Noah's Obedience and Patience
Please forgive me for missing last week. My schedule had changed drastically and I also had 3 finals to do as well as trying to sleep. I will still be doing this weekly, Lord willing.
As we read through Genesis 7-8, there are points to take and questions to ask. I may not have answers to the questions that I propose, but we should always ask questions about scripture in order to bookmark (in a sense) how we think and answers that we seek to find in their proper context.
One point to take home is from Genesis 7:5, "And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him." Think about that. When the Lord commanded Noah to do something, he did it. He did not fight God for years and try to figure out why God was wrong, Noah just did it , like Nike. That paid off major dividends for Noah and his family as they were spared during the flood. When you do what God wants you to, He is sparing you from what is inevitable trouble if you do not follow through with what he said.
Also, there is another take home point from Genesis 8. The water was subsiding, but not quickly like a drain in a sink or bathtub. It took over 10 months for Noah to see the tops of mountains. That takes much patience. Now we also see that Noah kept checking for the development of what had happened to see if it was safe to exit the arc. Noah sent a Raven and then a dove to test the earth. When the dove no longer returned, another 50+ days later- Genesis 8:12, Noah knew then it was time to exit the arc. Do you see the obedience and the patience this man had? No wonder God spared him. That was not some guy that just reacted to everything on an emotional whim. He did what God said. Period.
A question I had was regarding the earth. I wondered if the flood covered the literal earth as in our entire planet, or did the flood cover the earth that surrounded Noah. I did not think I would come up with an answer (probably THE answer) so quickly. In Genesis 8:21 it reads "And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done." We know that there are still floods that happen on earth, but there are not major floods that have covered the entire earth/planet. So, we can understand the flood was covering the entire planet and not just a small portion of it.
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Alpha and the Omega
I have heard of the verse I will reference, but did not know the context before. It is important to know the context when giving. In Revelation 21:6, the vision starts and says it is done. These are the same words Jesus spoke on the cross (John 19:30). Then he says he is the Alpha and the Omega. These are not just some really cool words that sound cool. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek Alphabet and Omega is the last letter in the same alphabet. Jesus is the beginning and the end. All things are summed up in him. There no need for anymore or any less. And then he says that he will give a free drink to those who have thirst. That drink will come from the "spring of the water of life." This is obviously not physical thirst but a spiritual one. If there is a spiritual thirst, Jesus can help quench it.
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The 4 Trumpets
There are more than 4 trumpets. there are actually 7, but this chapter only covers 4, so we will cover the others in the following chapters. More from this vision explains how there are 7 angels who stood before God and each of them had a trumpet. Each angel blew their trumpet which holds a special meaning for each one (Revelation 8:6-13). First, hail and fire mixed with blood hit the earth burning up all the grass and a 1/3 of the trees and 1/3 of the earth. The second trumpet being blown had a great mountain burning with fire (possibly a volcano) and it was thrown into the sea destroying 1/3 of the ships, 1/3 of the living creatures and 1/3 of the sea became blood. The third trumpet was blown and a star fell from Heaven and it fell on 1/3 of the rivers and on springs of water. The fourth trumpet created dark days as a third of the sun, moon and stars are blacked out and days were not as bright nor the nights. The end of times looks bleak with destruction of the earth's natural resources and dark for people, subsequently.
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God's Workers and Fields
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul tells the church in Corinth that they are not yet spiritual people, yet they are of the flesh. Paul could only teach them with spiritual milk (like a baby) and not with spiritual meat (for the grown up believer). The focus had not been on God but on the ones who taught God's word. There was favoritism in the church.
While the favoritism can be attributed to the different sects of Christianity, I do not believe there were more sects of the faith at the time. The church as a whole was still growing. The word of Christ was still being delivered to those who didn't know of Christ. As we stand in 2016 the unity within the church could simply mean within your specific church. If you are favoring one pastor over another and only want to hear from one pastor then that could be part of why this church in Corinth was divided between those who followed Paul or Apollos.
One pastor waters and another may plant seeds, but they both have responsibilities under God who is the ultimate authority. If you are only likely to do what your pastor says and not read your Bible and seek to understand it on your own, you are doing yourself a disservice. We are all responsible for our role in our faith and our growth. God doesn't expect us to be experts in scripture to where we have to fill out tests when we reach the pearly gates. This isn't that kind of test. The test is while we are here. We are to learn and spread the word of Christ and be loving and not show partiality based on race or gender or anything. We are not to be partial. God does not want division in His temple (1 Corinthians 3:17).
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Eternal Life or Wrath of God
Scripture is pretty clear...okay, no...it is VERY CLEAR on who Jesus was and what his purpose was. Scripture is clear on what happens when we believe in Jesus and what happens when we do not.
There are still many who believe Jesus was the Son of God but do not follow his example and do not accept him as their Lord and Savior. That is there choice. We as believers are not to force or condemn anyone. If they are to come to Christ, then that is a decision they must make on their own. Since Jesus is God in the flesh then wouldn't you really, really want to know what he said and follow that? In John 3:36, we read part of John's testimony of Jesus. John says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." I would rather not have God's wrath on me due to my disobedience.
But where does John even get this idea from? He got it from Jesus. In John 3:14, Jesus is telling Nicodemus that "the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." This is reference is connected to Jesus being lifted on the cross. If you believe in Jesus as the Son of God then you will have eternal life. Jesus also says in John 3:5 that we must be born again of "water and spirit" or we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Think of birth and the water breaking before the birth of a child. Now, think of submerged water baptisms. You are submerged under the water and brought back up as rebirth with the Holy Spirit as you are expressing that you are a believer in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Jesus wants us to be born again in the Holy Spirit in order to be with us in the Kingdom.
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