1. Jacob competes for the birthright

We are reading Genesis and it tells from chapter 12 ¡ÈPatriarchal history*¡É. The male protagonists of the Book till chapter 11 were Abraham, the father of the faith, and Isaac, the meek. Now we start learning about the life of Jacob. Jacob was a pragmatic and cunning man. He provoked unceasingly conflicts with his relatives and neighbors. It seems rather difficult to appreciate such a character. Nonetheless he succeeded the blessing of God for Abraham and Isaac then formed the Twelve Tribes of Israel. At first, we don¡Çt understand why God chose that undesirable person as his tool. But we are about to see the Providence or the plan of God behind Jacob¡Çs life story. God¡Çs will goes far beyond humans¡Ç thinking. From today for 3 sequences, we reflect on God¡Çs plan of salvation. (³¤­…)

1. Isaac, a foreigner

We are reading the Book of Genesis and today¡Çs given passage is chapter 26:15-25. It tells about Isaac. The Book spends 13 chapters (12th to 25th) to the life of Abraham and 34 (from 27th to 50th) to Jacob. In contrast, Isaac¡Çs part is only chapter 26. Apparently, the writers gave less importance to him than to his father and son. However Isaac¡Çs way of living still teaches us another type of faith different from Abraham and Jacob. Personality of Isaac shows the virtue of gentleness and tolerance. We will reflect on the fruit of his faith by reading chapter 26 from the beginning. (³¤­…)

1.God tested Abraham

Today, we will read about Abrahams¡Ç decision to sacrifice his only son, Isaacs. Abraham (formerly Abram) was a nomad living in Mesopotamia. But ; - The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land I will show you.(Genesis 12:1)
Thus he set out for Canaan, the place indicated by God. At that time, God said to him, ; - ¡ÈI will make you a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.(Genesis 12:2) (³¤­…)

1. Sodom perished

Today, we learn about the devastation of Sodom from Genesis 19. The story is referred several times in the New testament. Jesus preached in Capernaum, a city on the northern shore the Sea of Galilee, and performed many miraculous acts there. Nonetheless, inhabitants of the city denied the divinity of Jesus. Jesus referred to Sodom to blamed them ; - ¡ÈAnd you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to the depths. If the miracles I did in you had happened in Sodom, its people would have stopped sinning, and it would still be a city today. But I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for Sodom than for you.¡É(Matthew 11:23-24) (³¤­…)

1. Abraham¡Çs decision on the faith

We keep reading the Book of Genesis and finished lectures on chapter 1 to 11, which constitute the Primeval history. The history shows that humans, though created by God, committed sin and dropped from God. Nonetheless God did not abandon sinful creatures. Instead, He had chosen a man through whom a new people should be formed and all of humans would be saved. That was the very plan of God. The writer of Genesis tells that everything started with the calling of Abraham, originally Abram. Today, we will learn how the story of Abraham can be relevant to our own life. Genesis 12:1 reads that ; - The Lord had said to Abram, ¡ÈGo from your country, your people and your father¡Çs household to the land I will show you. (³¤­…)

1. Listeners became preachers

We are gathered today to observe the Pentecost worship service. Pentecost means ¡Æfiftieth (day)¡Ç in Greek. Fifty days after the Passover, the Holy Spirit came to the followers of Jesus. For that reason, the Church named the festival ¡ÆPentecost.¡Ç Though killed on the Cross, Jesus was resurrected on the day of Passover. And according to Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, Jesus stayed with the Apostles for forty days then ascended to heaven. (see Acts 1:3-9) (³¤­…)

1. The Tower of Babel
We continue the series of lecture on Genesis. Genesis chapter 1 to 11 is called ¡ÈPrimeval history*1¡É which tells about the Creation of the world. It isn¡Çt a simple mythological story but the record of the soul of Jewish people who underwent harsh incidents of times.
Attacked by Babylonian forces, the South kingdom of Judah perished in 587 BC and Jewish leaders were brought and confound to Babylonia as captives*2. Those experiences shocked them strongly as they had been proud of being chosen by God. They wondered why God abandoned them and were afraid of dying in the foreign country. They aspired to go back to Jerusalem. Under strong anxiety, they studied legends passed on by their ancestors in praying God for rescue. Then they wrote down meditations on the past and compiled the book of Genesis. Last Sunday, we read the passage of ¡Æthe Deluge¡Ç at the time of Noah, of which plot is reportedly taken from the similar legend in Gilgamesh*3. Jewish captives made comparison between the loss of the nation and the judgement of God in form of the flood. In that way, they saw the path to the rescue and salvation. The core of the story was the promise of God given to them after the flood. God declared, ; - ¡ÈI will never again destroy every living thing on the earth,¡É(Genesis 8:21) The people saw the hope in future through the promise. (³¤­…)

1. Before all, Noah¡Çs faith

During the May 2011, we read the book of Genesis. Its chapters 1 to 11 is called ¡ÈPrimeval history.*1¡É and we today learn about ¡Æthe Deluge¡Ç which starts from chapter 6. In several regions of the world, we find similar legends, which suggests that a widespread flood was really observed in an ancient time. It might be caused by melting glaciers. And a flood myth appears also in Epic of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia.* It is said that the flood story was written by Jewish captives in Babylonia by basing on the contents of Gilgamesh. In 587 BC, the kingdom of Judah was defeated by Babylonian forces and numerous Jewish people were brought to there. The concerning writing in Genesis is not a scientific, archeological, or historical report but a witness of those captives. They were aspiring to know why God let the nation perish. Through the story about the flood, they arrived to understand that the destruction of the nation was a judgement of God. In that way, they built the faith in God of the salvation. (³¤­…)

1.Sin of Cain, fratricide
Last week we read in Genesis 3 the story about Adam and Eve who were cast away from Eden. When Adam was given Eve by God, he cherished her so much. ; - “Now, this is someone whose bones came from my bones, whose body came from my body.¡É (Genesis 2:23)
Nonetheless, being blamed by God for violating the prohibition, Adam altered the stance toward Eve abruptly. He intended to put responsibility on her. The episode point out the human nature that we would betray the most loved partner if necessary for our own sake. They were thrown out from Eden by God as the punishment for that nature. However God dressed them ahead with clothes made from animal skins as their protection. We learned that God is so merciful and still willing to take care of humans that way. (³¤­…)

1.The beginning of sin
Since today, we read Genesis 3 which develops the second episode of creation started in Genesis 2. The man and woman were created and lived with God in Eden. But they were about to be thrown out from the garden because of violating God¡Çs prohibition. They surrendered to the temptation by the snake, the event which is known as Paradise Lost. The story raises the theme of sin to the church throughout the history. We too will reflect on the nature of sin in humans beings by reading Genesis 3. (³¤­…)

1. Creation of humans
We started the series on Genesis and learned previously how the Book was given birth from chapter 1. The people complied it under the sorrow of nation¡Çs downfall and Babylonian captivity. We live still in the world covered with chaos and darkness like Jewish people of the time. They felt hopeless and desperate. But, despite harsh circumstances, ; - God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.4 God saw that the light was good, so he divided the light from the darkness.(Genesis 1:3-4) (³¤­…)

1. God created the sky and earth
We celebrated the Easter last Sunday and since today, will read Genesis for several weeks. Genesis 1 tells us how the universe was Created. At first, the verses 1-3 describe the original state of the world. ; - In the beginning God created the sky and the earth. The earth was empty and had no form. Darkness covered the ocean, and God’s Spirit was moving over the water.(Genesis 1:1-2) (³¤­…)

1.Empty tomb
During the Lent, we are reflecting on the meaning of the Resurrection by reading the Gospel by Mark. In chapter 16, the Gospel writer described the empty tomb to imply that Jesus was resurrected. Mark¡Çs report is short. The women went to the tomb 3 days after Jesus¡Ç execution and found it empty. Life of Jesus ended with the burial, so will do ours. But Jesus¡Ç case had a unique feature: the tomb was empty. What does it tell us? (³¤­…)

1. The Anointing at Bethany
We are reading the Gospel according to Mark during the period of Lent. From chapter 14, Mark gives the account of what happened on the Passion week. The record begins with the arrival of a woman at Simon¡Çs. She offered Jesus very costly perfumed oil. We will learn the meaning of the Passion by reflecting on the event. (³¤­…)

1.Healing of a paralyzed man
Today, the 5th Sunday in Lent, we read Mark 2 to reflect on the link between healing and salvation. Jesus carried out numerous healing acts along with preaching. He cured persons who were suffering from leprosy or paralysis. Witnessing his divine power, people crowded around Jesus. For example, when Jesus came to Simon¡Çs house to teach messages of God, many persons gathered together so that there was no room in the house, not even outside the door. (see Mark 2:1-2) An event took place there. ; - Four people came, carrying a paralyzed man. Since they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, they dug a hole in the roof right above where he was speaking. When they got through, they lowered the mat with the paralyzed man on it. (Mark 2:3-4) (³¤­…)

1. Calling to become disciples
From today, the first Sunday of the church year 2011, we will read the Gospel according to Mark for several weeks as a commemoration of the Passion and the Resurrection of Jesus. Jesus set out from Galilee toward Jordan River at the age of around 30. He received baptism form John of Baptist in the River. The event made him the starting point of public life. According to John, the Gospel writer, Jesus stayed with John the Baptist for a while after the baptisement. Jesus respected him as a teacher. But John was arrested for menacing the society by the Jewish authority. The incident pushed Jesus to launch his own ministry. He came back to his homeland Galilee to spread the teachings. ; - He said, “The right time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Change your hearts and lives and believe the Good News!¡É(Mark 1:15 ) (³¤­…)

1. Josiah¡Çs death and the devastation of Judah
Today is the last session of the trimestrial series of the Books of Kings and the reading passage is 2 Kings 23 of which theme is the death of Josiah. However we had already reflected on the subject so we concentrate today rather on chapter 25 to make a summery of the series.

2 Kings 25 is the last chapter of the Books and it tells how the history moved forward after Josiah¡Çs death. Josiah, the king of Judah, was killed in 609 BC in the middle of a battle against Egypt and his nation was made one of Egyptian satellite nations. Then ; - The people of Judah chose Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and poured olive oil on him to make him king in his father’s place.(2 Kings 23:30) (³¤­…)

1. Josiah¡Çs Reformation and failure
We kept reading the Books of Kings. Last Sunday we learned that Josiah the king of Judah repented after reading ¡Æthe Book of the Agreement¡Ç which was found in the Temple. He understood that, if the people of Judah would still do wrong against God, the country must perish. Therefore he launched the religious reformation. However that attempt collapsed and Judah was destroyed after the death of Josiah. Today we will see more details of Josiah¡Çs movements in order to grasp the notion of the Providence which intervenes into the History. As I mentioned before, what we believe and worship determines our life and the future of the nation. (³¤­…)

1. Finding Deuteronomy and Josiah¡Çs repentance
We keep reading the Book of Kings and previously learned about the reigns of kings of Judah since Manasseh. And we wondered if all humans, like those kings, cannot live out of the stream of fate. Manasseh, the king of Judah, accepted Assyrian religious rites. For that reason, he and considered to be evil. However, when we look back the history, we see that his alternative was inevitable to maintain the country in peace. Facing the expansion of the superpower Assyria, a small and weak nation like Judah had no choice to survive but becoming a satellite state of Assyria. (³¤­…)

1. Kings under vicissitudes of the history
We keep reading the second Kings and today¡Çs given passage is the chapter 22. The portion tells about the last religious reformation in Judah by Josiah. During the reign of Hezekiah, Judah had hardly avoided the Assyrian invasion and maintained the independence. But in the time of Manasseh, a son of Hezekiah, Assyrian military power gat stronger and Judah was made one of its satellite-nations. As a result, Manasseh must introduce again Assyrian religious rites which had been abolished by his father. ; - Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king,… . He did the hateful things the other nations had done—the nations that the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of the Israelites. Manasseh’s father, Hezekiah, had destroyed the places where gods were worshiped, but Manasseh rebuilt them. He built altars for Baal, and he made an Asherah idol as Ahab king of Israel had done. (2 Kings 21:1-4 ) (³¤­…)