Tues.’s Devo - God’s Plan Endures

Read: Genesis 3:1-4:26; Matthew 2:13-3:6; Psalm 2:1-12; Proverbs 1:7-9 The serpent tricked Eve into eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil by telling her it would make her wise like God. Revelation 20:2 identifies the serpent as Satan. Eve turned and gave the fruit to Adam who with full knowledge of the consequences ate the fruit also. *** That evening when God came to visit with them, Adam and Eve hid because they realized immediately after they ate the fruit that they were naked and they were ashamed. When God asked them who told them they were naked they began blaming. Adam blamed Eve who blamed the serpent. *** God cured the serpent to crawl on his belly and grovel in the dust. There would be hostility between the serpent and the offspring of women. Man would strike his head and he would strike man’s heal. *** Woman’s curse would be pain in childbirth. She would desire to rule her husband but he would be over her. *** God cursed the ground so that Adam would have to toil to produce anything but thorns. Man would return to dust when he died. *** God made tunics for Adam and Eve to wear and sent them out of the Garden of Eden lest they ate of the tree of life and stayed in that state forever. God put a cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the way of the tree of life. *** Adam and Eve had two sons who were named Cain and Abel. Abel watched over sheep and Cain tilled the ground that was cursed. They both brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of their labor. Abel brought a firstborn lamb and Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground. God respected Abel’s sacrifice but Cain’s was not respected. Cain was very angry and God warned him not to sin. Sin desired to conquer him but he needed to rule over it. Cain lost that battle and killed his brother Abel. *** God came to Cain and asked him where his brother was. Cain lied and told God he was not his brother’s keeper. God cursed Cain to be a fugitive and vagabond on the earth. He marked Cain so no one would kill him. Cain went and lived in the land of Nod which means “wandering”. *** Later Cain and his wife had a son named Enoch. He built a city in his name. Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad had a son named Mehujael and Mehujael had a son named Methushael. Methushael had a son named Lamech. Lamech had two wives: Adah and Zilch. Adah bore Jabal and Jubal and Zillah bore Tubal-cain and a sister named Naamah. Lamech killed a man in self-defense and feared revenge. *** Meanwhile Adam and Eve had another son named Seth to replace Abel. Seth had a son and named him Enosh. This is when men began to call on the name of the Lord. *** In Matthew, Joseph was warned in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt just in time. Herod realized he had been tricked by the wise men and set out to destroy any boy two years and younger to be sure he was killing the coming king. So sad! *** When Herod had died, God gave Joseph another dream that it was safe to come back. He ended up staying in Nazareth just like the prophets foretold. *** Years later, John the Baptist began preaching in the wilderness of Judea. He preached for the people to repent for the kingdom of heaven was at hand. He was the voice Isaiah had prophesied would cry from the wilderness. He would prepare the way for the Lord. People from Jerusalem, Judea and the region around the Jordan went to hear what he had to say. *** Man cannot mess up God’s plan for the world. Adam and Eve messed it up. Cain tried to kill it. Herod tried to kill it. But, God always makes a way. God covered Adam and Eve’s sin with a sacrifice of animals. He took the skins of the animals and covered their nakedness. God gave Seth as a replacement for Abel and gave Joseph a dream to save Jesus from Herod. We have nothing to fear! *** Lord, thank you for your loving kindness on your off-spring. Thank you that you save us from death, hell and ourselves. You cover us with your righteousness and give us eternal life. Hallelujah!