Notes from my Bible Study for January 13, 2010

Passages Read: Psalm 12, Genesis 13:2‐18, 1 Chronicles 13, Luke 8:4‐21

Psalm 12 - 12 The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

What a description of God's words! There is nothing false in them. His words are absolutely true. They are absolutely pure. There is no impurity in them. They are strong words, in other words they can be counted on. Aren't you glad you can count on the word of God? Every word of it!

Genesis 13:2-18 - Can you imagine what Abram must have been thinking as God spoke to him in Genesis 13:14-17? God made a promise to Abram that was unlike any he had made with any other man before. He told Abram that he would have offspring as numerous as dust. Dust can't be counted, and neither would Abram's future offspring. That is quite a thing to promise to an old man that is too old to bear children. He also promised Abram all of the land around him as far as the eye could see. Wow! He was already very rich in livestock, silver and gold. Now, he would be rich in family. Remember, Abram didn't have any children at this point. What a promise!

God has fulfilled that promise. Abram's offspring are too numerous to count. The generations that have followed are the Children of Israel.

1 Chronicles 13 - It had been a long time since the Ark of the Covenant had been treated with the respect that it deserved. The Ark has always been a mysterious thing. Containing the stone tablets of God's covenant with His children, the ark was to be treated with dignity. It had been largely ignored during Saul's reign, placed in the small town of Kiriath-Jearim. Now the ark is being transported to Jerusalem. Along the way, the Israelites decide to carry the ark on a cart. This went against God's regulations that the ark be carried on a pole by Levites. Somewhere along the way the oxen who were pulling the cart with the ark stumbled. Uzzah put out his hand to stop the ark from falling, and he was struck dead.

There are many who wonder why God would do such a thing. God was communicating to the people just how serious He was about respecting Him. How the people treated the ark was symbolic about how they treated God. They had ignored God's regulations, and God was setting the standard.

We have no idea what happened to the ark. But, we do learn a valuable lesson from this encounter. How we treat God matters. God cares. He may not strike us dead for our lack of reverence, but nonetheless, He takes note of how casually we use His name, break His commands, or go our own way. May we recognize the awesome holiness of God!

Luke 8:4-21 - Jesus loved to teach by telling stories. In Luke 8:4-21 he tells us two parables, the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Lamp.

The Parable of the Sower talks about several different types of soil that a sower sows his seed on. He throws some seed along the path, and that seed is trampled underfoot. Some seed falls on the rock and quickly withers away because of a lack of moisture. Some falls among thorns and when it grows it is choked out by the roots. Some of the seed falls on good soil and grows and yields a hundredfold.

Many pastor's have preached messages on this passage and said, "What kind of soil are you?"

But, I wonder if the point is less about the soil and more about the sowing. Maybe the point of the parable is that we would become sowers, recognizing that not every seed we throw will bear fruit, but we need to thrown the seed. Remember, the seed is the Word of God. Let's keep working to get His Word heard, but not just heard, let's live incarnationally and let it be seen!