Day 9, 9th September: Genesis, Matthew, Psalms
Lots of bad things in Genesis and lots of good things in Matthew
Mike Pilavachi
Today’s readings
Genesis 19:1-20:18
Matthew 7:24-8:22
Psalm 7:1-9
For those of you who’d like to watch Mike’s post on your iPhone…
211 responses to “Day 9, 9th September: Genesis, Matthew, Psalms”
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- - September 9, 2010
- - September 9, 2010
The Bible in One Year with Soul Survivor 
Genesis 19 is a chapter that’s full of the darkness of sin. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is followed by the sordid episode with Lot and his daughters. Sin leads to judgment. That’s the lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah. sin leads to judgment. we see this in the birth of these two illicitly conceived children – “the father of the Moabites” and “the father of the Ammonites” (Genesis 19:37-38). To follow the pathway of sin is to walk in the way of the fool. It’s to build on sand. It’s better to build on the Rock, which is Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:24-27).
As we read of Jesus’ teaching along with the stories of Genesis, we see the continuity of God’s work of salvation. This is summed up in the words of Jesus: “many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). In Genesis, there’s a message of judgment. We see this also in Jesus’ teaching – “the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12).
There is judgment – “Arise, Lord, in Your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies” (Psalm 7:6). Thank God – there is also salvation – we cry to “the righteous God”, “Make the righteous secure.” He hears and answers our prayer. He gives us this great testimony: “My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart” (Psalm 7:10).
Hi guys just to say thanks for this all! Our youth are still going strong! Just a little comment, the music is a bit loud behind mikes videos, many blessings
Sometimes, I think feel that God has it in for me. Sometimes it feels like he’s the meanest P.E. teacher ever… you know – the ones that are like “Come on, it’s only another mile! That’s nothing!!!”, when inside, you feel like your heart is literally rattling off like a machine gun, and your lungs are about to explode with the same ferocity as a nuclear bomb…
All I really want is a quiet life. Being a middle of the road sort of Christian would suit me fine. I just want to go to a good church, and have a respectable job. And find a wife, have children, and a nice sized house (nothing fancy, just a nice size, you know). Oh, and maybe help with some youth work once in a while if I have the time. That would do me. At the same time though, I get this niggling feeling that I should set my sights on higher things…*
It’s not the main spiritual lesson from Lot’s escape from Sodom, but I think that Lot pleading with God to let him settle in Zoar, instead of escaping to the mountains speaks volumes. Throughout all of Lot’s story told in the Bible, he chooses comfort over God. Instead of choosing to trust in God’s all powerful-ness, he chooses to trust in all of the trappings that he was used to. God allows him to (because he never forces us to choose his way), but I wonder whether Lot would have been one of the heroes of the Bible if he followed God into the mountains…
So is God really like that mean P.E. teacher? In some ways, perhaps yes. But it’s not because he’s sadistic and loves seeing us be miserable… unlike a certain sir who shall remain nameless 😉 No, it’s because he can see what we could be, and what we could do if we did what we followed him.
It’s not easy, and Jesus tells us that there is a cost to following him. But the rewards of following him far outweigh the costs. And he doesn’t leave us to get on with it by ourselves. We have God living in us, to help us every step of the way.
*That’s not to say any of these things are evil or anything! It’s just that I feel we sometimes think of them as the be all and end all.
I’ve just been thinking about what you wrote. Maybe I’ve read wrong but you mentioned how you are wondering if Lot had just gone to the mountains, what a hero he would be. In this way, Lot reflects many of us today- especially in this society where it’s all about free rights for all and freedom of choice. Sometimes God will tell you to do something, it may seem beyond your control or ability, but God still tells you to do it. I often find myself in a situation where I’m pleading with God to do it the easier way and go through the easier route. God will never tell me to do something that is beyond my capability but because I’m too worried about what I think- ignoring the fact that what God thinks is more important- so I find myself choosing to do the easier thing and avoiding the direct instruction God has given me.
Sometimes its about ignoring your opnions and emotions and putting all your trust in God’s word because God’s intentions are never to hurt us so for me personally, I felt like the story of Lot and how his wife turned into stone is all about obedience and submission to God’s word. No shortcuts or easy versions- despite the difficulty.
God bless xx
Agreed 🙂
Is anyone else finding they’re under more attack because they want to follow the BIOY and get to know God and His word better?
On the very first day for me I wanted to go to my room early with the intention of getting a good start, but I was bitten by a rat (very ouch 😦 ) which made me late and then when I got to my room my housemates’ cats had taken up residence in there and refused to budge – literally at one point I kept finding I’d manage to get one out only to find another had snuck in. It took nearly 1.5 hours to shift the little oiks and clear my room, by which time I was exhausted and wanted to be asleep!
Since then I’ve found temptations rising up so much more, and also I’ve suddenly been tired just as I’m thinking about reading the Bible and website (when I’m usually ok at that time of day). But I am battling through – I know I’m not alone, and that Satan is afraid of what we are doing which means God is really working through this project – it makes it so much easier fight!
Hey Nikki,
You’re doing fantastic, keep going, be persistant! I would also advise you need pray against what you’re facing.
God Bless 🙂
Mike – look up at the camera not at the screen hehe
God is so gr8 and I love him x
Man I love you jesus!
Hey, reading with a group of friends and we have two questions about Lot’s wife…
Why was she turned to Salt?
And then we wondered if the town called Zoar was in the place where the dead sea is. Is that why it’s salty? 🙂
The standard reply is that she was turned into salt because she looked back. I’d see it as something similar to a ‘Just So’ story (e.g. how the leopard got its spots) explaining something to do with rock formation (exciting stuff, geology).
Sodom and Gomorrah were apparently near the Dead Sea (though there is scant archaeological evidence for them), and Zoar is also reportedly around there – Zoar has slightly more historical substantiation, e.g. Isaiah 15.5 and Jeremiah 48.34 🙂
I’m a bit confused why Lot says ‘But I cannot go to the mountains Disaster would catch up with me there’
probs because it was too far and he didnt have enough time, thats why he asked if he could go to the next local village.
quite simple really.
I like that he ends up in the mountains (19:30). Sometimes we’re like that with God where we think we know whats right and because of Gods permissable will he allows us and then usually by the time we have had revelation/been hurt, we come back to him and following his desire!
Hey guys, usually post earlier, but had a busy day – sorry that it’s late
Day 9 – Thoughts/Comments
Genesis 19:1-20:18
Genesis 19:1-29
Here we see Lot is really desperate to let the angels stay at his house. He strongly insisted. But then something happens, his house gets surrounded by the men of Sodom and demands to have sex with them. The first thing that we should remember is that here the outcry was so great, and now we can read about it ourselves. I wouldn’t want to be there. The fact that men were raping other men was a sign that something here was terribly wrong socially. Lot offers an alternative, still not exactly what you would call great, but he offers his daughters instead. They refuse the offer and then start to try and attack. The next part really shows the power of God by the men being struck by blindness so they couldn’t see. Also we see God’s mercy, he was saving Lot and his family. When Lot tells his son-in-laws, they don’t believe him. Would this be something to joke about though, to their demise they find out his not joking, and are destroyed with the rest of the city. Then they say don’t look back. Today, that would be not looking back at our old lives, looking back at our sin and feeling guilty about it, but continue foward. We see that Abraham then wakes up the next day to find it destroyed, and because of the conversation he had with God before, he knew that must have meant there were no righteous people there, however, now we have Jesus, our cities don’t suffer the same fate as Sodom and Gomorah.
Genesis 19:30-38
After making a request to God, Lot then decides to leave for the mountains anyway, even though he first requested to go the smaller town. The next thing we see is insest happening with the father and daughters, even though the father is unaware of this. Firstly the older one, and then the younger one. Of course, their decendants are punished, as is tradition in the old testement by them being in constant battles with God’s people.
Genesis 20:1-18
Once again, Abraham is telling lies, calling Sarah his sister, but this time, we see God’s mercy upon Abimelech and he warns him in a dream. We then later hear that Abraham claims that Sarah is her half-sister. He then offers the land to Abraham. This is just showing God’s Grace, again, for Abraham and Sarah.
Matthew 7:24-8:22
Matthew 7:24-29
And so we come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount with the classic wise and foolish man. If we are wise, then we will act on God’s word – and do stuff about it. I hope to be like that, but sometimes, I can be like the foolish one, who doesn’t act – and sometimes it can be so tempting to do this, but we need to remember that God has changed us so much that we should want to be changed and become more like Christ. So we should make sure that we are strong in our faith so the winds can’t crash us down.
Matthew 8:1-4
And now we see God’s healing power once again through Jesus. However, Jesus wants it kept quiet, and is asking the ex-leper to do as Moses commanded. This is showing that Jesus is still a believer in the Laws of the old testement and that he wasn’t there to break them as he mentioned before, he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. What more can be used to back up this than verse 4 in todays reading.
Matthew 8:5-13
Next, we see the story of the Centurion – the Roman who has faith. This is an encouraging one as it reminds us that Jesus came for everyone, not just the Jews. I also am encouraged to read what Jesus says – “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Isreal with such great faith” and then goes on to say that because a majority of the Isralites have rejected Jesus, that they will be kicked out of the meal, but those who come from everywhere else will be sitting at the table.
Matthew 8:18-22
This passage has a few different interpretations, however, I am going to be slightly biased and mainly focus on the one that I believe. Firstly, the teacher says he will follow Jesus everywhere. Jesus then goes on to say he has no place to rest, he is a wanderer on the Earth – he was a street person. And for us, to follow Jesus we have to be willing to give up our comforts – step out of our comfort zones (as a resting place is usually seen as comfortable) and move forward. Then Jesus says something to a disciple, which at first glance seems very harsh. “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead”. The way that I personally interpreted this was to leave the ways of this world to the ways of this world – to not let the earthly things get in the way. Sometimes this can mean family that are strong unbelievers that reject at every given opportunity, but it can also mean other things, such as material things and even sometimes friendship groups that God doesn’t want to be with.
Psalm 7:1-9
And finally todays Psalm. The way I see this is David not using God’s grace as an excuse. In verses 3-5, it says that if David has wronged against someone who hasn’t against him, he says to God to let his enemy persue and overtake him. That’s something powerful – he is saying to God that he wants to be righteous in his eyes and to not attack those who don’t need it. He also prays for the righteous – and it shows us how God is, but also david’s understanding of God himself – that we can now look at and see that is so true.
Genesis 19:1-20:18
19:1-29 – In Genesis 3, we read of humanity’s fall into sin. Here, we see the awfulness of human sin and the awesomeness of divine judgment. We must take God with the utmost seriousness. If we refuse to take Him seriously, He will continue to take us seriously – in His judgment! Sin leads to judgment – that’s the lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah. There is sadness in the story of Lot. A compromised believer for whom the world had no respect, he chose Sodom. This choice brought him nothing but sin and shame – ‘and now he wants to play the judge!’ (9). The amazing thing is that God did not give up on this ‘backslider’ – ‘the Lord was merciful to them… He brought Lot out of the catastrophe’ (16,29). What a great thing it is to have God’s salvation: ‘everything we need for life and godliness’ to ‘escape the corruption in the world’ (2 Peter 1:3-5).
19:30-20:18 – These are stories of deception and deceit. Lot is deceived by his daughters (30-38). Abraham deceives Abimelech (1-18). Even with the divine provision for godliness, we need to be constantly on our guard. Even those to whom we had looked for help can turn out to be a hindrance. Lot was drawn into incest. This had drastic effects – ‘the father of the Moabites, the father of the Ammonites’ (37-38)! Devotion to the Lord needs to be renewed day-by-day. Otherwise, we will be vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy and overcome by him. Abraham concealed the whole truth by telling a half-truth (12). Abraham was regarded as ‘a prophet’ (7). He ought to have lived the life of a prophet, a true life. We are to be true – the people of God.
Matthew 7:24-8:22
7:24-29
Our faith must be grounded in the Son of God and the Word of God. This is the point of Jesus’ parable of the two builders and the two houses (24-27). We must build upon Christ. We must build on the Word of God. Jesus’ ‘sermon’ ends in verse 27, and is followed – in verses 28-29 – by a statement of its effect upon His hearers. Down through the centuries, Jesus’ teaching continues to make this impression on people. His words come to us with authority, addressing us with remarkable relevance. We imagine that our time is very different from Jesus’ time, yet Jesus’ words make it very clear – things are not so different after all. Still, we hear Him speaking as One who has authority. His Word is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable.
8:1-22
In verses 1-17, we read of three people who received the Lord’s blessing – the leper was cleansed (1-4), the centurion’s servant was healed (5-13), Peter’s mother-in-law was healed (14-17). Reading verses 18-22 together with Luke 9:57-62, we learn of three people who did not receive the Lord’s blessing (Matthew mentions two, while Luke adds a third). Christ calls us to decision. Some say ‘Yes’ to Him and they are blessed. Some say ‘No’, and they miss out on the blessing. Christ touches our lives, and we are made clean (3; 1 John 1.7) – ‘The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives’ (13; Church Hymnary, 374). Through the entrance of His Word, we receive a new Spirit (16; Ezekiel 36:25-27). Cleansed and healed, we are to live as Christ’s disciples. There is to be no half-heartedness: ‘I will follow you, Lord, but…’ (Luke 9:61). Yes, Lord!
Psalm 7:1-9
Personal Salvation
The Psalmist was being pursued by enemies who were intent on his full and final destruction. He puts his trust in the Lord. He looks to the Lord for salvation – “O LORD my God, I take refuge in You; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me” (vs. 1-2). Following his opening words, we read about human sin – “O LORD my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands – if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe -then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust” (vs. 3-5) – and divine judgment – “Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice. Let the assembled peoples gather around You. Rule over them from on high; let the LORD judge the peoples. Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High. O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked” (vs. 6-9a). In thinking about what God is saying to us through this Psalm, we do not not limit ourselves to looking at David and his pursuers. We look at human sin and divine judgment. This is the bad news concerning ourselves. We look also at personal salvation. This is the Good News concerning our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Human Sin * “O LORD my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands – if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me” (vs. 3-4). Looking beyond the immediate situation of David and his pursuers, we ask, “What are these words saying to us?” Here, we must be honest with ourselves, and we must be honest with God. There is no “if” about it! We are sinners. we are guilty. * “Let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust” (v.5). We do not look only at David and his pursuers. We look into our own hearts. We have a pursuer. His name is Satan. He is the devil. He is our “accuser” – he “accuses us before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10). When we are honest with ourselves, and honest with God, we must confess that Satan has every right to accuse us. “Every one of us has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23). Satan has won the victory over every one of us. This is the bad news concerning every single one us – without any exceptions. Divine Judgment The bad news continues. Sin brings judgment. We cannot escape God’s judgment. We must confess our sins. We are “the wicked” (v. 9). “God is the righteous Judge.” God’s wrath “rests upon us (v. 11). We hear the bad news about human sin and divine judgment. We wonder, “Can ‘the wicked’ become ‘the righteous’?” (v.9). Is there a way in which guilty sinners can escape the righteous judgment of God? Is there a way in which we can be victorious over our pursuer? Personal Salvation We come to God with our questions. We ask about salvation – “Can my sin be forgiven?” We ask about victory – “Can I triumph over Satan?” God gives to us His answer. Yes! There is a way of salvation. Yes! There is a way of victory. Here, in this Psalm, we have God’s answer to two very important questions – “What must I do to be saved?“ – “What must I do to be lost?“ * In verse 9, we learn that it is the “righteous God” who “makes the righteous secure”. What must I do to be saved?” – “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31); “God is righteous and He declares righteous those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). Trusting in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3), we receive the forgiveness of our sins – “the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from every sin” (1 John 1:7). We also enter into Christ’s victory over Satan – “They overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb … ” (Revelation 12:11). Personal salvation is not about ourselves. It’s about our Saviour. We don’t save ourselves. Jesus saves us.
Thank you 😀
You’re welcome.
I’m pleased that these words have been a blessing to you.
Just noticing- great photography of Mike at the top 😀
Why did Lot’s wife get turned into salt ?? I don’t get it..
She looked back the angel told them not to look back. It’s a trust God issue I think
yeh but why does that mean she deserved to be turned into salt?
From what I’ve read about this Lot wasnt just having a quick glance back, it was a longing gaze towards the world she loved. Therefore she was too attached to Sodom to follow Gods call to grace, so she was included in the judgement as she lingered after Sodom/world.
i know this is nothing to do with todays readings but does anyone know the bible verse; “lean not upon your own understanding…”
it’s been bugging me for a while now
thanks
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3v5-6 I think 🙂
It’s Proverbs 3:5. ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding’. I love that passage!
thanks really helpfull
i love that too
Yep it is that i should not that, thats one first the pastors wife has been drilling into me this year 🙂 xxx
ooops meant to put verse nor first 🙂
I often find the stuff Jesus says in the NT passages much more difficult to get my head around than some of the OT passages!
Can anyone explain why he said what he said in Matthew 8:11-12 about throwing out the subjects of the kingdom? What does that mean? Is it literal, as in, these people won’t be allowed into the kingdom of heaven? If so, why? Who exactly is he referring to?
I would guess he’s talking about some of the Jews who’d rejected his message. He’s just healed a (Roman) centurion’s servant, someone outside of his primary target for ministry and who probably wasn’t particularly liked in his culture – his primary target was Israel/the Jews (see, for example, Matt. 15.21-28; that one’s gonna cause a lot of questions when we go through it!), who were being oppressed by the Romans. But yet Jesus finds that this centurion, this person who was outside the covenant God had made with Israel, had more faith in him than did anyone who was actually part of the covenant, and so this healing story emphasises the inclusion of such Gentiles (non-Jews) in Jesus’ plan for salvation (see Matt 8.10). Those from the east and west presumably refer to other Gentiles and their inclusion in God’s kingdom, and the heirs of the kingdom (the Jews) have given up their place in it by refusing to be faithful to God. Have a read of Matthew 22.1-14, which works on the same theme and uses a different metaphor to get across the same idea. Let me know if you’re still stuck 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
That’s great, thankyou!
No problem 🙂
Mike wasn’t kidding when he said today’s reading was hard! However, I’m so glad he explained it all, and somehow it all made much more sense when you realised it was before the Ten Commandments.
And today I experienced an unexpected benefit of the Bible in One Year. A colleague sadly lost her mother on Saturday evening, and when she came back to work today, she asked if I might know of a suitable reading for the funeral. And I immediately thought of day 7, Psalm6:1. And as it was lunchtime so I was already there with the BIOY open infront of me, I turned to it and read it for her. She loved it, and I want to thank the good Lord for giving me the opportunity to spread a little of his comfort in a time of grief.
Hello, im loving the bible in a year, I would like the post in text as well the video because then i can read it at my own pace.
Naomi P says:
September 9, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Hello little ones, it’s me again. We’re on day nine which is for most of us September the ninth. And the old testament reading…now today it’s one of those hard ones ‘cos it’s all the stuff that isn’t very good in Genesis nineteen. First of all Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, but before they’re destroyed you find out something about why they’re destroyed which is the wickedness of the people, because the guys when they heard that the two angels who were looking like men were visiting Lot a whole bunch of young and old men surrounded their house and ‘They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”’. So basically that wasn’t very good. And then Lot, which is a bit puzzling, he says “No no no, don’t have sex with the guys, I’ll give you my two daughters, they’ve never slept with a man, they’re virgins, you can rape them instead”, which probably isn’t really a lot better. But they insist they want the guys and then basically the two angels sort them out by blinding them so that they can’t see them to rape them or anything like that. And then the angels say this sin in Sodom and Gomorrah, it’s too great, it’s too bad, the Lord is going to destroy the cities and he does. And the thing about that is it’s hard for us to read but when it was natural that if visitors came the guys would just turn up and want to rape them, it sounds like they’ve gone down a really bad road and they hurt each other, they damage each other, they do terrible things to each other, this is about sin which hurts each other, this is more than simply about one type of sin or another type of sin, this is about what sin does to people and in the end Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. And then we get a very odd thing, Lot, his wife has turned into a pillar of salt, but Lot and his daughters after they’ve escaped, we read the daughters say “Hey” the two daughters “We need to have children to continue the bloodline. I tell you what, why don’t we get dad drunk a couple of times and we’ll take it in turns to sleep with him while he’s drunk”. And then they had two sons, a son each, as a result. Now again, that’s not good either, that’s not what God wants, yes of course it’s incest, yes of course it’s wrong. This is before the law was given, and so God was dealing with people who didn’t know any better and that’s why he ended up giving the law of Moses, the ten commandments and everything to say “Hey if you’re going to be people, you need to live like this”. This does not mean that just because it’s here God approves of it. Of course he doesn’t approve of it. And one of the signs is that the two sons, one was called Moab, who is the father of the Moabites, and the other one was called Ben-Ammi, who becomes the father of the Ammonites, and if you read the rest of the old tesament as we will, you discover that for the rest of the time Isreal seems to be fighting the Moabites and the Ammonites, there’s emnity between them from then on. And then in chapter twenty, again dear old Abraham, he doesn’t learn, despite the fact that God loves him and gives promises to him, once again he’s pretending that Sarah is just his sister and not his wife to this guy Abimelech. And God’s mercy, he stops Abimelech having sex with another man’s wife by coming to him in a dream because Abimelech didn’t know what was going on. And then they have a discussion and we discover that in some way Sarah was also Abraham’s sister as well as his wife, so he was kind of telling a half-truth. And again in those days, it was before the law, they seemed to sleep with close relatives in a way that isn’t good, isn’t healthy and God does not approve of today.
Then the new testemant reading, the classic, the wise and foolish builders, the wise man built his house upon the rock. What’s the house that is built upon the rock? It’s anyone who hears the words of Jesus and lives according to those words and puts them into practice. And the house that’s built on sand is when we hear the words of Jesus, when we read the words of Jesus and it becomes just and intellectual exercise. And that is the warning for us as we read the bible, this isn’t meant to be about us simply understanding this with our heads, it’s about living it. For me, it’s not the bots of the bible that I don’t understand that give me problems, it’s actually the bits of the bible that I do understand, as they are the bits that I have to put into practice. And then the rest of the new testament reading from Matthew is Jesus healing people, he heals a man from leprosy and then there is the centurion and the whole point of the centurion, he was a Roman centurion so he wasn’t even Jewish and Jesus says what faith this man has. And then he heals many other people, Peter’s mother-in-law and stuff like that. And you see Jesus’ compassion coming out everyehre he goes people come to him in need and Jesus meets their need. So that is the readings for today, well done guys, keep going, keep reading. Some of it’s harder than other bits. It will begin to make more and more sense as we move throughout the scriptures and as we put it all through the lense of Jesus Christ. Gos bless you. See you tomorrow.
Woah-oh-oh, oh oh oh oh ooh oh.
XD
I know I’ve said this before, but I really, really love coming on here and seeing the videos/texts and comments. It’s also really helped me with reading it, being able to get up and excited along with everyone else really motivates me.
I’d just like to quickly through something out there though. Yesterday, a friend of ours came for dinner, along with his girlfriend, who is blind, has MS and several allergies. It was amazing the way she just coped with everything and her story was, frankly, pretty frightening. She had gone to sleep at nineteen with perfect eyesight and woken up the next morning blind. No warning, no detoriation, nothing (it was later found out to be genetic defect). But it just made me feel SO thankful to God for my health, and so happy that in heaven they’ll be none of it. No disease, no blindness, nothing.
(Off-topic: Mike, if you grow your beard is it curly? I’ve always wondered. . .)
That is shocking, but god must have a plan for her. And ha i never really thought that but now you bring it to mind, Does it?
Hmmm
sorry it’s a bit late.. but the other day(cant remember which day) in matthew there was a bit which told you not to worry, and that really encouraged me, but i still cant help but worry about the whole bible in a year thing, ive read every day’s passage, and im deffinatly feeling something, im just not sure what. do you think i will progress over the year? like would i be able to start talking to god and knowing the bible more?xxxx
God is taking all of us on an adventure with this. keep going, it’ll be awesome
Getting closer to God is the absolute best reason to read your Bible and I’m sure God will lead you on as you read and just naturally reading His word will help you know Him better.
I always find it helps to pray and just say thank you after I finish reading like “thank you Lord for your message, this bit was encouraging and I pray that you would help reveal yourself to me through what I have read today”
But yeah try not to worry about it Jason- God is in control, read at your own pace, let the readings sink in as much as you can and then you will really start to get to know God.
But keep going mate and God bless you 🙂
You don’t have to wait to speak to God, you can talk to him right now! He is there just waiting for you to talk with Him. God is there for us 24/7, always remember that.
I’m just a little confused. In yesterday’s reading Abraham was questioning God on how many righteous people it would take to not sweep away Sodom and Gomorrah. They narrowed it down to Ten righteous people but God still wiped them out. Did God not find ten rightous people?
No, unfortuantly he didn’t. (I think you can tell from the bit where the men are wanting to have sex with the angels that things were pretty bad there).
But the amazing thing was, that although God couldn’t find 10 righteous people, he still saved Lot and his family, who were just the four (and I’m not sure how righteous – look at the daughters and what happens with their father when their mother dies)
So no matter how bad things are God cares for YOU.
Thanks alot for that. It made it alot easier to understand. :-]
From the video Mike did, I kinda thought that maybe God found Jesus in Sodom. Since Jesus is everywhere and everywhen, he would have been in Sodom then; and from the way Abraham whittled God down to 10, I think we can assume that God would save it for one. So, maybe God is talking about a different kind of destruction? Okay, so God let the city burn, which is pretty real destruction. But maybeGod saw the righteousness of his Son when he looked at Sodom, the same way he sees it when he looks at us. So he didn’t send the Sodomites (right word?) to Hell or whatever, which would be a worse kind of destruction than physical death. Still a bit confused myself, could do with another opinion?
Much love and FREE HUGS =D
I am loving BIOY soo much! I can feel God speaking to me so much, especially through peoples comments. Love it. I am getting so much more out of this than I thought I would do. 😀
Since I’ve been reading this I’ve been so happy, then I didn’t get round to it yesterday and just felt a little down.. Now I’ve realised how amazing God’s word is and I actually can’t live without it! Bring on the rest of the year 😀
arggh!!! annoyed:(i have been unable to read or watch the last three scriptures as it takes to long to load, but as i said other peoples comments help me sort of understand what the vidoe is saying:) which is that god never changes Text pleeease, much more useful for me
thanks xxx
If you read through the other posts you’ll find that people have transcribed what Mike’s been saying on the videos. HTH
It’s a real contrast from the old testament Sodom story and the guidance in Matthew. It’s great that God can have a relationship with us like He does with Abraham and Lot. I wonder if that’s where drawing lots means ??? Could be I suppose. The Law is great because for us it just highlights the sin so that we can repent (turn back to God’s way of doing things which doesn’t hurt anyone ) and be thankful that Jesus died for all sins past , present and future all we have to do is realise and do something about it. Then it doesn’t hinder our time with God xxxxx Blessings Bx
sorry this hasnt got much to do with the readings but this is sort of the only place i can ask….. how do you know if you feel god talking to you? and has anyone read mikes book on meeting god in the wasteland?
Hey man.
If you feel God has given you a word or has spoken something over you, then one thing you can do is find scripture to back it up 🙂 and if what you feel what god is saying contradicts his word then it most likely isnt his voice 🙂
Also man, its a process, the more you familiarise youself with his living word, the more familiar you will become with hearing his voice 🙂
Hope that helps 🙂 xx
There’s one called “Surprised by the Voice of God” by Jack Deere; may be worth a read.
Someone told me this, that when God is trying to speak to you, sometimes it will feel right, and then God will confirm it by His word!
I’ve read Wasteland by Mike Pilavachi, its a great book!
BB i understood most of the book… but what did he mean by finding your desert… any like examples?
I think it might be saying that it the world today, we can find behind things as simple as noise! When it talks about finding your desert, i think it means finding your place to meet with God, to discover more about Him and Jesus!
It was ages that I read the book, but I think that is the idea of it!
Hope that helps!
Hey
Yeah as Jay said, if you can back it up with scripture then thats always a good sign. Also the way we explained it to the kids was that there are three voices you can hear: 1) Yours – this is the selfish voice, 2) Satans – this is the voice saying things that will hurt others and 3) is God’s – and God always speaks with love.
A great way to find out is to ask…ask God if it’s him and for more information. He loves talking to His children.
Your sister in Him
Lauren xx
OK in a front room in rural Suffolk, my 10 year old son is reading the bible to his 8 year old sister and 18 year old brother. I’m just amazed and we are all blessed.
Lets all read on together ………………
Amazing and lovely image to think about 🙂
wow 🙂
Love this bible in a year. Jesus saved me this summer 🙂 just want to share with you one of my favourite lyrics which we sang in church the other day that’s keeping me going this week
“no power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of christ I’ll stand.”
LOVE that song!!!! xx
i thought GOD would never wipe people out of the world agen……x
Heya Everyone!
I’m LOVING BIOY! Sorry I can’t post this on it’s own-my computer will only let me post as replies????
In relation to the ‘wise and foolish builders’ part of todays readings, i just wanted to share this excerpt from Beth Redman’s book ‘God Knows My Name’. After she’s looked at the same passage she says…
“The storm, wind and rain are all symbolic of the troubles, pressures and problems that we will face in our lives. Jesus does not say that if you build your house on the rock you will ESCAPE the storm. Rather, if you build your house on the rock you will be able to WITHSTAND the storm”
It meant a lot to me when I read it and I just wanted to share it with you guys!
God Bless,
Siany xxx
Thanks for sharing. This has really helped me.
Thanks! 🙂
I can see why it meant alot to you, reading it now has really helped me. Thanks for posting it. 😀
Well, I wouldn’t believe half of what the Old Testament says if I were you. You have to interpret it in an obscure way for it to make sense.
xx
The bible is God’s word – from Him. I think he told people like Moses what to write down and they would have understood it easier than us because it was written at their time, a bit like Jesus using stories about fishing to explain to the people he was speaking to. So I believe everything that the old testament says, we just have to think more about what it means to us today. God did some crazy, amazing things 🙂 xxx
Um, not quite. Jesus acknowledged, referred to, and taught from the Old Testament, and he never refuted it. So if Jesus believes it, so do I!
Its not always the easiest to understand I’ll admit, but just look at all the comments and see how God is speaking through it!
sorry seems like that was in response to Becky! “Uhm not quite” was actually aimed at Maria 😛
God inspired the writers such as Moses and actually you don’t have to inpret it in an obsecure way it just shows the mess that we get into if we turn away from God! If you read other comments Lots wife was turned into salt because she didn’t listen and the two sons fought againist Irseal! When people try to fix them without God it goes wrong! Without Genesis we would know why we needed to be saved! It’s like finding nemo if we didn’t know the beginning we wouldn’t know Nemo needed saving!Old testament is to be trusted this that the OT is a promise, a commitment from God! It tells a story about the promise God made and are a guide to us and show us why the world is how it is today! The details about the history and the salt aren’t the most important point if God explained everything now we wouldn’t need faith!Plus the bible would be very boring! We don’t know who wrote some the books of the bible, we trust them because of who God is! God inspired the bible but also the process it’s in there because it is to be trusted! Why put them together because when you put the OT and NT it tells the story of God and what he’s done for us! Unfortunately some of it is confusing but a relationship involves trust that the person will tell us the truth! What’s in the Bible? A dvd series explaining the bible maybe useful! Keep going sometimes it’s confusing but what I love is that we will understand everything in heaven! Hope this is useful!
Gotta love discussions on Biblical authority! I wouldn’t take it all literally, and I wouldn’t be concerned about errors in the small details, but there’s definitely plenty of good stuff in there. 😀
He didn’t wipe out the world…just two very bad cities. Ultimately God is a God of love, that’s why He said if there were even just 10 righteous people He would save the city. But He is also a God of justice and couldn’t let the extent of their sinning continue.
The promise after the flood was that he would never wipe out the *whole* world again, not that no one would stop living on Earth ever again. Let me know if I’ve interpreted you wrong!
i thought GOD
sorry didnt finish xx take no notice of it x
What I would like to ask anyone to think of and comment on is why God did not give guidance to his people about incest before. It’s all very well to kill and wipe them (sodom & Gomorrah) out for a wicked lifestyle but why did the men of God, Prophets like Abraham, not warn them against this behaviour. It’s all very well for Mike in his video link to say that this behaviour was before the law and then God realised that his people needed guidance – but God is all knowing, all powerful and all seeing. He knew that this would happen before it did. Second thought – Abraham is a prophet, a loved one of God, in a special relationship – and yet it is ok for him to keep offering his wife, decieving all Kings he might come across, to save his own neck, as his sister. Come on now he’s supposed to be chosen by God. Technically Sarah might he his sister but then aren’t they all interrelated in some way – surely God should have guided Abraham in a better way. So far Abraham seems rather a cowardly bloke to me intent on savind himself. Moses on the other hand stood up to the Egyptian Pharoah regardless of his speech impediment and the terrifying task ahead of him. Anybody any thoughts?
Two very good points, I had the same problem in understanding this section.
And to be honest i still do not fully understand.
All i know is god is good and everything God does is out of love, I believe this with all my heart, so i accept that what happened was under gods control. And remember Abraham was only human, we are flesh, we are bound to mess up.
Sorry this doesnt answer your question, you kind of have to accept that there is a lot of stuff that happens within the bible that God has not shared with us 🙂 And God knows best, if not he wouldnt be God 🙂 xxxx
Most scholars think that many parts of Genesis were written quite late on – incest was probably known to be wrong long before Genesis was written.
As for Abraham acting wrongly, God’s chosen people do indeed get it wrong quite a lot. God never pretends that everyone he’s chosen to be his messengers is perfect or anything, and it is his grace and power that allow us to continue after we do make those mistakes.
ahhh yeah. ok. i get it now. thanks. i was confused by this aswell. xx 🙂
on your second point abaham does do wrong and it’s not ok with God but that dosen’t stop their relationship. we all fall out with our friends but that ultimatley doesn’tstop them being your friend
Maybe god picked Abraham especially because he did full well know what he wwas like, he new sarah was his sister which was wrong, he knew he would mess up alot and this is actually why he picked him , to show everybody that you dont have to be perfect be gods chosen one, you can mess up and god will still back you up just like he did for Abraham
just a thought
People what was right and long before the law!
Romans 2 : 12-15
Roman 1 : 20
The law was given so that we had no excuse and to demonstrate how graceful was.
Romans 5 : 20
As for abraham being far from perfect fortuatly for him and for us grace does not require works just belief.
Gen 15 : 6
sorry top line should read PEOPLE KNEW WHAT WAS RIGHT LONG BEFORE THE LAW
on the 7th september’s reading in matthew 5:43-6:24 verse 16. I was wondering if christans fast as its in the bible. Yesterday my RE teacher was teaching us about The bible and whats different between the old an new testament. The new testament is the new agrement between god and human, 27 books and it was originallywritten in greek…. The old testament has 3 sections: Law, Prophets and writings and the jewish religon is based on the old testament. it has 39 books more than the new testament…
Today’s reading was ok but quite hard to understand so i have a fewor more questions:
– How did the daughters get pregnant by their father while he was sleeping?
– How old was the daughters?
– What is leprosy?
So when we are ill does that mean that the demon-possessed us and jesus comes to heal us?
One last thing didn’t get a thing when jesus told us But jesus told him,” Follow me,and let the dead bury their own dead.”
I thought that what the daughters done was disgusting!!!
ok i can only answer a few of the things you’ve asked but i hope it helps. Christians do fast as a spiritual discipline, but you don’t have to. We’re supposed to fast and spend the time we would spend eating talking to God. I’ve tried it once and it was really hard, but I’d like to try it again. it’s not something you have to do though.
Leprosy is a disease of the skin, it peels off and stuff and the nerves go in your hands and feet so you can’t feel when you’ve hurt yourself. You can probably find out more about it by looking on google, but in those days people with leprosy were regarded as unclean and no one would go near them or talk to them.
we’re not demon posessed when we’re ill, those people happened to be demon posessed and jesus took away the demons. he healed them inside and outside.
I also agree, what the daughters did was definitely wrong.
The daughters were probably grown up and living in the mountains for some time ( it is easy to read a few verses of the Bible without realsing how much time is passing) and saw no hope of marriage and having children, there were no other men, and at that time a woman’s worth relied on her being able to have children. So they did do a very foolish thing and made their father drunk enough to have sex with them without realising what he was doing…yeuch!
Jesus wanted the man to follow him, but he wanted to ‘bury ‘ his father…he wanted to wait until his father had died (and giving him his inheritance) before following Jesus. So Jesus said ‘Follow me and let the dead bury the dead’ MEANING ‘ Follow me and have eternal life rather than sticking with your dad and staying spiritually dead’.
Hey 🙂
– Lot was still awake, just drunk
– It doesn’t say how old the daughters were.
– Leprosy is a skin disease (now known as Hansen’s Disease), but back then they used ‘leprosy’ for a wider range of skin diseases that we use it for now.
Just wana say – I’m loving the BIOY. I’ve been bought up as a christian, and have just come back to God after 2years being an idiot, and do you know,I’m 23 now, and I’ve never managed to read the bible really. Hardly read any of it. This is amazing and after sooooo many years I’m finally understanding it! Thank you soul survivor for doing this 🙂 Loving the videos too!
Just realised, Jesus healed Peter’s Mother-In-Law… So Peter had a wife?
May well have done! I wouldn’t be surprised 🙂
I LOVE THE BIOY! It’s great! I think i understood most of today’s readings. And all my questions were answered in mike’s video talk 🙂 Apart from… what is Selah? in the Psalms but someone already asked that below so yeah
Selah is a pause
Also Selah is a kind of musical direction foot-note; we have all that stuff in Italian these days, like crescendo and forte etc
loving the BIOY! I can’t wait to read it everyday. I agree the OT reading was difficult today but the website really helped to understand it- after all we never said it was going to be easy but we’re all doing this together which is great! 🙂 thankyou so much to all the people that have transcribed the videos too as i like to copy and paste into word documents. I just have one question, what does ‘selah’ mean in Psalms?
I was about to ask the same thing! What is Selah?
Pause for reflection or interlude 🙂
thanks 🙂 i thought so but i just wanted to check!
i think it means amen in hebrews
I’m really enjoying learning about the OT with you all. Thank you so much Soul Survivor for organising this online space where we can ask questions and learn from each other. The videos from Mike and Andy are really useful too!
I’ve read these OT bits before but never really managed to get my head around them. Now, I still don’t understand a lot of it but it’s making more sense to me than ever before.
Is anyone else finding the Old Testament more alive than when you’ve previously tried to read it?
Thanks for doing the videos Mike! I find them much more encouraging than the text updates, as I can see a face that is always a-smiling. 🙂
This is great, I’ve never had an interest in the bible prior to this really… I.e. I have in that I love certain bits and access it sometimes when I need to. Never because I want to. Now I don’t always want to with this, but it gets me into a good routine and has helped me unlock a good habit slowly… by the end of 365 days who wouldn’t want to keep it up. You guys at Soul Survivor have really blessed my life with this, thank you so much. I love learning and growing with Jesus, I’m learning so much and it is becoming so much more relevant to me than it has ever been.
I used to almost not want to read the old testament as I felt it contradicted everything I believed in about grace and love etc… I realised over the last few months this is incredibly evident in the OT… just look at the consistant and persistant grace that God shows to his ppl… if there were 50 ppl, 45 ppl in sodom etc he would save it…. check out the amount of chances he gives people. As Mike has said before because he loves us because he loves us because he loves us (repeat).
Fantastic, well done.
correction – i used to access the bible sometimes when i wanted to.
Once again, thanks! The OT reading is not an easy passage! Lots wife turning into a pillar of salt reminds me of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology…Orpheus was leading his wife out of the underworld and was instructed to not look back…but he stopped hearing her foot steps behind him when they were nearly out, so he turned around and looked, so she was whipped back into hell. It is about obedience and trust!
PS…any chance the music could be a bit quieter…love the songs and love the talk, but both together is rather confusing and distracting?.x.
Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt reminded me of the Greek myth too 🙂
Immense! Can’t believe that som much stuff goes down in genesis – its crazy stuff!! How insane were the guys living in Sodom and Gomorrah… what was that all about… there was no wonder God sent his two angels to go and sort it out because of the damage and sin flying round everywhere.
But what I love is despite all that God saves and in his great, amazing mercy Lot – despite him definitely not being a contender for “Father of the Year” and doing stuff with his daughters thats horrendous – He remembers Abraham (Gen 19:29) and brings Lot out.
Then we get another amazing picture of the life Jesus lived – all we can say is WOW!!! So many things we can pick up on – what we build our lives upon – Matt 7:24-27 – Seeing people viewed as untouchable and rejects with compassion and the love of Christ – Matt 8:1-4 – Having the faith demonstrated by a Roman centurion of all people to trust in the very word of Jesus healing his servant – Matt 8:5-9 –
And then after all this stuff there is healings and the challenge laid down in Matt 8:18-22… The cost of following Jesus – are we so obedient to lay everything down and follow Him, not being concerned with the things of this world but with the beat of the Kingom of Heaven advancing as we look to follow the footsteps of Jesus directing and guiding our lives… I love it!!! Praise Him:):)
How can you not get excited when reading about the life of Jesus?!! Its just incredible!
What tangles us humans get ourselves into. Abraham worrying about Abimelech and lying about Sarah and Lot and Lot’s daughters behaving immorally. If we focus on God and his word we’re on firm ground and when worries or troubles come our way our trust and faith in God will help us through.
That’s what today’s reading meant to me. As you say, Mike, this challenge is for the heart as well as the head.
Keep going everyone.
haven’t read it yet, but can’t wait!!
Ok so I understand that in the Old Testament the world is a very sinful place because of what happened in the very beginning.. but all this stuff since is just hurting and upsetting God SOOO much. I totally get that, it’s heartbreaking. But why can’t He step in and stop it completely? Is that something to do with free will? Or have I made that up from watching Bruce Almighty?
Well, with Sodom & Gomorrah He kind of does step in and stop it… He can’t make people stop doing bad things cos He gave us free will (indeed, as Bruce Almighty points out! =P) Hope this helps!
Thank you 🙂 I’m glad I didn’t make that up otherwise I would have struggled understanding all that. God is goooood!!!
If he prevented us from sinning, we would have free will. Without free will, we cannot freely choose God and cannot love God.
I’m starting to think Genesis is probably the most perverted and disturbing book I’ve ever read.
Ewwwwwwwwww, Lot’s daughters are total weirdos!!!! EWW!!!!! And eww at the men from Sodom!! Were they gay or something?! How could they want to rape other men?!! EWW!! And if Lot were my father I would very probably try to run away!
Oh, and why did Lot’s wife randomly turn into salt?
She didn’t do anything wrong! I’m guessing that’s just the author’s way of making God seem fearful.
Maybe she was missing her old life in Sodom?
it says the angels commanded them not to look back at the cities, but she went against them and looked back and as a result she was punished with the rest of sodom and gomorrah x
well, God wouldn’t do that to anyone unless he were really unfair. Looking back isn’t wrong. It doesn’t hurt anyone for her to look back…plus, people can’t turn into salt, that’s ridiculous XD I bet the author just wanted to make God look really unforgiving and scary.
But it hurts her for her to look back, cos she’s not just looking behind her, she’s effectively having second thoughts about leaving in the first place; she’s also going against God’s orders which were “Get out & don’t stop running” (essentially). Also, I dunno what raining sulphur does to you, but if a town is being destroyed by sulphur raining on it, someone being too close to that (instead of running as quickly as possible in the opposite direction) might well suffer physical effects along the lines of being turned into salt… But I don’t know that, it’s just a guess (I’m no scientist!!)
I think it’s meant to be symbolic for her regretting leaving her old life, and therefore harming herself by not trusting God.
And no, there is nothing that could make the atoms in your body change into sodium chloride (salt). I also doubt boiling sulphur could have fallen from the sky…it’d be really stupid to believe that. The author was probably referring to an active volcano or something like that.
I’m so painfully certain that something can turn you into salt…ie god who created salt…i think this is more black and white than we expect, although not meant to be literal it is in effect – god punishing her for going against his word – the same way we see adam and eve punished earlier in genesis x
Artemis It wasn’t the physical act of looking back that was the problem is was the flagrant disobedience, unbelief and probably the longing to be with the sinful people of Sodom and Gomorrah that earned her, her fate. As for the fact of turning someone into salt being imposable well thats chicken feed compaired to what he’s already done this chapter. Finaly to the unforgiving point Abraham in the following chapter we read today(20) is upto old tricks lieing and being decietful but he’s still credited with rightousness, (thanks to the ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus 2000 years later), thats pritty forgiving and what aboat Lot, father of the year or what!
If God wanted to turn lot’s wife into a stick of Blackpool rock, (or salt,) I reckon he could do it.
looking back = she just had to go back for some of those treasured possessions back at her place.
turned into salt = like the people in Pompei after Vesuvius erupted – more like turned into stone with them though
Many argue that the pillar of salt is aetiological – i.e. it was a story about how a particular type of rock sedimentation came about etc, like Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Just So’ stories.
Thanks Callum! Finally a logical answer! But does that mean Lot’s wife represents an object instead of a person? And that there wasn’t salt before she turned into a pillar of it?
if youre looking for an answer for sulphur falling from the skies, try acid rain, sulphuric acid? happens today just dilute x
Exactly, there are quite a few things that some people have tried to explain away – acid rain/ volcanoes/ earthquakes/ healing properties of certain mud/plants. However just because we think we know how it happened, that doesn’t at any point change who made it happen!
I’m not really sure. I think there’s a lot of stuff (particularly in Genesis) which is literally untrue (like the Just So stories) but has been weaved into the narrative by whoever compiled Genesis in the end. 🙂
Hey Maria just an interesting fact about the boiling sulphur from the sky… there was a famous archeologist called Ron wyatt who believes God showed him where to find the location of sodom and gomorrah and there he found that all the ruins and stone had holes in them and hailstone type rocks lodged in the holes and he got scientist to test the orange substance surrounding the holes and it was sulphur! pretty cool
” Genesis is probably the most perverted and disturbing book I’ve ever read”
Sad but true, Genesis is an account of the first few centuries of the world, and we haven’t changed that much since then really!
You have to remember a few things, this all happened before it was considered wrong by society to sleep with close relatives, however as they felt that they had to get their father drunk to do it, you can see that the daughters knew what they were doing was wrong.
Also, yes, the men from Sodom were gay, probably bisexual. It shows how full of sin the place was, that they wanted to rape the visitors.
Lot’s wife turned to salt as she went against God’s commands: v17 “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back…” The passage shows that when we are given a direct and specific comamnd by God, we shouldn’t ignore it!
There are some passages in the Bible that are more ‘poetic’ than others, however have a look at the surrounding area. If it’s all very poetic and descriptive then it may not be meant to be taken literally, however don’t assume that just because it’s strange then it’s not meant literally. There are some awesome moments in the Bible, remember, it’s about our awesome God, who made everything and can do anything!
There was alot of this kind of stuff happening all over the place, and as we have seen in the readings…which is why later on God lays down the 10 commandments so his people can understand what is right and wrong to do under God’s law… Back then, they may not have known rape etc were wrong, unless God had told them through a personal vision/prophet or some other means/experience
hope this helps?
Mike x
ps sorry, am still learning how to do html Bold and stuff!
Has anyone got the transcript to today’s talk? I can’t hear what Mike is saying with the music in the background.
Hello little ones, it’s me again. We’re on day nine which is for most of us September the ninth. And the old testament reading…now today it’s one of those hard ones ‘cos it’s all the stuff that isn’t very good in Genesis nineteen. First of all Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, but before they’re destroyed you find out something about why they’re destroyed which is the wickedness of the people, because the guys when they heard that the two angels who were looking like men were visiting Lot a whole bunch of young and old men surrounded their house and ‘They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”’. So basically that wasn’t very good. And then Lot, which is a bit puzzling, he says “No no no, don’t have sex with the guys, I’ll give you my two daughters, they’ve never slept with a man, they’re virgins, you can rape them instead”, which probably isn’t really a lot better. But they insist they want the guys and then basically the two angels sort them out by blinding them so that they can’t see them to rape them or anything like that. And then the angels say this sin in Sodom and Gomorrah, it’s too great, it’s too bad, the Lord is going to destroy the cities and he does. And the thing about that is it’s hard for us to read but when it was natural that if visitors came the guys would just turn up and want to rape them, it sounds like they’ve gone down a really bad road and they hurt each other, they damage each other, they do terrible things to each other, this is about sin which hurts each other, this is more than simply about one type of sin or another type of sin, this is about what sin does to people and in the end Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. And then we get a very odd thing, Lot, his wife has turned into a pillar of salt, but Lot and his daughters after they’ve escaped, we read the daughters say “Hey” the two daughters “We need to have children to continue the bloodline. I tell you what, why don’t we get dad drunk a couple of times and we’ll take it in turns to sleep with him while he’s drunk”. And then they had two sons, a son each, as a result. Now again, that’s not good either, that’s not what God wants, yes of course it’s incest, yes of course it’s wrong. This is before the law was given, and so God was dealing with people who didn’t know any better and that’s why he ended up giving the law of Moses, the ten commandments and everything to say “Hey if you’re going to be people, you need to live like this”. This does not mean that just because it’s here God approves of it. Of course he doesn’t approve of it. And one of the signs is that the two sons, one was called Moab, who is the father of the Moabites, and the other one was called Ben-Ammi, who becomes the father of the Ammonites, and if you read the rest of the old tesament as we will, you discover that for the rest of the time Isreal seems to be fighting the Moabites and the Ammonites, there’s emnity between them from then on. And then in chapter twenty, again dear old Abraham, he doesn’t learn, despite the fact that God loves him and gives promises to him, once again he’s pretending that Sarah is just his sister and not his wife to this guy Abimelech. And God’s mercy, he stops Abimelech having sex with another man’s wife by coming to him in a dream because Abimelech didn’t know what was going on. And then they have a discussion and we discover that in some way Sarah was also Abraham’s sister as well as his wife, so he was kind of telling a half-truth. And again in those days, it was before the law, they seemed to sleep with close relatives in a way that isn’t good, isn’t healthy and God does not approve of today.
Then the new testemant reading, the classic, the wise and foolish builders, the wise man built his house upon the rock. What’s the house that is built upon the rock? It’s anyone who hears the words of Jesus and lives according to those words and puts them into practice. And the house that’s built on sand is when we hear the words of Jesus, when we read the words of Jesus and it becomes just and intellectual exercise. And that is the warning for us as we read the bible, this isn’t meant to be about us simply understanding this with our heads, it’s about living it. For me, it’s not the bots of the bible that I don’t understand that give me problems, it’s actually the bits of the bible that I do understand, as they are the bits that I have to put into practice. And then the rest of the new testament reading from Matthew is Jesus healing people, he heals a man from leprosy and then there is the centurion and the whole point of the centurion, he was a Roman centurion so he wasn’t even Jewish and Jesus says what faith this man has. And then he heals many other people, Peter’s mother-in-law and stuff like that. And you see Jesus’ compassion coming out everyehre he goes people come to him in need and Jesus meets their need. So that is the readings for today, well done guys, keep going, keep reading. Some of it’s harder than other bits. It will begin to make more and more sense as we move throughout the scriptures and as we put it all through the lense of Jesus Christ. Gos bless you. See you tomorrow.
thank you to all you lovely people who keep writing these out for the unfortunate ones that cant watch it/ understand it for some reason!! 🙂
We are serving as missionaries in Africa, our band width is not good enough to be able to download the videos, thank you so much for transcribing the spoken words. We are very grateful.
Thankyoooo 😛 x
Hey. It’s really great that you write this out – really iseful. however is there any chance you could add a few paragraphs in there? I’m in the dyslexic brigade and find whole chunks of text a nightmare to get through!
keep it up though – it’s great. Thank you 🙂
I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying this. It is so much easier to read the Bible now.
Best of all, I bought 10 and gave them to my friends, one of which is an athiest. He is loving it and calls me every evening at 9pm to read it to me and have a chat about what we have read.
As I have always wanted to go to Soul Survivor Watford, I have managed to get my friend to come along with me this Sunday. Can’t wait.
We have jokingly been trying to convert eachother for the past 2 years, so I am really hoping God will touch his heart.
Thanks again guys.
Yolandi rock on! That’s so good to hear about your friend calling to talk about it 🙂
*HI FIVE!!*
wow that’s so cool, especially about your friend ringing you up! 🙂
Cool, really good to hear about your friend, let us know how it goes as well… will be good to hear about if he does get saved 🙂
Im enjoying this so much and i really like Genesis it really interesting and at last night mid week meeting, it was said that everything before the cross points to it and everything after the cross points back to it. Its really good that the cross is the main point in history ad i no this doesnt have much relevence to todays reading but its so amazing to know that reading God word we can get to know him so much and im just loving it.
I really like what mie said yes we are reading this we are understanding more but its about also puttin git into practice 🙂 its really good that we have should a powerful book to help us 🙂
When we read the new testament, it cheers us all up because we have Jesus who is going around healing people its really good.
Thank you Jesus.
Genesis wow, sin did get bad which is why God destroyed Sodam and Gomorrah. He hates sin and it did get pretty bad i actually gasped this morning when i read that the people wanted to sleep with the angels it sad. But God loves us and his distroyed it because his is a God of Justice.
So if I were Abimelech I would be pretty peeved with the confusion and ‘half-truths’ around Sarah being Abraham’s wife/sister, and the fact that Abimelech couldn’t have children with anyone else (until God heals them), I would assume that Abimelech believes Sarah may be able to bear him a child…So why then after all the cufuffle does he decide to offer gifts of sheep and cattle and slaves (v14) and offer his land before Abraham (v15)??? Pretty generous guy?! Maybe its because God spoke to him, so for once someone in the Old Testament doesnt go completely mental…?? God only told him to return Sarah to Abraham, yet he gives all the gifts as well….hmmm, any ideas?
I think the point is that he fears God, though Abraham assumed he didn’t (but who wouldn’t after a vission/dream like that) So he’s repaying the offence, kinda like “look I took this it was wrong, have it back with this aswell”
So my assumptiion is that all the gifts are in addition to the silver he pays Abraham
🙂 I’m glad mike cleared up all that stuff from Genesis today, It was very hard to know what was worse to be honest. Who sleeping with who was worse, what they were doing but now i see it was such a different time. God never changes, however we now live in the age when we know more what is right, we may get it wrong sometimes but Jesus is our savior and we can always trust in him xxx
I thought it was cool that Mike pointed out the fact that the 10 Commandments came after because people didn’t know right and wrong in such a way – there was no clear definition of it.
Whereas our country’s laws state that ignorance cannot be hidden behind, God is merciful to us and knows our unique circumstances. It’s awesome 🙂
yvette says:
September 9, 2010 at 9:25 am
am really enjoying doing this. prefer the video streaming to the text, but found the background music to loud and distracting today.
I agree the background music is a little distracting hard to concentrate on what Mike is saying when you want to sing along. As for the bible reading well how blessed are we that Jesus came that we aren’t like the people of these cities, the NT reading for yesterday and today is awesome 1st Jesus teaches us how to live 2nd he teaches us how to learn what he has taught us! 3rd he shows us his love, mercy and power through healing. We have a pretty awesome God!
am really enjoying doing this. prefer the video streaming to the text, but found the background music to loud and distracting today.
the more i read Genesis, the more grateful i become for the cross, given what this country is like today, if it wasn’t for the cross we might’ve ended up like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Thank you for the cross Lord.
Totally agree that the background music was distracting.. made me want to sing along
I agree!!! I sang along anyway though!!!!:D:D:D:D
God loves us. He is so unbelievable in love with us that he wants to be with us. But that doesn’t change that God hates sin!!! God loves us, but hates sin. The fact that the men of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to sleep with other men is in the eyes of the righteous God sin. I think it’s pretty disgusting, the story in Genesis. Lot then sleeps with his own children – how disgusting is that?!!!!!
God put his righteousness over the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and he destroys it, because it is wrong. God loves us so that he gave his only son to us – Jesus!!! He loves us and we can have a intimate relationship with our Father in heaven. He will destroy all sin on one day! but for the moment – we live under grace and we can have forgiveness. When we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, what we do have automatically when we gave our life to Jesus, he will teach us to hate sin. Didn’t you feel weired when you read it? That’s the spirit in you, teaching you how to hate sin.
God bless you and Shalom
The part that struck me today was Matt 8:11-12 ‘I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside…’
It just reminded me of a talk i had with a Christian friend about the end times, that they can’t happen until God’s chosen people – Israel turn back to him.
But at the moment they are getting thrown out the kingdom and we (those from the east and west) get to sit at God’s table!
God’s forgiveness and acceptance of us (gentiles) is amazing! Thank you God!
Thank you so much – I well didn’t understand what that bit was saying when I read it! You’ve given me something to think about now. 🙂
Hey everyone,
Todays readings in the OT had me stopping a few times thinking ‘I really don’t have a clue what that’s all about’ but Mike has helped me realise that although we don’t always understand everything, Jesus will reveal to us what is most important and help us put it into practice and that’s what really matters in all of this…
So other than the confusing bits like why Lots wife turned to a pillar of salt(?), I had a few thoughts and challenges…
The Centurion showed that He understood and knew the authority Jesus had over everything. He knew that as he himself was a man under authority with soldiers under him who would go and come and do as he asked them do. I think it may be that the Centurion understood that Jesus was under authority of the Father and that he could order things to happen on earth and they would – so that if he just said to the Centurions servant ‘be healed’ he would, and he was.
However, I didn’t quite understand what Jesus meant in his response to the Centurion ‘I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, in the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’
Why did he respond to the Centurion in this way and what did he mean by ‘subjects of the kingdom’?
Basically, the people from the east and the west were the Gentiles (which I bliv are the unclean) while the subjects of the kingdom are the Isrealites. This translation puts it better
Matthew 8: 11 (NLT)
And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Hope this helps 🙂
Thanks that makes more sense now!
I understand it that Lots wife becomes a pillar of salt because she looks back, the angels specifically commanded them not to look back.
hope this helps.
Yeah I kind of understood that bit. I guess I was wondering why they had commanded them not to look back, and why in doing so she turned to a pillar of salt… I guess I was wondering why this happened?!
I wonder if the ‘becoming a pillar of salt’ wasn’t so much a punishment as something inevitable ( a natural consequence) that had to happen when you stop and stay too close to an event like that which happened to the two cities.
Her looking back probably wasn’t just a physical looking back. Could it be that she longed for Sodom and Gomorrah and actually possibly belong with the rest of them, (I hope I’m not sounding to pious “but for the grace of God” and all that). Also God took unbelief pretty seriously especially after already seeing a demonstration of his power. Just look at Number 14, especially verse 21-23, for a good example of this.
Both interesting thoughts, thanks for sharing! I shall ponder… God is awesome! 🙂
I don’t think much of Lot’s parenting skills! He ain’t got a lot!
Jesus talking, parables & miracles are like a breath of fresh air!
The dead bury their own dead bit meant probably not that his father was dead but that he was not wanting to be too far away when his father did eventually pop his clogs so that he could cash in on the inheritance. In other words he wanted to put off following Jesus until it was convenient for him to do so. Same with us Jesus comes first , our lives are surrendedered to him lock, stock and barrell-no conditions when we hear his call!
Night night- off to bed! Thank-you God for new life and the miracle of birth! zzz!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE can we have the text commentary back? I used to read it, read the passage, then re-refer back to particular parts of the text while thinking about the bible passage more. I just can’t do this with the video, and also i founds the written information easier to take in than the video.
Any chance we can please have both so we can choose which works best for us?
Thank you!
yeah i did like having the text too! but really like the videos… both would be great! 🙂
Hi guys just thought i like to have both to but there is someone called simmyish i think thats there name who have been writing the thoughts and the wuestions of the day all in to one he has been doing it later in the day around tea time that is what had helped me 🙂
Yesterday he posted it at 3.13pm 🙂
And tonight a bit later… was at a training session at work that lasted until 9pm…. so yeah
I echo with the not understanding about burying the dead (v22) but also what is the stuff about the foxes and birds (v19-20) about? Finally, why did Lot offer up his daughters to the mob? I have a vague recollection this is to do with hospitality, but it just seems very very odd.
I think the stuff about the fox and birds is his way of saying that following me isn’t easy, that it takes sacrifice and maybe not having a home. Being his disciple is hard but I think what we’ll read tomorrow will show us the reward, that we get to be with him in heaven!
I think this is all about not having an excuse to following Jesus now (i.e. not putting it off for tomorrow/another day). It is expanded more in Luke’s account of this…
Luke 9:57-62
[57] As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
[58] Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
[59] He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
[60] Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
[61] Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”
[62] Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
In ancient middle eastern culture Lot becomes responsible for his two visitors as son as he invites them into his home and shares food with them. They are now his primary responsibility, even above family. Lot is in a terrible situation, but it is unthinkable that he should let anything happen to his guests – everything he has, including his own family and his own life must be given up before harm comes to them. This is one of the bedrock requirements of civilisation at the time – without strong hospitality traditions there can be no travel, no trade, no diplomacy and the whole of civilisation would ultimately be plunged into a never ending mess of blood feuds, betrayal, rape and murder. Sodom is already that uncivilised and sliding down the slippery slope towards chaos – Lot is living out the rules of a more civilised way…
Jon! Thanks for that – makes much more sense now.
Ok, two things.
1) how is the centurions understanding of authority similar to the authority of Jesus? I’m just not getting it.
2) The cost of following Jesus is no rest, no time to mourn? is that what it is saying? that following Jesus means no breaks?
and lastly the psalms,
what is a shiggaion?
what i think are the answer to your questions are
1, The centurions authority is similar ro jesus authority in that just a the centurion says to his servants go do this, do that and that servant does it, we are christs servants and when he says to us go do this do that, we should be doing it.
2, the cost of following jesus is high, for the early disciples following jesus cost them their lives, and even today in some countries following jesus can cost you your life. But this part of the passage isn’t saying theres no rest, it’s saying following Jesus and doing his will must be your top priority. The reward for following Jesus far outweighs the cost, Jesus says in john 10:10 i have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance and not only is there life before death theres life after it too.
3 don’t know what a shiggaion is but my study bible which in the nkjv says a meditation.
Anyway hope some of that made sense to you.
the glossary in my Complete Jewish Bible says: Shiggayon (1) a meditative poem, (2) a musical instrument
“1) how is the centurions understanding of authority similar to the authority of Jesus? I’m just not getting it.”
I think the centurion is saying that as he is in charge of people (i.e. has authority) he knows that when he gives a command it will be fulfilled.
Therefore, as a boss of people, the centurion knows that when he says ‘do this’ it will be done.
The centurion recognises that Jesus has great authority and that therefore if He says ‘it will be done’ then it will be done. Basically the centurion has faith in Jesus’ power and authority.
Make sense? Sorry, haven’t managed to write it out as clearly as it is in my head!
Hey. A few people have mentioned on here that the request to bury the father probably didn’t mean he was dead – quite possibly the fella was asking to return to his old life in comfort and wait until he received his inheritance and then become a follower when it was comfortable for him.
I’m glad you asked about the shiggaion – I had no clue either 😉
Why does Jesus not let his disciple bury his father and then say ‘let the dead bury there own dead’?
I think, when it says ‘let the dead’ it means people who aren’t saved through Christ or don’t want to follow him or want to follow but Christ isn’t coming first yet.
hope that kind of makes sense?! 🙂
Yes, I think the idea is that the man cannot do anything to save his father’s soul by burying him, yet by following Jesus he can save his own soul and save people who are not yet physically dead.
If you take the context of the time as well, to bury his father would mean to inherit his estate as well, Jesus is asking this guy to give up everything he’s just inherited so that he inherit an even greater gift from his father in heaven.
Jesus doesn’t ask of us more than we have… He asks for us to follow him, for five loaves and two fish.. Jesus just wants everything we have no more no less
The man’s Father was not yet dead it could have been years before he popped his clogs. It was just another lame excuse! See parable of the great banquet for more corking lame excuses.
I don’t understand the bit at the end of the matthew passage vs 21/22. It says we should let the dead bury their own dead? What does that mean for today?
Yeah, I didn’t understand that either. Could someone explain please?
Funnily our talk on Sunday at church was about this. The vicar said that in those days someone wouldn’t be out after a parent had died before the funeral, they would be home preparing so when he asked the bury his father he meant “can I wait until I have no commitments and it will be easier to leave”.
I found that really interesting cause I often find myself thinking “when I’ve finished this God” or “after I’ve done that I’ll do what you want” and Jesus was saying not to make excuses and follow him now.
My Jewish New Testament Commentary says about this that the father wasn’t dead yet, otherwise his son would have been there for the wake. It also says ‘The son wishes to go home, live in comfort with his father till his death perhaps years hence, collect his inheritance and then, at his leisure, become a disciple.
I don’t think it means that there’s anything wrong with burying your loved ones and mourning but that it’s more of a reference to saying ‘I’ll just do this and then I’ll follow you’. There are so many different things we can think we have to get sorted first before we chase after God 100% and I think Jesus was saying that He has to be a priority. Other things are OK but if you keep putting Him off, you’re putting more emphasis on the things of the past than the future you could have with Him.
Likewise, the only logical way I can think about Lot’s wife being turned into a pillar of salt is that she was looking back wistfully, longing for her old life. We can metaphorically do the same- wishing we could do certain things, didn’t have to worry about determining God’s will etc etc. But I’m sure this saddens God as He knows the life ahead of us is much, much better- Jesus came so that we can live life to the full! (John 10:10)
Finally it might have had something to do with the culture of the day- I think funerals then were probably very long, weeping/gnashing of teeth affairs that went on for days. Maybe Jesus is commenting on how the man’s father has moved on- he’s now with His father in heaven. So while that man does need to mourn, he also needs to celebrate that that person is now with God- and to move on with his life with Jesus.
Hope that helps 🙂
Hey Sarah 🙂
That really spoke to me about looking back, thanks. I was looking back today, and to be honest, for the last 5 years it’s been easy for me to look back, but just Him being with us is worth far more than any missed opportunities and any pain.
X
When Jesus says let the dead bury their own dead what i think he’s saying is let those people who are spiritually dead, those that don’t know him, bury their own dead, that for those of us who do follow him, doing his will is our first priority. Hope that made some sense.
Didn’t completely see the point of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah and turning Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt when she looked back, but loved the NT reading 🙂 Also for me this is the earliest I’ve been awake to do anything more than go back to sleep 🙂 it’s making me want to wake up and read the Bible!!! 😀
Just wondering what does selah mean?
it’s like a pause or interlude in the music 🙂
I’m really confused as to why God punishes the king. he didn’t know sarah was married so isn’t it a bit harsh to punish him when he wasn’t aware he was sinning?
love the story of the centurion 🙂
I think it was more to prevent the king from sinning/warning him rather than punishing him- in Genesis 20:6 God explains that God kept the king from sinning because God knew the king didn’t know Sarah was married. then in verse 7 he gives the king a choice whether to sin or to give Sarah back- obviously if the king didn’t, there would be serious consequences
With all the distruction, insest and sin – thank God for the NT reading this morning….
im still very confused about the genesis part of todays reading
help?
what are you confused about in particular?
Mike! you’re not cheating are you? Otherwise that’s the same top you’ve had on for three days running YUCK!!
Loving the project. My little blog might not be as subscribed as yours but it’s a fantastic way of responding to the truth
Hi just thought id say mike had a black and white striped top on yesterday 😀
Jen it was blue and white!
Different tops everyday for the last three days and also the bags on the right hand side weren’t there so nope don’t think Mike is cheating!
haha sorry i meant to but blue 🙂
Interestingly, the “day 1” video looks to be a very similar shoot to the momentum day 5 video diary, hmmmmmmmm!!!
but does it really matter whether on not the comments are “same day”? – in fact I’d kinda hope Mike & Crofty had prepared their “leaders thoughts” a few days in advance.
Nah it doesn’t matter weather they are done on the same day