Tithing an Act of Worship

Daughter: WARNING!!!!  Not In Chronological Order! Sorry guys we sort of skipped ahead!
Mother:   WARNING!!!! We are typing this out on my son's Xbox 360.. Yet another of our laptops broke! Not my fault this time. 
There has been some upheavals in our life as of late. We have moved across country and are waiting for God to provide for us a new home, as well as the close of the house in New Mexico.

Mother: I have been thinking a great deal about tithing lately. What it means to us as a family. Why God wants us to tithe.
Dughter: The Bible says that 'God does not want a sacrifice but a broken and contrite heart.' Since we were little you all have always told us that we should give to God. In my opinion tithing is not about sacrifice, it is about thankfully giving to God a portion of what he's given to us to better do his service and glorify Him.

Mother: I think that sacrifice is also part of it though. Today while taking the dogs for a walk I stopped and raised my face to the sun to enjoy it's rays. As I stood there I began to pray. Talking to God about why this has been bothering me so much. One of the things He asked me, and has been asking me for sometime, is "what are my reasons for tithing?" I didn't understand what he was trying to teach me. Today for the first time I think I understood. Is my tithe for him or for man?  I think I have been fooling myself. I have been tithing because it is what is expected of me as a believer. We give back to the Lord what he has given to us. It is what I have always told you kids. Through this experience however, I am beginning to realize it's more than that. Although in some way I knew this, my tithe's have just become automatic. Something we just did. I forget that it is an important aspect of worship, and obedience.  When Abraham willingly sacrificed his son, and God his only son on our behalf, that is sacrifice. When the widow woman in the New Testament (Mark 12: 41-44)gave her all in offering to the Lord.
          "The Widow's Offering."
          41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where offerings were put and watched the crowd
          putting their money into the Temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42
          but a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43
          Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "truly I tell you this poor widow, has put more in the
           treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty,
           put in everything -- All she had to live on."

 That was truly sacrifice. Whenever I write my check for offering it hurts. I think of all the other things I can use that money for. Food, Mortgage, Car payments, Electric bills, Phone bills...and on and on. And on some level it should hurt or it wouldn't be a sacrifice. Yet God loves a cheerful giver and has always given to us more abudndantly than we can ever imagine. Tithing has never interfered with the blessings.

Daughter: Tithing shouldn't be seen as an interference anyways! Tithing is a blessing to us as givers as a form of worship to our God! Though it might have hurt the widow to give, she gave anyways. But not out of duty, this woman gave out of joy! I am sure that God appreciates our gifts more so when we are excited and glad to give. If we are financially hurting and not willing to give then we should not give, for how can we bring Him glory by complaining or giving with a heavy heart?

Mother: Well said. Amen!

Technical Difficulties

Mother: We started our blog with such good intentions! Growing together, researching, and learning,
However, due to unforeseen circumstances this Mother Daughter Duo broke their computer together!

Daughter: First the mouse broke then my mom tried to "fix it" by stabbing the motherboard with a screwdriver... However, I shouldn't get on to her case because if I hadn't broken the mouse she wouldn't have tried to fix it. So I am partially to blame. Though I believe we can all agree that trying to fix a mouse with a screwdriver isn't the best idea.

Mother: Sure, tell the world how I messed up our computer! I was trying to fix it! No worries! We have a new one and I promise not to try to fix it if it breaks! Next time I will pray and fast over the computer and try to "fix" it that way!
We need to get back with the program and continue with our study of the women of the word!

Daughter: Speaking of... Who 's next???

Mother: I believe we are on to Noah's wives and daughters, but it's been such a long time I can't remember! : )  We will spend some time looking into it and write again this week! 

Daughters of Men

Mother: So in preparation for our discussion of "Joan of the Ark" (borrowed from M) or Mrs. Noah, we started with the beginning of  Genesis Chapter 6 which reads:

 Sons of God and Daughters of Men

6 When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives^[a] for themselves. ³ And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain^[b] with^[c] mankind forever, because they are corrupt.^[d] Their days will be 120 years.” ⁴ The Nephilim^[e] were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

  We began to discuss who these men and women were and we decided to discuss this instead of Noah's wife and daughter- in-laws. Though we will cover this topic in our next post. So discussing the origins of these Nephilim... I am of the mindset that these were of the Godly line of Seth and they began to inter-marry with the ungodly line of Cain.

Daughter: I don't know about that mom. If the Nephilim were just the ungodly line of Cain mixed with the godly line of Seth then why not just say that? Why call them Nephilim? The word "Nephilim" is related to the verb series “to fall” in Hebrew, Aswers in Genesis, So wouldn't it make more sense that  they were angels who had fallen??? Something else to take note of is that these Nephilim were also mentioned later in the Bible suggesting that maybe Noah's daughter-in-laws might have also given birth to Nephilim babies since no one, except for those upon the ark, survived the flood.

Numbers 13:33

³³ We even saw the Nephilim^[a] there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.”

Another note on this passage. It says here that the Nephilim were giants. So how then would giants come from a mix of a Godly and ungodly line.

Mother: Okay but what if they were meaning they were amazingly talented, "giants among men"

John Gill's Commentary stated that he believed: " Sons of God" were not angels either good or bad, as many have thought, since they are incorporeal beings, and cannot be affected with fleshly lusts, or marry and be given in marriage, or generate and be generated;

 Which means he believes they couldn't have children or reproduce. If a godly man (or woman) marries outside of the faith it is possible that their offspring might still become men/women of renown yet not be pleasing to God.  I believe that the passage is saying this, Godly men, where led away by the beauty of the women of the ungodly. They became so enamored with the worldly fun that the others were having they gave up following after God. This would explain why there were so few men and women that God could look at and find pleasing. I am not sure about the reason why these men were so tall, or made to seem like giants.  Genetics maybe?

 Daughter: Interesting points, however, that doesn't explain why they were called Nephilim. Personally I think that, since in Numbers 13:33 it explains they were as giants and then earlier in  Genesis 6 it says they were "the powerful men of old, the famous men,", Greek mythology and mythology across the world was based off of these Nephilim. For in all lies there is a sliver of truth. From every fact comes a story. Since these "gods" were rumored to have powers though wouldn't it make sense that maybe just maybe they were born of angels.

Mother: My problem is Angel's are spirit beings, and they do not marry.  Although that isn't saying that fallen Angels don't marry.  It would be interesting to read the book of Enoch and see what he thought.   I think we could go on forever trying to discern this, but what can we take away from the text? What is God trying to teach us by adding this particular passage to His word?

Daughter: I learned that even angels, fallen though they might be, look and lust based upon appearances. It seems that in this time only God looked upon the heart. I also learned how to connect other religions back to the original God. Seems to me that every time we make mistakes something new and worse pops up in the worlds history, and man always makes up some new religion to remove his guilt from not following after the one true God.

Mother: We all seem to be caught up in outward appearances, and as you said God looks on the heart. It seems sinful to me to think that the beautiful Angels that God created could fall in love with mere women. I also notice that even back then parents were raising their children without the fear of the Lord, without honoring Him. I like what Matthew Henry says on this passage regarding the Son's of God:

Family religion is put an end to, and the children are trained up according to the worldly maxims of that parent who is without the fear of God. If we profess to be the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, we must not marry without his consent. He will never give his blessing, if we prefer beauty, wit, wealth, or worldly honours, to faith and holiness. 

So remember to keep your heart in God's precious care. Allow Him to choose the man of faith He has for you.  Honor Him first and He will guide your steps.

So next week we do Noah's wife and daughters?

Daughter: Yep!

It's Not About Eve...

Daughter: Sorry, Eve but however fascinating you are as the "mother of all living" we decided to start with someone less notable. Like the lovely wives of your great-great-great-great-great-grandson Lamech. Adah and Zillah. Not that we couldn't learn much from you it's just we all know you messed up.

Mother: Hmm.  I think we shouldn't judge a person by the one mistake they made in their life. Poor Eve.
Even if she did mess it up for all of us we probably would've done the same.

Daughter: Mom, you digress we're not starting with Eve. Okay, so Lamech is the first man recorded to be polygamous. "Read Passage Below"

¹⁷ Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son. ¹⁸ Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹ Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. ²⁰ Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of the nomadic herdsmen.^{[i] 21} His brother was named Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and the flute. ²² Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.
²³ Lamech said to his wives:

Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words.
For I killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for striking me.
²⁴ If Cain is to be avenged seven times over,
then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times! 

Taken From Bible Gateway

 Mother:  So it didn't take long for man to stray away from God, and from the oringinal mandate for marriage of one man and one woman.The Bible doesn't say much about these women, however, we can research their culture and the meaning of their names to get an idea of what they were like. Also, we know that your character is often shaped by the people around you. They are part of the un-Godly line of Cain which is paralleled in the next chapter with the Godly line of Seth.

Daughter: In the Bible, I've noticed that names have meanings. Take for example,  Jacob, "who was born holding his twin brother Esau's heel. His name is explained as meaning "holder of the heel" or "supplanter". " (Behind The Name) So we can make a conjecture that since Adah's name means pleasure or adornment that she was very beautiful; and that Zillah, who's name means shade, was either a coward, living in Adah's shadow, or that she had dark features, or both. 

Mother:  We have to talk about Cain's line because it will give us a better understanding of who Adah and Zillah were.  In Haley's Bible handbook it says that, "Assuming that Adam and Eve were made full grown, Cain when he killed Abel must have been about 129... Cain's wife must have been his sister..." Cain received a mark or sign to note that none should kill him in retribution for what he did to his brother Abel. Cain's un-Godly city, Enoch, was somewhere East of Eden. If Cain was the father of that city then it follows that evil also followed his line into his city. Enoch would not have been a place that one honored God. His great- great-great-great-grandson followed in his footsteps by murdering someone. Although Cain was probably alive when Lamech made that vow to his wives.

Daughter: See here! In the text (The Bible: Genesis 4:23) it sort of says it was self-defense because Lamech was just defending himself from (probably a family member) a young boy who attacked him. So in this Lamech's actions are no worse than those of war. 

Mother: Maybe that is true as we aren't told all of the circumstances, most of what we know is conjecture. Even my assumptions that Enoch was an ungodly place to live,  but what does all this say about Adah and Zillah.  We know that Adah and Zillah grew up in a place that most likely did not honor God.  Yet they could have. I like how Matthew Henry said, "The worse others are the better we should be, and the more zealous." They were not too displaced from the wicked days of Noah.  Here is what Matthew Henry's Commentary says on this passage:

"One of Cain's wicked race is the first recorded, as having broken the law of marriage. Hitherto, one man had but one wife at a time; but Lamech took two. Wordly things, are the only things that carnal, wicked people set their hearts upon, and are most clever and industrious about. So it was with this race of Cain. Here was a father of shepherds, and a father of musicians, but not a father of the faithful. Here is one to teach about brass and iron, but none to teach the good knowledge of the Lord: here are devices how to be rich, and how to be mighty, and how to be merry; but nothing of God, of his fear and service. Present things fill the heads of most. Lamech had enemies, whom he had provoked. He draws a comparison betwixt himself and his ancestor Cain; and flatters himself that he is much less criminal. He seems to abuse the patience of God in sparing Cain, into an encouragement to expect that he may sin unpunished."

Daughter:  I think that Adah and Zillah weren't horrendous people but they were living in sin apart from God which makes even the best person bad. 

Mother: They must have been good mothers, their children were very accomplished. I wonder at Adah's personality. Was she vain because she was beautiful? Was Zillah jealous? I can't imagine sharing my husband with another woman, especially in my own home.  Being that they are the first to be mentioned as having been the wives of one man, it makes you wonder was that common or uncommon? 

Daughter: To me it seems like cheating on someone with both of their permission. Which is like majorly wrong! I think we can assume that Lamech was the first to have two wives. The Bible would've probably mentioned otherwise. I also think that it is great that their (Adah and Zillah) sons did the things they did but I agree with Mathew Henry that faith should've been more important than the things of the world.

Mother: Good observation. I also believe a godly heritage is more important. So from our study what have we learned?  How do we apply it to where we are today?

Daughter: I'd say that I learned how to use commentaries for mine own benefit. I also learned about God's original intent for marriage. Girl's fight over guys all the time and they're not even "going out". I think that's why God said one man and one woman because He knew all the trouble that would be caused over this in later times. 

Mother: Nice! ~ I learned more from studying the commentaries then I would have thought. I would encourage others to read Matthew Henry's Commentary on the first few chapters of Genesis! Talk about insight! That man truly walked with God! Also Halley's Bible Handbook is a great resource. As far as Adah and Zillah's names it was interesting to find that Adah meant adornment, in today's culture we could probably use the term, "Eye Candy" She was beautiful on the outside, but...

Proverbs 31:30
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD will be praised.

She would have been lovelier still had she been a woman after God's own heart.

Daughter: Beauty today, as well as back then, is very sought after. Girl's can seriously have a hard time thinking that they are beautiful when they are bombarded with tall, skinny, perfect woman whom the media says we should look like in order to be pretty. While some of those natural tall skinny almost perfect women will use their feminine wiles as bait and dangle it front of guys faces, and they also use it as a way to torment girls who have no confidence.

Mother: It is definitely a great reminder to place our self-image aside, and look for our confidence in Christ.

So our next study will be on Noah's wife, and daughters in law.

Creation

Mother: All things have a beginning. The creation of this blog is simply a way to connect a mother and daughter with the women of the bible.

Daughter:  We are looking for women like us... Beautiful yet flawed. All women are beautiful in their uniqueness.  Just as the women in the Bible were. Take Tabitha for example she was old and wrinkly but she was a woman after God's own heart which made her infinitely more precious than the prettiest air-brushed fashion queen. 

Mother: We plan to study these women in the bible, beginning in Genesis, and look at what makes them, if not godly, at least noteworthy in the scriptures. We want to learn from their mistakes, as well as their successes. I know we will be blessed and we pray that anyone who reads this will as well.

Daughter: As a young lady on the verge of becoming a women. I know first and second hand the struggles that girls go through as they fight through daily challenges. A common one I find is the need to be beautiful and putting others down to lift yourself up. Another is the need to find love. Yah, we're teenagers, and although adults sometimes don't understand, love and acceptance really are what were looking for. However, when we don't have someone to guide us, we look to all the wrong people for it.

Mother: So this isn't going to be a blog that is necessarily eloquent, although I hope it may sometimes be insightful. Mostly its a conversation between me and my daughter about women in the bible and what it means to be a woman of faith in a world that seems to have lost theirs.

Both: So join us on our journey, as we look to God's holy word to find courage, love, wisdom, and overall growing closer to our Creator.