Day Eight (8)

Today's readings: Genesis 21-23, Psalm 8, Matthew 4:12-17, Acts 5:1-16

Genesis 21-23
God's Word is His will which will never change and so we see "the Lord did exactly what he had promised" in giving a child to Sarah. But I'm puzzled that God would let Sarah shoo Hagar and Ishmael away - is He letting her off of the consequences of her and Abraham's mistrust and sin? We know God will care for Hagar and Ishmael because he has already promised to, but still...

Chapter 22 is the powerful story of Abraham's testing. This is always difficult - what is the nature of God's testing? God in no way uses evil here and Abraham makes a clear, and intentional choice to obey Yahweh. Sometimes we think 'testing' is the difficult involuntary circumstances we face in life. This story shows us otherwise.

Why is Genesis 23 in the Bible? What is its significance? Why does it matter where Abraham buried Sarah? I don't know.

Psalm 8
We as humankind always need a good perspective shift. "What are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us?" (v. 4) Indeed! There is no rational answer, except to be amazed at the mysterious love of Yahweh.

David acknowledges that God has put us in charge of all the created order. How we have neglected this calling! What does good leadership of the earth look like? Should we be dominant over it or good stewards of it?

Matthew 4:12-17
Matthew continues to emphasize Jesus as the fulfillment of OT prophecy. I like the NLT's translation of repent: "turn from your sins and turn to God". It is an ambiguous verb that refers to "near" or "has come" or "is coming soon". It means to approach but is in a perfect tense - which typically refers to a completed action (e.g. "It is written..."). The Kingdom is here!

Acts 4:32-5:16
In 4:32-27, we see the fulfillment of the OT vision of the Kingdom, part of which is in Deuteronomy 15:1-11. An interesting connection I had never noticed before. The link is in verse 34, which says there was no poverty among them, and this is because they are living out the Kingdom generosity commanded by God in Deuteronomy 15.

The story of Ananias and Sapphira is...hmmm...startling to say the least. What a horrible reason to die! Why is God's judgment so harsh here? Does God need to "teach the early church a lesson"? The heart of the issue lies in the deception - as Peter says, they could have done whatever they wanted with the money, it was theirs. What motivates them to be deceptive? Why are we always so concerned about how we appear to others? We are constantly monitoring how we are perceived by others, rather than just honestly being who we are. I think Peter (and God!) would have rather they just be openly selfish and not give all the money to the believing community.