Parsha Bereishit – Apostolic Readings, Links, and Videos

Readings

• Genesis 1:1-2:3
  • Mark 2:23-3:6
  • John 1:1-15
  • John 8:39-59
  • Colossians 1:13-23
• Genesis 2:4-3:24
  • Matthew 19:3-6
  • Romans 5
  • 1 Corinthians 15:12-58
  • 1 Timothy 2
  • Revelation 21
• Genesis 4:1-26
  • Romans 6:1-18
  • Hebrews 11:1-6
  • 1 John 3:11-24
• Genesis 5:1-6:8
  • Luke 1:68-79
  • Titus 2:11-15
  • Jude 1:3-23

Additional Reading

• Articles at Soil from Stone
• Articles at American Torah
• Articles at other web sites:
  • Be Fruitful and Multiply! Blessing or Command?
  • To Serve and Protect the Garden

Video Teachings Related to Parsha Bereishit

• Prophetic Significance of Feeding the Four Thousand in Matthew 15:32-39 – Three days, a desolate place, seven loaves, fish, and four thousand families… The elements of this great miracle aren’t arbitrary. It’s a prophecy of the Kingdom of God.
• Get Your Hands Dirty – Adam was created to be a gardener. Dirt is part of who we are in our core, and people will tend to be happier and healthier if they get their hands dirty now and then.
• Proverbs 18:1 – You weren’t meant to be alone – Whether you are a loner, introvert, or extravert, you weren’t created to be alone. You need family and community to be healthy and to fully meet your purpose in the Kingdom of Heaven.
• Genesis 2:1-3 – The Sabbath Predates Creation – Everything God does is planned; everything is in order. He created the world on a timetable with each element created on a specific day for a purpose. God could have made everything in a single instant, yet he designed a process that required seven days. He didn’t reach the end of the sixth day and say to himself, “Whew! I need a break!” The Seventh Day Sabbath (not the first day or the fourth day) was an inherent part of God’s perfect plan from before Creation.
• Marriage and Divorce in Matthew 19:3-9 – God’s Law as given through Moses explicitly allows divorce for sexual immorality, but that right shouldn’t be exercised until all other options have been exhausted. God hates divorce, just like he hates death, but both are still necessary in extreme cases. Yeshua’s main point was this: God instituted marriage. Don’t treat it casually. If you love God, then you will protect and cultivate your marriage.
• Proverbs 31:1-9 and the Burdens of Authority – King Lemuel’s mother warned him against any indulgences in pleasures that might compromise his judgment, specifically women and alcohol. There’s nothing especially wrong with either one, but it’s important to keep everything in it’s proper time and proportion. And the greater your authority, the more disciplined you need to be.
• Sin, Grace, and Law in Romans 5:20-21 – Adam’s sin brought death to all men, and that corruption leads all men to sin, subjecting them to the power of sin and death, which is the power of the Law to condemn. On the other hand, Yeshua’s death enables God’s grace to forgive our sin, releasing us from the Law’s power to condemn, but not from its power to teach us right from wrong.
• Are You under Law or Under Grace? Romans 6:14 – Being “under law” is the same as being under the dominion of sin. If you are an unrepentant sinner, then you are under law. If you have repented of sin and been forgiven, then you are set free from the dominion of sin and are no longer under law. This doesn’t mean that the Law is no longer a guide to righteous behavior as v15 states plainly, but that it no longer has authority to condemn you.
• Romans 8:18-23 and the Resurrection of Creation – Several places in Scripture talk about how Creation longs for the day when God judges the world and everything is restored. Paul and John tell us that Creation won’t just be restored, but will be resurrected and glorified just like us. The end is a mirror image of the beginning, but bigger and better!
• A Little Bitter Makes Your Whole Life Sweeter – People are resilient. They tend to adapt and become accustomed to whatever circumstances life puts them in. Because of this, a life of too much ease creates weak men. If you want to be happy, strong, and able to withstand whatever curve balls come your way, you’re better off seeking out challenges and hardships in measured, controlled doses before truly hard times come and knock you on your backside. A lesson from Proverbs 27:7.
• The Book of the Genesis of Jesus – The Gospel of Matthew begins with a clear reference to Genesis 5, but you can only see it in the Greek. One of the lessons we can derive from these two genealogies is that God knew we would fail from the very beginning and he planned for our redemption, telling us all about it through his interaction with mankind in history.
• Divine Genocide in Joshua 11 – God said, “Thou shall not kill”, but he told Joshua to kill every living person in Canaan. What’s up with that?
• Paul’s Obligation of Service in Romans 1:14 – The world is chaos and our assignment is to bring spiritual order by restoring people to their Creator. When God gives you a task, he necessarily gives you the authority required to carry out that task. Always keep in mind that such authority is never inherent in the person and that it is always given for the benefit of the Kingdom of God and its citizens.