Select: First Reading Second Reading Bible Background
First Reading: Genesis Chapter 21 and 22Genesis 21
21:1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for
Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham
in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name
Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham
circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when
his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about
this will laugh with me." 7 And she added, "Who would have said to
Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old
age."
8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held
a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne
to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave
woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance
with my son Isaac."
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But
God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant.
Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring
will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also,
because he is your offspring."
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave
them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy.
She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes.
16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought,
"I cannot watch the boy die." And as she sat there nearby, she began
to sob.
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven
and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has
heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the
hand, for I will make him into a great nation."
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled
the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an
archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife
for him from Egypt.
22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham,
"God is with you in everything you do. 23 Now swear to me here before God
that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show
to me and the country where you are living as an alien the same kindness I have
shown to you."
24 Abraham said, "I swear it."
25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's
servants had seized. 26 But Abimelech said, "I don't know who has done
this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today."
27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two
men made a treaty. 28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, 29 and
Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs
you have set apart by themselves?"
30 He replied, "Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that
I dug this well."
31 So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there.
32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander
of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a
tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the
Eternal God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long
time.
Genesis 22
22:1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and
go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of
the mountains I will tell you about."
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with
him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the
burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third
day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants,
"Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship
and then we will come back to you."
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac,
and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,
7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb
for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering,
my son." And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar
there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the
altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife
to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven,
"Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything
to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me
your son, your only son."
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.
He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead
of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this
day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and
said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done
this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you
and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand
on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their
enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,
because you have obeyed me."
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba.
And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
20 Some time later Abraham was told, "Milcah is also a mother; she has
borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel
(the father of Aram), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel." 23
Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham's
brother Nahor. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah,
Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.
Matthew 10
10:1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive
out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter)
and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip
and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus,
and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not
go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the
lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven
is near.' 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive
out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Do not take along any gold
or silver or copper in your belts; 10 take no bag for the journey, or extra
tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.
11 "Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there
and stay at his house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your
greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not,
let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to
your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15
I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the
day of judgment than for that town. 16 I am sending you out like sheep among
wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
17 "Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local
councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought
before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But
when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that
time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but
the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children
will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 All men will
hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23
When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth,
you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man
comes.
24 "A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
25 It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like
his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more
the members of his household!
26 "So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not
be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the
dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the
roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the
ground apart from the will of your Father. 30 And even the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. 31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before
my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him
before my Father in heaven.
34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did
not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
"'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law- 36 a man's enemies will be the members of his own
household.'
37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38
and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake
will find it.
40 "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the
one who sent me. 41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will
receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because
he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. 42 And if anyone
gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my
disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."
INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE
Part 3 of 8
The following is a table that outlines the general history of the Old Testament. It sets a framework in history and time to the history books:
BOOK OF THE BIBLE
|
EVENT
|
YEAR
|
Genesis | The Creation | ????? |
Adam & Eve, the beginning of sin & death | ????? | |
Noah & the Flood | ????? | |
Abraham & the Promises |
approx. 2000 bc |
|
Isaac, Jacob (Israel) & the 12 sons | ||
Abraham's descendents (Israelites) go to Egypt | approx 1900 bc | |
Exodus to Deuteronomy | Israelites saved from Egypt under Moses | 1500 bc |
Israel wanders in wilderness | ||
The law of Moses is given | ||
Joshua to Ruth | Israel enters promised land | 1400 bc |
Israel conquors and settles the land | ||
I Samuel to II Chronicles | Saul is the first king of Israel | 1050 bc |
David is the second king of Israel | 1000 bc | |
Solomon is the third king of Israel | ||
The Kingdom is divided into North (Israel) & | ||
South (Judah). | 930 bc | |
Continued sin & rebelliousness of Israel | ||
Assyrian captivity of the Northern Kingdom | 722 bc | |
Babylonian captivity of the Southern Kingdom | 586 bc | |
Ezra to Esther |
Southern Captivity returns from Babylon |
|
to Jerusalem & rebuilds city & temple | 500 bc |
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