Reading for Today:
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Genesis 11:1
Chapter 11 1 And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
–12:20
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Psalms 4:1-3
Chapter 4 1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness; Thou hast set me at large `when I was' in distress: Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. 2 O ye sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor? `How long' will ye love vanity, and seek after falsehood? Selah 3 But know that Jehovah hath set apart for himself him that is godly: Jehovah will hear when I call unto him.
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Proverbs 1:28-33
28 Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me: 29 For that they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of Jehovah: 30 They would none of my counsel; They despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices. 32 For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them. 33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, And shall be quiet without fear of evil.
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Matthew 5:27-48
27 Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29 And if thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body go into hell. 31 It was said also, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32 but I say unto you, that every one that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, maketh her an adulteress: and whosoever shall marry her when she is put away committeth adultery. 33 Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 but I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; 35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil `one'. 38 Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 but I say unto you, resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 43 Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: 44 but I say unto you, love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; 45 that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more `than others?' do not even the Gentiles the same? 48 Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Notes:
Genesis 11:3
3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
,4 build ourselves a city. After God commanded the people to scatter to fill the earth, the people, under the leadership of the powerful Nimrod, disobeyed God’s command to disperse. They stopped to build a city and tower in their own honor. The tower itself was not the singular act of rebellion. Rather, human pride caused them to rebel against God.
Genesis 12:1
Chapter 12 1 Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee:
–3 the LORD…to Abram. This passage contains the promise whose fulfillment extends all through Scripture. It is an everlasting covenant which includes four components: 1) seed (see Gal. 3:8,16, referring to Christ); 2) land (15:18–21; 17:8); 3) a nation (12:2; 17:4); and 4) divine blessing and protection (12:3). The covenant is unconditional in the sense of its ultimate fulfillment of a kingdom and salvation. It has great national importance to Israel, as magnified by repeated references in the Old Testament, and great spiritual importance to all believers.
Psalms 4:1
Chapter 4 1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness; Thou hast set me at large `when I was' in distress: Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
O God of my righteousness. The ultimate basis for divine intervention is God’s righteousness, not the psalmist’s (see Jer. 23:6). distress. This word describes the psalmist in painful situations. When he says “You have relieved me,” he conveys the picture that God has provided space for him.
Matthew 5:31
31 It was said also, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
it has been said. The rabbis wrongly understood
Deuteronomy 24:1
Chapter 24 1 When a man taketh a wife, and marrieth her, then it shall be, if she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
–4 to mean that divorce only required regulated paperwork and could be granted for anything that displeased a man. Moses provided this as a concession to protect the woman who was divorced, not to justify or legalize divorce under all circumstances.
DAY 6: Why did God cause the multiplication of languages and the dispersion of peoples?
After the Flood, human civilization again began to spread across the earth. Those who traveled east under Nimrod (10:8–10) settled for a while in a place called Shinar. Later, they decided to establish a city as a tribute to themselves and as a way to keep from spreading across the earth (11:4). This was a double prideful rebellion against God. First, their city, with its proposed tower, was to be a monument to their self-reliance. Second, the permanence of their settlement represented an effort to disobey God’s direct command to inhabit the whole earth.
Because it was God’s purpose to fill the earth with custodians, He responded to the people’s prideful rebellion. They had chosen to settle; He forced them to scatter. Their cooperation and self-reliance had been based on their shared language. Instead of using all their resources to obey God, they misused them for disobedience. God chose to complicate communication by multiplying the languages. The location where this confusion took place became known as Babel (related to a Hebrew word meaning “to confuse”). Later it became Babylon, the constant enemy of God’s people, and throughout Scripture the capital of human rebellion against God (Rev. 16:19; 17:5).
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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