Exodus 19:5-6 - God's treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation

[Exodus 19:5-6 ESV] Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

God's treasured possession 

[Isaiah 43:4 ESV] Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.

[Deuteronomy 7:7-8 ESV] It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

[Titus 2:14 ESV] who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

[Ephesians 1:18 ESV] having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

A kingdom of priests and a holy nation

[Psalm 148:14 ESV] He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the LORD!

[Revelation 1:6 ESV] and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

[1 Peter 2:9 ESV] But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

[Revelation 1:5-6 ESV] and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Exodus 9:16 - Why did God harden Pharaoh's heart?

[Exodus 9:16 ESV] But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

Paul quoted the verse in Roman 9.

[Romans 9:17-18 ESV] For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

It was God who hardened Pharaoh's heart. God raised up Pharaoh so that God's name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

[Exodus 11:9-10 ESV] Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

Matthew 15:21-28 The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

[Matthew 15:21 ESV] And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

Earlier when Jesus sent out his disciples in chapter 10, he instructed them,  “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Why then did Jesus go to the district of Tyre and Sidon? 

[Matthew 15:22 ESV] And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”

The Canaanite woman came out to Jesus and was crying for mercy. She cried out, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” She was desperate in her plea for mercy on her and her daughter who was severely oppressed by a demon.

Initially Jesus did not answer her a word. It was as if he ignored her. But she persisted and annoyed his disciples so much that they in turn asked Jesus to appease the woman, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”

[Matthew 15:24 ESV] He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

What the Lord said was a clear rejection. He told her that she was not qualified for his mercy because she was not a lost sheep of the house of Israel. What Jesus said was the doctrine of the election!

If I were her, I might have been offended by this. I would have cried out, "It's not fair!" 

What did the Cannanite woman do?

[Matthew 15:25 ESV] But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

She didn't have time to debate about the fairness of the doctrine of the election. She was too desperate to argue with the Lord. She came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

Then she heard another rejection. 

[Matthew 15:26 ESV] And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

How insulting! So debasing! How could Jesus call me as a dog? Those might be my reactions. However she was different. She had faith in the merciful and loving Lord.

[Matthew 15:27 ESV] She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

She admitted that she didn't deserve the mercy. Yet she believed that God would not drive the undeserving sinners away.

[Matthew 15:28 ESV] Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

[Isaiah 42:3 ESV] a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

May I come and kneel before the Lord, crying out, “Lord, help me.”

Spurgeon - How To Meet the Doctrine of Election

Exodus 4:21 - I will harden his heart

[Exodus 4:21 ESV] And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

[Deuteronomy 2:30 ESV] But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.

[Joshua 11:20 ESV] For it was the LORD’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses.

[John 12:40 ESV] “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

[Isaiah 6:10 ESV] Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

[Romans 9:17-18 ESV] For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

TGC: Does God Harden a Believer's Heart?

Genesis 48:15-16 - The God and the angel

[Genesis 48:15-16 ESV] And he blessed Joseph and said, 

“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, 

the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, 

the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, 

bless the boys; 

and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; 

and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

When Israel blessed Joseph and his sons, Israel called on the God and the angel he experienced. He called on the God before whom his fathers Abraham and Isaac walked. This same God was the God who had been his shepherd all his life long. Israel also called on the angel, possibly the theophanic angel, who had redeemed me from all evil.

God, the God of my father, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, and the Lord Jesus who has redeemed me from all evil, bless my children and be their shepherd and redeemer! Amen.

Matthew 11 - NOT THE MESSIAH THEY EXPECTED HIM TO BE

NOT THE MESSIAH THEY EXPECTED HIM TO BE

A. Jesus and John the Baptist.

1. (Matthew 11:1-3) John the Baptist’s disciples ask a question on behalf of John to Jesus: are You really the Messiah (the Coming One)?

[Matthew 11:3 ESV] and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

2. (Matthew 11:4-6) Jesus’ answer to John the Baptist’s disciples: tell John that prophecy regarding the Messiah is being fulfilled.

[Matthew 11:5 ESV] the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

[Isaiah 29:18-19 ESV] In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

3. (Matthew 11:7-15) Jesus speaks about John.

[Matthew 11:9 ESV] What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

[Matthew 11:10 ESV] This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

[Matthew 11:14 ESV] and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.

4. (Matthew 11:16-19) Jesus rebukes those who refuse to be pleased by either John the Baptist’s or Jesus’ ministry.

B. The condemned and the accepted.

1. (Matthew 11:20-24) Jesus rebukes the cities that did not repent in light of both John the Baptist’s ministry and Jesus’ own ministry.

2. (Matthew 11:25-27) Jesus praises those who do receive His message.

[Matthew 11:27 ESV] All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

[Matthew 28:18 ESV] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

[John 17:2 ESV] since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

[John 5:22 ESV] For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,

[John 1:18 ESV] No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

[Proverbs 8:30 ESV] then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,

[2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV] For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

[John 14:6 ESV] Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

- There are no secrets between the Father and the Son.

- There is no one who knows the Son as well as the Father does.

- There is no one who knows the Father as well as the Son does.

- The Son chooses to reveal the Father to some.

3. (Matthew 11:28-30) Jesus’ invitation.

[Matthew 11:28-30 ESV] Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

[Isaiah 50:4 ESV] The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.

[Luke 15:17 ESV] “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!

[Luke 18:13 ESV] But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

[Acts 2:37 ESV] Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

[Acts 16:29-30 ESV] And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

[John 16:8 ESV] And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

[Genesis 49:15 ESV] He saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant at forced labor.

[Ecclesiastes 5:12 ESV] Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

[Hebrews 4:9 ESV] So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,

“‘Come’; he drives none away; he calls them to himself. His favorite word is ‘Come.’ Not, go to Moses — ‘Come unto me.’ To Jesus himself we must come, by a personal trust. Not to doctrine, ordinance, nor ministry are we to come first; but to the personal Saviour.” (Spurgeon)

- The yoke of Jesus is easy and light as compared with the yoke of others.

- The yoke of Jesus is easy and light as long as we do not rebel against it.

- The yoke of Jesus has nothing to do with worries that are forbidden to us.

- The yoke of Jesus does not include the burdens we choose to.

Matthew 10 - THE SENDING OF THE TWELVE

A. Twelve disciples chosen and commissioned.

1. (Matthew 10:1-4) The twelve disciples are listed.

[Matthew 10:1 ESV] And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.

2. (Matthew 10:5-6) Where they are to go: unto Israel (the Jewish people) only.

[Matthew 10:5-6 ESV] These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

[Isaiah 53:6 ESV] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

[Jeremiah 50:6 ESV] “My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold.

[Matthew 15:24 ESV] He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

[Matthew 21:43 ESV] Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.

The Church and Israel in the New Testament

[Acts 3:26 ESV] God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

[Romans 1:16 ESV] For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

[Romans 11:28 ESV] As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.

[Romans 15:8 ESV] For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,

[1 Peter 2:25 ESV] For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

God’s intention was to reach the whole world, but beginning with Israel. There was certainly enough work to do among the lost sheep of the house of Israel to keep the twelve busy until God directly commanded them to expand their ministry.

3. (Matthew 10:7-8a) What they are to do: go out preaching and healing.

4. (Matthew 10:8b-15) How they were to provide for themselves.

B. Jesus prepares the disciples for persecution.

1. (Matthew 10:16-18) Persecution will come.

2. (Matthew 10:19-20) When Jesus’ disciples are brought before rulers, God will defend and speak for them.

[Matthew 10:19-20 ESV] When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

3. (Matthew 10:21-23) The extent of persecution: even among families, from city to city.

[Matthew 10:23 ESV] When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

It is better to is see His “coming” in this passage as His coming in judgment upon Judea in AD 70 which did happen before the gospel came to every city in Israel.

4. (Matthew 10:24-25) Why Jesus’ disciples must expect persecution.

[Matthew 10:24-25 ESV] “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. Off

5. (Matthew 10:26-31) Even in the midst of persecution, Jesus’ disciples should not fear, but be bold in their proclamation of the gospel.

[Matthew 10:29-31 ESV] Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

6. (Matthew 10:32-39) The attitude Jesus’ disciples must be equipped with.

[Matthew 10:32 ESV] So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,

[Matthew 10:37-39 ESV] Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

7. (Matthew 10:40-42) The reward due to those who, in contrast to the persecutors, receive the disciples of Jesus.

[Matthew 10:40 ESV] “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

Genesis 32 - Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau

Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau

A. Jacob hears of Esau’s approach.

1. (Genesis 32:1-2) Jacob meets the angels of God at Mahanaim.

[Genesis 32:1-2 ESV] Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

“I do not ask that you may see angels: still, if it can be, so be it. But what is it, after all, to see an angel? Is not the fact of God’s presence better than the sight of the best of his creatures? Perhaps the Lord favored Jacob with the sight of angels because he was such a poor, weak creature as to his faith.” (Spurgeon)

2. (Genesis 32:3-6) Jacob’s message to Esau.

3. (Genesis 32:7-8) Jacob’s fear and panicked preparation.

“Jacob is the type of a believer who has too much planning and scheming about him; he is a wise man according to the judgment of the world… Abraham never descended to any of the tricks by which Jacob sought to increase his flocks; he lived, like a princely man, in simple, childlike confidence in God, willing to be injured rather than to seek his own interests.” (Spurgeon)

4. (Genesis 32:9-12) Jacob’s prayer.

[Genesis 32:9-12 ESV] And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

Jacob’s fear was good, because it led him to prayer.

Jacob’s fear was good, because it led him to take a review of his life.

Jacob’s fear was good, because it led him to seek out a suitable promise from God.

Many of our prayers fall short, because there is none of God’s Word within them. Often there is none of God’s Word in them, because there is little of God’s Word in us. Jacob remembered what the LORD had said to him. He said to God, for You said.

5. (Genesis 32:13-21) Jacob sends many gifts to Esau

B. Jacob wrestles with God.

1. (Genesis 32:22-23) Jacob sends all his possessions over the river.

2. (Genesis 32:24-25) A Man wrestles with Jacob.

[Genesis 32:24-25 ESV] And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.

“It does not say that he wrestled with the man, but ‘there wrestled a man with him.’ We call him ‘wrestling Jacob,’ and so he was; but we must not forget the wrestling man, — or, rather, the wrestling Christ, — the wrestling Angel of the covenant, who had come to wrestle out of him much of his own strength and wisdom.” (Spurgeon)

“I suppose our Lord Jesus Christ did here, as on many other occasions preparatory to his full incarnation, assume a human form, and came thus to wrestle with the patriarch.” (Spurgeon)

“It was brave of Jacob thus to wrestle, but there was too much of self about it all. It was his own sufficiency that was wrestling with the God-man, Christ Jesus.” (Spurgeon)

3. (Genesis 32:26) Jacob’s plea to the Man.

[Genesis 32:26 ESV] Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

[Hosea 12:3-5 ESV] In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us— the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD is his memorial name:

4. (Genesis 32:27-29) Jacob’s name is changed, and he is a blessed man.

[Genesis 32:27-29 ESV] And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.

“Dear friends, I am afraid that the lives of many of the Lord’s chosen people alternate between ‘Israel’ and ‘Jacob.’ Sometimes we are ‘strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might,’ and at another time we cry, ‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ Like princes we prevail with God, and are true Israels; but perhaps ere the sun has gone down we limp with Jacob, and though the spirit be willing, the flesh is weak. We are Jacob before we are Israel; and we are Jacob when we are Israel; but blessed be God, we are Israels with God when we cease to be Jacobs among men.” (Spurgeon)

We note that He blessed him there — at that particular place.

The place of special trial and testing.

The place of intense pleading to God.

The place of seeing the face of God.

The place of conscious weakness.

5. (Genesis 32:30-32) Two memorials of this event.

[Genesis 32:30-32 ESV] So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.

“The memorial of his weakness was to be with him as long as he lived… How pleased would you and I be to go halting all our days with such weakness as Jacob had, if we might also have the blessing that he thus won!” (Spurgeon)

Genesis 28 - I am with you

I am with you

I am with you 

Genesis 28:15 ESV — Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Isaiah 41:8-10 ESV — But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Matthew 28:20 ESV — teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Acts 18:10 ESV — for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

I will be with you.

Genesis 31:3 ESV — Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

God of my father has been with me.

Genesis 31:5 ESV — and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me.

God will be with you

Genesis 48:21 ESV — Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.

Genesis 25 - Easu and Jacob

The older shall serve the younger

[Genesis 25:22-23 ESV] The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”

[Romans 9:10-13 ESV] And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

[Malachi 1:2-3 ESV] “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.”

“A woman once said to Mr. Spurgeon, ‘I cannot understand why God should say that He hated Esau.’ ‘That,’ Spurgeon replied, ‘is not my difficulty, madam. My trouble is to understand how God could love Jacob.’” (Newell in Romans, Verse by Verse)

Esau despised his birthright

[Genesis 25:34 ESV] Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

[Hebrews 12:15-16 ESV] See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

[Deuteronomy 21:17 ESV] but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.

Matthew 7:21 - I never knew you

I never knew you

Ten Virgins and a Bridegroom

[Matthew 25:11-12 ESV] Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

Spiritually Awake

[Matthew 25:13 ESV] Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Excluding Judas

[Matthew 7:21-23 ESV] “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

[John 12:6 ESV] He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Chosen and Known

[Amos 3:2 ESV] “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

[Genesis 18:18-19 ESV] seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen (known) him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

Called to Love God

[Galatians 4:9 ESV] But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?

[1 Corinthians 8:3 ESV] But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

Keep Watch

[2 Timothy 2:19 ESV] But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

From Desiring God

Genesis 22 - Abraham is willing to offer Isaac

ABRAHAM IS WILLING TO OFFER ISAAC

A. God’s command to Abraham and his response.

1. (Genesis 22:1-2) God tests the faith of Abraham.

[Gen 22:1-2 ESV] 1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

2. (Genesis 22:3) Abraham’s immediate response of faith.

B. Abraham’s offering of Isaac.

1. (Genesis 22:4-8) Abraham journeys to the place of sacrifice with Isaac.

[Gen 22:7 ESV] 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

[Gen 22:8 ESV] 8 Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.

[Gen 21:12 ESV] 12 But God said to Abraham, "Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 

[Heb 11:17-19 ESV] 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 

[Jhn 1:29 ESV] 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 

2. (Genesis 22:9) Isaac willingly lies down on the altar.

[Gen 22:9 ESV] 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

3. (Genesis 22:10-14) God’s merciful reprieve.

[Gen 22:14 ESV] 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided."

[Gen 22:8 ESV] 8 Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together. 

4. (Genesis 22:15-19) God reconfirms His promise to Abraham in light of his faith.

5. (Genesis 22:20-24) The listing of Nahor’s family.

Genesis 19 - The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH

A. The two angels come to Sodom.

1. (Genesis 19:1-3) Lot convinces the angelic visitors to stay with him.

2. (Genesis 19:4-5) The wickedness and depravity of the men of Sodom.

3. (Genesis 19:6-9) Lot bargains for the life and safety of his guests.

4. (Genesis 19:10-11) Angelic protection at the door.

B. The angels’ deliverance of Lot.

1. (Genesis 19:12-14) The angels warn Lot; Lot warns his family.

[Gen 19:15 ESV] 15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city."

2. (Genesis 19:15-16) The angels try to hurry Lot and his family.

[Gen 19:16 ESV] 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

3. (Genesis 19:17-22) The escape from Sodom.

C. God’s judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah.

1. (Genesis 19:23-26) The cities destroyed, and Lot’s wife is turned to a pillar of salt.

[Gen 19:26 ESV] 26 But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

2. (Genesis 19:27-29) Abraham learns of Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction.

[Gen 19:29 ESV] 29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

3. (Genesis 19:30-32) Lot and his daughters live in a wilderness cave.

4. (Genesis 19:33-38) Moab and Ammon are born from this incestuous relationship.

Genesis 18 - The Promise of Isaac Confirmed

THE PROMISE OF ISAAC CONFIRMED

A. Abraham welcomes important visitors.

1. (Genesis 18:1-5) Abraham invites the LORD and two others to a meal.

[Heb 13:2 ESV] 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

2. (Genesis 18:6-8) Sarah and Abraham prepare a meal for their visitors.

3. (Genesis 18:9-10) God reconfirms His promise of a son.

4. (Genesis 18:11-12) Sarah’s reaction to God’s promise.

5. (Genesis 18:13-15) God answers Sarah’s laugh.

[Gen 18:14 ESV] 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son."

B. Abraham intercedes for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

1. (Genesis 18:16-19) God decides to reveal to Abraham the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.

[Gen 18:19 ESV] 19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him."

2. (Genesis 18:20-21) God tells Abraham He will see if Sodom and Gomorrah are worthy of judgment.

3. (Genesis 18:22-26) Abraham asks an important question: Will God destroy the righteous with the wicked?

4. (Genesis 18:27-33) Abraham bargains with God for Sodom and Gomorrah.

John 13 Outline

John 13

Five things Jesus knew:

• his hour has come to depart out of this world to the Father (1)
• the Father had given all things into his hands (3)
• he had come from God and was going back to God (3)
• who was to betray him (11)
• whom I (Jesus) have chosen (18)

Judas Iscariot

• [Jhn 13:2 ESV] 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,
• [Jhn 13:18 ESV] 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, 'He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.'
• [Psa 41:9 ESV] 9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
• [Jhn 13:26-27 ESV] 26 Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly."
• [Jhn 13:30 ESV] 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

Jesus loved his disciples

• [Jhn 13:1 ESV] 1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Jesus washed his disciples' feet

• [Jhn 13:4-5 ESV] 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
• [Jhn 13:8 ESV] 8 Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me."
• [Jhn 13:10 ESV] 10 Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you."

Jesus' commands

• [Jhn 13:14 ESV] 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
• [Jhn 13:34 ESV] 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
• [Jhn 13:35 ESV] 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Matthew 5:20 Righteousness

Matthew 5:20 ESV — For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus described the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

Matthew 23:2-7 ESV — “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.

Matthew 23:23 ESV — “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

In a parable told by Jesus, a Pharisee bosted of his self-righteousness in his prayer:

Luke 18:11-12 ESV — The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

How can my righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees?

Genesis 15:5-6 ESV — And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Romans 4:2-5 ESV — For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

Abram was not justified by works. He believed the LORD and the LORD counted it to him as righteousness. The scribes and the Pharisees tried to keep the laws in minute details and be justified by works.

Paul talks of two kinds of righteousness: a righteousness of my own that comes from the law and the righteousness from God that depends on faith in Christ:

Philippians 3:6-9 ESV — as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Genesis 12 - Abram went

Genesis 12:1-5 ESV — Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

God commanded Abram to leave his country, relatives, and his father's house. God commanded him to go to the land that he would show him. He also promised him great blessings.

Abram believed obeyed God, left his familiar life behind and went as the Lord has told him and set out to Canaan.

Hebrews 11:8-11 ESV — By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

Hebrews 11:16 ESV — But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

By faith Abram left his home, relatives, and friends and followed God's direction to the land God would show him. He was looking forward to the heavenly city of God.

When God called me to himself, he promised me a heavenly home. I listened to his voice, obeyed his calling, and believed his promises.

Nowadays I am distracted for the thought of my future and what I would like to be doing when I retire. Should I retire at 62 or 66? Should I retire in Georgia, Illinois, or in South Korea? How will I spend my time when I retire? What will I do each day?

In my trip to Korea this time, what I realized is that it is not when, what, or where that is important. What is important is that now and here, I listen to God's voice and obey him, looking forward to the heavenly hope.

Lord, please help me to listen to you and obey you each day. Please help me look forward to the heavenly city and not my retirement. Help me to leave the earthly entanglement and walk with you toward the heavenly home. Amen.

Genesis 9 - Noah cursed Canaan

Genesis 9:20-25 ESV — Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

As I read the passage about Noah's curse of his grandson Canaan, a few questions came to my mind's:

1. Did Noah sin in getting drunk?

2. Why was what Ham did so terrible?

3. Why did Noah curse Canaan and not Ham?

1. Did Noah sin in getting drunk?

Noah drank of the wine and became drunk. Then he lay uncovered in his tent revealing his nakedness. The Bible doesn't say someone made him drunk but the results were the same as in the following verses:

Habakkuk 2:15-16 ESV — “Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink— you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness! You will have your fill of shame instead of glory. Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision! The cup in the LORD’s right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your glory!

2. Why was what Ham did so terrible?

When Ham saw the nakedness of his father, he didn't cover the nakedness but went and told about to his brothers Shem and Japheth. If Ham was genuinely caring for his father, he would have coverd the nakedness of his father quietly and quickly, rather than telling about his father's shame to his brothers. What Ham didn't do, his brothers did showing ample respect for their father.

Matthew 18:15 ESV — “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

When Noah awoke, he learned what Ham had done to him. What did Ham do? The Bible doesn't tell many details about it except that Ham saw his father's nakedness and told his brothers about it. 

His brothers Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 

Unlike his brothers, Ham saw the nakedness of This father, didn't cover it up quietly, but announced the shame to his brothers.

3. Why did Noah curse Canaan and not Ham?

Noah then said, "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

Perhaps Noah was angry at Ham for not showing the due respect for him. Yet as he cursed, we see the results of the curse in the Canaanites in the Old Testament.

Exodus 23:23-24 ESV — “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.

Why did Noah curse Canaan and not Ham?Maybe because God had blessed Ham earlier.

Genesis 9:1 ESV — And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth."

Genesis 6 Noah walked with God

Genesis 6:9 ESV — These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

How did Noah walk with God? What does it mean to walk with God? How can I walk with God?

I picture a father and a child holding hands as they walk. The father is leading and the child goes where the father is leading.

Verses about Noah

Genesis 6:8 ESV — But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

Genesis 6:22 ESV — Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Genesis 7:5 ESV — And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.

Genesis 8:20 ESV — Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Hebrews 11:7 ESV — By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

2 Peter 2:5 ESV — if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Verses about walking with God

Genesis 5:22 ESV — Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:24 ESV — Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Deuteronomy 5:33 ESV — You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

Deuteronomy 10:12 ESV — “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Joshua 22:5 ESV — Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Jeremiah 7:23 ESV — But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

Micah 6:8 ESV — He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Ephesians 4:1 ESV — I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV — Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 5:8-10 ESV — for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

Colossians 1:9-12 ESV — And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Colossians 2:6-7 ESV — Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Genesis 1 and Salvation

Genesis 1:1-2 ESV — In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

John 1:1-2 ESV — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

My life without Jesus was chaotic, void, dark, meaningless, and confusing. As the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters when the earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep, Jesus was watching over me when I was lost in sin.

Then God said and the complete transformation occurred. The darkness was dispelled when God said, “Let there be light”. 

I heard the voice of God and there was light in my life. 

John 1:4-5 ESV — In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The light has been shining ever since and the darkness has not overcome it.

Isaiah 45:18 ESV — For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Isaiah 55:11-12 ESV — so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Genesis 1:28 ESV — And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

God said in the beginning and he says now. He blesses me and says to me to be fruitful and take care of his creation.

Romans 10:8 ESV — But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);

Hebrews 3:13-15 ESV — But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Lord, I praise you for the great creation of the heavens and the earth. I praise you for revealing yourself to me as the life and the light shining in my life. Lord, help me to listen to your voice each moment and not to harden my heart.

창세기 1장을 읽으면서 세상이 하나님의 말씀으로 창조가 된것과 제가 구원 받은 것이 같은 점들이 있다라고 생각했습니다.

1:2절이 제가 구원 받기 전의 모습이었고 하나님의 말씀을 들음으로 저의 어두움과 공허함이 빛과 아름다움으로 변화되었습니다.

하나님의 말씀을 들음으로 구원 받은 것처럼 오늘 하나님의 말씀을 들음으로 죄의 유혹으로 제 마음이 강퍅케 되지 않게 하고자 합니다.

여기 묵상했던 말씀들을 적어 봅니다.

태초에 하나님이 천지를 창조하시니라 땅이 혼돈하고 공허하며 흑암이 깊음 위에 있고 하나님의 신은 수면에 운행하시니라

창세기 1:1‭-‬2 KRV

태초에 말씀이 계시니라 이 말씀이 하나님과 함께 계셨으니 이 말씀은 곧 하나님이시니라 그가 태초에 하나님과 함께 계셨고

요한복음 1:1‭-‬2 KRV

하나님이 가라사대 빛이 있으라 하시매 빛이 있었고

창세기 1:3 KRV

그 안에 생명이 있었으니 이 생명은 사람들의 빛이라 빛이 어두움에 비취되 어두움이 깨닫지 못하더라

요한복음 1:4‭-‬5 KRV

여호와는 하늘을 창조하신 하나님이시며 땅도 조성하시고 견고케 하시되 헛되이 창조치 아니하시고 사람으로 거하게 지으신 자시니라 그 말씀에 나는 여호와라 나 외에 다른이가 없느니라

이사야 45:18 KRV

내 입에서 나가는 말도 헛되이 내게로 돌아오지 아니하고 나의 뜻을 이루며 나의 명하여 보낸 일에 형통하리라 너희는 기쁨으로 나아가며 평안히 인도함을 받을 것이요 산들과 작은 산들이 너희 앞에서 노래를 발하고 들의 모든 나무가 손바닥을 칠 것이며

이사야 55:11‭-‬12 KRV

하나님이 그들에게 복을 주시며 그들에게 이르시되 생육하고 번성하여 땅에 충만하라, 땅을 정복하라, 바다의 고기와 공중의 새와 땅에 움직이는 모든 생물을 다스리라 하시니라

창세기 1:28 KRV

그러면 무엇을 말하느뇨 말씀이 네게 가까와 네 입에 있으며 네 마음에 있다 하였으니 곧 우리가 전파하는 믿음의 말씀이라

로마서 10:8 KRV

오직 오늘이라 일컫는 동안에 매일 피차 권면하여 너희 중에 누구든지 죄의 유혹으로 강퍅케 됨을 면하라 우리가 시작할 때에 확실한 것을 끝까지 견고히 잡으면 그리스도와 함께 참예한 자가 되리라 성경에 일렀으되 오늘날 너희가 그의 음성을 듣거든 노하심을 격동할 때와 같이 너희 마음을 강퍅케 하지 말라 하였으니

히브리서 3:13‭-‬15 KRV