| Date | Version | Reading Plan |
|---|---|---|
| January 8, 2025 | ESV (2016) | OT/NT Plan 2025 – 2027 |
Genesis 8
The chapter begins with the God remembering Noah and all the livestock of the field, making a wind to blow over the earth and the water subsiding. It is represents a reversal of the flood (ex. heavens opened (Gen. 7:11) → heavens were closed (Gen. 8:2); waters prevailed (Gen. 7:18) → waters receded (Gen. 8:3).
The behavior of the raven and the dove stood out in today’s reading. The TGCBC notes that, “The raven survives outside the ark by feeding on carrion, a solemn reminder of what has happened due to the flood. In marked contrast, the dove lives off vegetation.” What’s more, the raven went to a fro until the waters dried up but the dove had to be sent out several times. The final confirmation came when the dove was sent out a third time and did not return.
In Gen. 8:17, God told Noah to bring out with him every living thing “that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” Whereas the LORD once regretted making man and sought to blot him out along with all animals, He demonstrates His grace by allowing them a new opportunity to be repopulate the earth.
Noah responded by going out of the ark with his sons, his wife and his son’s wives. The very next thing we read is that he built an altar to offer burnt sacrifices and, by this, we see revealed Noah’s faithful heart. God responds in kind, promising to never again curse the ground because of man despite his heart being evil.
Key Takeaway
So much of God’s heart of grace and redemption are seen in this chapter through the reversal of the flood, the blessing Noah and his progeny and promise to sustain unceasing growth through all seasons.
Matthew 8
In the story of the leper being healed (Matt. 8:1-4), we see that the leper both ascribes Lordship to Jesus and humbly requests healing (”Lord, if it be your will…” – Matt. 8:2). In this instance along with others such as the casting out of demons in Mark 1:34 and the raising Jairus’ daughter in Mark 5:41-43, Luke 8:51-56, Jesus did not want the miraculous healing to be made known. Additionally, as the ESV illuminates, “when Jesus heals the maimed, leprous, and blind, he grants both physical health and social restoration. This is an element of his welcome of outcasts and outsiders to God’s family.”
The centurion also displays faith and humility in multi-factor form, ascribing Lordship to Jesus and stating that he under authority even as he had authority over others. The centurion informs Jesus of his paralyzed servant but, as the ESVEC points out, he never overtly requests that Jesus heal him. Instead, he attributes to Jesus the ability to heal the servant if only He say the word. This models for us the heart of faith by which we are to make similar requests.
Jesus continues in this chapter in displaying His supreme power over creation through miraculous healings (i.e. Peter’s mother-in-law and others in Matt. 8:14-17; two men with demons in Matt. 8:28-34) and dominion over the elements (i.e. the calming of the storm in Matt. 8:23-27).
Key Takeaway
Jesus is fully God and contained within His Person is every aspect of divine sovereignty.