Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....December 2, 2019
We continue with your questions and look at something we had in the Old Testament Bible Study....
Don't Genesis 1 and 2 present contradictory creation accounts?
- Genesis 1
- Day one - Heavens and earth are created. "Let there be light." Day and Night.
- Day two - Atmospheric waters separated from earth waters.
- Day three - Land appears separating the seas. Vegetation is made.
- Day four - Sun, moon, stars are made.
- Day five - Sea life and birds are made.
- Day six - Land animals, creeping things, and man (male and female) are made.
- Genesis 2
- States heaven and earth were created. There was no plant yet on earth, no rain yet, and no man. But, a mist rose watering the surface of the ground. Then the Lord formed man from dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Finally, God made Eve.
Then, Moses goes on to detail the creation of Adam and Eve as is seen in verses 7 through 24 of Gen. 2. Proof that it is not a creative account is found in the fact that animals aren't even mentioned until after the creation of Adam. Why? Probably because their purpose was designated by Adam. They didn't need to be mentioned until after Adam was created.
Should we keep the Sabbath or not?
Exodus 20:8; 23:12; 31:15; Deuteronomy 5:12; Leviticus 26:2 and Romans 14:5; Colossians 2:16
- Keep the Sabbath
- Exodus 20:8-9, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work,"
- Exodus 23:12, "Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor in order that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves."
- Exodus 31:15, "For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death."
- Deuteronomy 5:12, "Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you."
- Leviticus 26:2, "You shall keep My sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the Lord."
- Don't keep the Sabbath
- Romans 14:5, "One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind."
- Colossians 2:16, "Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day."
In creation God rested on the seventh day. But, since God is all-powerful, He doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t need to take a break and rest. So, why does it say that He rested? The reason is simple: Mark 2:27 says, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." In other words, God established the Sabbath as a rest for His people--not because He needed a break but because we are mortal and need a time of rest--of focus on God. In this, our spirits and bodies are both renewed.
The O.T. system of Law required keeping the Sabbath as part of the overall moral, legal, and sacrificial system by which the Jewish people satisfied God’s requirements for behavior, government, and forgiveness of sins. The Sabbath was part of the Law in that sense. In order to "remain" in favor with God, you had to also keep the Sabbath. If it was not kept, then the person was in sin and would often be punished (Ezekiel 18:4; Rom. 6:23; Deut. 13:1-9; Num. 35:31; Lev. 20:2, etc.).
But with Jesus’ atonement, and justification by faith (Rom. 5:1), we no longer are required to keep the Law and hence the Sabbath which was only a shadow of things to come (Col. 2:16-17). We are not under Law but grace (Rom. 6:14-15). The Sabbath is fulfilled in Jesus because in Him we have rest (Matt. 11:28). We are not under obligation to keep the Law, and this goes for the Sabbath as well.
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
Henry Ford (1863-1947) once said, "thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few people engage in it." Today I would like to share some thoughts with you on the important subject of "thinking" and I've titled this column "Thinking On A Higher Plane." In the Bible you will find these words recorded in Proverbs 23:7a, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." The Roman Emperor Marcus Arelius once said, "A man becomes what he thinks about all day long." Back in 1957, the late Earl Nightingale wrote and recorded a motivational message titled "The Strangest Secret", which became the only one of its kind to ever sell a million copies. The Strangest Secret is that "We Become What We Think About." It was my good fortune to work personally with Mr. Nightingale for several years.
Yes, from King Solomon on down through the ages, the most successful writers, teachers and philosophers have all come to the same conclusion: It is the quality of our thinking that will ultimately determine the quality of our life. At this point, it might be in order to ask you some very pertinent questions. What do you think about most of the time? Is most of your thinking done on a higher plane? That is, do you reach for the stars in your thinking or is most of your thinking done in the gutter? The truth is, we have only to look about us to see where we are and to see what we have to see the fruits of our thinking.
For fear that I may be misunderstood, I want to make it very clear that we don't have to be a religious person to desire a good, decent, honest and moral life. Sometimes we forget that the greatest have as citizens of this free country is the power to choose. Regardless of who we are or what we have done in the past, we can choose the quality or level of our own thinking. Isn't it great to be able to say, "the past is gone" and I can't do anything about it but from this point forward I'm going to improve my life by improving the quality of my thinking? As I said a moment ago, the choice is yours. What is so tragic for me to realize is that millions of people could have more and be much happier if they only knew it.
While its an individual thing, you may ask, "how do I go about it?" While it's not easy, it's very simple. Station a guard at the entrance of your mind. You must be very careful when you select the television programs you watch, the books and magazines you read and the people with whom you associate. In short, if we are to improve the quality of our thinking, we must be very selective as to where we get our information.
It took several years for me to come to the realization that if I'm going to improve my life, when a filthy program comes on T.V., or even the radio, I just turn it off Its a choice I make because I now realize what it will do to my thinking. How about you? Have you ever given any serious thought to this before? Remember please that "birds of a feather flock together" and you may have people tell you that it does not make any difference what you watch or read or who you spend your time with. But it does. We can trust the words of King Solomon here: "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he."
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
This week we conntinue our verse by verse walk though the Bible...This week we look at Jacob and his... Struggle with God
Genesis 28-33
Jacob sets out on a journey to the land of his mother’s family. On his way he settles down for the night and has a strange dream: angels are ascending and descending on a ladder between heaven and earth. The dream symbolizes the connection between God and human experience. Within this call to stay connected to his spiritual quest God speaks to Jacob and renews the Covenant formed with Abraham and with Isaac. It was Jacob’s destiny to become the next in the line of Abraham’s spiritual heirs.
Jacob finally reaches his uncle Laban and spends many years working for him. During that time he marries Laban’s two daughters and acquires a large family. Although poor when he started and although Laban deceived him many times - it was Jacob’s turn to be the victim of clever dishonesty - at the end he becomes a man of means.
It is time for Jacob to leave his uncle Laban and return home. On the way he must also confront his unresolved past. He must meet his brother Esau for the first time since he cheated him of his father’s blessing many years ago.
So Jacob is afraid. He divides his camp in two, so that at least one half will escape if the other half is attacked. He sets apart a good portion of his livestock as a gift for Esau, then hides in the rear behind the animals and his servants. And finally he prays.
And in the middle of the night a man comes to Jacob and wrestles with him. We usually think of this man as an angel, but the text does not call him that. His identity is left to suggestion. But certainly, at the very least, he is Jacob’s fears taking concrete form.
The man does not prevail over Jacob, but he does inflict a wound that causes a permanent limp. The sun begins to rise, and the man gets ready to leave.
Jacob holds him back, telling him: “I won’t let you go until you bless me.”
As a sign of this blessing - and how Jacob's stuggle has changed him forever - the man changes Jacob’s name: he will from now on be known as “Israel,” the one who has struggled with God. Jacob in turn wants to know the man’s name, who he is. The man does not answer him.
This was Jacob’s test of faith, much as Abraham’s being called to let go of his son was his own test. Life tests all of us in these two ways: Can we become ready, as life will require of us, to let go of everything we hold dear (Abraham)? Are we willing to confront and wrestle with our demons (Jacob)? We may say we don’t like the idea of a God who tests us in these ways. But that would be the same as refusing to accept life. If nothing else the Bible is true to life, and life does to us exactly this. Nothing is permanent. Everything perishes. And if we do not struggle with our inner tormentors we will remain their slave.
This is the nature of existence, and God is the author of life. These trials are necessarily part of life. What was asked of Abraham and Jacob is asked of each one of us.
Jacob discovers that the confrontation with suffering gives one a new identity.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou