Reading for May 15th

 Read Genesis 12.1-9. In 12.1-9: God calls Abram and promises great blessing. In verses 1-3: This first promise to Abram of land, many descendants in the form of a great nation and blessings that will extend to all the families of the earth is a foundation for all of God's future promises to Israel. The promise of land and descendants will run like a thread throughout Genesis ( 13.15-17; 15.5-7, 18-21; 17.1-8; 22.15-18; 26.2-4; 28.11-4, 13-15) and beyond (Ex 6.4, 8; Deut 34.4). God promises Abram to make your name great as one who will be a blessing to other nations (v. 2). This element stands in contrast to the tower builders of Babel, who sought to make a name for themselves by their own selfish efforts (11.4) In verse 4: Abram immediately obeys God's command to leave his homeland and go to a place where he will receive a great blessing. Later God will call Abraham a second time to go and sacrifice his son and apparently give up his blessings (22.1-3). Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 14th

 Read Genesis 11.10-32, In 11.10-32: The family line from Shem to Abraham. The genealogy in Gen 10, before the tower of Babel story, had named all the siblings of a given generation. These siblings had represented the spread of God's blessing over all peoples of the earth. A major transition occurs with the genealogy in Gen 11. The family line of promises becomes more narrowly focused on one person in each generation. The family line begins with Noah's sons Shem (v. 10) and extends for ten generations until we come Abram (later called  Abraham; 17.5) and Sari (later called Sarah; 17.15). This genealogy builds the literary bridge from stories about all humanity in Gen 1-11 to the more narrowly focused stories on the one family of Abraham and Sarah, the ancestors of Israel, in Gen 12-50.  In verse 28: The memory of this family includes the tragedy of a son (Haran) who died at a young age, while his father was still living. the Theme of a son's premature death will continue to haunt the family line. The young sons of Abraham (22.2), Isaac (27.41) and Jacob (37.29-36) will all be endangered or presumed dead. In verse 30: Abram's wife Sarai, was barren and unable to have children. this condition will become a major obstacle and cause for suspense when God promises Abram and Sarai that they will have many descendants and become a great nation (12.2; 17.16). The theme of the barren mother unable to have children will also be repeated in succeeding generations with Rebekah (25.23) and Rachel (29.31). In verse 31: Haran, a city in northern Mesopotamia, is the place where Abram grew up. Abraham will later see to it that his son Isaac, obtains a wife his hometown of Haran, also known as the city of Nahor (23.10). Abraham's grandson Jacob, will likewise return to Haran to work for his uncle Laban and marry Laban's two daughters (29.4). Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 13th

 Read Genesis 11.1-9. In 11.1-9:The tower of Babel and the confusion of human language. This story of the tower of Babel explains the geographical scattering of humans and the division of human speech into many different languages (Gen 10). Like that of the garden of Eden, the story continues the theme of God's limits on excessive human pride and presumption. In verse 2: The land of Shinar is Babylon (10.10). In verse 4: A tower with its top in the heavens probably alludes to the very high pyramid-like structures called a ziggurat. The tall structure functioned as a temple in which to worship the gods in ancient Babylon. In the story, however, the human's root desire is not to worship the gods but to make a name for themselves. In verse 7: God says, let us go down. he is speaking to a divine council of advisers as in 1.26. In verse 9: The name Babel in the language of Babylon means "Gate of God," which would be appropriate for a temple. However, the Hebrew storyteller links the name instead with the Hebrew word "balal" ("to confuse"). Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 12th

 Read Genesis 10.15-32. In verses 21-31: Shem is the ancestor of the Semitic people who lived in and around Assyria and Arabian Peninsula. Shem is the father of all the children of Eder (v. 21). Eber may be related to the word "Hebrew which describes a number of wandering peoples on the margins of society. One of these groups formed the core of the Hebrew or Israelite people (14.13; Ex 9.13). Comments or Questions.

Reading for May 11th

 Read Genesis 10.1-14. In 10.1-32: A list of nations descended from Noah's three sons. This genealogy traces the family line of all the known peoples of the earth back to the three sons of Noah: Japheth, Ham, and Shem. Each of the peoples or groups listed have their own families, their languages, their lands, and their nations. This refrain is repeated three times (10.5, 20, 31). In verses 2-5: The descendants of Japheth include peoples to the north and west of Canaan in Greece and Asia Minor and the coastland peoples of the Mediterranean Sea such as the Philistines. In verses 6-20: The descendants of Ham represent the nations under Egypt's influence at the time in Africa and Mesopotamia, including the land in and around Canaan itself (vv. 20). The list of nations contains an old legend about a great warrior named Nimrod. Nimrod conquered the land of Shinar or Babylon (see Babel in v. 10) and the land of Assyria with the great city of Nineveh (vv. 11-12; see Mic 5.5-6). The story of the the tower of Babel will be set in the land of Shinar (11.2). Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 10th

 Read Genesis 9.18-29. The three sons of Noah become ancestors of all living human beings because all other humans had died in the flood (7.21-23). In verse 20: Noah becomes the world's first winemaker. The intoxicating effect of wine fulfills the words of Noah's father spoke at his birth concerning Noah's role in producing something that would bring relief from work (5.29). In verses 21-23: Noah overindulges in the intoxicating fruits of his own labors and lies uncovered in his tent. Noah's son Ham, the father of Canaan, sees the nakedness of his father. This may suggest some form of incest or other improper sexual activity (Lev 18.6-8, 24-20). In verses 24-27: Although Ham is the one who acted improperly, it is Ham's son Canaan who is cursed to be a slave and Shem who is blessed. As the following genealogy, or family tree, in Gen 10 shows these sons of Noah represent geographical nations and peoples in the known world of the ancient Near east. Ham represents the Hamitic peoples associated with Egypt and areas under Egyptian control, including at some time the land of Canaan. Shem represents the Semitic people, which will eventually include Israel and other related nations. Japheth included a number of groups from Asia Minor. The cursing of  Canaan and the blessing of Shem provides the backdrop and justification for the eventual conquest of the Canaanites and the settlement of the Israelites into the land of Canaan in the book of Joshua. Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 9th

 Read Genesis 9.1-17. In 9.1-29: God's covenant with creation and Noah's curse of Canaan. In verses 3-4: God expands the earlier the original vegetarian diet for humans (1.29) to include the meat of animals which shall be food for you. However, the blood of any animal s to be drained from it before its flesh is eaten (Deut 12.23-25). the blood represents life, and returning it to the ground acknowledges that life belongs to God. In verses 5-6: Every killing of a human being is a serious threat to the social and moral order of society since it crosses the created boundary between life and death. In addition, God requires a reckoning or severe consequence (a life for a life) because humans are created in God's own image (1.26-27). God requires a reckoning even from an animal that kills a human ( v. 5; Ex 21.28-32). In verses 8-17: God establishes a covenant relationship with Noah and with all living creatures. God promises never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth (v. 11). This promise fills out the contents of the earlier covenant mentioned in6.18. The sign of the covenant is the rainbow in the sky. The bow will be a sign to jog the divine memory so that God will remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature (v. 16). In the ancient world, the rainbow was associated with the bow used by God to shoot arrows of lighting (Ps 7.12-13). To hang up the bow is the sky symbolized peace. Worldwide destruction would no longer be a strategy use by God. Comments or Questions..