The boring bits

 

There are long lists in the Bible, which I often referred to as the “boring bits”, much to my shame!   Lists of genealogical registers were definitely included as  some of these.

However, nothing in the Bible is ever there without some definite purpose, or meaning, even though this meaning is mostly hidden from the casual reader.

The list in Genesis 5 is a good example.  Bearing in mind that the Hebrew names in the Bible have very specific meanings, let’s consider these names written down here:

Adam means  ‘Man’.   Seth means ‘Is appointed’.  Enosh:  Mortal.  Kenan:  Sorrow.  Mahalalel:  The blessed God.  Jared:  Shall come down.  Enoch:  Initiate or speech.  Methusalah:  His death shall bring.  Lamech:  The despairing.  Noah:  Rest and comfort. 

If you read the meanings of these names in the order given in the Bible, it reads as follows:  Man puts on mortal, sorrow, at his dwelling, but the praiseworthy God shall come down to teach that His death shall bring the despairing ones, rest and comfort.

The gospel in a list of names!  Wow!  Let this strengthen your belief in the Bible as the firm foundation for your faith.  It seems as if every effort is made these days to pull that foundation out from under our feet.  But you may stand firm in the knowledge that everything mentioned in the Bible can be trusted to be true;  you may believe everything written down there with the confidence that it is truly the Word of God; it is truly trustworthy and accurate to the very last little detail.  In fact, science and archaeological findings are only now starting to catch up to what the Bible has reported since for ever!

So be encouraged that the Bible does not need defending – you can believe the historical facts recorded there, you can believe the wonder-working miracles reported there; you can believe the prophecies and the fulfilment of them as recorded there, and you can surely believe that all future prophecies written there will also be fulfilled to the letter.

 

13 December 2021

©2021Copyright All rights reserved P. Koegelenberg

Let's talk about Jonah

When you just read  “Jonah”, you immediately thought of the huge fish, didn’t you!  But today I do not want to concentrate on that great supernatural miracle of God, creating such a big fish for him – even though that is something that fills me with awe and wonder. 

 What struck me as I read Jonah again was the fact that you cannot hide from God - His mercy and lovingkindness will follow you everywhere you go.

 You see, even when Jonah was totally disobedient to God, God still pursued him.  Even when Jonah tried to flee to the most remote of the Phoenician trading places then known, God still kept him on track by firstly sending a great storm, then having Jonah cast into the sea by his initially very reluctant fellow passengers, and then providing a great fish to transport Jonah back to the Mediterranean coast.  God had to also resurrect Jonah before the fish spewed him out, as he could not have survived all that happened to him in the sea after being thrown overboard. Consider Jonah2:2:  “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.”- Jonah’s prayer came out of the belly of Sheol.  Now Sheol was the abode of the dead.

  God performed no less than eight miracles around Jonah during this episode in his life, and they were all necessary because Jonah kept running away from Him.

 Do you find yourself in this position also:  that you are running away from God?  You have heard His voice, You know what it is that He wants from you, yet you started running away - you simply cannot find the courage to turn back, or you might think that the price is too high, or that you are not good enough, or any of a thousand reasons that keeps you running and running and running.

 Then be encouraged today, my friend, because God is not about to give up on you!  He will do what it takes to get your attention, even if you are running at top speed.  Look what He did for Jonah!  Stop running, and start listening.  Hallelujah!  We serve a God Who has compassion.  We sometimes forget how patient God is, and how full of mercy, and how many chances He wants to give us to choose life, to turn away from our wickedness and choose Him.  Look at Jonah! God is waiting patiently to shower you also with His mercy and grace!

 

 

 

13 December 2021

 

©2021 Copyright All rights reserved P. Koegelenberg

Daniel's answer to the king

In a powerpoint presentation about the book Revelation for both adults and children, I used a picture of a painting of Daniel in the lion’s den painted by Briton Riviére, purely because it appealed to me - it is a beautiful picture of Daniel’s answer to the king.

Looking at it again the other day, I realized two things:  that Daniel is depicted as standing with his back to the lions number one, and secondly that there are seven lions, one for each day of the week!

By not facing those lions, Daniel is conveying the fact that he trusts God completely, he really believed that God had shut their mouths and that they could not hurt him in any possible way. He is physically portraying 1 John 4:4 which says that greater is He Who lives in us than he who is in the world!

The fact that there is a lion for every day of the week should not surprise us, as 1 Pet 5:8 warns us that the devil roams around like a lion roaring, seeking someone to seize upon and devour.  We are very often spending our lives in a lion’s den!

Let this painting inspire us – what are the lions in your life?  Is it worry, or doubt, hopelessness, addiction, illness, financial problems or insecurity about the future?  Are you facing them, seeing their fiery eyes and huge teeth and great big claws, letting fear grow inside you because you really don’t see any way out?  Do you know the Heavenly Tamer of Lions, the One Who can be trusted to rescue you out of totally impossible-looking situations?  If He can be trusted to also keep Daniel’s friends from harm in a fiery furnace, think what He can do for you!

Begin by trusting Him for the little things.  Turn your attention from gazing at the lions to fixing your eyes on your Saviour,  then your faith will start growing to trust Him in the lion’s den also.

13 December 2021

©2021Copyright All rights reserved P. Koegelenberg