And then morning came... (Genesis 1:1-25)

I had a very hard time trying to decide how to resume this blog. Finally, I fell back on the old adage: the best place to begin is at the beginning. Genesis has long been one of my favorite books of the Bible. When I was a kid, it was because of some of the cool stories (talking snakes, a boat full of animals, come on!) As I went through seminary, it became more important to me because it realized how so many of the grand theological themes of the Bible are laid out in Genesis. I think it's fair to say Genesis serves as a foundational text for Christians. This is not to say that it is more important than the Gospels. Rather, the Gospel story of the Christ is the crowning achievement of what Genesis inaugurates. Genesis cannot supplant the Gospel, but it can certainly support and enrich it. All that being said, when I re-read through the first twenty-five verses, what struck me was blatantly un-exigetical. This post is a devotional thought. Nothing more, nothing less. If one were so inclined, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to find fault with the reasoning. Nonetheless, it seems to ring true to larger narrative of Scripture and of our lives. We'll see what you think. It occurs to me that each time God created something, he saw that it was "good." The text tells us as much (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25) What it doesn't tell us, however, was what I can only assume was implied..."this was good...but God had something better coming." It occurs to me that this is a lesson that's been lost on me many times in life. I reach a point of comfort--be it in a relationship, a job, a city I'm living in, or what have you--and things seem "good." I am quite upset, then, when something happens to disrupt this goodness. When the friendship sours, or the job ends other than I would have wished, or I have to move away. It is at these times that I experience another truth of Genesis. You will notice that after each one of these creative acts proclaimed "good," there was an evening. Perhaps this detail doesn't have much impact on we who live in the age of "cities that never sleep" of electric light...of 24 hour Wal-Mart service...but I wonder what the night time must have represented to the first hearers of the Genesis story. Wasn't night the time of danger? The time when thieves broke in to steal? The time when the wild beasts came nearest to menace family and flock? Yet just as the text tells us that the evening came, it was just as surely followed by another morning. And not only that--it was followed by another morning, with another good thing. This, the story that morning will always come for the Children of God, seems to me to be a fundamental message of Scripture. It's not a simple one to be sure. This is not of the same ilk as modern day "prophets" who would tell us that suffering is in our head, or that the cancer failed to go away for lack of our faith, or some other such rot gut. The God of Genesis does not deny the reality of the evening. He simply refuses to be bound by it. He will not allow it have the final word. Of course, this is the same theological story as we meet on another evening many years later...in a garden called Gethsemane. The evening fell...and with it, the "good" that had seemed so promising was lost. Not only for one day...but for three. Yet in the end, God demonstrated in His most spectacular fashion ever that even if morning tarries, in the end it will always come for those who fear God.

Proverbs: Words to Live By: Chapters 11-15

Review
If you boil Proverbs down to two choices, what would you say they are?

What does it mean to describe Proverbs as “a floodlight” rather than “a spotlight”?

Speech
Prov. 10:19-21; 11:9, 12-13; 12:6, 26; 13:2-3; 17:27-28; 18:4, 20; 20:15

What light does James 1:26; 3:1-12 shed on the topic of speech?

Have you ever considered how God created the world in the first place; or how when Isaac was tricked into offering his blessing to Jacob, he could offer no blessing for Esau? (Gen. 27:1-37)

How would you summarize Proverbs’ teaching/perspective on wise words?

Do you think that our society respects the power of words? Why or why not?

Wealth & Work
Prov. 11:4, 15, 18, 24, 28; 12:11, 14, 24; 13:4, 7-8, 11, 22-23; 14:20, 23-24, 31; 15:16, 27; 16:8; 17:1; 18:9, 11; 19:4, 15, 17, 24; 20:13

How would you sum up Proverbs’ teaching on wealth? Is it a gift from God, or the result of your own hard labor? Is wealth good or bad?

Chapter 13
Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. Prov. 13:20 [see also Prov. 14:7]
· How is this relevant to your life?

Chapter 14
Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest. Prov. 14:4
· What does that mean?

Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can fully share its joy. Prov. 14:10
· What does this mean?
· Why would it be important for people to remember this?

Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains. Prov. 14:13
· Why do you think God wants us to face this reality?

Chapter 15
The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but He delights in the prayers of the upright. Prov. 15:8
· What’s the difference between sacrifice and prayer?
· How is this relevant today?