Exodus 20:7 -- Do Not Misuse the Name of the Lord

Exodus 20:7 Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name.

We should not use the name of the Lord in a way that would bring dishonor to him.  We should not use his name unless we are addressing Him or telling someone about Him.  Passages in the Old Testament tells us to take our oaths in Him name.  

The Bible is filled with references telling the people to not misuse God's name, here are a few.

Leviticus 18:21 “You are not to make any of your children pass through the fire to Molech. Do not profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh."

Leviticus 19:12 You must not swear falsely by My name, profaning the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

These two verses are straight forward.  Do not profane the name of God.

Deuteronomy 18:19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to My words that he speaks in My name.20 But the prophet who dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet must die.’

Here, a punishment is given for those who profane or misuse the name of God, he must die.

Psalm 74:10 God, how long will the enemy mock?
Will the foe insult Your name forever?
11 Why do You hold back Your hand?
Stretch out Your right hand and destroy them!

The Psalmist is pleading with God to destroy those who insult the name of the Lord.

Proverbs 30:8 Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.
Give me neither poverty nor wealth;
feed me with the food I need.
9 Otherwise, I might have too much
and deny You, saying, “Who is the Lord?”
or I might have nothing and steal,
profaning the name of my God.

Here in Proverbs it suggest that having plenty or too little could cause someone to profane the name of God.  Having just what one needs can help keep one from doing so.

Ezekiel 20:39 “As for you, house of Israel, this is what the Lord God says: Go and serve your idols, each of you. But afterward you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.

Ezekiel is telling Israel that they are defiling the name of God by serving idols.  By rejecting God and raising our lives to another god profanes God's name because we are not seeing Him for being the Holy God he truly is.

Ezekiel 36:21 Then I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went.
22 “Therefore, say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I will honor the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am Yahweh”—the declaration of the Lord God—“when I demonstrate My holiness through you in their sight. 

Romans 2:23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

These two verses show that the name of God is defiled when those who proclaim His name do not act as though they follow God.  They confess with their lips but their actions are completely different.  Thus, those who see them out in the world get the wrong view of God, this His name is profaned.

1 Timothy 6:1 All who are under the yoke as slaves must regard their own masters to be worthy of all respect, so that God’s name and His teaching will not be blasphemed.

If you are subjected to following the rules or under the authority of another individual, no matter who they are, or how they act, you must show them respect so that your witness in Christ may be protected and that you will blaspheme the name of God.

Revelation 16:8 The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun. He was given the power to burn people with fire, 9 and people were burned by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God, who had the power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give Him glory.

The people here experienced something horrible.  Instead of turning to God and repenting or even acknowledging the power of God to remove these horrible plagues, the people grumbled and complained that they were being burned.  Grumbling and complaining against God is another way to blaspheme His name.

There are many ways we can defile the name of our God.  It is more than spewing out a profanity.  It is a way of life.  If we have idols, if we grumble and complain against Him, if our actions do not match our speech concerning Him, if we deliberately sin, we are guilty of profaning the name of God.  God is all about His glory.  His name must be praised and exalted.  We must strive to do this every day by praising him and turning from our sins.

Exodus 9:13-35 -- Hail Falls from the Sky

Exodus 9:13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh. Tell him: This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. 14 Otherwise, I am going to send all My plagues against you, your officials, and your people. Then you will know there is no one like Me in all the earth.15 By now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been obliterated from the earth. 16 However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you My power and to make My name known in all the earth. 17 You are still acting arrogantly against My people by not letting them go. 18 Tomorrow at this time I will rain down the worst hail that has ever occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19 Therefore give orders to bring your livestock and all that you have in the field into shelters. Every person and animal that is in the field and not brought inside will die when the hail falls on them.”

As I read this, I think of how Moses was being obedient to the Lord's commands.  Early on, he had a lot of objections to this plan, especially telling God he was not qualified to do the work, but now, Moses does everything the Lord tells him to.  Another thing that struck me was that the Lord gave them a way out of this plague.  He said if the bring their people and animals inside, then they would be spared.  He said that anything or anyone left outside would be destroyed,

Exodus 9:20 Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the Lord made their servants and livestock flee to shelters, 21 but those who didn’t take the Lord’s word seriously left their servants and livestock in the field.

 After all that the Lord had shown the Egyptians through Moses and his plagues, there were some who still did not believe in the Lord's power.  They were obstinate and left their livestock and servants outside.

Exodus 9:22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven and let there be hail throughout the land of Egypt—on man and beast and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt.” 23 So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail. Lightning struck the earth, and the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 The hail, with lightning flashing through it, was so severe that nothing like it had occurred in the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. 25 Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast. The hail beat down every plant of the field and shattered every tree in the field. 26 The only place it didn’t hail was in the land of Goshen where the Israelites were.

God destroyed everything.  Man.  Beast.  Plants.  All the crops that had not been gathered was destroyed.  All the animals that had not been put to shelter were killed.  Every man who stayed outside lost their life.  The land of Israel was spared.

Exodus 9:27 Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned this time,” he said to them. “Yahweh is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the guilty ones. 28 Make an appeal to Yahweh. There has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t need to stay any longer.”
29 Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will extend my hands to Yahweh. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know the earth belongs to Yahweh. 30 But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear Yahweh our God.”

Moses knew that Pharaoh and the officials did not fear God.  They still held beliefs in their own gods even though our Lord showed his complete power over the gods of Egypt.

Exodus 9:31 The flax and the barley were destroyed because the barley was ripe and the flax was budding, 32 but the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed since they are later crops.

Here we see some mercy from the Lord in this plague.  Yes, the crops that were already planted and near to harvest were destroyed and the Egyptians had to suffer temporarily from lack of grains, they did have the harvest of wheat and spelt to look forward to.  It was not God's intent to utterly destroy the Egyptians, just to brake them enough to recognize his power and authority over all functions of the earth.

Exodus 9:33 Moses went out from Pharaoh and the city, and extended his hands to the Lord. Then the thunder and hail ceased, and rain no longer poured down on the land. 34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his officials. 35 So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he did not let the Israelites go, as the Lord had said through Moses.

I know Moses was not surprised at this reaction.  He knew that Pharaoh and his officials did not fear God properly. They wanted their comfort back.  They wanted to rebuild what was lost, but they did not want to acknowledge God and what he had done.   Once things were back to normal, Pharaoh and his officials recanted what had previously been said,

There are other times in the Bible when the Lord uses hail as a judgment on wicked and evil people.

Joshua 10:6 Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Don’t abandon your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, for all the Amorite kings living in the hill country have joined forces against us.” 7 So Joshua and his whole military force, including all the fighting men, came from Gilgal.
8 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to stand against you.”
9 So Joshua caught them by surprise, after marching all night from Gilgal. 10 The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel. He defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them through the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As they fled before Israel, the Lord threw large hailstones on them from the sky along the descent of Beth-horon all the way to Azekah, and they died. More of them died from the hail than the Israelites killed with the sword.

Here, the Lord handed over the enemy of Joshua to his army.  They defeated them and as the defeated army fled, the Lord rained hail down on them, taking out more men that the Israelite army did.

Psalm 48:47 He killed their vines with hail
and their sycamore fig trees with a flood.
48 He handed over their livestock to hail
and their cattle to lightning bolts.

Here, Psalm is talking about the punishment God gave to Israel during their disobedience while they wandered through the desert.

Revelation 16:21 Enormous hailstones, each weighing about 100 pounds, fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.

At the end times, a hail storm will come and devastate everything.  People will curse God because of the hail instead of recognizing his power and authority.

As you see from these examples, hail is used as a judgment from God in the Bible.  God uses hail to show his power and might over many parts of nature.  Weather.  Life and Death.  Food.  Comfort.  And so much more.  God is all powerful and the righteous judge.  He brings the hail down on wicked people to they can see his power and might.  So they can know he is the one true, all powerful God.

Exodus 8:20-32 -- The Fourth Plague

Exodus 8:20 The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh when you see him going out to the water. Tell him: This is what Yahweh says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. 21 But if you will not let My people go, then I will send swarms of flies against you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians’ houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live. 22 But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, Yahweh, am in the land. 23 I will make a distinction between My people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.”

This is the first plague that the Israelites did not have to endure.  The Lord is showing Egypt who he favors and who he is punishing by where they flies will be residing.

Exodus 8:24 And the Lord did this. Thick swarms of flies went into Pharaoh’s palace and his officials’ houses. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies. 25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go sacrifice to your God within the country.”

Here Pharaoh is attempting to compromise with God.  You can go sacrifice, but you must do it here.  You cannot leave to sacrifice.

Exodus 8:26 But Moses said, “It would not be right to do that, because what we will sacrifice to the Lord our God is detestable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what the Egyptians detest in front of them, won’t they stone us? 27 We must go a distance of three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He instructs us.”
28 Pharaoh responded, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but don’t go very far. Make an appeal for me.”

Ok, you can go out of the country, but don't go far... Again trying to compromise.  Pharaoh even asks Moses to appeal to God to remove the flies.  Pharaoh recognizes the power of God but refuses to obey him completely.

Exodus 8:29 “As soon as I leave you,” Moses said, “I will appeal to the Lord, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceptively again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the Lord.” 30 Then Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the Lord. 31 The Lord did as Moses had said: He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people; not one was left. 32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go.

Again, the discomfort was removed and Pharaoh again became comfortable and refused to let them go.  This is twice now he said they could go and then backed out.

I read a commentary that said the swarm of insects, though most probably a flying insect, could be any number of insects that swarm.   They state that the Hebrew used is simply the word swarm, and no specific species of insect is given.

So, if Exodus does not mention exactly what insect, can we know what kind it really was?  Psalms gives us a clue

Psalms 78:45
He sent among them swarms of flies,which fed on them,

Remember the Hebrew probably did not include "of flies," but in this verse we learn that the swarm fed on them, which means they were biting insects which probably drank blood, like biting flies or mosquitoes.  Though we cannot know for sure exactly what insects swarmed the Egyptians, we do know the result.  They devastated the land.  The people of Egypt were probably so weary of all the biting and swarming that they had little rest and were not able to perform their labors as they once could.  The insects would have been everywhere: on and in their cloths, in their food, in their water... everywhere you can think of their would have been these insects.  We have no idea how long it took Pharaoh to summon Moses after the swarms appeared, so there is no telling how long the people suffered before Pharaoh made his petition.

Genesis 12:1-9 -- Calling on the name of the Lord

Ok, so you may have noticed that I did not post anything yesterday.  I did not do my reading, I must admit.  I spent the whole morning at church though, doing a 5K run/walk to help support missions.  I walked.  I could not run the whole course!  Especially those hills!  Anywho, we had a blast!  Now on to chapter 12.

Genesis 12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

God gave Abram a promise.  I will bless you and make you a great nation.  That great nation was to be Israel.  This passage also points to Christ.  "and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."  Through Abram would come the Christ.  Jesus was Abram's descendant.

Genesis 12:4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Abram, like Noah, did as the Lord told him.

Genesis 12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

God gave Abram another promise here.  His descendants would get control of the Land of Canaan.  This promise is fulfilled upon Moses's death when Joshua takes the people into the "Promised Land" of Canaan.

Genesis 12:8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

Abram called on the name of the Lord.  What did this mean for Abram?  I've gotten curious about digging into this section and knowing what it really means.  I understand the meaning in the New Testament but in the Old Testament  I've always thought of it as worship.

In the New Testament, we read:

Romans 10:13 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Now, most of the time this verse is taken out of context and people want to say all I have to do is say a prayer and call on his name and I will go to heaven.  Well, it isn't that easy.

This verse must be put in context:

Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

The "Everyone" here seems to indicate that Paul was stating that any person can be saved, no matter is he is Jew or Gentile.  However he goes on to say you cannot just merely pray and be saved.  This verse says you must also hear the gospel and BELIEVE it.   If you do not believe it, then you are not saved.

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

Here in Corinthians, we see that those who call on the name of the Lord are members of the church, those who are sanctified in Jesus.   You must be saved in order to call on his name.  But you may think, but Paul said in Romans you must call to be saved.  Not so.  You are called by God.  No one is saved on their own.  God must call them first and then they will call on him.  You will not call on God of your own accord.  God much choose you first.  Now God can choose anyone he wants.  That means anyone can "call on the name of the Lord" as long and God calls him first:

Romans 9:14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.

So, simply saying a prayer cannot save you.  God must first call you and then you can call on God.

Now all this does not address how "calling on the name of the Lord" is used in the Old Testament.  So far we've seen Noah and Abram both call on the name of the Lord.  What does this mean?  I mentioned before that I have always seen this as an act of worship.  Merely praising God.  My husband led me to this passage in Psalms to help me further understand the meaning.

Psalms 145:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all he does.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.

Here David called on the name of the Lord in praise.  He also shows how calling on the name of the Lord seeking the Lord to provide nourishment and protection.

Well, my time is up for the little one is up from her nap and is calling on my name for her nourishment!

Genesis 8 -- Ending the Flood

Genesis 8:1 God remembered Noah, as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water began to subside.2 The sources of the watery depths and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky stopped. 3 The water steadily receded from the earth, and by the end of 150 days the waters had decreased significantly. 4 The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.
5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible. 6 After 40 days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, 7 and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down, 9 but the dove found no resting place for her foot. She returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought her into the ark to himself. 10 So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again. 11 When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth’s surface had gone down. 12 After he had waited another seven days, he sent out the dove, but she did not return to him again. 13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry.

So for nearly a year, the earth was drying from the flood.  To have that much water on the earth, it would take a long time to dry up.

Genesis 8:15 Then God spoke to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the ground—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out. 19 All wildlife, all livestock, every bird, and every creature that crawls on the earth came out of the ark by their groups.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, He said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.
22 As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, and day and night
will not cease.”

Finally, Noah and the animals could leave the ark.  How would you like to be stuck in a boat for a year with smelly animals, not able to go out and walk along the ground.  I would rejoice when I could get outside, away from all those animals!  Noah, in his thankfulness for coming through the flood, offered sacrifices to the Lord.  The Lord then promised never again curse the ground because of what man does.  God knows were are sinners by birth.

Some people believe that people are inherently good, but this is not so.  Look at babies.  If you put one toy between two infants, one of two things will happen.  They will fight over it or one will take it leaving the other with nothing.  Children are selfish.  They did not have to be taught that.  We do not have to be taught to sin.  We have to struggle NOT to sin!

⁵ 

Psalm 51:5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.   

Psalm says we were sinners when we were conceived.  Not merely when we were born, but before our mothers even knew they were pregnant with us, we were sinful.   This is why we need Christ.  We were conceived sinners, we were born sinners and we live as sinners until Christ redeems us!

Genesis 7 -- The Flood Happened!

Genesis 7:1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation. 2 You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the clean animals, and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female, 3 and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky—in order to keep offspring alive on the face of the whole earth. 4 Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe off from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.” 5 And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him.

I notice a consistent theme here in reading about Noah.  He "did everything that the Lord commanded him." He alone was righteous, which is why God decided to spare he and his family from the destruction that was about to come upon the earth.  Noah was faithful to God in that he trusted everything God had told him.  He obeyed God's commands and did not question what the Lord was doing.  We also, should do everything God commands of us.  We should be faithful, like Noah, to follow through with what the Lord commands us to do.

Genesis 7:6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and water covered the earth. 7 So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the waters of the flood.8 From the clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and every creature that crawls on the ground, 9 two of each, male and female, entered the ark with Noah, just as God had commanded him. 10 Seven days later the waters of the flood came on the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the watery depths burst open, the floodgates of the sky were opened, 12 and the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. 13 On that same day Noah along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s wife, and his three sons’ wives entered the ark with him. 14 They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, all birds, every fowl, and everything with wings according to their kinds. 15 Two of all flesh that has the breath of life in it entered the ark with Noah. 16 Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.
17 The flood continued for 40 days on the earth; the waters increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth. 18 The waters surged and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 Then the waters surged even higher on the earth, and all the high mountains under the whole sky were covered. 20 The mountains were covered as the waters surged above them more than 20 feet. 21 Every creature perished—those that crawl on the earth, birds, livestock, wildlife, and those that swarm on the earth, as well as all mankind. 22 Everything with the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils—everything on dry land died. 23 He wiped out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters surged on the earth 150 days.

Through the flood, God destroyed everything that was not on the ark.  Every creature that walked along the face of the earth and all birds of the air.   Many people try to say that the flood could not have possibly cover the whole earth and cover all the mountains in 20 feet of water.  Why not?  Why couldn't God have done that?  Many cultures have a story of a great flood and how people repopulated the earth.  To say it was localized to Noah's region does not account for all the stories other cultures tell.  Now, I believe the Bible portrays the accurate version of events.  The others, though having some truth, are not completely accurate.  Everyone likes to use the game telephone to describe this.  The Bible tells the true story, but others heard the story passed down from generation to generation, and the story slightly changes or parts are exaggerated and then myths are formed.  Now, you may say, "what a minute, wasn't the story in the Bible passed down from generation to generation, so it would have mistakes too, right?"  No!  And here is why:  The Bible is the inspired word of God.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

ALL scripture is inspired by God.  God does not lie!  He always tells the truth.

John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on My own, but He sent Me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to My word. 44 You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Who among you can convict Me of sin? If I tell the truth, why don’t you believe Me? 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”

John records Jesus's words here saying that the Devil is the father of all liars.  Jesus says he speaks the truth!   Paul also plainly states that God cannot lie:

Titus 1:1 Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to build up the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

Since God does not lie and all scripture is inspired by God, then all scripture is true.

Psalm 119:The entirety of Your word is truth,
and all Your righteous judgments endure forever.

Since all scripture is true, we must obey what it says.  By faith, we believe that the words are true, as the Bible describes.  Like Noah, we must do "everything that the Lord commanded" us.

Genesis 1:1 -- For HIS Glory

So, yesterday I left off with a question, why?  Why did God create the heavens and the earth?  I'm going to take this question one step further and ask why did God create all things?  The simple answer is that all of creation is here to glorify God.  Everything created is to glorify God.  God is all about bringing glory to himself.  He is God and he is worthy of all glory, honor and praise.

Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

The heavens testify to God's glory!  I know I have looked up at the sky many days and thought, "My God, this is a beautiful sunset (or sunrise)." or "The clouds are so beautiful!"  Those scenes then inspire me to thank God for all he has created and for allowing me to see his beautiful work.  How much more beautiful will the earth be when it is made new!

Revelation 4:9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

Our God is worthy of all glory, honor and power simply because he created all things!  He did not have to do anything else for us.  He created us, and as our creator he is worthy of our praise.

Isaiah 43:6
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

I am only going to focus on verse 7, but included verse six simply so I could have the whole sentence.  Here we see God say he created man for his glory.  We are here to glorify Him.  In all we do, say, think, etc., we are to bring him glory.

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

So, today as I go about my daily rituals in caring for my family, I will endeavor to do it all for the glory of God.  Everything I have is by the grace of God.  Even though there are some days I wish I could just hid and stay under the covers all day and not deal with anything, I still need to be thankful for what God has given, even if I do not know how it will turn out or even if I do not personally enjoy what is happening.  I need to remember that the dirty clothes are a blessing. I have them because I have a family and we have cloths we can wear.  I need to be thankful for the dirty dishes because I know we have food to eat.  I am thankful for poopy diapers because I know my daughter's body is functioning properly.  There are many things I do not enjoy about this life (like laundry, dishes, diapers... etc) but I know they are there as a result of a blessing from God.   If I had no laundry, I'd be naked and cold.  If I had do dishes to clean, I'd be hungry.  If I had no poops to change, I'd have no children.

Genesis 1:1 -- In the beginning...

In an effort to do my daily readings and actually meditate on the Word of God, I am going to type out my thoughts and feelings upon my readings each day.  I do not know about all of you out there, but I know for me, I have a hard time committing to reading everyday, or even thinking about doing it.  I know I need some sort of accountability!

Now where to start!  I think the best place to begin is in the beginning, with Genesis.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

After reading just the one verse, I think to myself, where else does the Bible use the phrase "In the beginning?"  I know right of hand that it is used in John 1:1, which reads:

John 1.1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2.  He was with God in the beginning.

I know from Bible studies and sermons that John is talking about Jesus in these verses.  "In the beginning was the Word:"  Jesus has always been.  "The Word was with God:" Jesus has always been with God, from the beginning.  "The Word was God:" Jesus and God are one.   The fact the verse 2 repeats "He was with God in the beginning" shows how important it is to know that God and Jesus have always been.

A second reference is in Psalms:

Psalm 102:25 

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.

This verse is also repeated in Hebrews 1:10.  They both show the importance of knowing God is the creator.  None of this just happened!  The earth is not an accident.  It was all planned and designed by God.

Ok, now going back to Genesis 1.   When is the beginning?  Well, the beginning is the start of time.  God has always existed.  He exist inside and outside of time.  That is how he can be everywhere at all times.  We cannot fathom what it is like to be outside of time, since time is all we know.

"God created the heavens and the earth."  Yes he did!  God created the earth and everything in it (as we read later).  This leads me to another question... Why?  Why did God create the heavens and the earth?  What was the purpose.  He did not have to.  He was complete by himself, so why was the heavens and the earth created?  I will have to tackle this tomorrow... they little one is calling me!