Genesis 9,10,11 * Matthew 4 * Psalm 4

Genesis 9, 10, 11 Reflections

God delivers His covenant to Noah and his sons through the following versus, Genesis 9:9 – 12 9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark to every beast of the earth. 11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, is defined as the following; 1. Lasting for eternity 2. Continuing without interruption. When looking at these versus, two things can be made certain. One, everybody and everything is a recipient of God’s covenant. Two, everybody and everything is a recipient of God’s covenant for an eternity and without interruption. We are all decedents of Noah, which is logical, since Noah and his family were the only humans left after the flood; every single persons lineage should be linked to Noah at one time or another. It does not matter who you are, how you dress, how you talk, what ethnicity you are, what your skin color is, what gender you are, what lifestyle you lead, what your faith background is, I could keep piling onto this list, but the point has been made. We have all inherited this covenant with God, but it is up to us to follow in the footprints he lays out for us. It is like we all have been born into a large inheritance, but it is up to us to follow the right path to receive it. We do not have a right as Christians to withdraw God’s covenant from someone, just because we do not think and individual does not deserve it. But, all of us need to take it upon ourselves, to help lead people down the correct path if we believe we have found it. Many times, I included, we can find ourselves, even as Christians, moving away from the path to receiving God’s covenant, which will eventually come to us in the form of Eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is our responsibility to continue to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and be repentant of our sins, so that we are reminded of the correct path, and we receive God’s covenant of eternal life.

As I continued, Genesis 10 caught my attention and how important it is to be a lesson to all of us today. Many of us mumble and groan about other cultures and having to communicate with others of different languages. Laura and I went to Italy in 2007, and it becomes apparent of the differences immediately. Communication becomes very difficult; you tend to find unfamiliar things everywhere you go. As individuals, we have even based horrible prejudices and stereotypes on races or individuals based on those differences. We do not like the way this person talks, that person does this differently than me, why can’t they just speak English or this person looks different than me. We have the individuals from the plain of Shinar to thank for those differences. Because humans tried to find their own way to heaven by trying to build a structure that would reach there, we forced God to make a decision, which is stated in Genesis 11:8 - 9.

Genesis 11:8 – 9 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Always remember, our prejudices and stereotypes are based on circumstances in which humans forced upon ourselves.

Questions to follow up:

Genesis 9:3-4 3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. 4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

Q – Previously, in Genesis 7 discusses the concept of clean and unclean animals. Is God telling us that there no longer exists a differentiation between clean and unclean meat?

Genesis 9:9 – 10 9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10 And every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark to every beast of the earth

Q – Does this mean that every living creature fowl, cattle, and every beast of the earth receives the covenant and will be eligible for eternal life?

Genesis 9:16 16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

Q – Before this verse, God is holding a one sided conversation with Noah, which he talks about the importance of the bow (i.e. rainbow,) and the symbolism is holds with reminding God of his covenant with us. This verse seems to switch to the viewpoint of somebody else other than God when it states, …that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature… Am I missing something here, or am I miss reading it somehow?

Genesis 11:7 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

Q – When the Lord says, let us go down, is He referring to Himself and the Holy Spirit. It seems like it is stated as there exists two entities.

Matthew 4 and Psalm 4 Reflections

Even the devil shows that he knows scriptures when he states in Matthew 4:6 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. As Christians, we must take time to read, meditate, and understand the Bible. Even the unfaithful can memorize its content and use it to tempt us to sin or fall away from our own faith. We must learn to use it as our own weapon, a weapon where we internalize God’s word, and understand for ourselves what God is telling us. For just four days, I have been taking this journey, and already, I have learned many things by just opening my heart and allowing God to speak to me through the scripture. Do not allow others to change your mind or lead you away from your relationship with God by misquoting or misusing the Bible. Stay strong and stay faithful, turn to God for your questions, because he is always listening. The Psalm I read for today, only strengthens the argument to continue to ask God for encouragement to help you in understanding and keeping your faith. Psalm 4:4 – 5 4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. 5 Offer the scrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord. Always, and I mean always, seek repentance and ask for help by putting your trust in the Lord. Like David, if I/we do this, Psalm 4:8 8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

Although it is early in Matthew, only 4 chapters in, Jesus is demanding a crowd and a flock to follow him. We are introduced to 4 of the 12 disciples; brothers Simon/Peter and Andrew and brothers James (the son of Zebedee) and John. Jesus tells them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. It is obvious how special Jesus Christ is and how important it is we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. All four men, dropped what they were doing, dropped their lively hood and chose to go with Jesus.

Questions to follow up:

Q – What does Selah mean? Between lines in the Psalms, I have seen this written.

Q – Why is James described as being the son of Zebedee? Wouldn’t Andrew also be known as Andrew the son of Zebedee?

- Through thought, word, and deed, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, I will be You Lord God, and Your Son Jesus Christ...Amen