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January 2

Reading 1 - Genesis 3 & 4

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A quick look at the word subtil (ch.3 v. 1). It is only translated subtil here, but there are 10 other occurrences elsewhere in the OT of the hebrew word 'aruwm'. They fit 2 specific categories. It is used by Eliphaz twice in his speeches to Job - translated crafty. Here the context seems similar to Gen 3. Job 5:12, 15:5. However, when we turn to the final 8 occurrences they are all in Proverbs, and used in just the opposite context - of a good characteristic rather than a bad - translated prudent. If you don't want to look up all 8 of these, look especially at the last two (which are identical) and consider in the context of Gen. 3. Proverbs 12:16,23, 13:16, 14:8,15,18, 22:3, 27:12.
Peter Cresswell

ch.4:26 - The name Enos means 'frailty'. It was a demonstration of Seth's understanding of the position of man before God, and the result of this realisation was that this family then 'began to call upon the name of the Lord'. Our humility, which is required for salvation, can only come from a true recognition of the frailty we have when compared with the Lord God Almighty. Hence Seth's choice of name was not an act of pessimism or discouragement, it was an act of recognition of the way to salvation.
Peter Cresswell

3:7 The opening of the eyes of Adam and Eve caused confusion and distress whereas the opening of the eyes of the two on the road to Emmaus [Luke 24:31] caused joy and enlightenment.

Clearly the gospel record is wishing us to see this contrast by using the same language.

4:24 The way that Lamech claims that if Cain were avenged 'sevenfold' he would be avenged 'seventy and sevenfold' forms the basis for Jesus' words [Matthew 18:22] where he turns the issue round and says that, rather than seeking vengeance seventy seven times forgiveness should be shown to that extent.
Peter Forbes

3:6 That Eve 'saw' 'the fruit which was 'pleasant' and 'took' it is reflected in the way that the sons of God 'saw' the daughters of men who were 'fair' and so they 'took' them It is not just Eve who had problems with her vision. So did the 'sons of God' (Genesis 6:2)

4:16 Cain 'went out from the presence of the Lord' because he had alienated himself - he was not 'of' the believers (1 John 2:19)
Peter Forbes

MASTERING SIN

It all began with one small wrong act that Cain was very able to put right. Cain offered a sacrifice of vegetables instead of the sacrifice of an animal and then became jealous that Abel's sacrifice was favoured by God while his own sacrifice wasn't. It was here that the LORD intervened and warned Cain what would happen if he did not put his actions right. God said, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4 v 7).

Cain's decision was to stay bitter. To ease his problem, Cain made a bigger one by killing his brother. Now Cain had two problems. He had offered an unacceptable sacrifice and not put it right, and had murdered his brother.

When the LORD confronted Cain about the death of Abel, he again tried to cover it up by lying. "Where is your brother Abel?" the LORD asked. "I don't know," Cain replied, "Am I my brothers keeper?"

If Cain had just taken God's advice and put the first problem right, the rest of his sins would never have happened.

Sin desires to have all of us, but we must master it. Let us not fall into the same trap as Cain and add sin to sin until it masters us.
Robert Prins
Many people tend to view the introduction of the promise to the serpent in Genesis 3:15 as a "band-aid" to fix up the mess man had gotten himself into.

But a little careful thinking will reveal that God had factored Sin into HIS grand plan, long before the first creative fiat was uttered in Genesis 1.

For a start, 7 days were employed to do what HE might easily have accomplished in just 1 day or even instantaneously. The seven days we know, speaks of the 7,000 year plan that HE has in mind with this creation.

Secondly, there is no "OOOPs" in heaven! It is not as if Jesus Christ was a "Mr Fix-it" created to undo Adam's faux pas. And neither was Jesus Christ "sitting on the sidelines" just in case He was needed. In other words, there was no 'Plan A' and 'Plan B'.

Jesus Christ was THE PLAN all along, but the Father is most definitely NOT the author of sin. The Serpent is the author of the first lie. Adam is the author of sin, even though Eve was the first to sin (?)... Or was she?

Adam was standing right there with her when she took of the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and ate of it.

It was he who had added to God's commandment of Genesis 2:17, "neither shall you touch it.... lest you die." But God had said, ..."thou shalt surely die!!"

So in this matter of transmitting the message to Eve of the commandment given in Genesis 2:17 [for she was created after this event], Adam had added an element not given by God, and he had diminished the certainty of the punishment.


So when Eve touched the fruit and no ill effects were observed, the conclusion reached by both Adam and Eve was that God must not really have meant what HE said. Faith would have decreed otherwise... but what they did was not of Faith.

Their "death" was also immediate. "Dying you shall die" can describe a "process" which ends in the grave, but when the Elohim came to converse with Adam in the cool of the evening, they had need to "call to Adam"... not that they had lost Adam... Adam had lost God! He (and Eve) were now "dead in trespasses and sins", separated from their God because of their Rebellion... (note:- A rebel always knows 'a better way!')
Cliff York

3:18 Trace the idea of "thorns and thistles" throughout scripture. It was the thorns, the sins of the world, that lead Christ to His death
David Simpson

Reading 2 - Psalms 3, 4 & 5

To Listen
David claims that God is 'the lifter up of mine head' in Ps. 3:3. This uses 2 hebrew words: ruwm (lifter up) and ro'sh (head). Head here is the normal word for head but is variously translated also as captain, chief, top, first, etc. This gives a greater meaning for us when David uses the same construction in Ps.27:5,6 and 110:5-7, where the context seems to be shifted by the rest of the verses round it to refer not to David's head itself, but to David's head - The Lord God. You may be interested to observe, since Eliphaz had already been mentioned, the he too uses these two hebrew words together - Job 22:12, here height=ro'sh and high=ruwm.
Peter Cresswell
4:3 - Here is the essence of salvation - God will give it to all who he has set apart and called to the gospel. We must rejoice that we are in that number. Psa. 135:4, 31:23, 50:5, 79:2, 6:8, 9; 17:6
Psa 3 - The title of this Psalm tells us what historical event is remembered in the Psalm. So when David says :8 'salvation belongeth unto the Lord' we realise that he is saying this against the background of his fear of the counsel of Ahithophel and Absalom's following.

4:2 'Selah' means 'weight' in the sense of 'value' - it is used - Job 28:16 where it is translated 'valued'. We should read the word when readings the Psalms and understand that it is an instruction in the text to value the things we have just read.

Psa 5 - Some have problems with the way in which David desires judgement on the wicked - v10 - however this can be understood by realising that David was looking for God to fulfil His words on the wicked. Without an end to the wicked there will be no kingdom of God. So, in a sense, when we pray 'thy kingdom come, thy will be done' we are implicitly requesting the destruction of the wicked.
Peter Forbes

3:6 The boast that the Psalmist will not be afraid of 10,000 picks up the promise to the faithful in Israel (Leviticus 26:8)

4:2 In saying that wicked men have turned his glory into shame the Psalmist is demonstrating that his enemies have been slandering him. This is the common way that enemies speak of those they hate when they have no real evidence of wrong doing.

5:9 'their throat … their tongue' is quoted (Romans 3:13) as part of an argument to show that all men are sinners. The way it is used in the Psalm shows that it is not a passive sinfulness. Rather men show that they are sinners by the way that they behave.
Peter Forbes

Psalm 3 - THE PEACE OF GOD
David was fleeing from Absalom when he wrote this Psalm. His kingdom was being held in the balance. He had fled from Jerusalem, been kicked out of his home, pelted with stones and insults, had some of his best friends desert him and his own son was after his life. If there was ever anyone with worries and a reason to panic, it was David. But David had the LORD God of Israel on his side. He said, "But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head." David totally trusted in his God. He knew that no-one could get to him unless God let them. He had perfect peace because God was with him. We can see how much peace he had and how effective it was in his life when we read, "I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side."
When we have troubles can we lie down and sleep like David did? Trust God and let his peace fill your life.

Psalm 4 - THE LIGHT OF GOD'S FACE
Do you get depressed or angry when you look at the world around you, or even at the people in your church and see people dishonouring God, worshipping idols and turning away from the truth? One of our hymns always brings tears to my eyes when I read,
"How many have their portion,
And calling high, forgot,
And seek for ease and glory
Where thou their Lord art not."
and,
"How long O heavenly bridegroom
Wilt thou thy household leave,
And yet how few are grieving,
Few thy return believe.
Immersed in sloth and folly
Thy people, Lord, we see,
And few of us stand ready
With joy to welcome thee"
It is a sad thought that so many people reject God.
But there is joy for those of us who are devoted to God. The Psalmist's prayer is that the light of God's face would shine upon us. What an awesome thought! Surrounded by the glory of God! He also says that God fills his heart with great joy and peace. So when life's burdens get on top of you, pray for God to shine the light of his love upon you and be filled with the joy and peace that comes from the mercy and love of God.
Robert Prins

Psalms 3-5 - A collection of Psalms revealing King David's inner thoughts as he lay down his head to sleep each night, knowing that his son Absalom and his familiar friend, Ahithophel were in open rebellion against the throne. What could he do? Nothing, but close his eyes, and allow the Father to work it all out in HIS own time.

4:2 & 5:6 speak of "leasing" - This is a Saxon word, from 'falsehood', from 'to lie'. Cardmarden adopted this word in his translation, Rouen, in 1566. It is in none of the Bibles previously to that time, nor in any after, and appears to have been borrowed by King James's translators from the above. [So says Adam Clarke].

Psalm 4:4 "Stand in awe, and sin not..." Psa 4:4 - The LXX says "Be ye angry, and sin not..." as quoted by Paul in Eph 4:26. The Vulgate, Syriac, Ethiopic, and Arabic, give the same reading; and thus the original might be paraphrased: "If you be angry, or if you think you have cause to be angry; do not let your disaffection carry you to acts of rebellion against both God and your king. Consider the subject deeply before you attempt to act. Do nothing rashly; do not justify one evil act by another: sleep on the business; converse with your heart upon your bed; consult your pillow. And be still - lit. "and be dumb." Selah. Mark this!
Cliff York

Reading 3 - Matthew 3 & 4

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Ch. 3 v. 7-10 shows us that John has a great understanding. He understood (which the disciples didn't) that even though he was a Jew, the word was now to spread to the gentiles. He recognised that it is the fruit that a person (tree) brings forth that makes the man, nothing else. It is the fruit that the man brings forth that makes him worthy of being kept alive - in this case eternally. This point is made and picked up to good use by others: Jesus (Matt.12:33), Paul (Gal.5:22, Phil.1:11), James (James3:8) Jesus (Rev.22:2). It is all (Jews and Gentiles) who bring forth "fruits meet for repentance" that will be worthy of eternal life.
Peter Cresswell
3:7 The Pharisees and Sadducees show - from this early time - that they were not for listening to messages from God. They were far more interested in preserving their own status - as they saw it. Their visit to John was to asses what sort of threat he posed, if any, rather than to learnt.

4:1 Jesus being 'led by the spirit' is echoed in Romans 8:14 and Galatians 5:18. Thus we see that rather than being taken into the wilderness by the holy spirit or some other spirit Matthew is here telling us how Jesus overcame the temptations in the wilderness. It was the spirit of the word of God - it's teaching - which sustained him. This is the pattern for ourselves.
Peter Forbes

3:1 John's ministry was conducted in the wilderness. However this was no hindrance to his work. When Paul was preaching in Ephesus he found men who knew of John's teaching Acts 19:3

4:11 The ministering angels echoes Psalm 104:4 - see how this is expounded in Hebrews 1:6-7.
Peter Forbes

FACING TEMPTATION

There is only one standard we can use when it comes to making decisions about the directions our life will take and the principles we are going to live by. That standard is the Bible. Contained in the Bible are numerous instructions of how we should live a Godly life and plenty of examples to show us how it should be done. I have no doubt that as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness he called on both of these from his knowledge of God's word. This meant that when he was tempted, both in the wilderness and throughout the rest of his ministry, he could dismiss the temptation immediately because he knew the way God wanted him to go.

So there are two lessons to be learnt here. The first is that we must become totally familiar with the Bible so that God's word becomes more than a book to read, but part of us, in our permanent memory and ready for instant recall. The second is to recognise temptations for what they are and to rebuke them with God's word and then to turn from them and to follow through with our spoken resolve.

May God be with you as you struggle against sin.
Robert Prins
Mat 3:12 - "Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor" - The picture is of a farmer at his threshing-floor, an area of hard-beaten earth on which the sheaves are spread out and the grain trodden out by the animals and
the winnowing sled.

His fan, that is his 'winnowing-shovel or fork', is in his hand, and with it he throws up the mingled wheat and chaff against the wind in order to separate the grain.

"Throughly cleanse" is an obsolete form of 'thoroughly'. The use of that word conveys the picture of the farmer beginning at one side of the floor, and working 'through' to the other, cleansing as he goes.

The whole metaphor represents the Messiah separating the evil from the good, by means of His teaching. Finally the worthy are received into his kingdom and the unworthy are consigned to destruction, in much the same way as the chaff and refuse were swept into a specially prepared fire so as to not recontaminate the cleaned grain.
Cliff York