Fear, Blood, and Two Kings

In genesis 9-11 I was reading about the instructions God gave Noah as he left the ark and the events that took place afterwards. I noticed that this is the first time where it states that animals will now fear man and will never have the kind of relationship they had before the flood. Why? What was it like before the flood? God in his wisdom knew that to get all the animals on the ark that there had to be no fear between man and the animals. How amazing is that. Can you imagine the pets people could have had. I wonder if you could just pet a lion or an alligator and not be afraid of the repercussions. What about bees? I hate bees. They turn me into a running, blubbering fool. Did they sting people before the flood? Something to ponder. One of those things that I want to find out when i get to heaven.
I also noted another change. When Cain and Lamech killed a man they were sent to wander and punished but were allowed to live. After the flood it changed. The whole idea of shedding blood became important. Now if you killed someone your life was to be forfeited. I think this was meant to be a foreshadowing of Christ and how important the shedding of his blood was. There had to be a blood sacrifice.
In Acts today I found the comparison of David and Jesus interesting. Peter points out that David, even as mighty as he was, dies and was buried. He is still in that tomb today. Jesus, on the other hand, died and was buried too, but that is where the similarities end. Jesus broke the bonds of hell and was resurrected. Not only that but he ascended up to heaven where he is sitting at the right hand of the father still today. David's rule ended with his physical death. For Christ, his death was just the beginning. How amazing is that.
I also noticed in this chapter about the new church that emerged after Pentecost. It said there were 3000 added that day. That fact in and of itself is amazing. What they did after they were saved is the interesting part. It says that they
Were taught
Fellowshipped together
Broke bread together
Prayed together
Sold possessions
Distributed the proceeds
Praised God together
Does that sound like the typical American church? I don't think so. I spent so many years in a church where the mentality was "What can the church do for me?" The idea of most people in churches today is " Entertain me." That is so not like what the people in Acts were like. They met together to encourage one another to go out an make disciples. Their mission was not feed me but who is hungry and needs meat. They saw needs and met them. They were others focused. Not so today. I am slowly moving away from all I grew up with to a new reality that it is not all about me. I am asking God each day to give me a more compassionate heart. A heart that seeks out the needs of others. After 39 years it is a hard transition but God is slowly working in my heart to change it. I just need to be patient.

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