Genesis 8:20-22 - The Covenant of Preservation

Genesis 8:20-22

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

22 “While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
And cold and heat,
And summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”

Message: The Covenant of Preservation

Time: Genesis is the first book and Moses is credited as authoring. The book spans 2400 years of time. It was originally written in Hebrew.

What the Lord is Saying:

The Adamic covenant of works was instituted before Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Thus, works were possible to earn eternal life because sin was not yet evident and perfect obedience was possible. Once man sinned though, perfect obedience was not possible. Thus, God instituted the grace principle of redemption which means that blessings are obtained not by our own good works but by inheriting those good works from someone else through faith alone. Man on his own is incapable of being redeemed because sin always darkens even our best intentions.

Yet, the covenant of works remains. God still expects man to keep those works and he repeats commands of obedience. But, we cannot keep God's law. We will always fail.

I am still enamored by the principle here that is so elementary. It is so simply, almost too simple. And in seeing this early entry of grace in Genesis 3:15 I see how this idea is then weaved throughout all of scripture and life - God is the rescuer. And those that end up getting rescued are a small subset of people.

It is an interesting idea that the Bible provides us with laws that we are not actually expected to keep, but asked to keep. What I learn is only Jesus can really keep these laws. Yet, they are laws given to man throughout the ages to follow. And then God knows who will follow them and who will not. He is sovereign in working them all out. Each of us has free will to choose yet God will take all of those choices and work them out to his glory. Yet he asks us to pray. It remains that the Bible speaks of this predetermined state almost by God throughout history and yet man lives like this is not so. Most of religious thought is honed in on the idea that man works his future out himself through adhering to laws. Man works. In the same way that man works to get a paycheck, man works to get heaven or God's acceptance. Yet, the principle in the Bible stands contrary to this type of thinking - namely that their is substitution atonement. Man may be able to work to get a paycheck, but man can't work to get God's acceptance. What is expected at work is to do our best, but God expects us to be perfect.

Thus, the answer in the Bible is Jesus. It has always been Jesus. The Bible shows us how serious sin is to God because we see how we acts when laws are broken, when he is not revered or feared. God is jealous and doesn't want to share Himself with anything in life. God knew Jesus would be needed. But he didn't come on the scene immediately. Instead he gave man other men that would do things similar to Jesus. These men were prophets. They saw a problem, but they had an allegiance to God because the problem was man was not listening to God - listening to God's plan. Man selfishly gets off track. Jesus saw this with the Jewish leaders. There was never any intention for only Jews to receive the message from God. Even the temple had a place for non-Jews to be welcomed in. Thus, the idea of the gospel is it is open to all.

Today I examine the Noahic Covenant. Noah became the first one to be called to store away a small remnant of people from a world that had simply gone astray. Sin ushered in a "every man for himself" mentality in which there was no need for God. There were 10 generations from Adam to Noah and each of those men lived 1,000 years with one new generation being every 100 years. After the flood the life span changed from 1,000 years to 120. The Covenant that came about with Adam in the garden was the Edenic Covenant, but it was terminated by man's sin. At the time of this covenant there are 8 people which constitute the world's population. Our reminder of this covenant is the rainbow which is a promise by God to never destroy the earth by flood. Beyond that it reaffirms provisions from the Adamic Covenant and its provisions are:

1. Populate the earth
2. The animal kingdom is subjected to man
3. Man can eat animals, but must refrain from eating blood.
4. Human life is sacred
5. This covenant is to every living creature
6. God will next destroy the earth by fire
7. The rainbow is given as a sign that he will not destroy the earth by a flood. 

These are all doable provisions. Man can do these without sin. This covenant reminds us that God is the active agent. God preserves a stable order in life and He will provide salvation at the appropriate time through Jesus.

Promise: God ordains life; he creates and he can take it away.

Prayer: God, I thank you for the natural order that You have created. There is stability in what you have established. You are to get all the glory God.


Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with April being about salvation by grace alone and how the Lord never fails to save the one whom He has purposed to save.

Psalm 72:1-11 - Praying for the King

Psalm 72:1-11

Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your righteousness to the king’s son. May he judge your people with righteousness and your afflicted with justice. Let the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills, in righteousness. May he vindicate the afflicted of the people, save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor. Let them fear You while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations. May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. In his days may the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace till the moon is no more. May he also rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. Let the nomads of the desert bow before him, and his enemies lick the dust. Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. And let all kings bow down before him, all nations serve him.

Message: Praying for the King

Time:  The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

The idea in this passage, in relation to kings, was originally praying for a king who came from the line of David. Therefore, he was presumed to already have an association with Israel and then there was the expectation that the king would adhere to divine covenants. But, there is also conjecture that this is a Psalm meant for the Messiah and his reign.

So how would we apply this today? Our kings or presidents very often do not have any direct affiliation with God nor do they desire to be obedient to God's commands. And yet we still must pray for them. We could also think about our church leaders, that in a way mirror a king, and so we can pray for them with these words.

Leaders are to rule by God's ways
Give the king Your judgments, O God, A king is a maker of laws and the primary role of a king is to exert justice upon his kingdom. The king is to dispense right to all of his subjects.

and Your righteousness to the king’s son. The king's righteousness is not simply to be of his own doing, but a righteousness that mirror's God's righteousness. A king is to display God's righteousness. He is to mirror the laws of the Bible. And may this sort of administration and righteousness pass on from son king to son, so future reigns have the same focus.

Those in need be delivered
May he judge your people with righteousness and your afflicted with justice. May your judgments be free from sin and have abundance of fairness.  Let the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills, in righteousness. As I read this I am thinking not just about me and where I am, in a big city metropolis, but also all people in all walks of life -- those at school, living in rural areas, primitive situations, poor monetary environments, in all of these we are to think about the idea that the mountains are meant to be peaceful. The land in which we reside are meant to be places of peace. Instead of mountains it could say tall buildings; it could say a large barn or a tree. Let these surroundings be pleasing to us. Righteousness is to be free from sin. To have peace and freedom from sin is not necessarily an easy life free of problems. 

May he vindicate the afflicted of the people, save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor. May he deal with those that do not seek peace. A leader needs to deal with evil. We are in an election time right now and the issues are not necessarily along these lines. The injustices of our life are often more about our comfort, education, and keeping our land free from others. We are now trying to defend all people's rights and yet not everyone can have the same rights and we are redefining right and wrong. We do not seem to focus on taking care of the poor and needy. Those are not the big issues.

An All Encompassing movement of God
Let them fear You while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations. 

Men everywhere are to fear you, no matter what; keep the empire of the Messiah present; don't let there be any different sort of reign. May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. God, your influence should always be present. Even if the ground is eaten up and the land has been devoured, descend on us like a rain, and shower us with what we need. In his days may the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace till the moon is no more. May it be that righteous ones flourish. May God fearing people and God praising people multiply and fill the earth. And may the things which produce peace not be few, but numerous. May they be found in towns and village, and private dwellings; in the calm and just administration of the affairs of the State; in abundant harvests; in intelligence, in education, in industry; to the rights of all -- until the moon ceases to shine upon the earth. May he also rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. And Lord, may your dominion be far reaching, and cover throughout the universe. Let the nomads of the desert bow before him, and his enemies lick the dust. And let those that are unreached or unknown, or live in the outskirts or desolate places -- may they all bow before him; and may his enemies bow in submission licking the dust of the ground. Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. And let all kings bow down before him, all nations serve him. May your dominion be far reaching. 

My Words:
O God, give kings and leaders justice over their kingdom and people so their ways are right. May the source of his/her justice be righteousness according to your laws and standards. May this be present for future generations as well. Make our leaders order with your righteousness and rule fair; may those who are afflicted be treated equitably; make our leaders live and act free from any taint or form of sin. The land in which we reside are meant to be places of peace. Make peace in the big structures of life, the tall buildings, airports, stadiums, theaters, subways, trains and everywhere many people gather. May those that are receiving wrong and experience afflictions be cleared of any wrong doing; God, save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor; protect children and for those that are doing wrong to children, may they get unwelcome outcomes. Deal with those that are creating conflict instead of making peace. Men everywhere are to fear you, no matter what; keep the empire of the Messiah present; don't let there be any different sort of reign. Even if the ground is eaten up and the land has been devoured, descend on us like a rain, and shower us with what we need. May it be that righteous ones flourish. May God fearing people and God praising people multiply and fill the earth. And may the things which produce peace not be few, but numerous. May they be found in towns and village, and private dwellings; in the calm and just administration of the affairs of the State; in abundant harvests; in intelligence, in education, in industry; to the rights of all -- until the moon ceases to shine upon the earth. And Lord, may your dominion be far reaching, and cover throughout the universe. And let those that are unreached or unknown, or live in the outskirts or desolate places -- may they all bow before him; and may his enemies bow in submission licking the dust of the ground. May your dominion be far reaching.

Promise: Leaders are to rule by God's ways. Those in need will be delivered. And there will be an all encompassing movement of God throughout the earth.

Psalm 47 - Praising God the King

Psalm 47:1-9
O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy. For the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth. He subdues peoples under us and nations under our feet. He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom He loves. Selah. God has ascended with a shout, the Lord, with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a skillful psalm. God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne. The princes of the people have assembled themselves as the people of the God of Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted. 

Message: Praising God the King

Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying: 

This passage is probably an ode to a victory celebration, like a military incident.

It begins with a proclamation to clap your hands and make a joyful noise because of the victory we have been given by God. O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy.

With our celebration is acknowledging that our God is to be feared and set apart. He has absolute power over all the nations. For the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth.

God only has to speak and the nations are subdued and under His feet. We celebrate the triumph we have in God Almighty. He subdues peoples under us and nations under our feet.  

At this time, the people were rejoicing in the Land in which God had them dwell. This was the prophets' land. This was a land like any other.  He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom He loves.The land came into the possession of the people at the time of Jacob's sons.

With poetic words, the Psalmist remarks that God has come to His people, to rescue them and then returned to the heavens with a shout, the sound of a trumpet. Almost like, "it is done." God has ascended with a shout, the Lord, with the sound of a trumpet.

The heart is full of praise. It is overcome with the work of God. I think at times I struggle with this or seeing that God has indeed worked and He is to be praised. It's hard to see sometimes in the world of "want" in which we live. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. 

For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a skillful psalm. We are to be instructed through these praises. He is King over all the earth. He is sovereign. He reigns. He is over all. We are amazed. All people should discover this.  

The idea here is that God is over all, not necessarily that he reigns over people that are not of faith, but God's dominion is over the entire world. God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne. 

Everyone will come together under the throne of God. All people will be established under His dominion. Everyone will bow down one day. The princes of the people have assembled themselves as the people of the God of Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong to God

Promise: He is highly exalted.  

Romans 11:33-36 - God, The Source of All

Romans 11:33-36 ³³ Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! ³⁴ For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? ³⁵ Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? ³⁶ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Message: God, the depths of Him; He is unsearchable; no one really knows Him; To Him be glory forever.

Time: Written in AD 57 from Greece, to the Christians, both Gentile and Jewish in Rome.

What the Lord is Saying:

Chapter 9 and has been difficult subject matter. After putting forth the gospel in the first 8 chapter and showing the Jews that it is through God making us righteous through Christ, not through being a Jew, having circumcision, hanging onto the Law, Paul then mentions Israel's rejection of Christ, though remnants remain. Yet, by the Lord hardening Israel or allowing their rejection of Him, God has opened up the door for the Gentiles to receive truth. But, one day Israel will return. God is not finished with them. 

Here is an outline of Chapter 11 by biblepilot.com. 

• 11:1-10 God has not rejected Israel
• 11:1-6 Elect remnant chosen by grace
• 11:7-10 Hardening of the rest (11:7)
• 11:11-24 Consequences of belief and unbelief illustrated
• 11:11-12 Gentiles saved to make Israel jealous
• 11:13-16 Paul’s hope for saving some
• 11:17-21 Gentiles grafted as olive branch
• 11:22-24 Kindness and severity of God
• 11:25-32 Mystery of Israel’s salvation
• 11:25-27 Partial hardening
• 11:28-32 God is merciful
• 11:33-36 Praise for our unsearchable God

Paul concludes this non-exhaustive discussion with Praise for God. Paul hasn't answered every question, but overall concluded that God is in control. 

The Depth of God - verse 33
In light of this, Paul describes the depth of God. He is after all the creator of all, the giver of all, and He sustains all. Yes, we try to understand Him, but He is unsearchable and unfathomable. It feels like what Paul is doing is confessing to his audience, in one way, that these doctrines are a lot to handle, and yet, they should be, because God is in fact beyond our understanding. There is a depth to his understanding that we can't totally comprehend. This should be normal for us to see. Many faiths think that everything about God is to be known. No way. There is unfathomable and unsearchable. 

For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? - verse 34
Isaiah 40:13-14

¹³ Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His counselor has informed Him?
¹⁴ With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
And informed Him of the way of understanding?

The conclusion from these verses is rather simple. We don't tell God what to do nor do we educate Him. God is in charge. He does not consult with anyone. No one gave him understanding for he is understanding. He is truth. No one taught Him in the path of what is right and wrong. No one gave him knowledge. No one tells him how things work or gives him understanding. 

I think one of the lies that Satan tells people is that God doesn't know everything and that man is able to figure out things on his own.   

But God does reveal to man his ways. The Bible is a book of writings from men based upon the revelation by God. The challenge that comes in life often is who has God given understanding. Many people will stand up continually and say that they are the prophet that God has given understanding or they are the pastor that rightly understands a particular text or the way of truth. Everyone wants to be an authority on truth. 

Psalm 40:5
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

Something that stands out for me with the verse from Psalm 40 is that we spend so much time trying to understand God and David lets us know that God has thoughts toward us.

who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? - verse 35
Job 41:11

“Who has given to Me that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.
 

God is never obligated to us. Everything we are comes from him. We can not give something to God that He does not have.

CS Lewis: To argue with God is to argue with the very power that makes it possible to argue at all.

From Him, through Him and to Him are all things - verse 36
The context here in Romans is Paul presenting the great plan of salvation to and for all people. He was not only speaking to the Jews and only speaking to Gentiles, but speaking to everyone. And it is fitting that this verse would conclude Paul's thoughts from chapter 9-11. All of life is about God. It is from Him. It is through Him. It is to Him. How deep should our love of God be in the light of all that we have learned in these texts.   

Promise: God is the source of all

Psalm 2

Message: Nations and people may plot and devise plans against the Lord and take stands that God is not real or think that His ways are not real, but God is there. He is in control. The world exists because of God. He holds all things together. We don't serve our plans, but rather we serve the Lord and His plans for us.

Time: Not sure if this refers to a time period or is more in general speaking of Israel and how nations are instruments of the Lord, set up by Him, and controlled by Him.

What the Lord is Saying:
On the heals of reading Lamentations, where we see the sorrow of Jerusalem at the hands of being judged by Babylon. We must remember that God uses Babylon as the judge. Babylon does not act independent of God. God is always at work. So, it makes me think, anytime we see a nation at war or the people suffering, is their a judgment of this people occurring by God? Because in the Bible, this is what we see.

An outline by William Barrick, professor at the Masters Seminary:
I. The World Conspires against Their King (2:1-3)
  -- Rulers plot against the Lord. They have anger. They make plans, but those plans are futile. They think they can free themselves from the Lord.
II. The Father Confirms His King (2:4-6)
 -- But the Lord laughs at those that think they can make plans against Him and against His people and against His Chosen Nation, against the King of Jerusalem.
III. The Father Confirms the Son (2:7-9)
 -- This outline speaks of the Father confirming His Son. The Son is mentioned. Is this Jesus? In verse 6, someone is referenced as the King of Jerusalem. Is this Jesus? I'm reminded of the David and Giants song that Jesus is the King of the Jews and Jesus, when crucified, is charged with being the King of the Jews. So, that seems to confirm it. 
IV. The World Contemplates the Son (2:10-12)
 -- So, Nations, consider God's Son. He is the Ruler of you and you must submit to Him. 


Promise: This Psalm ends with a great promise. "What joy for all who take refuge in Him." The entire Psalm is people plotting against the Lord, the Lord, upholding His domininion and power, the Lord upholding His Son and nations must bow before the Lord. And then the encouragement to those that do follow the Son, here we have the promise. There is joy for all who take refuge in Him. We have joy when we hide ourselves in Him.

Hebrews 2:9

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
(Hebrews 2:9 ESV)

The dominion given to man was instead completely fulfilled in Jesus. How could someone who suffered and died be considered higher than angels? His position to man was one of submission and following his death he was immediately crowned with glory and honor and this crowning or exalting was because He suffered. God's grace (His favor, His benevolence) was given for everyone, by Jesus dying, experiencing death, tasting that which is most unpleasant.

Hebrews 2:8

putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
(Hebrews 2:8 ESV)

Everything has been put under man's leadership.Yet, his dominion over the lower world was temporarily removed when Adam/Eve sinned. Jesus has completely fulfilled this role.

Hebrews 2:6; Psalm 8:4

It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
(Hebrews 2:6 ESV)

When I look at man today it seems a mystery that man would have been chosen by God. He is so sinful. He is so unlike God. Why would God give dominion to a person that will abuse it? With everything in the universe, God still takes notice of man. And man has been united with the Divine One.