Archive for January 2024

Genesis 15-17; Psalm 6; Matthew 3:13-17; Acts 4:1-22  Genesis 15-17:  If the beginning of Genesis 12 was significant for understanding the basic structure and message of the Bible, these chapters are every bit as much so again. First, we come across God teaching Abram about his covenant (15:1-21). It is thought that “covenant” in the…

Genesis 12-14; Psalm 5; Matthew 3:1-12; Acts 3  Genesis 12-14:  God “had said to Abram” (12:1), and so “Abram went” (12:4). Abram’s obedience to God’s call sets in motion a whole stream of events whose promise is fulfilled in Christ and the gospel going to all nations. The first few verses of Genesis 12 are…

Genesis 9-11; Psalm 4; Matthew 2:13-23; Acts 2:22-47 Genesis 9-11:  God makes a covenant with Noah (9:8-17) and gives him a sign of this covenant, a rainbow in the sky, invested with meaning and significance that God will not again drown the world through a flood, that his judgment will not come that way again,…

Genesis 5-8; Psalm 3; Matthew 2:1-12; Acts 2:1-21 Genesis 5-8:  We come now to the first of the well-known genealogies in the Bible (Gen. 5)—though actually it is not the first, that account being in Genesis 2 of the heavens and the earth (Gen. 2:4-7), which should immediately give us an important clue about these…

Genesis 3-4; Psalm 2; Matthew 1:18-25; Acts 1:12-26 Genesis 3-4:  We now enter two of the most famous (perhaps we should say “infamous”) and saddest chapters in the Bible. Reading them is not going to give you a feel-good pick-me-up at the beginning of the year, at least not in any superficial sense. We read…

Genesis 1-2; Psalm 1; Matthew 1:1-17; Acts 1:1-11 Genesis 1-2: Critically, these two chapters have become deeply controversial in Christian circles and in non-Christian circles alike. What do they say (if anything) about evolution, creationism, science, the origin of life, the universe, and everything—not to mention the origin of evil (but that is more chapter…