January 14 - Evening
"But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept."
- Genesis 33:4
- Genesis 33:4
Relationships and Restoration
Esau is racing to meet the limping Jacob who has fearfully anticipated this moment for 20 years. The injured, or crippled, Jacob will not be able to out maneuver the running Esau, so Jacob has to wait to be overtaken by him.
The encounter that has been building for two decades is described with a pile-up of five verbs in verse 33:4:
• Ran
• Embraced
• Threw
• Kissed
• Wept
Jesus seems to draw on this verse when he tells the story of the prodigal son, whose reunion with his father is reminiscent of this encounter between Esau and Jacob:
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” - Luke15:20
This is also Joseph’s response when he revealed himself to his brothers:
“Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them.” - Genesis 45:14-15
And, then again in Genesis 46:29, when Joseph sees his father Jacob for the first time in twenty-two years:
"Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel (or, Jacob). As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.” – Genesis 46:29
In each of these cases the person doing the running to initiate the embrace was the person who had been wronged in the relationship:
• Esau (after 20 years)
• the father of the prodigal son
• Joseph (after 22 years)
The kiss may be a sign of forgiveness as appears to be the case with David kissing his son Absalom when he was restored to him in 2 Samuel 15:1.
Soter (Gr) - Savior (Eng) - this Greek word soter means "savior," "deliverer," and "preserver."
In the Greek world it was used to refer to emperors, kings, philosophers and to the gods.
It is used 24 times in the NT in reference to Jesus (16x) and God (8x).
Do I have relationships that need restoration?
Am I willing to forgive? Do I need to seek forgiveness inorder to restore a relationship?
I am willing to forgive and seek forgiveness to restore broken relationships.
Am I willing to forgive? Do I need to seek forgiveness inorder to restore a relationship?
I am willing to forgive and seek forgiveness to restore broken relationships.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
Open doors for financial growth
Church
An outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Nation
Race relations
World
Disease:
HIV/AIDS and Malaria
HIV/AIDS and Malaria
Someone to Quote
"Christendom must have men who are able to floor their adversaries and take armor and equipment from the devil, putting him to shame. But this calls for strong warriors who have complete control of Scripture, can refute a false interpretation, know how to wrest the sword they wield, that is their Bible passages, from the hands of the adversaries and beat them back with them."
- Martin Luther
- Martin Luther
Something to Ponder
Isaiah wrote chapter 53 of his book between 701-681 BC. In Isaiah chapter 53 at least 15 things were recorded about Jesus that would be fulfilled in 5 BC-30 AD. (And, remember, with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls we have proof that these prophecies were written down and being copied by scribes in 125 BC, at the latest!) Here are 15 predictions from 700 BC fulfilled by Jesus by 30 AD:
- Hated - 53:3 -> Mt.27:39
- Man of sadness - 53:3 -> Mt.26:38
- Familiar with suffering - 53:3 -> Heb. 4:15
- Rejected by his people - 53:3 -> John 1:10-11
- Took our suffering - 53:4 -> Mt.8:16-17
- Without sin - 53:9 -> 1 Pt. 2:22
- Silent when accused - 53:7 -> Mt.26:63
- Took our sins - 53:5 -> 1 Cor. 15:3
- Took our punishment - 53:5 -> 1 Pt. 2:24-25
- Treated like a criminal - 53:12 -> Mt.22:37
- Seeking forgiveness for us - 53:12 -> Luke 23:34
- Treated unjustly - 53:8 -> Mt.27:24
- Buried with rich - 53:9 -> Mt.27:57-60
- Raised from death - 53:10 -> Luke 24:6-8
- Honored - 53:12 -> Phil2:9-11
Here’s a Fact
Early church pilgrims wrote of visiting Peter's house in Capernaum. In 1968 archaeologists uncovered an octagonal church from around 450 AD that was built around an ancient first century house. This house is just a short city block away from the synagogue in Capernaum. Inside this simple first century courtyard house were at least 15 invocations scratched into the walls during the first century in Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Syriac. Archaeology showed that domestic pottery had stopped being used in this room after about 50 AD, and the room had become something other than a residential home, because mid-way through the first century the house's main room was completely plastered over from floor to ceiling. This was an unusual practice in that day. Also, the pottery used in this room switched from typical household cooking pots switched to large storage jars and oil lamps which indicate it became a community meeting place instead of a home. The original walls of this house would not have supported a second story nor a masonry roof, but a roof of earth and straw. (Read more here. See photos and diagram here.)
Proverb
"He whose walk is upright fears the Lord but he whose ways are devious despises him." - Proverbs 14:2
Coach’s Corner
You reap what you sow. If you do not like your harvest, start planting different seeds.
Job 4
New International Version (NIV)
Eliphaz
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2
“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?
3
Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.
4
Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees.
5
But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6
Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?
7
“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?
8
As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
9
At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.
10
The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
11
The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12
“A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it.
13
Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people,
14
fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.
15
A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.
16
It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:
17
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
18
If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,
19
how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!
20
Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21
Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
New International Version (NIV)
Eliphaz
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2
“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?
3
Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.
4
Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees.
5
But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6
Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?
7
“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?
8
As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
9
At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.
10
The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
11
The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12
“A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it.
13
Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people,
14
fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.
15
A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.
16
It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:
17
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
18
If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,
19
how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!
20
Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21
Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
Job 39
New International Version (NIV)
39
“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2
Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?
3
They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended.
4
Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.
5
“Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes?
6
I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat.
7
It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout.
8
It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing.
9
“Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it stay by your manger at night?
10
Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness? Will it till the valleys behind you?
11
Will you rely on it for its great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12
Can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13
“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.
14
She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand,
15
unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.
16
She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17
for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.
18
Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.
19
“Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20
Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting?
21
It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray.
22
It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword.
23
The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance.
24
In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25
At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’ It catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26
“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?
27
Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?
28
It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29
From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar.
30
Its young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there it is.”
New International Version (NIV)
39
“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2
Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?
3
They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended.
4
Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.
5
“Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes?
6
I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat.
7
It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout.
8
It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing.
9
“Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it stay by your manger at night?
10
Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness? Will it till the valleys behind you?
11
Will you rely on it for its great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12
Can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13
“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.
14
She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand,
15
unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.
16
She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17
for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.
18
Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.
19
“Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20
Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting?
21
It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray.
22
It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword.
23
The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance.
24
In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25
At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’ It catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26
“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?
27
Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?
28
It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29
From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar.
30
Its young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there it is.”