With a new year comes a new refresh of “the Bible in 90 Days.” This year I’m trying to do it chronologically, which means today I read Genesis 1-11 and Job 1-5. Again, my intent is to do this breakneck speed once per year, then spend the rest of the year studying more slowly and carefully. For journaling purposes, these are micro study notes. 🙂
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Genesis 1:14: “They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years…” I never noticed that little word “festivals” there before. God gave us the sun, moon, and stars so that we may mark time, and so that we may… have scheduled celebrations. That’s an interesting thought in light of holidays and our tenuous relationship to “special days.”
Genesis 2:3: “God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.” The idea of Christ as our Sabbath rest occurred to me in a new way as I read this passage today. God worked for six days to create. Then on the seventh, He rested. I know when I “rest” after “working,” the rest is very much permeated by the realization of the work. Rest is more satisfying when it accompanies completion of one’s task. God, on the seventh day, was finished. And He rested. In Christ God works redemption. And in heaven the number will be completed, and eternity is the rest, joy, and worship of reflecting on His work. We rest in Christ and His labor now, but how much more in heaven when all things are accomplished?
Genesis 3:6: “the woman saw… that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom.” Desiring knowledge, in a way that contradicts God’s law, is not good. It is not an inherently neutral wish.
Genesis 9:12-13: It is so amazing to think that the rainbows we see today are still the sign of God’s covenant not to destroy the earth with a flood again.
Job 1:10-11: the flip side of Satan’s accusation is that God had placed a hedge around Job, and blessed him immensely. Job feared God, and God blessed him. Even in the face of Satan’s accusation, God refused to allow him to harm Job himself. The love here is really… astounding.
Job 2:10: “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” – such a great verse. He speaks so directly.
Job 3:1: Job didn’t curse God, but he did curse what God had done. He is also anxious (v. 26).