Daily Power-up: Genesis 3:17-19
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
Personal Reflection: Adam
On the very last day of the month, I want to turn your thoughts towards Adam, the very first human father. I’ll admit that this is the first time I’ve really dwelt on the experience of Adam as a father, and the more I think about it the more I realize what a treasure trove of insight there is to be had here. I’ve had to choose just a bit of it to focus on.
When Dennis and I were pregnant with our first child, I remember our doula saying that one of her favorite parts of birth was seeing men become dads. Yes, a man is technically a father to a child in the womb, but there is really nothing like that moment when he first SEES that baby with his own eyes and steps fully into that fatherly role.
I remember being in awe of how easily and naturally Dennis stepped into fatherhood, taking care of our newborn baby with confidence and such love. Our husbands and fathers have at least had the benefit of seeing other fathers with their children, and they know how the process of procreation and birth occurs, but Adam…. Adam had literally never seen a baby before! He may have intellectually known what was happening, but can anything really prepare you for seeing your own sweet offspring arrive fragile and innocent into this world? I wonder if Adam felt even more strongly in that moment the weight of his choice of sin?
When I think of the kind of father Adam must have been, I think about my own dad. We know that Adam worked the land. He kind of had to in order to feed himself and his family, but there is definitely a joy to be had in tilling the soil and planting crops, as anyone with a green thumb will tell you. That joy has trickled down through the millennia to my own father, whose love of plants and gardening has always been a big part of his life and, by proxy, mine. I know there were times in my childhood when, on a pastor’s income, we sacrificed by eating simple meals, but to me they seemed rich because they consisted of colorful (yes, colorful) potatoes from my dad’s garden, crisp green beans and carrots, fresh juicy tomatoes, three different varieties of raspberries, and so on. When I picked the very first of our sugar snap pea crop from our garden this morning and brought the fat pods in to my children, I thought of my dad and his garden. I could also imagine all of the joy Adam must have felt when his hard work in his garden brought forth fruits and vegetables to nourish his chubby toddlers and strengthen his growing teenagers. He passed on that gardener’s soul to Cain as my dad passed it on to me.
The relationship between a father and his children is so significant that God uses it to show us how much He loves us. Adam must have had a pretty profound aha moment when he felt that surge of love for his children and then realized what God was saying when He talked of sending His Son to pay the price for Adam’s sins. The agonizing pain over later losing Abel undoubtedly brought him greater understanding as well, but I like to imagine that, amidst the sorrow that sin had brought Adam and his family, new fatherhood was an incredible source of joy as well as reassurance that God’s love was still just as powerful as it had been in the Garden of Eden.
I look forward to hearing Adam’s stories someday when we’re all in that beautifully remade Eden and God’s kingdom on earth has been restored, and I’m thankful for the reminder in Adam’s story of the intense joy that God has given our earthly fathers to intertwine with the labor of working the land and the sometimes heartbreaking role of fatherhood.
Lydia Dukaric
has been richly blessed with a loving father, a wonderful father-in-law, and an amazing man to father her three children with. She's thankful most of all for her heavenly Father and His unconditional love.
Bible in a Year: Obadiah 1, Psalms 82-83
This Bible reading plan explores The Word based on the chronological order in which it was written, and is unrelated to the daily character devotions.
The Word of Promise audio Bible is used by permission. For more information and to purchase the complete audio Bible go to https://www.wordofpromiseapp.com/.
The Bible Project is a non-profit animation studio committed to helping people better understand the story of the Bible. Sometimes they say things we don’t completely endorse, but we love what they’re doing.
Learn more at https://thebibleproject.com/about/.
Obadiah 1
The Coming Judgment on Edom
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom
(We have heard a report from the Lord,
And a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying,
“Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle”):
2 “Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
You shall be greatly despised.
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,
You who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
Whose habitation is high;
You who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’
4 Though you ascend as high as the eagle,
And though you set your nest among the stars,
From there I will bring you down,” says the Lord.
5 “If thieves had come to you,
If robbers by night—
Oh, how you will be cut off!—
Would they not have stolen till they had enough?
If grape-gatherers had come to you,
Would they not have left some gleanings?
6 “Oh, how Esau shall be searched out!
How his hidden treasures shall be sought after!
7 All the men in your confederacy
Shall force you to the border;
The men at peace with you
Shall deceive you and prevail against you.
Those who eat your bread shall lay a trap for you.
No one is aware of it.
8 “Will I not in that day,” says the Lord,
“Even destroy the wise men from Edom,
And understanding from the mountains of Esau?
9 Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed,
To the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau
May be cut off by slaughter.
Edom Mistreated His Brother
10 “For violence against your brother Jacob,
Shame shall cover you,
And you shall be cut off forever.
11 In the day that you stood on the other side—
In the day that strangers carried captive his forces,
When foreigners entered his gates
And cast lots for Jerusalem—
Even you were as one of them.
12 “But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother
In the day of his captivity;
Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah
In the day of their destruction;
Nor should you have spoken proudly
In the day of distress.
13 You should not have entered the gate of My people
In the day of their calamity.
Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction
In the day of their calamity,
Nor laid hands on their substance
In the day of their calamity.
14 You should not have stood at the crossroads
To cut off those among them who escaped;
Nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained
In the day of distress.
15 “For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near;
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.
16 For as you drank on My holy mountain,
So shall all the nations drink continually;
Yes, they shall drink, and swallow,
And they shall be as though they had never been.
Israel’s Final Triumph
17 “But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance,
And there shall be holiness;
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau shall be stubble;
They shall kindle them and devour them,
And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”
For the Lord has spoken.
19 The South shall possess the mountains of Esau,
And the Lowland shall possess Philistia.
They shall possess the fields of Ephraim
And the fields of Samaria.
Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel
Shall possess the land of the Canaanites
As far as Zarephath.
The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
Shall possess the cities of the South.
21 Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion
To judge the mountains of Esau,
And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
Psalm 82
A Plea for Justice
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 God stands in the congregation of the mighty;
He judges among the gods.
2 How long will you judge unjustly,
And show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.
5 They do not know, nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are unstable.
6 I said, “You are gods,
And all of you are children of the Most High.
7 But you shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
For You shall inherit all nations.
Psalm 83
Prayer to Frustrate Conspiracy Against Israel
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Do not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!
2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;
And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation,
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
5 For they have consulted together with one consent;
They form a confederacy against You:
6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot. Selah
9 Deal with them as with Midian,
As with Sisera,
As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
10 Who perished at En Dor,
Who became as refuse on the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb,
Yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who said, “Let us take for ourselves
The pastures of God for a possession.”
13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust,
Like the chaff before the wind!
14 As the fire burns the woods,
And as the flame sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with Your tempest,
And frighten them with Your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame,
That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be confounded and dismayed forever;
Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
18 That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord,
Are the Most High over all the earth.