For a full description of the (Y4) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Gen. 2
The Bible story is not a neat and tidy, detailed, chronological record of history. It has an entirely different purpose. We can see that right from the very beginning, in the creation story. Genesis 1 gave us the broad strokes of that story, while Genesis 2 honed in a little more on a few specific aspects of the story. The two renditions almost feel like two completely different stories, with different details and order of events. For example, did God create man before or after the animals, and did he form the animals out of the ground or speak them into existence? And I actually think the point of that is that details and order of events are not the point.
Rather than being an accurate historical record, the Bible is more of a love story. It tells the story of the relationship between God and man. In it we learn the nature of God, of man, and of the relationship itself. Thus, Genesis 1 tells us that God created everything that exits. The ‘how’ doesn’t matter. But the fact itself tells us quite a bit about God, us, and our relationship. Among those things are that He is our Creator and that we are different from the rest of His creation. Genesis 2 then builds on those truths. God set man apart, giving him a special place to live. Then He established a relationship with him by giving him a command to obey. Finally, He created woman, who I think is special to man in much the same way that man is special to God.
And so we see the laying of a foundation; a picture developing. We need to stop getting lost in the weeds of those meaningless details and see that picture. I am beginning to see the entire Bible as something of a parable, or a series of parables. It is not an exact correlation to what is. However, it conveys important concepts that are far beyond our ability to comprehend in a way that gives us a basic understanding.
Matt. 2
Having just finished reading through the book of Revelation, I see some interesting correlations here. In Revelation, there was a woman who gave birth to a Son. That Son was destined to rule – or shepherd – the nations. The dragon sought to devour the child, but could not because God protected Him. So instead, the dragon went after the other children. Here in Matthew, Mary gave birth to God’s Son, destined per prophecy to be a ruler to shepherd God’s people. Herod sought to destroy the child, but God protected Him by sending His family to Egypt. As a result, Herod slaughtered all the young male children in and around Bethlehem.
Ezra 2
To be honest, I am a little void of thought with this chapter this morning. After sitting here, staring at the screen and mulling things around in my head for quite some time, I finally came to the thought that, although this is a new beginning for God’s people, there is something very humbling about this restoration. The exodus from Egypt was large and loud. This return from exile is small and quiet. There are no grand sea-parting, rock-splitting, food falling from the sky miracles here. And the number of the people amounts to about the size of just one of the smaller of the original twelve tribes. It just feels humble. At the same time, this humble remnant is the fulfillment of God’s promise. Thus, it is from this humility that the seed of hope for God’s greater promise of salvation grows. And that somehow seems very appropriate.