DHP Lent Devos 2021

Mar 13 - Joni Sheffer

Genesis 3:20-24

20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The Lord made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

22 And the Lord God said, “ The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever.”

23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Thoughts (from A Commentary – Rev.Robert Jamieson , D.D. - St. Paul's, Glasgow)

Adam now names the Woman – Eve.

'...Adam, sensible of a better hope to come in by her , calls her “Eve” the mother of all living... 'pre-eminently of Christ...Thus a whole history was comprised within the folds of a single word, and the name of Eve would, in the early ages of the world, preserve amongst the people of God the blessed hope of a Redeemer.'

I have often wondered what Adam and Eve understood of the concept of 'death' attached to the tree...God makes them garments of skin – requiring death of an animal – sacrifice.

They are associated with the institution of a sacred rite of deep symbolic import...that rite, and the supply of that clothing, as when the announcement of the Redeemer was first made, -when the need of his propitiatory death began to be felt, and the benefits of being clad in the robes of righteousness were held out to man...an awakened conscience – the consequent nec essity for a covering to the bodily nakedness....Then for the first time, it may be, they had realized the actual idea of death...

….'man has now become like one of us'... Not God – but intimately aware of evil – as well as good..

...not spoken in irony...but it was said in deep compassion....'formed at first in our image, a holy and happy being: how sad his condition now! To know good and evil. '

This tree being a sacramental sign or pledge of that immortal life with which obedience should be rewarded, man lost, on his fall, all claim to this tree; and therefore, that he might not delude himself with the idea that eating of it would restore the inner life of the soul, the Lord sent him forth from the garden.

...longer residence in the vicinity of the tree of life was now impossible; for sin and death entered the world together; and it was, therefore, and act of mercy, no less than of justice, on the part of God, to remove the man from all access to a tree, the sight of which must of occasioned only a constant renewal of disappointment and bitter memories.

..the cherubim are placed...to keep the way of the tree of life...preserving

...the cherubim are described both by Ezekiel and by John, in the Apocalypse, not as angels, but as creatures worshipping God and expressing gratitude for the blessings of salvation.

...flame...the grand prototype of the Sheechinah, which appeared so frequently to patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, and of which a permanent model was placed in the tabernacle and the first temple.

We may be able to ask Adam some questions in heaven. He continued the act of sacrifice and taught it to his sons. From the beginning, man was not 'enough' – we would need the sacrifice of Christ to clear the sin between us and God.

What are your thoughts?

Joni

Mar 9 - Eli Bachali

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

“Come Run With Me”

My earliest memory is of my dad waking me up from a nap – I have lived my entire life wanting to be more and more like my dad. He is my hero and my role model. It’s pretty amazing to have a man of character and faith raise you. There was just one season that I did not want to be like him, and that was in middle school when he would wake me up to go on early morning weekend runs together.

My dad’s idea of a good start to the weekend was waking up at 6am, running for a few miles, ending with the big hill up to our home and here is the truth; I hated running. Insecure and self-conscious, afraid of most things and most people, middle school Eli would have liked nothing better than to sleep in on Saturday and not push myself to start my day. The whole shebang came to a climax one cold morning when my dad was urging me to run a little faster and I burst into tears as I yelled, “Just leave me alone! I don’t want to run with you anymore! This is too hard.”

He froze and stared at me in surprise, wisely remaining silent. He walked back over to me and embraced me as I sobbed into his chest. We slowly walked back the way we had come, and after a few minutes he gave me a smile and asked if I’d finish the run well with him.

This story means very much to me, as does this scripture in Hebrews 12 – the story of my dad leading me on dreary morning runs powerfully parallels that of God guiding us on the marathon of faith. This road you and I walk as Jesus-followers isn’t easy. It can be long, grueling, and discouraging. My verdict of “this is too hard” rings true of how we can feel at times in our day to day with the Lord.

When the road marked out for us gets long and tiring, Hebrews 12:1 says that we have a cloud of witnesses (the church past and present) to lean on. And what do they model for us? To get rid of everything weighing us down. Don’t run a race with weights strapped to your back! Throw it away! Instead, with a fresh lightness charge forward with perseverance. What is weighing you down? What sin is hindering your perseverance?

Back to those runs with my dad, he knew my struggle wasn’t with my legs but with my heart – all those lies I was believing about myself that left me vulnerable and insecure. My dad’s solution was running together to dispel those lies; more time with my dad to speak truth into my life. How true of God too – get some time with the Father and watch him dismantle those lies. What lies are you choosing to believe today?

The ultimate step of faith you and I take as runners of the race of faith is in 12:2; fix our eyes on Jesus. He has run this race ahead of us, paved the path and did so perfectly to guide where we should step. Where are your eyes fixed right now?

What my dad did for middle school Eli was invite me, over and over again, to go running with him. And the Father does too for each of us. He invites us daily to run with perseverance. The next Saturday came after my break down and like clockwork I was gently shaken awake. “Eli, son, come run with me!”

Mar 8 - Kylee Davidson