If you watched the link I put in yesterday’s blog, you would have heard Grant say how many people’s goals to read through the Bible get scuppered when they hit Leviticus. The first 9 chapters aren’t so hard to read. They’re not scintillating reading, but at least they can be related to my understanding of Jesus as the perfect sacrifice, and we can learn many nuggets about the price of sin, and the nature of God from them.
Today’s reading starts with somewhat shocking account of the son’s of Aaron, priests, overstepping themselves in the performance of their duties, and paying for it with their lives. Clearly, the Lord was setting a precedent – He wanted to make sure that the priests did not abuse their positions, and that the fear and respect that they had for the Lord in the performance of their duties was maintained.
And then…
Chapter 11 begins the section where I think that the well intentioned Bible reader might lose the will to continue. Even listening to it on the way to work this morning, I was hard pressed to find anything I could relate to or specifically apply to my life or situation.
Their are laws for eating and laws about skin diseases, and the treatment of mold, laws about sex, pregnancy, prostitution, money, worship, and just about everything else a worshiping community needs to live and worship together.
I was reminded of something I learned from a medical doctor on my Discipleship Training School in Youth With A Mission. He said that if the tribes in rural Africa followed just the laws found in Leviticus, they would eliminate most of the diseases and poor hygiene conditions found there. That’s encouraging, and I guess the Jews were in a similarly rural environment, hence the laws.
There was one thing that caught my attention and made me laugh out loud:
“A man who has lost his hair and is bald is clean. 41 If he has lost his hair from the front of his scalp and has a bald forehead, he is clean.” (13:14)
Whew! I’m ok then!
What’s the point of all these laws then? God is setting up a community of people to live together and to worship together. The laws are all designed to help the community flourish in their relationships with each other, and in their relationships with God. Although many of them don’t have a specific relevance to my life, they point to the same thing…
My Take Away
God desires relationship with his people! All these laws were designed to draw the people closer to God, and to provide a way for a fallen, sinful nation to live together as a community of God’s people in relationship with Him. Although we don’t have the same system of relating to God as they did, His desire is for us to walk closely in fellowship with Him.
Today, I will spend conscious time listening to the Lord to hear whats on his heart for me.
The theme of today’s reading (offerings and sacrifices) is still very fresh in my mind from a recent series we had in our Sunday morning services at church.
I’m very tired tonight (I went straight from work to a 3.5 hour marriage evening at our church – which was good, but I am now ready for a bath and my bed!) so instead of blogging my thoughts, if anyone is reading this, I can highly recommend the sermons we had in church about these chapters – here is the link to the first in the series. The rest will auto-play afterwards.
Forward to about the 3 minute mark if you want to skip over the church announcements =)
My first memory of going to church in England is of attending a midnight mass on Christmas eve at an Anglican church in St James, London.
It was not long after I had studied the book of Revelation. All of a sudden, the words of Revelation were brought to life in a new way, and the liturgy I saw in the church that evening spoke to me more loudly than the words of the priest. The symbolism of the elements, the incense, the candles, the altar, the vestments – all brought new meaning to my understanding of God, of worship, and of the visions in Revelation.
Today’s reading, at first glance, seems like a LOT of detail about some very hard to picture details of the construction of the temple and the various objects and vestments to be used in worship by the priests, for the people. To me, they lack the associations that they carried for those first Jewish worshipers. Experts have proven that picture associations are powerful tools for memorization, and each of the symbols used in the worship of God through the sanctuary, it’s furnishings, and the items used in worship had a meaningful significance to the early Jews.
The importance of these things cannot be overestimated. I see them even in the people’s sinning in the creation of the Golden Calf.
They used the items they had acquired in Egypt (earrings, bracelets, etc) to create an object of worship that was both familiar to them (cows and calves were used by both the Egyptians and Canaanites as objects of worship), and importantly – VISIBLE to them. This wasn’t to be a different God – when Aaron builds an altar for worship, he declares that the next day there will be a festival for YHWH – Yahweh (Ex 32:5). They were still (in their minds) worshiping the God who brought them out of Egypt – they just needed to see him. The people needed a visible representation of God. Until now, Moses had been leading them, and he was a bridge between them and God. Only Moses spoke to the Lord, and now that Moses was “gone” – he had disappeared from them – they needed a way to worship “Yhwh”, and so they created this visible icon of Him.
It’s easy to criticize them – after all, I am on the other side of the resurrection. I am able to personally speak to the Father, and hear Him speak to me. However, even today, people use icon’s of their faith (not images, but symbols) to help them focus their eyes on Jesus – the cross, candles, even the physical Bible. The sin, and the danger, comes in deifying them. They should lead us to God, but sometimes, like with the golden calf, they become the object of worship, rather than a signpost to God, or a reminder of his presence.
The reading goes on to give details, whose meaning and significance is largely lost to me, but would have been powerful to the people at the time, and aided them in remembering who they worshiped, and why they worshiped him.
I had a lot of questions about some of the reading – why did the Levites have to kill the people who had sinned, and why did this lead to them becoming the priests? It seems bizarre to me as a modern reader.
Why were the survivors of this purge struck with a plague? Why does Moses burn up and grind up the idol to a powder, and then make the people drink it?
Why does the cloud come down behind Moses when the lord spoke to him in 33:9, and stop him from entering the tent in 40:35?
Did Joshua hear what God said when he talked face to face with Moses, since he seems to have been in the tent too? (33:11)
I love how the people all were involved in the building and furnishing of the temple – from donating the materials, to crafting, sewing, and decorating it. This, more than anything, should have cemented their relationship with the Lord. And yet…
My take away for today:
Remember who I worship, Remember who is the source of all I have. Remember what He has done for me, And what He has given me. Participate in the building of the temple of God with the skills and abilities I have.
Thank you father for the reminders all around me of who you are, what you have done for me, and where you are taking me. When I am struggling, and it feels like you are not there, help me to remain faithful, and not to turn elsewhere for what only you can give me. Amen.
I was struck today by how Moses and the people (like me!) respond to the will of God in a number of ways :
The Egyptians don’t see it: God is blessing the people of Israel, and the Egyptians respond with fear, suspecting that they will ally themselves with the Egyptian’s enemies. Instead of recognizing God’s hand on them, they try to oppress them with slavery.
Moses tries to avoid it: God calls Moses in the burning bush to be his mouthpiece – to go and tell Pharaoh to “Let my people go”. Moses tries to avoid this by claiming fear, lack of authority and lack of ability. Each time God answers his doubts, and each time He does, Moses thinks of a new excuse.
Pharaoh denies it, and hardens his heart against God over and over, until he goes past the point of no return. Thereafter, the Bible tells us God hardens the heart of Pharaoh to show his power and Glory.
The people of Israel question and doubt it. Although they see God do many miracles to set them free, they constantly doubt and look back over their shoulders when they face difficulties. Instead of turning and looking to God for answers, they keep looking back over their shoulders to what they have left behind in Egypt.
The Ways Of God
Once they are successfully across the Red Sea, God makes know to them the way He will live in relationship with them, and the ways the people are to live and worship Him. This will be through following the laws, and insituting the sacrifice system.
The Worship of God
The worship of God is structured, and set up in such a way as to be woven throughout the day to day life of the people.
My take away:
Look out for what God is doing in my life, so I see it when it is happening
Obey the will of God – even if I don’t understand what God is doing, if I know what He wants me to do, I need to do it.
Keep my heart open to God, and never harden it against His will for me.
Don’t grumble against God. Trust what He has done, and is doing, and just do what I have before me each day.
Family conflict is one of the most destructive and harmful sources of pain in our lives. The sense of betrayal felt when it comes from a family member is so much deeper and hurtful than when it comes from anyone else. We trust our families to look out for us, and when that is betrayed, it makes us vulnerable in a way that nothing else can.
When Joseph is sold off into slavery, he was at the darkest hour in his life that far. Betrayed, helpless, afraid, with no control over anything in his life.
He is taken into the house of the captain of Pharaohs guard, where he is betrayed again by Potiphars wife, who lies and says he tried to seduce her.
In the dungeon, he helps out Pharaoh’s cupbearer, who forgets Joseph when he gets restored to his position.
Over and over, Joseph is let down. For many people, this would crush them, and leave them bitter.
When his family comes to Egypt, and he recognizes who they are, instead of wreaking his vengeance, he tests to see how they have changed, and then in Chapter 45:4-7, he writes these remarkable words:
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping.7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
What an incredible perspective to have! He is not only able to forgive his brothers, but is able to see the hand of God at work to bless them!
Because of Joseph’s ability to forgive his family, God uses him to bless his family, and multiply them into the people that He promised Abraham would be His chosen people, who would bless the nations.
It’s hard, when in the midst of the pain of a broken family relationship to see what God is doing through the situation. What I do know, is that God is the same God today as he was then. I want to always follow this example in my life, and allow God to use me as I forgive my family when they let me down or betray me. I always want to be used by God to bring healing to others whose families are being destroyed by conflict and unforgiveness.
Father God, please use me to help mend broken family relationships, and work out your plan for the family in my life.
Family feuding – and SERIOUS conflict – is at the heart of most of the reading today.
The reading starts off on a fairly positive note. Having received Laban’s blessing to depart in chapter 31, Jacob reaches out after 20 years to his brother Esau to see if they can be reconciled. His tone is extremely conciliatory and deferential. When Jacob’s servant returns from carrying the message to Esau, Jacob is alarmed and afraid to hear that Esau is journeying to meet him with 400 men. Jacob then prays a prayer that struck me:
“O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”
Jacob reminds himself of God’s command, acknowledges his lack of worthiness for all the ways God has blessed him, and then makes his request of the Lord. Finally, he remind himself and God of the promises God made to him, which seem to be contradicted by his fear and circumstances.
What a great way to pray when you are afraid!
Remind yourself of what God has told you to do.
Remember how God has already blessed you.
Make your request of God in light of this.
Remind yourself of the promises God has already made to you.
Jacob wrestles with God (or an angel), gets a new name (Israel), and then meets up with Esau, and the twin brothers are reunited.
Chapter 34 begins with a very ugly account of the rape of Dinah, the anger and vengeance of her brothers, the slaughter of a city (by Simeon and Levi – the same Levi who is the ancestor of the priestly tribe of Israel), and Jacob’s concern that his son’s may have brought him trouble with the Canaanites by heir actions.
Chapter 35 and 36 describe Jacob’s relocation to Bethel, the death of Rachel and Isaac, and then the various descendants of Esau. There are many names in there of the ancestors of the tribes who later plague Israel as their enemies, including Esau (who is also known as Edom – ancestor of the Edomites), and Amalek (ancestor of the Amelekites).
Chapter 37 starts with the story of Joseph, who angers his brothers with his dreams because they show all the brothers and Jacob and Rebekkah bowing down before him. The brothers are so angered by the dreams, and the evident favoritism with which Jacob treats Joseph, that when he is sent to check up on them (Not a great parenting idea, Jacob, to send your favorite child to spy on his brothers and report back to you on them), they plot to kill him.
Fortunately for Joseph, his eldest half-brother Reuben (Leah’s son) convinces the rest of the siblings to sell him into slavery rather than killing him.
Joseph is sold by his brothers to a group of his cousins (the Midianites descend from Midian, Abrahams son by his last wife Keturah), and is taken off and resold in Egypt to the Captain of Pharaoh’s guards, Potiphar.
In the mean time, his brothers tell their father that Joseph has died, and produce the ornate robe that was the symbol of Jacob’s favoritism to Joseph, which they had dipped in goats blood, as “proof” of his death at the fangs of an unknown ferocious animal.
Chapter 38 is another sordid tale of dark family intrigue, and another one of those accounts in the Bible that expose the frailty and humanity of the people God has called.
Jacob’s son Judah marries a Canaanite woman, and has two sons, Er and Onan. Er marries a woman called Tamar, but the Bible says he is so wicked that the Lord causes him to die.
The tradition in those days was that if a man died childless, his brother’s responsibility was to conceive a child with the dead brothers wife, in order to continue his family line. Onan abuses that, and has relations with Tamar, but in such a way as to prevent her getting pregnant. We aren’t told why he does this, but God judges it to be so evil that he causes Onan to die too.
Tamar then approaches Judah to ask for his third son to fulfill this duty, but Judah says that at the time he is too young. Some time later, Judah’s wife dies, and while he is out with a friend shearing his sheep, Tamar realizes that he has no intention of giving her the his younger son to conceive a child by, so she disguises herself in prostitues veils, and seduces Judah.
Three months later, Tamar is evidently pregnant, and when Judah’s servants report this to him, he orders her death by being burned alive. Tamar proves that Judah was the dad (she took his seal as payment when she seduced him), and he judges her more righteous than himself, and allows her to live. Tamar has twins by this relationship, one of whom is Perez, who is identified as the ancestor of King David. Genesis does note that Judah has no further relations with Tamar.
Chapter 39 goes back to Joseph, who has worked his way up and earned the favour of Potiphar, so is made his personal attendant. Unfortunately, he has also caught the eye of Potiphar’s wife, who attempts to seduce Joseph multiple times. Eventually, she clears the house of other servants, and entraps Joseph. He flees, leaving his cloak in her hands, she tells her husband, and Joseph is thrown into prison.
So where is God in this mess of family feuding? Right in the centre of it all:
He’s in the reconciliation of Jacob and Esau, and the blessing of their children. He’s in the scandal of Judah and Tamar, and from a lie He bring’s a King. He’s in the dreams of a foolish boy, and in the protection of an elder brother. He’s in the sale of a slave, and in the purchase of a guard captain. He’s in the flight from temptation, and in the favor of a warden. He is at the center of it all. To forgive, to bless, to protect, to grow, to inspire, to give favor.
Thank you Lord that no matter what I face, how I feel, how high I rise, how badly I fail, how deeply I fall – you are there. Amen
Today’s passage struck me in a totally different way than I have read it before. Throughout these chapters, we see over and over again how relentlessly (and sometimes deviously!) the people in these passages pursue God’s blessing.
To start with, we have Rebekah spurring Jacob on to deceive his father, who has promised to bless his son Esau. When Rebekah hears this, she persuades Jacob to deceive his father and to steal Esau’s blessing.
In Genesis 25, we read about how Jacob persuaded Esau to exchange his birthright for a portion of stew. As I was listening to this morning’s reading, I wondered what the difference between a birthright and a blessing is. I looked it up, and found this on gotquestions.org :
A birthright was an honor given to the firstborn, bestowing “head of household” status and the right to inherit his father’s estate. The son with the birthright would receive a double portion of whatever was passed down (see Deuteronomy 21:17).
and…
A blessing could be given regardless of birthright. However, a greater blessing was given to the one who held the birthright. After Jacob’s deception, Esau complained that “he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” (Genesis 27:36). Esau begged his father for some type of blessing to be given to him, and he did receive a secondary, inferior blessing (verses 38-40).
Jacob pursued the honor, riches, and inheritance of the birthright, and the protection, power, and impartation of the blessing. We can see how angry Esau was, and how desperate he was for a blessing, as he lets out a great cry, and begs Isaac for any blessing, and then promises retribution through murder on his brother when his father passes away.
Jacob flees, and begins to work for his father in law Laban. After working for 14 years to pay Laban for both of his daughters as wives, we see how Laban has realized that God has blessed him and he has prospered through Jacob’s presence. He offers to pay Jacob whatever he wants to stay on and continue to work for him – because he wants the continued blessing of the Lord on his herds. Jacob agrees to work for him, and although Laban changes the form of his payment 10 times in an attempt to cheat Jacob of God’s blessing, Jacob prevails with the Lord’s help, and becomes tremendously wealthy.
Jacob’s love for his wife Rachel greatly affects his relationship with his wife Leah. It seems that she may have cried out to God for his blessing, as she acknowledges him in the naming of her children.
I am constantly amazed and grateful that God chooses to bless sometimes the most undeserving of people. Leah clearly conspired with her father to trick Jacob into marrying her, and yet when she is unloved, and conceives a child, she acknowledges God as the source of that blessing.
After much back and forth between the sisters and their maids competing for Jacob’s affection, Rachel too conceives, and acknowledges that God is the source of that blessing (30:6).
Eventually, Jacob decides to leave Laban, and sneaks off to avoid conflict with his father in law.
Rachel steals the household God’s (perhaps to ensure their blessing?), and Laban pursues Jacob thinking he has done it.
In the end, Jacob and Laban work through their differences, and Laban blesses the family, who go on their way.
What is my take away?
Pursue God’s blessing, like Jacob did, and Esau did, each in their own way. He hears me, and even when I am not deserving of His favour, He blesses me. I will pursue his blessing fervently, and live a life worthy of the calling to which He has called me.
I have read Genesis at least 30-40 times before, and listening to the passage on my way to work today, heard things I can only assume I skimmed over in my prior readings. Genesis 20-26 have to be some of the weirdest and most perplexing Chapters I have read for a long time. There are so many odd details. Let’s jump in to what struck me today… and here’s a heads up – I don’t have answers, just questions to share today!
Yesterday’s reading ends with Abraham pleading with God for Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of Lot, and God has shown Abraham he not only listens to his prayers, but answers them. When God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, He spares Lot, although Lot’s wife ends up as a pillar of salt.
Chapter 19 ends with Lot’s daughters getting him drunk, date-raping their dad, and conceiving sons. These sons would be the fathers of nations that would continually plague the Israelites (God’s people) in the future – Moab (father of the Moabites – the tribe Ruth came from), and Ammon (father of the Ammonites). It’s a sordid tale, but I have read and understood all this before. In their culture, their family line was everything, and these girls (without a mom to look out for them) acted out of desperation to continue their family lines.
Let’s now get into today’s reading, where my questions really begin…
Abraham moves to Gerar, part of the Philistine empire, where he tells people a half truth saying “Sarah is my sister”. Later in the chapter he says he does this because he was afraid if he told them she was his wife, they might kill him to take her. Clearly she was a beauty, because King Abimelek indeed does take her. He hasn’t yet slept with her, when he has a dream in which God tells him he is as good as dead, because he has taken a married woman.
On the surface, while distasteful, all of this seems perfectly understandable. After all, it happened once before in Chapter 12, when Abraham (then Abram) plots with Sarah (then Sarai) and tells exactly the same thing to Pharaoh. In 12:11, he says it is because “…I know what a beautiful woman you are”.
But…..!
This time it happens when Sarah is already an old lady. She’s over 90 (Gen 17:17) – so old that Chapter 18 says she and Abraham were very old (18:11), and she is past childbearing age – in her words “worn out” (18: 12).
Abimelek is also (it seems) the same king who Isaac later goes and tells the same lie to in Genesis 26. Both Abimelek’s are called the King of Gerar, and both have an advisor called Phicol. It seems unlikely that they are not the same person.
So… at this point in time, Abimelek is a fairly young man, who takes a 90+ year old woman because she is such a beauty????
The next confusing and perplexing thing is that when God appears to Abimelek in a dream, and He says:
“Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”
Abraham is called a prophet here – I’ve never noticed that before!
The thing is, God knows that Abimelek is innocent. Effectively that makes this situation Abraham’s fault, however God says Abimelek needs Abraham to pray for him so that he can live? I understand the part about returning her so you don’t die, but can’t fathom why Abraham needs to pray for Abimelek so that he will live. It was Abraham’s fault! Surely the blame and prayers should be the other way around…!
There is also another thing – at the end of the chapter, it seems that God hadn’t let Abimelek and his family and servants get away with being innocent and blameless in this matter, because it says:
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, 18 for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
I don’t have any answers yet, since this is just me reading through the Bible, but I am definitely going to return to this passage and study this further!
Ok, so I clearly missed a lot of key details in my previous readings of Chapter 20. How about Chapter 21? Well, it seems I have skimmed over some stuff there too!
Isaac is born, and there is great rejoicing, until Ishmael mocks his younger half brother.
Pause for a second to focus on some details that will be important later, and I hadn’t thought about before…
I looked up what age babies were weaned at, and discovered that typically, ancient Hebrews weaned their children by age 3, but it could be anywhere from 2-4 years old. This would mean that Ishmael is approximately 16-18 years old when this Chapter takes place (Gen 17 – he was 13 when circumcised, and Abraham was 99. If Isaac was born when Abraham was 100, Ishmael was 14. Add on 2-4 years until Isaac is weaned, and you get Ishmael at 16-18 years old in Gen 21).
The thing is – Gen 21:14-20 reads like he was a much younger boy. Definitely something for further thought and research later!
In chapter 22, the account of Abraham being told by God to sacrifice Isaac is a story I am very familiar with. Abraham trusted that God would provide a sacrifice, and at the last minute he did. Abraham is commended for his faith, but then comes something in the wording that made me pause and wonder:
“I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,[c] because you have obeyed me.”
Considering how many times God reassured Abraham before Isaac was born, and even after Ishmael was born, that ISAAC would be the way that God fulfilled His promise to Abraham, is seems strange that the Lord says it’s “because you have done this and not withheld your son, your only son”. I kind of get why God says “your only son” in this context (the reaffirmation of the covenant to make Abraham the father of many nations), but what if Abraham hadn’t been willing to offer his son? Would God have changed His mind? It almost reads like God is reassuring Himself about Abraham being worthy of that promise. Maybe I am missing something. This is definitely worth more thought and study in future.
Chapter 23 made me laugh – Abraham is arguing with Ephron about the fact the he insists he must pay for the land, and Ephron is trying to insist that he doesn’t. This is more ironic in view of the fact that God has promised all the land that this particular cave is part of to Abraham and his descendants anyway!
Chapters 24-25 were familiar passages, no new questions there this time around, but Ch 26 raised the question about Abimelek that I asked earlier.
At this point, Isaac must be somewhere in his 80’s (He was 60 when the twins were born (Ch 25:26), and Jacob and Esau have grown up by this point in the story), but Abimelek must be around 100 or more (if he is the same Abimelek as Abraham dealt with, which seems likely considering the details I talked about earlier). If you consider their ages, it’s somewhat amusing to think of Abimelek (over 100) catching out Isaac (over 80) in a lie in quite the way he did:
” Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. ”
Oops!!!
And that’s it for today’s reading. Plenty to think about!
Today’s reading starts with a list of how the earth was repopulated after the flood. In chapter 10, there are a list of the descendants of Noah’s sons. It is the first time I have noticed hat it is not Ham who is cursed by Noah, but Ham’s son, Canaan (9:25). I went back to check this when I was reading the genealogies of Japheth, Shem, and Ham in Chapter 10. I looked it up, because it peaked my curiosity, and this is what I found:
The cursing of Canaan, rather than Ham, by Noah shows that this was a curse on all his descendants. If you remember that effectively only the three sons of Noah remained alive at the time to repopulate the earth (as seen from the genealogies in chapter 10), then this was a much more serious curse than it first appears, since the consequence of Ham’s sin will last for all the generations of his descendants. There is all sorts of speculation about what the sin of Ham was that brought down such harsh judgement – from castration (least widely held) to incest (most commonly believed, as the term “uncovered his nakedness” is believed to be a euphemism for sexual activity), but whatever it was, Noah, who was earlier described as a faithful follower of the Lord, regards it serious enough to curse the entire line of Ham.
As I was thinking about Canaan specifically, and how the Israelite’s (who come from the line of Shem), I remembered that it is commonly believed that Moses is the writer of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), and that they were written right at the end of his life as a record of God’s dealings with his people to remind the Israelites, who were about the enter the land of Canaan. Perhaps if Moses is indeed the author of these books, he is reminding the people who are about to enter a land, not only of milk and honey, but giants, fortified cities, and fierce people, that hundred of years before, Noah had said that these people would be the slaves of Shem’s descendants – in other words the Israelites.
In Chapter 11, we see that again the people have descended into wickedness over the years, and exhibit the same hubris as Adam and Eve in wanting to build a tower into heaven “to make a name for ourselves”. As a result, the Lord confuses their language, and scatters them throughout the earth. In other words, He remembered his promise to Noah, and did not wipe them out with another flood.
At the end of chapter 11, we are introduced to Abram, and in Chapter 12, we see the great promise of God to him to bless him, make a nation of him, and through him bless all the nations.
We then see Abram failing to trust God’s promise when he goes to Egypt, and plotting to deceive the king by telling him that Sarai was his wife. This leads to judgement on Pharaoh, who sends him away.
In the chapter 13, we see Abram and his nephew lot divide up the land to resolve a conflict between their servants. Abram moves to live among the Canaanites, and God makes him another promise – part two of the promise to make of him a great nation – that all the land he sees will belong to Abram and his descendants, thus confirming the prophetic curse that Noah made on Ham. (And from Moses perspective, if indeed he is the author writing to the people standing ready to cross into the land of Canaan, confirming the promise that God had made to Abram so many years before – this was indeed their promised land.)
In Chapter 14, there is a war of kings, and the victors take Abram’s nephew Lot into captivity. Abram mounts a rescue, and has a great victory. In response to his victory, he offers a tithe of his spoils to the mysterious high priest Melchizedek, described as the King of Salem (meaning peace), a priest of God most high (Elohim – the majestic powerful creator), who pronounces a blessing on him.
In chapter 15, Abram, who is much older now than when God first promised him in Chapter 12 that He would make a great nation of Abram’s descendants, has begun to doubt God’s promise, so God re-affirms both the promise of descendants, and a land for them, at the end of the chapter.
In Chapter 16, both Sarai and Abram doubt God’s ability to fulfill his promise of children, and plot to take the matter into their own hands, with devastating consequences. Abram has a son by Sarai’s maid, betraying both Sarai (albeit with her permission) and God. Sarai and her maid (of course!) fall out, with Hagar being banished to the wilderness. God meets Hagar in the wilderness, and promises that her son, too, will be a great nation (although He calls him a wild donkey, and says his whole life will be filled with conflict!) God sends her back, and tells her to submit to her mistress.
In chapter 17, God promises Abram for a 3rd time that he will be the father of a great nation, and changes his name from Abram (“high father”) to Abraham (“father of a multitude”), and Sarai’s name from Sarai (“my princess”) to Sarah (“princess” perhaps signifying her role as princess of a nation, rather than just Abram’s princess).
In the first half of Chapter 18 God reaffirms his promise to both Abraham and Sarah that they will have a son.
In the second half of the chapter, we see that Sodom (where Lot lives) and Gomorrah are judged for their wickedness, precipitated by their attempted attack on the messengers of God who confirmed God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah, followed in Chapter 19 by God destroying those cities, while Lot and his children escape.
What is the take away for me?
God is so incredibly patient! So many times, people turn from God, doubt his promises, question his purposes, and yet God is faithful and merciful to them.
I am so like Abraham – instead of trusting the word of God, I constantly seek him for reassurance and confirmation, and when things are going a different way to what I expect, I am prone to doubt God.
God is faithful! God always fulfills his promises. I can trust that the same God who gave Abraham and Sarah a son in their dotage, and blessed them until their descendants were “like the stars in the sky”, will be faithful to the promises He has given me.
Heavenly Father, thank you for being patient with me. Help me to trust you when I am struggling, or don’t see what you are doing. I believe – help my unbelief!
When I was growing up, I loved to read “Choose your own Adventure” books. I loved the feeling that I was able to have a real influence on the way the story moved and ended. Of course – if I didn’t like the outcome, I would go back and make a different choice, until the story ended the way I wanted it too.
Today’s reading starts with a choice between two trees. God has placed Adam and Eve in the garden, and given them the authority to rule over everything in it. This was to be their life’s work. Every day, He would come to them in the garden and spend time with them. This was how relationship with God was intended to work.
(Interestingly, Genesis 2:4 is the first place Yahweh (Strongs 3068) is used as the name of God. In Exodus 3:12, God explains his name as “the one who is with you”. In other words, this is the first use of the relational name of God in the Bible.)
When God walks Adam through the garden, He tells him that he has complete freedom and authority over it, except for one thing. Right in the center of the garden are two trees – the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God tells Adam he is not to eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and if he does eat of it, he will die.
The fact that these two trees are side by side in the Garden highlights the most important decision Adam will make. It seems so simple really – choose Life, or choose Death. Choose to follow God’s will, or choose your own.
I’ve thought about it many times, at various stages in my life. If I were there – what would I choose?
Of course, hindsight is a wonderful place to consider that from. It’s like choosing a path in a Choose Your Own Adventure story, and then when I don’t like the outcome, going back and choosing a different one. Even Adam would choose differently with the knowledge of how his first choice turned out. Except – that’s the thing, isn’t it? He was choosing without knowing how the story would go, except that God told him that he would die.
Adam’s choice boils down to the same choice we all face every day: do you want to follow God’s will for your life, or your own?
If I think I would choose any differently to Adam, how do the choices I make each day reflect that? Do I submit to God’s will in every single choice I make, or am I seduced by the potential of the other option?
I see over and over through the rest of today’s passage that people choose their own way, and how badly that always turns out.
Cain, when his offering was rejected, was warned by God:
” If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. “
Instead of him heeding this warning, his hubris lead to him choosing his own will over God’s, to murder his brother, and go into exile from his family.
His great-great-great grandson Lamech, after murdering a young man who injured him, boasted:
” If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times. “
Over and over, we see the same choice being made throughout the successive generations, until in Genesis 6, we read this:
” The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. “
Everyinclination of the human heart was only evil all the time! What a terrible indictment against humanity! And yet, to get to that point was inevitable for human beings who choose their own will over the will of God for their lives.
There are a few brief highlights in the story thus far. In ch 5:24, we meet Enoch, who walked faithfully with God, and was no more, and in Chapter 6:9, we meet Noah, who also walked faithfully with God, and was blameless in his time.
It’s clear from the rest of the account, though, that these men are so exceptional as to be noteworthy for their choice to walk faithfully with God.
Looking at my own life, there are times when I have made the right choice, and followed God’s will for my life, and even though at the time I couldn’t see why God allowed things to work out the way they did, I can see clearly how His hand was at work with hindsight.
Unfortunately, there are also times when I chose my own way instead of God’s way for my life. And even though life isn’t like a Choose Your Own Adventure story that you can go back and redo, in his faithfulness to me, God walked with me through the consequences of those choices, and has brought me out the other side.
What can I take away from all this for today?
While I may not always see what God is doing, when I make the choice to follow His will for my life, I can know and trust that He will bring life to my choices, and will sustain me even when things feel tough.
Ultimately, it’s about trust – do I trust God enough to surrender control of my life to him, or do I trust myself more, and say “Not thy will, but mine be done”?
Abba, father, help me always to know your will, and to have the wisdom, courage, and strength to say “Not my will, but yours be done”. Amen
Reading Through My Bible 