Matthew 11 Genesis 12

Matthew 11 Genesis 12

Okay! I’m confused.  I am sitting here on my couch at almost 6:30 am, trying to do this before I have to rush off to work in thirty minutes.  I read Mathew 11, but I don’t get much of it.  I understand that John the Baptist is a fulfillment of prophesies.  He is the one who would make the way for Christ.  What I don’t get is verse 12.  From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.  Is that talking about Christ or not?  Is this a good thing or bad?

                Judging by what I read today, people of the time must have thought John the Baptist was a weirdo.  There aren’t many nice things said about him, and it seems like Jesus is trying to defend John’s honor a bit.

                Jesus continues by fussing at the cities that didn’t repent after seeing his miracles.  He tells them that judgment day will be bad for them, and they will go down to the depths.

                This chapter ends with Jesus invited all who are weary to come and rest in him.  He tells us that he will give us rest.  This section is the focus of many songs and the verses that get many of us through our days!

Genesis chapter 12 begins with God calling Abram to pack his belongings and go to the land God has promised him.  Because of the famine, he goes to Egypt after building alters on the new land.  When entering Egypt he tells Sarai to pretend to be his sister.  He hopes this will spare his life.  Abram doesn’t have enough faith to trust that God will keep him safe, even after all those promises were made to him.  When he lies, Sarai becomes a “wife” of the pharaoh.  God then strikes the pharaoh and his household with diseases.  Lucky for Abram, he is allowed to leave with his with wife and belongings.  Ladies, we won’t get into the customs of submissive wives of the time.  However, let me say this about my husband.  If he sat back and watched while I became a concubine for some pharaoh, I would probably be wishing for God to strike him with the disease too!  That is all I will say about that issue today!