Gleanings for January 31

God’s Mercy and Grace

Genesis 3: 20 & 21 Berkeley Modern Language Translation: “The man named his wife Eve because she became the mother of every living person. And the Lord God made robes of skins for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”

An interesting footnote in the Berkeley Bible says: “Eve means LIFE. The early languages were not Hebrew, but as thoughts were conveyed from one tongue to another, so were names adjusted to carry their original meaning, either by altering the proper nouns or by adopting them with their original meaning into the Hebrew vocabulary.”

Genesis 3: 22 – 24: “The Lord God said, obviously in knowing good and evil man has become like one of Us. Now then, he might reach out his hand to pluck and eat from the tree of life so as to live forever.

“So the Lord God expelled them from the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the soil from which he had been taken. God placed cherubim east of the Eden garden, with flaming sword turning in every direction to guard the path to the tree of life.”

At first thought, one might say that God was harsh in sending Adam and Eve out of the Garden; however, consider this: If everything had continued to live FOREVER in the condition sin had produced, what chaos would be the result? One can see the mercy and grace of God already very much in evidence as He kept them away from the tree which would have meant living forever in a miserable state..

Strong’s Concordance gives this explanation of “forever”: “Eternity, the ages, infinity, the universe, the world. “Forever” refers to that infinite and everlasting expanse God has created. It is both an unending expanse of space (universe) and time (eternity), indicating the limitless dimensions in which God’s sovereignty is displayed.

“The word sometimes refers to the remotely distant past (Psalm 93: 2) and sometimes to the remotely distant future (Jeremiah 25:5). God is called ‘El Olam, “the Everlasting God”. As God is eternal, so is His mercy; that is “unto the forever.”

The message for you to concentrate on today is: God’s MERCY and GRACE. Here are some scriptures to begin with as you meditate on His Goodness to us:

Psalm 136: l, 4, and 5: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” “To Him who alone does great wonders, for His mercy endures forever!” “To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, for His mercy endures FOREVER!” (The whole Psalm continues to give thanks for His mercy.)

Ephesians 2: 8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Romans 5: 14b & 15 b: “Adam who is a type of Him who was to come…the grace of the ONE MAN, Jesus Christ, abounded to many!”

Look up more verses on your own—you will be blessed as you do—it will help you to know

THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!!