1:26-28. We’re going to introduce here the idea of a “scepter” – a sign of power and authority, and the right to rule. Figuratively speaking, God the Creator hands man a scepter in this passage. God created man and woman and now tells them to rule over His creation as his “viceroys.” God rules, through man, over creation.

Now, flip over to Genesis 3, which is the well-known account of the fall of Adam and Eve. What exactly does Satan cause Eve to doubt?
God’s WORD.

“Did God really say… You will not surely die…” Eve, did God really say that? Did He mean that? Is what God said would happen really going to happen? He first questions and then outright denies the validity of God’s word!

And thus begins the rest of history. God speaking, and man doubting (often blatantly ignoring and denying) the word of God. Did God say that? Did He mean that? Is that really going to happen? YES – God’s Word is powerful and trustworthy! I won’t go into detail with the effects of the fall in this post [we'll get into this more in Ecclesiastes], but yes, what God said would happen does. Man and woman experience a very real spiritual death and separation from God. They will experience physical death. Life will be difficult and toilsome and frustrating. And one more thing…

…they’ve lost the scepter.

The “domain” that man and woman once had full authority over will now rebel constantly against them. They will plant corn or roses or apple trees, and even after toiling and sweating and blistering their hands in the work, they will get weeds and bugs and decay. Animals that once would have submitted completely to Adam and Eve’s rightful rule are in rebellion and will attack them or flee from them or eat that corn they worked so hard to grow. They will experience conflict in their marriage as the proper roles and authority of the man and woman are challenged. The scepter is gone.

But there is a glimmer of hope!

After God tells them all about the frustrating life and ultimate death ahead of them, Adam chooses that moment to turn to his wife and name her (see 3:20). Doesn’t that seem like weird timing? If you look back in 3:15, Adam knew what God was telling them. As God was pronouncing His curse on the serpent, He says these words, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.“

Adam understood that this was a promise- one day, all would be set right. One day, one of their children or children’s children, the promised Seed of the woman, would have the ultimate victory. This Seed would crush the serpent (Satan) on the head (a fatal blow), while the Seed himself (Jesus) would be struck on the heel (a “flesh wound”) and the scepter would be returned.

He knew it would happen – God said it would. God’s word is trustworthy.

So, Adam’s response in 3:20 isn’t weird timing at all. It is a statement of faith in God’s promise. This is bad, but one day Someone will fix it. Someone who will come through this woman’s offspring. She’s the key- she’s the lifegiver. And so, he turns at that moment and names her Eve, meaning lifegiver.

And the wait begins for the promised Seed…

**For more reflections on the Old Testament with personal application, you might want to download a free Bible study ebook!**

April 26th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

Why did God give us the Bible? What’s the point of it all?

Many people think that the Bible is just a historical record - it tells us what happened in the past. To an extent, this is true. The Bible is absolutely correct and trustworthy in all of the historical details given, and the field of archaeology continues to show this to be true. However, if the Bible was meant to be just a history book, it seems like some very important details are left out.

Have you ever wondered why we don’t know anything about Jesus’ childhood? Or what happened to Joseph, his earthly “father”? In fact, hundreds of years will go by with no mention at all, while a very short span of history (say, the life of Abraham and his family) are described in detail. Why? Because the point is not just to record history.

Even more people believe that the Bible is meant to be a moral guide. Have you heard the Bible referred to as “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth?” While it again holds true that the Bible does give us guidance on how to live, not every story included in the text prescriptively tells me how to live. Take a cursory read through the book of Judges and you have quite a disturbing plot for an R rated movie! Why does God include these awful stories in His Word? Well, it certainly is not because they tell us how to live!

So, why do we have it? Why bother reading it?? Unfortunately, even if you were raised in the Church, you may have a two-dimensional view of the Bible. I like to call this “flannel graph theology!” We know the “who, what, when, and where” in detail. Maybe you were even on a quiz team and know lots of Bible trivia (Quick! How many cubits wide and long was the Ark of the Covenant?). But, what is far too often missing is the WHY. Many times we even discourage people from asking these questions. Why do we live this way? “That’s just what good Christians do.” Why is this weird story about a talking donkey in the Bible? (Sometimes we avoid that all together by not teaching the “weird” ones!)

Let me tell you a life-changing secret: The Bible is not about us, or even some amazing people in ancient history!! The Bible’s main purpose is to reveal God! HE is the primary purpose – to tell us about our Creator, Redeemer, Father, and Lord of the universe. The Bible doesn’t just tell us who did what, or how to live. The Bible reveals God’s character, His plan for the ages, and His relentless pursuit of His people. It tell us WHY we should do certain things (because of the character of our God), rather than just WHAT to do. It paints amazing pictures of complex characters throughout its pages, not to lift them up and glorify the people, but to show the amazing grace, sovereignty, justice, compassion, etc. of the God behind it all.

So, you want to know Who God is? Put down The Shack and pick up His Word – it’s all about God!

April 24th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

Oh, I am EXCITED to start talking about wisdom literature! I have always been drawn to wisdom literature, but especially over the past few years, I just can’t get enough of it! Ie: we’ll be talking about wisdom literature for a long time!! Before we really get into it, though, we need to spend some time talking about what wisdom literature is.

So, what is wisdom? God created the universe according to a set of orderly principles that govern not only the natural world and the laws of math and science, but also hold true in human societies and relationships. Unlike more direct forms of Scripture that will teach Truths directly given by God (“thus says the Lord,”) Wisdom teachers observe the truth and order in God’s universe and then teach it to us in a memorable way.

Wisdom literature starts with the base assumption that God is Creator. As Creator, He embedded truth within all reality. In Biblical wisdom, there is no dichotomy between secular and sacred. It presents a comprehensive worldview, a picture of the universe (Uni-Verse = “one truth!”) where all of life and all of truth fits into one big picture. Ie: Because God is the Creator and source of all Truth, this not only should affect how I worship and relate within the body of Christ, but it should also affect how I work and rest and play.

I think that this particular aspect is part of what draws me to Wisdom Literature. The typical Christian view of the world has, for far too long, separated the secular from the sacred. Without really realizing it, we typically separate our “Christian life” from the rest of our lives. Does knowing God affect how I use my time? Does it have something to say about leisure? How about politics? From a Biblical perspective, each and every tiny detail of our lives should be influenced by knowing God and His Truth.

Wisdom literature assumes that essential answers can be learned from experience. Proverbs emphasizes that if we search diligently for wisdom like a treasure, we will find it! Rather than appealing to Divine directive, the wisdom teachers seek to persuade us to live lives in accordance with God’s principles by appealing to consensus – we all know it to be true, it is observable. As such, we are urged to avoid adultery not on the basis of it violating the 7th commandment, but rather because it is a stupid choice that will ruin our lives!

Because God embedded order in His creation and His character is the standard for what is “good,” if we live according to His ways, life generally will go smoother. To ignore God’s principles is foolish and will usually destroy us.

Now, keeping this in mind, one thing that we must understand before venturing into wisdom literature, and particularly into Proverbs, is that these are not promises. When Proverbs tells us, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it,” (Prov. 22:6) this is not a promise!

I’m sure almost everyone reading this can name families they have known who have done their very best to train their children in righteousness, and their children have departed from it! Does this make Proverbs 22:6 untrue? No! As a general rule, this statement holds true – if parents do well in training their children in the truth, the vast majority of the time their children will continue to walk in the right way. Wisdom literature is an observation of the world God created, restated in a memorable way. They are not promises, and they will not accurately describe every instance – that is not the intention.

I will wrap this up today for the sake of time. I want to pose a couple of questions for you to consider before the next post.

• Can an unbeliever be “wise”?
• Can a righteous person be a “fool”?
• Which comes first, the fear of God or wisdom? (see Prov 1:7 AND 2:1-5)

*Image from wikipedia.org