Author: Larry Soape

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 11:10-32 (day four)

This passage covers almost two centuries of time.  It was a very significant time in the history of the earth.  Nations were developing, the Ice Age was occurring…but man was in rebellion against God.  None of this history is recorded in Scripture, but that does not mean God was not at work.  He was preserving the messianic line and His work was on schedule.

Have you ever felt that God was not at work in your life?  You could not see Him doing anything?  Oftentimes, we fail to see God at work, because there is rebellion in our hearts.  Our lack of clear vision does not equate to inactivity on His part!  God is at work and His work is right on His schedule.  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me I the everlasting way.”  (Psalm 139:23-24)

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 11:1-9 (day four)

Verse 6 – “And this is what they began to do…”

Verse 6 infers that this decision or direction was wrong and that there was another…correct… direction to go.  There was a better choice.  Have you ever done that?  Have you ever made a choice that was the wrong choice?  The people at Babel were seeking to establish their legacy and memory as a great people.  They sought to have a kingdom to be worshipped.

Often, our decisions seek to supplant God.  We want to make our own choice and to be the one who is in charge.  We may outwardly say we are just offering another alternative or maybe we have better information to make the decision with, but we really just want it our way!  Do we really think we know better than God?  Submission to authority is very difficult for us humans.  We see it as a sign of weakness.  In reality though, to submit to God’s authority is the very foundation of a character of strength…it is always the right choice!

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 10 (day four)

On first reading, chapter 10 is just a list of the descendants of Noah.  God’s initial command to man, in the Garden of Eden, was to be fruitful and multiply.  Now…following the flood…He gives the same command…fill the earth.  When we read this list, we are watching God’s history with the world unfold.  The nations of the earth are being established.  The value of this chapter exceeds just a redundant list of people.  We see fulfilled prophecy as the nations are scattered and we can confirm the truth of Scripture as God lays the groundwork for the nations.

From the days of beginnings, God has made provision for the salvation of man…the ultimate salvation from the curse of sin.  Jesus, in Matthew 28, commands us to take this message of salvation to the nations.  We are truly one people across the nations of the world.  To share the good news to the utter parts of the earth is to share it with our relatives.  Take a moment to thank God for His great love and wisdom toward us.

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 9:1-17 (day four)

It was a new day!  The earth had been cleansed by the flood.  Only Noah and his family remained…but some things were changed.  Before the flood, God had given man the green plants for food.  Now, He gave all the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky to man for food.  The animals had always walked in harmony with man, but God placed a fear of man in their hearts.  The results of sin had shaken the whole earth.

Forgiveness can turn our world upside down.  When we enter a covenant relationship with God and receive His forgiveness of our sin…it is a new day for us.  We are cleansed of sin and walk in newness of life!  Our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit has all new rules.  Reasoning by the world’s principles does not take into account the intervention of the Spirit.  Live in obedience and follow the Holy Spirit…btw, you’ll find a lot of what He has to say in Scripture!

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 7:1-4, 17-24; 8:1-5, 13-16, 20-22 (day four)

Why do so many seek to discount the message of Genesis?  Why do they question the account of creation?  Why do they try to limit the scope and impact of the flood?  It is a tactical attack!  In order to destroy a complete system of belief, the focus must be on the elimination of the foundation of the structure.  If the foundation crumbles, everything above it collapses.

It was Satan’s original attack in the garden.  He cast doubt on the truth of what God said.  “Has God said,…you will not surely die.”  His attacks are the very same today.  If we question the truth of God’s Word, then how can we believe anything that God says?  With no authority over us, we can then decide for ourselves what is truth.  How can we trust Him for our salvation?  Do we even need salvation?

In Genesis 7, the world came to that conclusion…they could do what they want.  It did not work in Noah’s time…it sure won’t work today either!

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 6 (day four) 

It is a story of compassion. In the midst of His anger toward all flesh, God reaches out to Noah, the one man that found favor in His eyes.  He will preserve Noah and his family to re-populate the world after the flood.  Noah will also be the instrument to preserve all of the animals of flesh.  God made a covenant with Noah, stated in Genesis 9:9-16, to never destroy the earth again with flood.  The rainbow is the sign of His covenant.

This story is a model of God’s compassion.  We see it again in Isaiah 54:9-10.  God promises that He will never remove His lovingkindness from Israel.  It is His covenant promise!  He demonstrates His compassion in spite of our sin and rebellion against Him.  Have you seen God’s compassion in your life?  Have you recognized your sinfulness before God and received His forgiveness…even when you did not deserve it or have the ability to atone for it?  God’s compassion is unchanging…from the beginning of time to the present.  He makes a way of salvation!

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 4:1-16; 25-26 (day four)

Verse 26 – “Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.”

Fellowship with God had been broken.  First, Adam and Eve had sinned and been removed from the garden.  Cain had killed Abel and had removed himself from the presence of the Lord.  Now, God had given a new child, Seth, and Seth had a child Enosh.  Their response to God’s provision was worship.  This phrase in verse 26 is used throughout the Old Testament to describe worship to God.  In Genesis, Kings, Psalms and the minor prophets, men began to call upon the name of the Lord, after a period of separation.

Have you been separated from God?  Maybe you have still been going through the motions, but feel far away from fellowship with Him.  You feel like you have been hidden from His face.  Return to Him…God is ready to restore your broken relationship.  Repent and ‘begin to call upon the name of the Lord.’

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:8-24  (day four)

It was ‘in the beginning’…God walked among His people in the garden.  Disobedience changed all of that.  Not only did man and woman have to leave the garden, but they no longer would enjoy those walks with God in the cool of the day.

Fast forward several hundred years.  The children of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for four hundred years.  They had all but forgotten who their God was that they prayed to for deliverance.  God brought them out of Egypt and made a covenant with them.  Leviticus 26 tells us that once again, God placed rules on His people…with a promise and a warning.  “If you walk in my statutes…I will walk among you and be your God and you shall be my people.”  “But if you do not obey Me, and do not carry out all My commandments…I will set My face against you.”

A relationship with God always involves our obedience.  He lays out the rules and we are to obey.  Depending on our obedience, we have either blessing or curse.  Get to know His rules (found in the Bible!) and obey…you will be blessed by your ‘walks in the garden in the cool of the day.’

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:1-7  (day four)

It was God…the Creator of the world…the Creator of life.  God had given the instructions to Adam and Eve concerning the fruit of the garden.  Not only was God the creator of all, but He also had a relationship with the garden couple.  He would walk with them in the cool of the day.  Why would they question what He had told them?

Don’t we do the very same?  God speaks to us through His Word.  He is our Creator and we have a relationship with Him…but we question whether what He said is really true.  We choose to forget who to trust.  In our pride and sin, we are deceived by the ‘serpents’ around us.  Who are we going to believe?  …the serpents of deceit or our Creator God who loves us beyond measure?  Satan will couch our temptations so we will begin to question if maybe there is more that God is not telling us.  God’s Word is Truth…who are you going to believe?

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-25 (day four)

Whether it is carpentry, or sewing, or manufacturing…patterns are important!  For instance, when you need to cut multiple boards exactly the same, you use a pattern…a board that is cut to precisely the correct dimensions.  Then, the pattern is used to mark all of the following boards.  You never cut one, then use that one to mark the next, and then that one to cut the next.  Errors are compounded unless you go back always to the pattern.

Verse 27 says, “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  God used Himself as the pattern for man.  The world rejects the precept of God the Creator…especially God the Creator and Pattern.  If He is acknowledged as these, then obedience and submission would be required.  In rejecting the pattern, the world rejects any mandate for devotion and homage.  How about us?  Do our lives closely correspond to the pattern or image that we were created in?