Contemplative Bible Reading

Genesis 2:18–20 (New Living Translation)

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

Here is a recording of a failure of God—in a sense, a failure.

God did not want Adam to be alone. Adam needed a “helper who is just right for him” (other translations use other words instead of “helper,” and that is a discussion for another day).

God created all the animals—quite a feat to do so in a way that the animals didn’t wipe out one another. God then brought all the animals to Adam for naming.

While doing so, God noticed that none of the creations were “just right for him.”

Hmmm, first try, none just right. Let’s try again, huh?

The second try produced Eve; perfection, wonderful perfection.

I suppose there are lessons here for us. Something about try something, learn, try something else. Patience. Perseverance. Things like that.

And maybe the lesson is that God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. Something about how I just don’t understand the ways of God, and that isn’t my job. Mine is to obey, awe, and love.

Isaiah 2:1-5 (New Living Translation)

1 Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 He will delight in obeying the Lord.
He will not judge by appearance
nor make a decision based on hearsay.
4 He will give justice to the poor
and make fair decisions for the exploited.
The earth will shake at the force of his word,
and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.
5 He will wear righteousness like a belt
and truth like an undergarment.

How many ways can we discuss these verses of magnificence? The Savior will come.

The Savior will be wise, smart, knowledgeable, respectful.

The Savior will judge according to truth, judge fairly, judge righteously.

The wicked will be destroyed by the Savior’s words of truth.

All the earth will shake when the Savior speaks.

Again, there are many ways to discuss this. Consider this one—no human will rise up with these attributes. We humans just don’t measure up to this standards. Don’t expect it and don’t be too disappointed when we don’t see it. Only the Savior. The rest of us can adore the Savior and attempt to live up to the Savior’s standards. Reach them? Nope, sorry.

Genesis 41:50 (New Living Translation)

During this time, before the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On.

This is a key part of the (hi)story of Joseph in Egypt. He married Asenath. They had two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. Those two sons were counted among the sons of Jacob and took an equal place among the 12 tribes of Israel.

Wait a minute. Asenath, the mother of these two honored boys and the wife of the savior Joseph, was the daughter of an idolatrous priest. Potiphera led the worship of Egyptian idols.

Talk about “being unequally yoked with an unbeliever” (see 2 Corinthians 6:14), this is about as bad as it can get. Right?

At this point, I am supposed to throw in a brilliant “yes, but consider.” Sorry, I don’t have one. Of course there is, “yes, but God was working in Joseph’s life and God had a plan and God would…” We can always go to the words of the song, “God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.” And we can always claim “God is working here” when we see a Christian enter an ill-advised marriage or business partnership or fill-in-the-blank-with-an-impending-disaster.

In the case of Joseph, it worked. We can always cite cases where it didn’t work. In my (sometimes) humble opinion, I side on the safe side. Marry smartly. Associate smartly. And “smartly” means “Godly.”

And more than anything else, whatever situation we find ourselves, let’s look to God. God will give us today what we need today. And that is a blessing far greater than anything we deserve.

Hebrews 2:16-18 (New Living Translation)

16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.

Jesus didn’t come to earth to help angels. Perhaps angels didn’t need help—I doubt that, but can’t prove that doubt. No, Jesus came to help the “descendants of Abraham,” i.e., the Jews and the Gentile nations (see many other passages for that assertion).

As part of helping us, Jesus had to endure “suffering and testing.” Jesus had to join mankind in this sorry state. Daily we suffer. Daily we face tests. We fail the tests often—some days much more than others. It is difficult to pass a test when you have a headache, i.e., when suffering from this life.

Thank you God that we don’t have to pass all the tests or even pass a few of them. Thank you for grace.

Matthew 3:1–2 (New Living Translation)

1 In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, 2 “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

John the Baptist is preaching. (Trivia note—this is the first time that the word “preach” appears in the Bible…depending of course on what translation you read.)

John the Baptist is one of the more famous preachers of all time. There is something to his name and title that seems to ring in English.

What’s the sermon? About eight words that encourage us to turn away from the world and towards God.

What can we add? Hmmm, I’m struggling to find an answer to that question. There isn’t much to add. Of course this brings us to question all those sermons we’ve heard that were longer than eight words and didn’t deliver much of anything, but again, they weren’t from John the Baptist.

Genesis 42:7 (New Living Translation)

Joseph recognized his brothers instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded.

This is part of the (hi)story of Joseph, his brothers, and the eventual 430 years of life in Egypt for the family of Jacob.

Joseph is where he is because his brothers beat him and sold him. They lied to their father about what happened. They were liars.

In this verse, Joseph recognizes his brothers, but “pretends,” a.k.a, lies about it.

He lies to the liars.

Yes, but this was justified and part of the story and, and, and, well, you know. No. He lies to the liars. He could have been honest and the (hi)story would have concluded the same. Why lie? Well, I wasn’t there to ask Joseph, so I can only speculate, and my speculations are worth…oh…nothing.

Such is the human condition. We aren’t worthy of the grace of God. We do wrong because it feels right. We sometimes do right from the wrong motive. How foolish are we? Very foolish at times. Thank you God for your undeserved gifts. Help me in my unbelief.

Genesis 3:1 (New Living Translation)

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

Consider the language used at the start of this passage. The serpent was credited with being more shrewd than all the other wild animals. The serpent was not noted as being better or more advanced than all the other animals in any other way.

In a matter-of-fact manner, the serpent asks the woman a question and she answers. They have a conversation. Note that the woman wasn’t surprised by the serpent talking to her.

Given this description, it seems that the serpent had spoken with the man and woman before. It seems that all the animals had spoken with the man and woman before. Conversations among all God’s creations were common.

There was no wall stopping communication between mankind and the animals in the Garden of Eden. Outside the garden, there was a wall and conversation ceased.

What would we learn by conversations with the animals? Were the animals in the garden superior to those outside the garden? I have no answers. Just a few “I wonder what?” (actually many “I wonder what?”).

Matthew 11:4–5 (New Living Translation)

4 Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— 5 the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”

The followers of John the Baptist were sent to Jesus. Was Jesus the one was was sent to take away the sins of the world?

Jesus replies with some facts. Tell John what you have seen and heard. This is a powerful list. And then we reach the last item: the Good News is being preached to the poor.

Well, uh, let’s see. The other items were miraculous healing—even the dead were brought back to life. Good news preached to the poor? How is that in this list?

In that time and place in history, the poor WERE P O O R. They sat on the side of the road and begged. They did this in a place that had been defeated in battle and was occupied by a foreign army. There wasn’t much giving to the beggars.

Jesus provided hope to those who were literally hopeless. There was something ahead that was much better than today. That is pretty miraculous.

1 Chronicles 4:9–10 (New Living Translation)

9 There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. 10 He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request.

Tucked in endless lists of genealogies is a a short description of a man named Jabez. His mother bore him in great pain.

Jabez prayed, and one of his prayers seems to have been famous among the people of God. Part of his famous prayer was:

Please be with me in all that I do

Let us each pray this each day. Please God, have me remember to pray this every day. Each step of each day. Each decision, each turn, each press of a finger on a keyboard, each stroke of a pen on paper, each breathe. Please God, be with me in all that I do.

2 Chronicles 3:5 (New Living Translation)

He paneled the main room of the Temple with cypress wood, overlaid it with fine gold, and decorated it with carvings of palm trees and chains.

This verse describes how Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem. The main room was decorated with carving of palm trees.

Palm trees? How about beings such as angels or God? How events such as creation or the parting of the Red Sea? Palm trees?

Do a little searching and there are many descriptions of palm trees and their significance in the time of Solomon and also of Jesus—you know, Palm Sunday and the triumphal entry and all that.

There they are. Palm trees. Enter the Temple of the Lord and you see palm trees. By putting the palm tree in the temple, Solomon and God honored it. The palm tree had religious significance.

I’ve lived in and around southern Louisiana for many years. The southern live oak tree is wonderful and means so much to people in that region. If the Temple were built in south Louisiana, southern live oaks would be carved into the walls.

In the time and place of Solomon, the palm tree was revered and honored. I’ve always liked palm trees. I guess there is a connection.