Reading for Today:
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Genesis 49:1
Chapter 49 1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter days.
–50:26
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Psalms 14:1-7
Chapter 14 1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works; There is none that doeth good. 2 Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there were any that did understand, That did seek after God. 3 They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy; There is none that doeth good, no, not one. 4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people `as' they eat bread, And call not upon Jehovah? 5 There were they in great fear; For God is in the generation of the righteous. 6 Ye put to shame the counsel of the poor, Because Jehovah is his refuge. 7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When Jehovah bringeth back the captivity of his people, Then shall Jacob rejoice, `and' Israel shall be glad. Psalm 15 A Psalm of David.
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Proverbs 4:20-24
20 My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them in the midst of thy heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a wayward mouth, And perverse lips put far from thee.
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Matthew 16:1-28
Chapter 16 1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and trying him asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But he answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, `It will be' fair weather: for the heaven is red. 3 And in the morning, `It will be' foul weather to-day: for the heaven is red and lowering. Ye know how to discern the face of the heaven; but ye cannot `discern' the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of Jonah. And he left them, and departed. 5 And the disciples came to the other side and forgot to take bread. 6 And Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, We took no bread. 8 And Jesus perceiving it said, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have no bread? 9 Do ye not yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11 How is it that ye do not perceive that I spake not to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 12 Then understood they that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 13 Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of man is? 14 And they said, Some `say' John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20 Then charged he the disciples that they should tell no man that he was the Christ. 21 From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. 22 And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men. 24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life? 27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds. 28 Verily I say unto you, there are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
Notes:
Genesis 49:1–28 With Judah and Joseph receiving the most attention (vv. 8–12, 22–26), the father’s blessing portrayed the future history of each son, seemingly based upon their characters up to that time. The cryptic nature of the poetry demands rigorous analysis for correlating tribal history with Jacob’s last word and testament. See Moses’ blessing on the tribes in
Deuteronomy 33
Chapter 33 1 And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 And he said, Jehovah came from Sinai, And rose from Seir unto them; He shined forth from mount Paran, And he came from the ten thousands of holy ones: At his right hand was a fiery law for them. 3 Yea, he loveth the people; All his saints are in thy hand: And they sat down at thy feet; `Every one' shall receive of thy words. 4 Moses commanded us a law, An inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. 5 And he was king in Jeshurun, When the heads of the people were gathered, All the tribes of Israel together. 6 Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few. 7 And this is `the blessing' of Judah: and he said, Hear, Jehovah, the voice of Judah, And bring him in unto his people. With his hands he contended for himself; And thou shalt be a help against his adversaries. 8 And of Levi he said, Thy Thummim and thy Urim are with thy godly one, Whom thou didst prove at Massah, With whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; 9 Who said of his father, and of his mother, I have not seen him; Neither did he acknowledge his brethren, Nor knew he his own children: For they have observed thy word, And keep thy covenant. 10 They shall teach Jacob thine ordinances, And Israel thy law: They shall put incense before thee, And whole burnt-offering upon thine altar. 11 Bless, Jehovah, his substance, And accept the work of his hands: Smite through the loins of them that rise up against him, And of them that hate him, that they rise not again. 12 Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of Jehovah shall dwell in safety by him; He covereth him all the day long, And he dwelleth between his shoulders. 13 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of Jehovah be his land, For the precious things of heaven, for the dew, And for the deep that coucheth beneath, 14 And for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, And for the precious things of the growth of the moons, 15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, And for the precious things of the everlasting hills, 16 And for the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, And the good will of him that dwelt in the bush. Let `the blessing' come upon the head of Joseph, And upon the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. 17 The firstling of his herd, majesty is his; And his horns are the horns of the wild-ox: With them he shall push the peoples all of them, `even' the ends of the earth: And they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, And they are the thousands of Manasseh. 18 And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; And, Issachar, in thy tents. 19 They shall call the peoples unto the mountain; There shall they offer sacrifices of righteousness: For they shall suck the abundance of the seas, And the hidden treasures of the sand. 20 And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: He dwelleth as a lioness, And teareth the arm, yea, the crown of the head. 21 And he provided the first part for himself, For there was the lawgiver's portion reserved; And he came `with' the heads of the people; He executed the righteousness of Jehovah, And his ordinances with Israel. 22 And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp, That leapeth forth from Bashan. 23 And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, And full with the blessing of Jehovah, Possess thou the west and the south. 24 And of Asher he said, Blessed be Asher with children; Let him be acceptable unto his brethren, And let him dip his foot in oil. 25 Thy bars shall be iron and brass; And as thy days, so shall thy strength be. 26 There is none like unto God, O Jeshurun, Who rideth upon the heavens for thy help, And in his excellency on the skies. 27 The eternal God is `thy' dwelling-place, And underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy from before thee, And said, Destroy. 28 And Israel dwelleth in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; Yea, his heavens drop down dew. 29 Happy art thou, O Israel: Who is like unto thee, a people saved by Jehovah, The shield of thy help, And the sword of thy excellency! And thine enemies shall submit themselves unto thee; And thou shalt tread upon their high places.
, ca. 1405 B.C.
Genesis 50:20 but God meant it for good. Joseph’s wise, theological answer has gone down in history as the classic statement of God’s sovereignty over the affairs of men.
Proverbs 4:21–23 heart. The “heart” commonly refers to the mind as the center of thinking and reason (3:3; 6:21; 7:3), but also includes the emotions (15:15, 30), the will (11:20; 14:14), and thus, the whole inner being (3:5). The heart is the depository of all wisdom and the source of whatever affects speech (v. 24), sight (v. 25), and conduct (vv. 26, 27).
Matthew 16:23 Get behind Me, Satan! The harshness of this rebuke contrasts sharply with Christ’s words of commendation in vv.17–19. Jesus suggested that Peter was being a mouthpiece for Satan. Jesus’ death was part of God’s sovereign plan (
Acts 2:23
23 him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay:
; 4:27, 28). “It pleased the LORD to bruise Him” (Is. 53:10). Christ had come with the express purpose of dying as an atonement for sin (
John 12:27
27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour.
). And those who would thwart His mission were doing Satan’s work.
DAY 25: Why was Peter’s confession of Christ so significant in
Matthew 16:16
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
?
To call Jesus the Son of “the living God” was an Old Testament name for God. Never before had He explicitly taught Peter and the apostles the fullness of His identity. God the Father had opened Peter’s eyes to the full significance of those claims (v.17), and revealed to him who Jesus really was. Peter was not merely expressing an academic opinion about the identity of Christ; this was a confession of Peter’s personal faith, made possible by a divinely regenerated heart.
Jesus said that “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church” (v. 18). The word for “Peter,” Petros, means a small stone (
John 1:42
42 He brought him unto Jesus. Jesus looked upon him, and said, Thou art Simon the son of John: thou shalt be called Cephas (which is by interpretation, Peter).
). Jesus used a play on words here with petra, which means a foundation boulder (see 7:24, 25). Since the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that Christ is both the foundation (
Acts 4:11
11 He is the stone which was set at nought of you the builders, which was made the head of the corner.
, 12; 1 Cor. 3:11) and the head (Eph. 5:23) of the church, it is a mistake to think that here He is giving either of those roles to Peter. There is a sense in which the apostles played a foundational role in the building of the church (Eph. 2:20), but the role of primacy is reserved for Christ alone, not assigned to Peter. So Jesus’ words here are best interpreted as a simple play on words in that a boulder-like truth came from the mouth of one who was called a small stone. Peter himself explains the imagery in his first epistle: the church is built of “living stones” (1 Pet. 2:5) who, like Peter, confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Christ Himself is the “chief cornerstone” (1 Pet. 2:6, 7).
From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.
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