Notes from my Bible Study for January 8, 2010

Passages Read Today: Psalm 7, Genesis 8:1‐19, 1 Chronicles 8, Luke 4:14‐44

Psalm 7 - What does it mean to take refuge in the Lord? David paints a beautiful picture of the safety that comes from following God in Psalm 7. I love verses one and two.

"O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver."

These verses bring to mind a youtube video that took the Internet by storm a few years back. A group of tourists were on an African safari when they came upon a pitiful scene. A pack of wildebeests were trying to cross a pond at Kruger Animal Park in South Africa when a juvenile wildebeest escaped from the herd. A pride of lions was lurking in the nearby grass, waiting for an opportunity to attack. The video shows the attack and what happened next. Watch it. The ending is incredible. And, it's a beautiful picture of the safety that comes when we take refuge. God is our ultimate refuge, the only One who will never fail us?



How has God been your Refuge?

Genesis 8:1-19 - 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

What a scene! Noah and his family had obeyed God, they had endured the years of mocking before the flood, they had endured the flood and the long days at sea, and now they were about to begin a new life.

It must have been so strange. As they stepped off of the ark, the world would have looked different. The devastating effects of the flood changed the landscape, the scenery, and if a canopy of water had surrounded the earth, as many creationists believe, the sun and sky probably looked different.

God was faithful. He remembered Noah and all the beasts and livestock that were with him in the ark. He always has been and always will be faithful.

1 Chronicles 8 - I added no notes to my Bible here, but found it interesting that both Saul and Jonathan had sons whose names included Baal. My study Bible note said that these names were changed in 2 Samuel 2, because of the negative connotations that came with the pagan god Baal. These sons were not named after Baal.

Luke 4:14-44 - The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

I love this passage dealing with the beginning of Jesus' ministry. He speaks to the crowd gathered at Nazareth's synagogue the words of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit of God had anointed Jesus to proclaim good news to the poor, help proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and liberty for those who are oppressed. Jesus proclaimed the year of the Lord's favor.

I find it interesting to note that some of the first to testify as to who Jesus was, were the demons. It's one more evidence of the fact that we are in a very real spiritual battle, and Jesus is feared by the devil.