Genesis 3:1-3 – A Simple Command

Genesis 3:1-3
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
 
-We all know the story here.  The serpent tricks Eve into doubting God’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  When she and Adam eat, they are cursed and, as a result, all of humanity is cursed (Romans 5:12).  Notice Eve’s initial response to the serpent and how it differs from God’s actual command:
 
God’s Command: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)
Eve’s Response: “Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” (Genesis 3:3)
 
Eve had managed to mess up the Lord’s one simple command.  This is clear evidence that she had not taken time to properly familiarize herself with God’s Word.  Her ignorance made her an easy target for Satan.  Don’t make the same mistake she did.  “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

Psalm 1:1 – Don’t Stand in the Way

Psalm 1:1
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
 
-Sinners have a “way”.  It is a way that may seem right, but “the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) The Lord makes it very clear that the blessed man will avoid these paths.  But consider this verse from another perspective.  There are sinners aplenty struggling to find God.  We can choose to be the helper that comes alongside such a sinner and helps clear the way to Jesus or we can become just one more obstacle that that sinner has to get past on the way to Jesus.  Just as important as it is for us to stay off the paths of the wicked, it is equally important that we not “become a stumbling block to the weak.” (1 Corinthians 8:9)  That we “standeth not in their way”, as it were.  How many people have been driven further from God by the inappropriate actions of a so-called “Christian”?  What a shame if such a charge was laid to our testimony.

Psalm 63:3 – Better Than Life

Psalm 63:3
3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

-Such words could easily be dismissed as empty flattery, but consider David’s circumstances as he wrote Psalm 63.  He was hiding in the wilderness, most likely fleeing from his son Absalom who had usurped the throne. (2 Samuel 15) His life was turned upside down.  He had no home, no guarantee of survival, and acknowledged that it was all a result of his own sin.  With all that in mind, David had no way of knowing that this wasn’t the end of his life.  It is in such moments, moments where the fleetingness of life becomes tangible, that priorities are weighed and the things that matter the most become evident.  In David’s case, the Lord’s love and mercy meant more to him than his own life and so he could still offer praise.  I wonder if the end of our life was near, what would our priorities be?

Genesis 22:9 – Maintaining Order in Your Trials

Genesis 22:9
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

-How do we face the trials of life?  With anxiety and worry?  Fear blind and panic-stricken?  There is a better way to handle our hardest days.  Consider Abraham’s example here in scripture.  He has just been asked by God to sacrifice his son, his only son, on the altar.  He is building the very altar where he plans to end his son’s life in obedience to the Lord.  Notice verse 9, “and he put the wood in order”.  It’s a simple phrase but consider the implication.  Abraham wasn’t throwing the altar together in a grief-induced frenzy and neither was he slinging the wood down in anger at the action he was asked to take.  He approached the task with focus and order.  That is the gift of God; “for God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) If you are manifesting anything other than power in your circumstances, love in your heart, and soundness in your mind; just know that whatever you are manifesting, you didn’t get that from the Lord.

Amos 1:11, 13; Amos 2:4, 6 – Because of Your Many Transgressions

Amos 1:11, 13; Amos 2:4, 6
11 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
13 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:
4 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:
6 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
 
-Roused by the Holy Spirit of God (2 Peter 1:21), the Prophet Amos spells out the coming of the Lord’s judgment on the nations.  Two things stand out to me about these passages: 
1) “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four”- Now this could just be poetic language, but the way I see it, the Lord is marking transgressions and is ready to pour out judgment for three, but before He can even bring the judgment, the people have already ticked up to four.  “For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them.” (Isaiah 59:12)
2) In 2:4 and 2:6, the Lord turns Amos’ attention to Israel and Judah.  Notice that the language used for God’s own people is the same as what was used for the heathen nations.  Remember this the next time you feel a sense of pride in your own labors and self-worth.  We all deserve Hell and we all deserve it equally, but GOD has made a way for us to be redeemed and have a righteousness that is not our own.  “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.”  (Psalm 73:26)

James 5:7-8 – The Precious Fruit of the Earth

James 5:7-8
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

-The world is bad and getting worse every day.  Why does the Lord allow it to continue?  The answer is given throughout scripture but is very beautifully worded here in James 5.  The Lord is waiting for the “precious fruit of the earth.” (v7)  He is waiting for all of the souls that will be saved between now and when He does return.  If the Lord decided to return early, He would be cutting off that number of souls who would have gotten saved had He waited.  The faster God comes, the faster He must pass judgment. But God is not quick to pass judgment; He is “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Genesis 18:25-32 – The Judge of All the Earth

Genesis 18:25-32
25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
26 And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.
30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.
32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.
 
-Abraham, in an act of compassion rarely seen among God’s people in the modern world, pleads on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah.  As a result of Abraham’s intercession, God agrees to spare the entirety of both cities if only 10 righteous people can be found.  We know how the story ends, with both Sodom and Gomorrah in ashes.  Scripture makes it clear that Sodom and Gomorrah fell under God’s judgment because of their wickedness, but the text also tells us that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because the Lord couldn’t find 10 righteous people.  I wonder which of our modern cities would fall to God’s judgment for the same reason?

Ezekiel 3:18-21 – Sound the Warning

Ezekiel 3:18-21
18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
 
-“Listen, my children, and you shall hear, Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere…”  Are you familiar with these words from the Henry Longfellow poem romanticizing Paul Revere’s ride?   I find it curious that in a time when American legends were forged in the heat of battle, that Paul Revere found fame for simply alerting the Colonial militia to the approach of British forces.  What is it about sounding a warning call that resonates with generation after generation?  Perhaps it is the fact that the Lord has seen fit to send human beings forth into the world to “sound the warning” against Satan and his forces.  For although we wrestle “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12), our victories aren’t marked by the number of foes vanquished, but rather by the number of souls who have heard.  Remember the great commission from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself:  “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:15-16)

Romans 9:8 – Children of the Promise

Romans 9:8
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

“The children of the promise are counted for the seed.”  The seed being referenced here is the seed of Abraham.  The Hebrew people, the bloodline of Abraham, are counted as the covenant people of God.  Paul is telling the church that we too have been brought into that covenant.  Not because of who we are or where we’ve come from, but because God extended unto us a promise:  John 1:11-13, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”  To be part of the bloodline of Abraham is a special thing, but if your eternal soul is at stake, would you rather be bound by blood or bound by the promise of God Himself?  Not many of us can claim the bloodline of Abraham, but all of us can claim the promises of God by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning work on the cross. 

Proverbs 2:10-11, 16-19 – Leaning Towards Wickedness

Proverbs 2:10-11, 16-19
10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
 
-The Bible teaches that “a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” (Proverbs 24:16)  This tells me two things:  1) We are all going to fall; you may not want to and I may not either, but it is going to happen.  And it’s going to happen more than once.  2) If you fall is not nearly as important as where you fall.  In Proverbs 24, the just and the wicked both fell but only the just man got back up.  Why?  Because the wicked man had fallen into mischief and became “snared in the work of his own hands.” (Psalm 9:16) Like stepping on a bear trap in the woods, sin does more than trip you, it takes hold of you.  Consider Lot in Genesis 13:12; the Bible tells us that he “pitched his tent toward Sodom.”  He set his course towards iniquity and his eventual fall “vexed his righteous soul.”  (2 Peter 2:8)  Also, consider the “strange woman” here in Proverbs 2; “none that go unto her return again” because her house inclines toward death.  Every day the Lord sets before us “life and good, and death and evil” (Deuteronomy 30:15).  Every choice we make will either steer us towards God or away from Him.  Before the next time we fall, we need to stop and ask one question; “which way am I leaning?”