Lampstands and Olive Trees

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ZECHARIAH 4

4And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring for- ward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

“These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.”11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

 
 

Zechariah is yet another Old Testament prophet whose work is important to John. (We’ll see this especially in Revelation 11.) He prophesied around the time when the exiles from Babylon were returning to rebuild Jerusalem. Today, I just want you to notice 2 things:

1. Make a note of the imagery of the lampstands and the olive trees and the anointed ones. It will be important later!

2. Note that the Lord tells Zechariah that it won’t be through military might or political power that God’s purposes will be realized, but through the strength of the Spirit!

Don’t be discouraged at the headlines today—God’s way wins in the end.

 

Daniel's Vision

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BIBLE STUDY TONIGHT (1/4) | 6:30 PM | SANCTUARY
LIVESTREAM: asburytulsa.online.church

 
 

Daniel 7:1-14

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. 2 Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

THE ANCIENT OF DAYS REIGNS

9 “As I looked, thrones were placed,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
its wheels were burning fire.
10 A stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.

11 “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were pro- longed for a season and a time.

THE SON OF MAN IS GIVEN DOMINION

13 “I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

 
 

Daniel is another Old Testament prophet whose vision was important to John. Yes, it’s strange for us to read today, but the overall message isn’t that difficult to understand:

  • There are rival governments and powers that are like beasts;

  • God is on his throne and will judge the earth;

  • And a mysterious person called “The Son of Man” will come on the clouds and will assume his place next to God, and he will have dominion over all creation.

Daniel goes on to wonder about the vision and ask questions about it, but he’s told that the secret part of God’s plan isn’t for him to know:

8 I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” 9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end." [Daniel 12:8-9]

Good news! With Revelation, the time has come and God's plan has been revealed.

 

Live No Lies + Bonus Content

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At the bottom of today’s post, I’ve included the intro I wrote for the Revelation Daily Reading Guides we’ve been handing out. It’s important, if I do say so myself, and I strongly recommend you read it before we start with Revelation proper on Monday. (I didn’t include it in the initial email from January 1 so as to make your reading that first day as simple as possible.)

 

Don’t forget about tomorrow’s Bible study: 6:30 PM CST. Livestream available.

 
 

EZEKIEL 2

And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.”2 And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have trans- gressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” 9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

 
 

Ezekiel was another Old Testament prophet whose life and work influenced John of Revelation. In Revelation 10, John will be given a scroll to eat, and the contents of that scroll will be the message of Rev- elation. Here, Ezekiel is given a spiritual vision that he is supposed to share with Israel, and though there are hard parts to the message, he is supposed to share the entire message, regardless of how it is received.

One of the themes of Revelation is the importance of truth, and how God’s people must be committed to truth no matter what.

What would it look like for you to live no lies today?

 
 

BONUS: I’ve included the intro to my Revelation Daily Reading Guide here below. Good luck.

 
 

Start Here.

Apocalypse is a Greek word that means “uncovering” or “disclosure” or “revealing” (from which we get our English word revelation). 2,000 years ago, near the end of the first century, a man named John was on the Mediterranean island of Patmos on a Sunday when he received an apocalyptic vision that he later wrote down and circulated among the churches of the wealthy Roman province of Asia Minor (the western part of modern-day Turkey).

The book of Revelation is that letter.

Revelation is a notoriously difficult book of the Bible, and its difficulty comes from the fact that John is writing as a Jewish-Christian prophet and sees his vision as the culmination of the entire tradition of biblical prophecy; this means his vision is replete with allusions to and images from the Old Testament, allusions and images with which we are not familiar.

The good news is that once you take the time to understand how John’s vision connects to the Old Testament, and once you pay attention to how the vision is structured, Revelation actually begins to make sense!

Revelation is powerful not just because of the amazing information it provides, but also because of the way it provides that information. Revelation is an invitation to see reality differently; to borrow a phrase from a recent movie, it is a “red pill” that John has given us, and if we take it, nothing will be the same afterward.

So, though the swirling images John gives us can be difficult to understand without studied reflection, be aware that John wants us to experience them just as much as understand them, so that through the experience, we might be changed.

When Dorothy gets back from Oz, Kansas is never the same.
Reading Revelation is like entering Oz. (Except that it’s not make-believe.)

Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we say:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.


The question Revelation is concerned with is:

“How will this happen? How will the Kingdom come?”

And, along with it, John’s vision will give us insight into this question:

“What is the church’s role in the bringing in of the Kingdom?”

Revelation is difficult not only because of its obscure imagery, but also because of the form John’s vision takes: sometimes it moves linearly, and sometimes it moves cyclically, circling back to show you the same thing from a different angle or with more information revealed.

In other words, sometimes the vision proceeds like this:

A→B→C, etc.

But other times it moves like this:

A→B1→C→B2→D→B3

Where B1, B2, and B3 are all different ways of expressing the same reality.
(This is the case, for example, with the sequences of 7 judgments: the 7 seals, the 7 trumpets, and the 7 bowls are all about the same thing—God’s judgment—but John’s vision gives us different insight each time it circles back to the topic of judgment.)

I tell you this to encourage you to pay close attention to the details of the vision, because the vision contains clues and markers to help us find our way and understand what we’re being told. Expect switchbacks and turns and recaps along the way!

Like the rest of the Bible (only maybe more so), Revelation reveals through re- peated, attentive reading. Accordingly, I’ve parceled out the readings at a slow pace; each particular day’s passage is short and very manageable and it is my hope therefore that you’ll have time to go back and re-read a previous day or days and see how it all connects. (Aside from January 1, the readings are assigned on weekdays only—all the more reason to take your time and read and re-read on the weekends.)

Each day I’ve written some commentary to go with the reading; the commentary is NOT the point—John’s words are the point—but I offer the commentary to help you get something out of what you’ve read each day. Some days I’ve interspersed the commentary in the midst of the reading, and some days the reading is given in its entirety all at once.

There is much more to say about Revelation than I could fit in this little reading guide; I will be preaching through Revelation from January to Easter 2023, and also teaching a series of Bible studies in that same period on the
following Wednesdays:

January 4
January 18
February 1
February 15
March 1
March 22.

The Bible studies will be held at 6:30 PM in the Sanctuary of Asbury Church and are for all-ages. (They will also be livestreamed at www.asburytulsa.org.)

Revelation is the last book of the Bible, and it is the capstone of the entire biblical story. It’s a beautiful, dazzling, piercing book, and if you’re willing to work through it, I’m going to make two bold promises:

1. You will come to understand and love it;

2. You won’t ever be the same.

Let’s go.

☩ Andrew Forrest
Asbury Church

Let's Go

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We are going to ease our way into Revelation by working through some preparatory readings this first week. It’s going to be great. Let’s go!

 
 

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

 
 

Psalm 1 says that the person who reads the Bible over and over and thinks about it constantly will be blessed.

Today is the day to make a clean break with the past—on the first day of the year, anything is possible.

What is your plan to become a Bible reader? Where will you sit each morning?

Make a plan now to get the most out of these coming months. Reading Revelation is a challenge, but if you just read it, slowly and deliberately, you will get much more out of it than you put into it.

P.S. If you don’t have Psalm 1 memorized, now’s the time to start. If you do, take time today to write it out by hand.

 

Cosmic Christmas

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John 1:1-14

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 
 

John unfolds the great mystery of the Incarnation.

Matthew and Luke start with the events leading up to the birth of Christ, but John starts before the beginning: with the pre-existent Word.

I’m grateful for the particularity and earthiness of the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke, but I’m also grateful for John’s beautiful prologue that sets the Incarnation in a cosmic context.

And I love his beautiful reminder:
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Be encouraged. Christmas means Hope!

Merry Christmas.

 

The Grace of God is a Person

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TITUS 2:11-14

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

 
 

The grace of God has appeared, saving all.

Titus is one of our New Testament letters, written by the Apostle Paul to a man named Titus. Like most of the New Testament letters, it predates the Gospels and comes from the earliest days of the church.

What I find fascinating is Paul’s simple statement: “for the grace of God has appeared.”

The grace of God is Jesus Christ!

Question for the Day:

What does it mean for the world that the grace of God is a person?

 

Christmas War

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LUKE 2:8-16

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

 
 

The shepherds go to see the Savior of the world, lying in a manger.

The meaning of the entire Christmas story changes when you understand that the word “hosts” is just an old fashioned way of saying “armies.”

Christmas is about WAR—war with spiritual weapons.

We wage spiritual war through prayer, silence, and love.

How can you fight back through prayer today?

 

Census At Bethlehem

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Luke 2:1-7

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

 
 

Against a backdrop of emperors and taxes, Jesus is born.

Caesar had no idea that God was using his census as a way to move Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, thereby ensuring that the Messiah was born in David’s city.

What current events, happenings, or occurrences might God be using for his purposes in our time?

 

What's the Longest You've Ever Waited for Something?

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LUKE 1:5-25

5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” 18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent
to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

 
 

The birth of John the Baptist is foretold.

What’s the longest you’ve ever waited for something?
I think this story is one of the sweetest ones in the scripture—this old, faithful couple, waiting all these years for a child, only to be surprised by the angelic message that the Lord is answering their prayers.
So poignant.

Are you waiting for something? Don’t lose heart. Keep hanging on.

 

Why Was Jesus Born in Bethlehem?

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MICAH 5:2-5a

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be their peace.

 
 

The king will be born in Bethlehem.

Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem?
The above passage from Micah is what the scholars reference when the Magi show up in Herod’s palace asking to see the king of the Jews. Herod asks for expert opinion, and the scholars tell him that the Bible says that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, the city of David.

Of course Luke tells us that the reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem is because Caesar made a decree for a census, causing Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem to be counted.

So, why was Jesus born in Bethlehem?
Was it because the Bible foretold that’s where it would take place, or was it because Caesar wanted a census?

Yes.

God is always at work, even when we can’t understand it at the time. God is always at work, and he is using our free choices to realize his divine purposes.

“God works all things for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

 

Peaceable Kingdom

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Edward Hicks, Peaceable Kingdom, circa 1833

From the Worcester Art Museum’s website:

Trained as a sign, coach, and ornamental painter, Hicks painted over a hundred versions of his now-famous Peaceable Kingdom between 1820 and his death. His artistic endeavors provided modest support for his activities as a Quaker preacher in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The theme of this painting, drawn from chapter 11 of Isaiah, was undoubtedly attractive to Hicks and fellow Quakers not only for its appealing imagery but also for its message of peace: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." Into many versions, including the Worcester painting, Hicks incorporated a vignette of William Penn's treaty with the Indians, an image he adapted from a popular painting by Benjamin West (q.v.). Hicks may have viewed parallels in the two parts of the composition, inasmuch as Penn, who had introduced Quakerism into Pennsylvania, had also brought about a measure of the peaceable kingdom on earth.

 
 

ISAIAH 11:1-9

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

 
 

The king is coming and will usher in a reign of justice for the poor and peace for all of God’s creation.

 
 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
How can you be a peacemaker today?

P.S. “The stump of Jesse” is the idea that the Messiah will come from David’s family. (Jesse was David’s father.) In 586 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and deposed David’s descendants from the throne—in the image that Isaiah uses, it is as if the “family tree” of David is cut down. Nevertheless, the line of David continued for the centuries and ultimately resulted in Jesus.

 

A Land of Deep Darkness

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ISAIAH 9:2, 6-7

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

 
 

The prophet announces the birth of a king to a people in darkness.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

My favorite part is the last verse:
“The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
What the Lord promises will come to pass.
Don’t be afraid today!

 

The Stars in the Sky

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GENESIS 22:15-18

15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

 
 

The Lord promises Abraham that by his descendants all the nations of the earth shall obtain blessing.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

Jesus, centuries and centuries later, comes from the line of Abraham. The Lord is always at work!

Be encouraged today—the headlines don’t tell the whole story.

 

Family Is How We Fight

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GENESIS 12:1-3

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

 
 

The Lord’s plan to save all of creation begins with one man’s family.

Despairing about the state of the world?
Worried about the future?
FAMILY IS HOW WE FIGHT.
Strong families are needed to raise strong children. The next generation is our hope. Remember, God’s entire plan depended on one man’s family. From Abraham’s family comes Jesus, so many centuries later, but at just the right time.

QUESTION FOR REFLECTION:

What can you do this weekend to build up and build for the next generation?

 

My Favorite Image of Christmas

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Created by Sr Grace Remington, OSCO in 2003 at the Sisters of the Mississippi Abbey in Dubuque, Iowa

 

GENESIS 3:8-19

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

 
 

The Lord announces in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve’s punishment for their rebellion and that the seed of woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.

REFLECTION:

Go back and look at that picture of Mary consoling Eve again. Keep it in front of your mind this Advent season—maybe save it as the wall- paper on your phone? It’s worth going back to over and over again. Praise God for his promise to undue all the wrongs and to renew all things.

 

The Image

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GENESIS 1:20-2:3

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

 
 

The crowning achievement of Creation is the creation of the human, made in God’s own image to join with God to steward the earth and bring beauty out of it.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY:

How can you step into your identity today of an image-bearer of God and use your God-given creativity to bring order out of disorder or to care for the civilization we have inherited?

 

Creation By Separation

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GENESIS 1:3-1

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the dark- ness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each accord- ing to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for sea- sons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

 
 

Once you see the pattern, you’ll never forget it:

God creates through separation.

Each division brings order and complexity to Creation.

• light from dark;
• day from night;
• water from water;
• land from sea;
• plant from dirt;
• sun from sky;
• etc.

One quick thought:
God brings order out of chaos; he does it at Creation, Jesus does it in his healing ministry—order to chaotic minds and bodies—and the Holy Spirit is doing the same thing today.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY:

Where do you need God to bring order out of chaos this advent season?

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

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I have my own personal reading plan that I’ve been following for several years now: I read one psalm a day, every day. There are 150 psalms, so when I get to Psalm 150, the next day I start again with Psalm 1.

Because I’m writing and working on future reading plans (Revelation begins January 2!), I don’t always read the churchwide current reading on its specified day. Instead, I always keep pushing on with my reading plan through the Psalms, one psalm a day, rinse and repeat when I get to Psalm 150.

There is a simplicity to this plan that really appeals to me, and I find beginning each day with a psalm to be a comfort (even when the psalms are sometimes dark and violent!). I have an app on my phone that tells me each morning what number psalm I’m on that day. (Unlike our churchwide reading plans, my reading plan through the Psalms is 7 days a week, so I read one on Saturday and Sunday, too.)

You are certainly welcome to join me in my practice. Our Advent reading plan begins on Monday, November 28, but if you’re interested in following along with my Psalms reading plan, today is Psalm 57.

Psalm 58 will be Friday.

Psalm 59 will be Saturday.

Psalm 60 will be Sunday. You get the idea.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

The End

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Genesis 50:15-26

15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: 17 ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph's own. 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

 
 

Today we’ve come to the end of a great work of art—a masterpiece and a wonder—and I feel a sense of loss. It’s bittersweet to have finished the Book of Genesis, because reading and working through it these last 3 months—my first 3 months at Asbury!—has been one of the most thrilling experiences I have ever had with scripture. I am in awe at the beauty and power of the first book of the Bible and am deeply moved that the Lord who can create light with one word would choose one man and one family as the means by which he would save the world. “From you,” the Lord says to Abraham, “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis is the book of beginnings, but until the Lord returns and the New Heavens and New Earth are begun, all things in this world must come to an end. And so, here we are. And yet every ending is also a beginning, and the ending of Genesis is no different: it ends and the story of Israel begins.

The final chapter of Genesis also contains one of the greatest descriptions of the grace of God in all of the Old Testament, and even, perhaps, outside of it.

Jacob has died, and the brothers immediately fear that Joseph will now seek vengeance on them for the evil they did to him so many years before. Joseph, as I have been saying, is a complicated moral figure, but here—perhaps in spite of himself—he so perfectly captures what the grace of God is like that I’m not sure anyone apart from Jesus himself has ever said it better:

45 “What you intended for evil, God intended for good.” [Genesis 50:20]

Is there a better verse for Good Friday?

What we intended for evil—the Crucifixion of the Son of God—God intended for the ultimate Good.

Cross before Crown, yes, but don’t ever forget that Crown follows Cross.

The rest of the entire Bible—which is really one unified story that leads to Jesus—will be about God using human evil to bring about the Good News of the Gospel.

Amen.

P.S. Like all great stories, Genesis ends with a note of sadness and with a few loose ends. Joseph dies, but unlike Jacob, he is not buried back in the Promised Land. Before his death, I think he sees clearly the mistakes he has made in Egypt by turning his back on his heritage; he tells his descendants that they will need the help of God to get out of Egypt and return to the Promised Land, and he makes them promise that when that day finally comes they will carry his bones with them back to the land of his fathers.

And then he dies, and is embalmed after the custom of the Egyptians.

And so Genesis ends and the last sentence will take your breath away:

The book closes with Joseph as a mummy in Egypt.

P.P.S. But the Children of Israel never forgot their promise to Joseph. And generation unto generation, they were reminded that the day would come when God would bring them out of slavery, and that when that day came, they were to carry the bones of their brilliant ancestor Joseph with them. And so, this is what happens when the long-awaited Exodus finally occurs, so many centuries later:

19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.” [Exodus 13:19]

I said before that Genesis ends without all the loose ends tied up. That may be true, but you know what?

In God’s time, all loose ends are eventually tied up. There are no details that the author of Creation forgets.

 

Thoughts on the Death of Jacob, Our Penultimate Reading

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Genesis 49:28-50:14

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.

29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

50 Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

4 And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’” 6 And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.” 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders 42 of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. 10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days. 11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan. 12 Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, 13 for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

 
 

THOUGHTS ON THE DEATH OF JACOB, OUR PENULTIMATE READING

I have a bit more to say tomorrow about our final day’s reading, but I want to leave you with what is one of the most powerful images in all of the Bible: the burial of Jacob.

Remember, Joseph has forgiven his brothers, but they are not really reconciled with each other. Joseph, the right hand of Pharaoh himself— is living like an Egyptian, whereas Israel and his sons are living as shepherds in Goshen, sojourning in a foreign land. Joseph has settled the family there, but for all intents and purposes he is not one of them any more.

Jacob’s death, however, unites the brothers for one last time.

Jacob makes his 12 sons swear a deathbed oath (the same oath, by the way, that Joseph will subsequently make his descendants swear to him):

29 Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and 43 his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people. [Genesis 49-29-33]

Jacob, whose life’s journey has been long and winding, knows that his place is in the Promised Land, and so he will be buried with his fathers.

Joseph gets the necessary permission from Pharaoh and then joins the whole company as they make the long sad trek back to the land that the Lord promised Abraham.

And then we get what is one of the most moving images in the entire Bible:

12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them: 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. [Genesis 50:12-13]

Jacob’s 12 sons, erstwhile enemies in life, united in the death of their father:

The twelve sons of Jacob carry their father on their shoulders as they lay him to rest with his fathers in the land of Promise.

Wow.