01.05.2010

Today's reading is Genesis 9, 10, Psalms 5, Proverbs 5, and Matthew 8.

We continue with Noah. Finally off the boat, God gives all animals and vegetation for our consumption. The animals are given conditionally, they have to be dead when you eat them. Then after that God tells Noah and his family in no uncertain terms, murder is not acceptable, and the penalty for killing a man, is that a man will kill the killer. This was a punishment outlined for a man or beast. God then goes from capital punishment to rainbows. He promises not to destroy all live with floods, and a sign of his promise is the rainbow.

From here, Noah goes and becomes a farmer. Interesting that he didn't become a sailor. It doesn't say, but I figure he probably never boarded another boat again. Rather, Noah became a farmer and started growing vines. From the fruit of the vine, Noah created a drink that got him drunk. This led to a vague situation with him being naked and drunk, and his son Ham doing something wrong. Ham's siblings were not interested in whatever Ham was, because when he told them about their father's condition, they covered him with a blanket. When Noah came to, he cursed Ham's descendants to be servants to Ham's brothers descendants.

The next chapter is a long genealogy that leads to the nations of the earth. A notable descendant of Ham is Nimrod.

The Lord is the shield of the righteous. The Psalm begs the Lord to help His faithful follower live in righteousness, and defend him from his enemies. His enemies and their bent on the writer's destruction is not what he brings to God. Rather he tells God that they have rebelled against the Lord. It ends with a statement of faith in the Lord blessing the righteous, and surrounding him as a shield.

Instruction from the Proverb today is quite detailed and direct. Do not use prostitutes, don't even think about using prostitutes. Do not have affairs, don't even think about having affairs. Yes, other women can look and sound very sweet, but this immorality leads to a number of terrible consequences. The Proverb even tells you how to avoid this issue, stay at home with your spouse and be enraptured with her love.

To the New Testament, the Sermon on the Mount was ended yesterday, today we follow the Lord Jesus on his journey. This chapter tells of Jesus healing many and casting out demons. Through his healings, he fulfills a prophecy of Isaiah. Also, Jesus begins a small journey on a boat with his followers and they are amazed that by his command a great storm is calmed. They wonder who He is. Apparently they weren't listening at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.This is one of my favorite stories, Jesus meets the men possessed by demons that live in some tombs, and the demons immediately recognize who He is. They want to know if He has come to torment them early and beg to be allowed to leave his presence in the bodies of a herd of pigs. Jesus grants them leave and they dive off a steep cliff into the sea in the bodies of the pigs. It's amazing that Jesus own followers asked who He was to command the sea and wind, but these foul demons immediately recognize Him.