Reading Through My Bible

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:

1. 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.
   
2. 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. “

Every inclination 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

One of the most important lessons I learned as a Christian was how to hear God speaking to me. On my Youth With A Mission (Ywam) Discipleship Training School (DTS), we spent a whole week learning and practicing hearing the voice of God, based on teachings by Joy Dawson, and reading her book. It has been one of the most powerful and transformational spiritual practices I have learned as a Christian, along with how to read and study my Bible. If you have never learned how to listen for and identify God’s voice speaking in your heart, then you need to start learning how to do this today!

Lately, I have been struggling to hear what God has been saying to me. I think it’s tied up with my other struggles – what does he want me to do in the job I am doing? It may be that I have been focusing too much on myself, and asking the questions I have for Him, instead of listening with an open mind and heart.

Today’s passage reminded me that everything began with God speaking, and is sustained by his Word. God speaks 15 times in these opening verses:
“God said…” nine times, “God called…” four times, “God blessed…” twice. Throughout creation, God spoke, and when He spoke, things were created, called, and blessed. And God sees that it is good.

This encourages me, because God continues to speak, and when He speaks, things continue to be created, called, and blessed.

I’m in the job I am today because “God said…” and spoke a vision into being in my heart to help the poor and those in debt to find financial freedom, and although I can’t see how it will be worked out, I can trust that what He creates is good.

Five times we see in Genesis the phrase “God called”:

Gen 1:5 God called the light ‘day’
Gen 1:5 …the darkness He called ‘night’.
Gen 1:8 God called the vault ‘sky’
Gen 1:10 God called the dry ground ‘land’
Gen 1:10 …the gathered waters He called ‘sea’

After He speaks things into being (“God said…”), God defines them when He ‘calls’ them day, night, sky, land, and sea.

Twice we see the phrase “God blessed them”. In verse 25, of the living creatures, when he tells them to be fruitful and multiply, and of mankind, when He takes that blessing, and includes it to include a call of stewardship.

God creates, God calls, and God blesses.

“God…” I looked it up. In these first 34 verses, the word used for God is “Elohim” It is used 34 times in Genesis 1:1-2:3, and the basic meaning of it is one of strength, power, and majesty. It is a plural word, but refers to one God. Some have suggested that it is used to indicate the trinity (plurality in unity). In the light of John 1:1, that makes perfect sense.

This encourages me too, because it reminds me that no matter what I am going through, or what struggles I wrestle with, God is almighty, majestic, powerful. Although I may feel I can’t, Elohim certainly can.

Heavenly Father, thank you for reminding me that when you speak, you bring things into being that were not there before – you create. Thank you for allowing me to share in what you have created.

Thank you for reminding me that while I might not understand or know what is happening, or why, when you call, you give definition, meaning, and understanding to the the things you have called into being. Help me to understand what you have called into being in my life.

Thank you for blessing me, even when I can’t see or don’t feel the blessing. Help me to walk in oberdience to you each day, and as I do, may you open my eyes to see your blessing, and my heart to understand and appreciate it.

Thank you for your living word.

Amen.