Family Genealogy a Motivation for Christian Obedience

Exodus 6:13-27

Establish the need: When serving and following God seems hard and there’s opposition, can God’s work in the past in your family be a fuel for obedience?

 

Nevertheless, the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command concerning the sons of Israel and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 14 These are the heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. 15 And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. 16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and the length of Levi’s life was 137 years. 17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. 18 And the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and the length of Kohath’s life was 133 years. 19 And the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. 20 Now Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram’s life was 137 years. 21 And the sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 And the sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. 25 Now Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families. 26 It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their multitudes.” 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.”

 

Purpose: We need to see the five motivation fueled from thinking about God and one’s family to motivate one to follow and obey God even when it is difficult.

1. Be motivated to obey God because God works through quirky family (v.16, 21, 24)
2. Be motivated to obey God from past family members’ remembrance of God (v.15, 20, 22-24)
3. Be motivated to obey God with the family’ privilege to serve God (v.16-19)
4. Be motivated to obey God with warning of family members who rebelled against God (v.21, 24, 23, 20)
5. Be motivated to obey God from the zeal for God from other family members (v.25)

Context

• In the context Moses had earlier told Pharaoh to let Israel go (Exodus 5:1) and Pharaoh ordered that the Hebrews have to work harder with no straws (Exodus 5:6-9).
• The leaders of the sons of Israel then complained to Moses and Aaron (Exodus 5:19-21) and Moses was discouraged and talked to God about it (Exodus 5:22-23).
• So God in Exodus 6 addresses Moses.
• At first Exodus 6:13-27 seems to stick out; why suddenly a genealogy?
• To answer note the structure of this section.
• Both the first verse (v.13) and last verse (v.27) mentioned about Moses having the task of bringing out the sons of Israel out of Egypt.
• But sandwiched in between that is a genealogy (v.14-25).
• The genealogy mentioned only three tribes of Israel: Ruben, Simeon and Levi (Garrett, 260).
• Ruben is mentioned in verse 14 and Simeon in verse 15.
• However for both Ruben and Simeon only the immediate sons are mentioned (Garrett, 260).
• The focus is on the sons of Levi beginning in verse 16.
• For Levi’s line it actually go through six generations (Garrett, 260).
• This lineage cover that of Arron and Moses (Garrett, 260).
• I think the genealogy inserted in here is intentional as encouragement for us to see why Moses should be obedient to God’s calling.  Thus we too must be motivated by these truths to obey God.

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Guest Post: Parenting Like a Protestant

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am overseas.  This is by Josh Niemi.  He is the author of Expository Parenting and his website can be found here.  He also tweets.  If you have thoughts and questions, feel free to comment and when he has time he will respond.  You might want to think about getting his book!

The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century left us with a vital repository of recovered truth, not the least of which are the Five Solas. From the Latin word sola, meaning “alone,” these foundational principles held by Protestants form a framework for sound doctrine and practice in the Christian life. In contrast to Roman Catholicism, Christianity teaches the following truths, as summarized by the Five Solas:

1. Sola Gratia: Salvation is by grace alone (not by merit)
2. Sola Fide: Salvation is through faith alone (not including works)
3. Solus Christus: Salvation is in Christ alone (not in any other mediator)
4. Soli Deo Gloria: Salvation is to the glory of God alone (not to the glory of man)
5. Sola Scriptura: Salvation is according to Scripture alone (not according to tradition)

Although these solas were not systematized as such until the twentieth century, they were nonetheless the convictions held by the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers as they recognized the gross spiritual abuses within the Roman Catholic Church. And the legacy of these commitments remains with us today as Protestant Christians. Those with a discerning eye recognize that these five solas continue to provide spiritual safety from the Roman Catholic Church (which persists in the same theological heresies), as well as new and evolving threats. At the same time, these five solas continue to provide spiritual guidance.

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7 Truths about God’s Creation of Man and Woman from Genesis 1: Point 1

What is a man and a woman?

In this series of posts we will see 7 truth derived from Genesis 1:26-28 concerning God’s creation of man and woman so that we would understand God’s design of manhood and womanhood for our lives today.

Why this study on Genesis 1?

• We want to see how God intended men and woman to be so that we understand the role for today.
• While Genesis 1 is a summary of the creation of man and woman we see that there are a lot of truths that is established here that is foundational for the Bible’s discussion of manhood and womanhood.

Let us start with the first truth that lays the foundation for all else that follows.

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How Theology Shapes Marriage Part 6: How does the biblical doctrines of ecclesiology help us have a more godly marriage?

Establish the need: Why should we care about what the Bible say about church in regards to marriages?

Purpose: In this series we will explore how theology shapes marriage and here in our sixth session we shall consider the Bible’s teaching on the church and how it makes an impact for marriage.

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8 year girl marrying a 50 year old Muslim man

Reported by CNN and ANSA that an 8 year old girl married a 47 year old man.

Is this because Muhammad provided an example for all Muslims after him when he married Aisha when she was six and consummated the marriage when she was nine?

(ANSAmed) – RIYADH, SEPTEMBER 10 – A Saudi judge asked to decide on the request for divorce between an eight-year-old girl and a man of 50 has taken his time until December 20 to rule on the case, a lawyer of the family said. The hearing on the divorce request, filed by the mother of the girl, was held yesterday in the town of Unaizah, 420 kilometres north of Riyadh. Lawyer Abdallah Jtili said that in the hearing the husband reiterated he did not agree with the breaking up of the marriage. “The judge said he wanted to reflect further on the matter and give time to the parties to reach a mutual agreement before ruling on the case,” the lawyer said. The marriage of the girl, who does not know yet that she has been given away as bride, was organised by the father. Some relatives of the child reported the case in August to a Saudi human rights association asking it to intervene in order to annul the marriage. Cases of girls given as brides to men are denounced from time to time in Saudi Arabia, an ultra-conservative kingdom which rigidly applies the fundamentalist Wahhabi Islam which allows polygamy. In neighbouring Yemen an eight-year-old girl obtained in April divorce after having denounced in the court her father who had forced her to marry a 28-year-old man. (ANSAmed).

Another 8 year old girl is also facing similar case in Yemen.

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Rick Warren disavows support for Prop. 8

He supported Prop. 8 but now he says he never once endorsed it on Larry King Live.

Rick Warren says he never ONCE ENDORSED Prop. 8 to Larry King

Rick Warren says you SHOULD SUPPORT Prop. 8

What is going on Mr Warren? ashamed of the Gospel? under pressure from Mr King? Perhaps a mistake? We all make mistakes, so I am sure you will issue another video to explain the flip-flop.

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from OneNewsNow.com

California mega-church pastor and author of The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren says he apologized to his homosexual friends for making comments in support of California’s Proposition 8, and now claims he “never once even gave an endorsement” of the marriage amendment.

Monday night on CNN’s Larry King Live, Pastor Rick Warren apologized for his support of Prop. 8, California’s voter-approved marriage protection amendment, saying he has “never been and never will be” an “anti-gay or anti-gay marriage activist.”

“During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never — never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop. 8 was going,” Warren claimed.

However, just two weeks before the November 4 Prop. 8 vote, Pastor Warren issued a clear endorsement of the marriage amendment while speaking to church members. “We support Proposition 8 — and if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8,” he said.

The following is a complete transcript of Warren’s comments just weeks before the Prop. 8 election:

“The election’s coming just in a couple of weeks, and I hope you’re praying about your vote. One of the propositions, of course, that I want to mention is Proposition 8, which is the proposition that had to be instituted because the courts threw out the will of the people. And a court of four guys actually voted to change a definition of marriage that has been going for 5,000 years.

“Now let me say this really clearly: we support Proposition 8 — and if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8. I never support a candidate, but on moral issues I come out very clear.

“This is one thing, friends, that all politicians tend to agree on. Both Barack Obama and John McCain, I flat-out asked both of them: what is your definition of marriage? And they both said the same thing — it is the traditional, historic, universal definition of marriage: one man and one woman, for life. And every culture for 5,000 years, and every religion for 5,000 years, has said the definition of marriage is between one man and a woman.

“Now here’s an interesting thing. There are about two percent of Americans [who] are homosexual or gay/lesbian people. We should not let two percent of the population determine to change a definition of marriage that has been supported by every single culture and every single religion for 5,000 years.

“This is not even just a Christian issue — it’s a humanitarian and human issue that God created marriage for the purpose of family, love, and procreation.

“So I urge you to support Proposition 8, and pass that word on. I’m going to be sending out a note to pastors on what I believe about this. But everybody knows what I believe about it. They heard me at the Civil Forum when I asked both Obama and McCain on their views.”

During his CNN interview on Monday, Warren expressed regret for backing Prop. 8. “There were a number of things that were put out. I wrote to all my gay friends — the leaders that I knew — and actually apologized to them. That never got out,” he admitted.

Additionally, Pastor Warren said he did not want to comment on or criticize the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision last week to legalize same-sex “marriage” because it was “not his agenda.”

Bryan Fischer with the Idaho Values Alliance says Warren is abdicating his biblical role as a pastor. “For Pastor Warren to say that shoring up marriage is not something that’s on his agenda is just something that’s hard to believe for somebody who believes the Bible is our rule for faith and practice,” Fischer notes.

Dr. Jim Garlow, the senior pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in the San Diego suburb of La Mesa, helped spearhead the Prop. 8 effort in California. Garlow admits he is confused and troubled by Pastor Warren’s decision to apologize for supporting Prop. 8.

“Historically when institutions and individuals back away from convictional biblical truth, it is driven primarily by one single factor — and that is the respectability of other people. In other words, much more caring about what other people think about them than what God thinks about them,” he concludes.

Pastor Warren did not respond to a request from OneNewsNow for an interview.

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