If I don't get cracking on this blog, it's going to take me longer than the Israelites wandered in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land and that's all I'm going to say about that!
In Chapter 13, God gives instructions to the Israelites through Moses about how they are to commemorate their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. He instructs them to dedicate their firstborn children and animals as belonging to God. Just as Jesus was the firstborn of God, God begins to weave the story of Jesus into the storyline of the Hebrew people.
The firstborn animals are sacrificed on an altar, but the firstborn children were to be redeemed, never sacrificed. This not only speaks of the sacrifice of Christ, but also the redemption He offers to us.
The month was Abib in Hebrew--roughly corresponding with late March and early April on our calendar. They were to mark the days with feasting, but could eat nothing with leavening, or yeast, in it for seven days. Leavening is compared to sin in the Bible, where later Jesus would tell them a little leaven leavens the whole lump. That is like sin. A little sin spreads in a sinister fashion until it has affected everything it touches. If you let leavening work too long in a food, it will spoil the food. God wanted His celebration to be pure and sinless, like His Son.
God didn't lead the Hebrews straight into the Promised Land because that would have sent them directly into battle with the Philistines who lived there. Although they were armed for battle, God didn't want them to become discouraged so soon and turn back to the perceived safety of Egypt. Therefore, God led them through the desert, appearing as a cloud in front of them during the days and as a pillar of fire during the nights to give them light so they could keep going.
Moses kept the promise his ancestors had made to Joseph, who had foreseen the exodus back to the Promised Land, and took his embalmed body with them when they left Egypt.
Chapter 14 gives us the exact location where the Israelites encamped by the Red Sea just prior to their crossing, as they were being pursued by Pharaoh, who had, once again, changed his mind about letting them go. Pharaoh mustered his chariots and army and came after them.
When the Hebrews saw the Egyptian Army coming after them, they were afraid and began to moan about ever leaving Egypt. Moses basically told them to buck up and shut up. God then told Moses to raise his staff over the Red Sea to divide the waters and allow the Israelis to cross on dry ground. Both the cloud pillar and the angel of God placed themselves between the Israelites and the approaching Egyptian Army. The Hebrews were never in any danger. The Lord sent a strong east wind to drive the sea back and dry the ground where it had been. The Hebrews crossed the Red Sea all that night.
God allowed Pharaoh and his army to follow the Hebrews into the dry sea bed but, when all the Hebrews were on the other side, He threw the Egyptian Army into confusion and made the wheels of their chariots come off, making it hard for the horses to keep pulling them. Just when the Egyptians realized they were fighting against God, Moses was told to stretch out his hand over the sea and bring the water back into the sea bed. The whole Egyptian Army drowned, along with their horses and chariots.
The Bible says not one of them survived, and indeed, all these many centuries later, explorers have found what they believe to be the remains of chariot wheels in the bottom of the Red Sea at the exact location where the Bible says this crossing took place.
The moaning and crying of the Hebrews soon turned to praise to God, and Moses wrote a song of praise concerning the crossing that is recorded in Exodus 15. Moses' sister, Miriam, also wrote a short song and led the women in dancing and making music with tambourines in praise to God. However, their singing and praising soon turned back into grumbling and complaining as their desert wanderings began.
At the end of Chapter 15, God gives the Hebrews a law. "Listen carefully to God and do what is right in his eyes. If you do this," He says, "I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you." I have found this law still holds true today. The Lord blesses all his children, and He also tests all of us. Moreover, there is a principle here that works the same in the human family. If we, as parents, have a pleasing child who does their best to obey us, and also a disobedient, unruly child, which one is going to be favored?
I know, for I was the unruly one in a family of twelve, whose younger sister was the obedient one--it's going to be the one who does what the parents want out of a pure heart that just wants to please them. My parents tried hard, and did, meet all of our legitimate needs, however, my "pleaser" siblings seemed to get most of their wants met, also. God works in the same fashion. God designed the human parent-child relationship to work in the same basic ways that His relationship to us works. Sometimes when I get to thinking about all the parallels there are in this area, my mind becomes bogged down because there is a myriad of things to think about.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Exodus 10 - 12
"How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?" is what God then had Aaron and Moses ask of Pharaoh, and this is the question he asks all persistent unbelievers. Pharaoh's officials even urged him to let the Israelites go at that time, and he listened, somewhat. Pharaoh is still trying to bargain with God. He calls Moses and Aaron in to tell them the men can go, but the Hebrew women and children must stay in Egypt. So begins the plague of locusts.
Locusts are an insect similar to a grasshopper. Here in Wyoming, we know what grasshoppers are all about. They are about eating every blade of grass and shrub they can, and when that is gone, they begin to eat fence posts, houses, trees, etc. I have even seen them eat each other. They were so thick one year, one would squish them on the roads as the vehicles rolled over them, and then their relatives would descend on the dead bodies to snack. This is what God sent upon Egypt. This time it says Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses to pray for deliverance from the locusts. He did not want to think about it for a day--he wanted it immediately. As quickly as they were gone, he again changed his mind, refusing to let the people go.
Then the sky turned dark and it says that Egypt was plunged into pitch-blackness for three days, except in the Land of Goshen where the Hebrews lived. People could not even go about it was so dark, so Pharaoh again relents a little. This time he said all the people could leave, but they were to leave their livestock there. God said, "No deal," and Pharaoh threatened Moses and Aaron's lives. Therefore, God had to take drastic measures.
God never brings calamity on us without warning. Moses warned Pharaoh that God was about to kill all the firstborn children and livestock in Egypt. God already knew Pharaoh would not listen to Moses in spite of all the plagues that had come upon him.
God then gave instructions for the “Passover” to the Israelites. They were to sacrifice yearling sheep or goats that had no defects according to how many people there were in the household. The blood of the animals was to be painted over their doorposts and they were to roast and eat the meat standing up, ready to be on the march.
The blood was a sign to the Angel of the Lord that the household believed in Him to save them. The Angel would "pass over" the house and not kill the firstborn. Then God instructed the Hebrews to commemorate the event later as the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. They were not to eat any raised bread or even have any yeast in their houses for seven days prior. Yeast is likened in the Bible to sin. "A little leaven leavens the whole lump," just like a little sin creeps into all areas of our lives.
So Moses relayed the instructions on to all the Hebrews, who followed them to the letter. That night, all the firstborn children and animals in Egypt, except those protected by blood on the doorposts, were killed. The Bible says there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.
Some people say, "How could a loving God do such a thing?" Well, we all have to die sometime. These children were better off because they would have lived Godless lives, died eventually and went to Hell. Instead, God took them to heaven. That is where all innocent children go if they die before they reach the age of knowing. Sometimes God has to do drastic things to get us to listen and acknowledge Him as God.
That very night, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to leave Egypt and take all their people and all their possessions. And he asked them to pray for him.
Hurriedly, the Hebrews gathered their things and prepared to march. God even caused the Egyptians to load them down with gold and silver and clothing on their way out. There was more than a half-million men alone in the Hebrew contingent as they left Egypt. How the tribes had multiplied in 430 years of living in isolation in Egypt. As they were on their way out, God gave them further instructions on how they were to memorialize the event for centuries to come.
Locusts are an insect similar to a grasshopper. Here in Wyoming, we know what grasshoppers are all about. They are about eating every blade of grass and shrub they can, and when that is gone, they begin to eat fence posts, houses, trees, etc. I have even seen them eat each other. They were so thick one year, one would squish them on the roads as the vehicles rolled over them, and then their relatives would descend on the dead bodies to snack. This is what God sent upon Egypt. This time it says Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses to pray for deliverance from the locusts. He did not want to think about it for a day--he wanted it immediately. As quickly as they were gone, he again changed his mind, refusing to let the people go.
Then the sky turned dark and it says that Egypt was plunged into pitch-blackness for three days, except in the Land of Goshen where the Hebrews lived. People could not even go about it was so dark, so Pharaoh again relents a little. This time he said all the people could leave, but they were to leave their livestock there. God said, "No deal," and Pharaoh threatened Moses and Aaron's lives. Therefore, God had to take drastic measures.
God never brings calamity on us without warning. Moses warned Pharaoh that God was about to kill all the firstborn children and livestock in Egypt. God already knew Pharaoh would not listen to Moses in spite of all the plagues that had come upon him.
God then gave instructions for the “Passover” to the Israelites. They were to sacrifice yearling sheep or goats that had no defects according to how many people there were in the household. The blood of the animals was to be painted over their doorposts and they were to roast and eat the meat standing up, ready to be on the march.
The blood was a sign to the Angel of the Lord that the household believed in Him to save them. The Angel would "pass over" the house and not kill the firstborn. Then God instructed the Hebrews to commemorate the event later as the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. They were not to eat any raised bread or even have any yeast in their houses for seven days prior. Yeast is likened in the Bible to sin. "A little leaven leavens the whole lump," just like a little sin creeps into all areas of our lives.
So Moses relayed the instructions on to all the Hebrews, who followed them to the letter. That night, all the firstborn children and animals in Egypt, except those protected by blood on the doorposts, were killed. The Bible says there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.
Some people say, "How could a loving God do such a thing?" Well, we all have to die sometime. These children were better off because they would have lived Godless lives, died eventually and went to Hell. Instead, God took them to heaven. That is where all innocent children go if they die before they reach the age of knowing. Sometimes God has to do drastic things to get us to listen and acknowledge Him as God.
That very night, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to leave Egypt and take all their people and all their possessions. And he asked them to pray for him.
Hurriedly, the Hebrews gathered their things and prepared to march. God even caused the Egyptians to load them down with gold and silver and clothing on their way out. There was more than a half-million men alone in the Hebrew contingent as they left Egypt. How the tribes had multiplied in 430 years of living in isolation in Egypt. As they were on their way out, God gave them further instructions on how they were to memorialize the event for centuries to come.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Exodus 7 - 9
When we left Moses in Chapter 6, he was arguing with God about being the one to lead Israel out of Egypt. When we take back up in Chapter 7, Moses is still arguing with God about that. One would think...but God is patient. Moses protests that Pharaoh will not listen to him because of his faltering speech. Finally, God convinces him to go along with his brother, Aaron, even telling Moses that he will be like God to Pharaoh, meaning he would represent God himself, and would have much power. It says Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, but they lived longer those days.
Therefore, the wars of the miracles and plagues began when Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh to demand the release of the slaves. Aaron throws down his staff and it becomes a snake, but Pharaoh's magicians are able to duplicate the miracle, however, Aaron's snake quickly swallows up the snakes that come from the magicians' staffs. As God predicted, Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let the people go.
Then God instructs Moses to meet Pharaoh the next morning at the Nile River when he goes to bathe. Moses is to ask for the people's release again and, when Pharaoh refuses, he is to strike the Nile with his staff and it will turn to blood, killing all the fish and making the water unsanitary. Again, Satan gave the magicians the ability to duplicate the plague, so Pharaoh didn't believe that Moses' power came from God.
After a lull of seven days, God again instructs Moses to go to Pharaoh and threaten him with a plague of frogs. Frogs were worshipped in ancient Egypt, sort of as cattle are today in India, so Pharaoh had no fear of frogs. The plague of frogs commenced. There were frogs everywhere--in their beds, ovens, and dishes and wherever they could see. Pharaoh's magicians also called up frogs, which only compounded the problem. Isn't that the way sin works? Satan adds to our folly at all times.
Pharaoh gets tired of the frogs quickly, and asks Aaron and Moses to pray to their God to take them away. Apparently, his magicians couldn't reverse this plague. Here Pharaoh does a strange thing, though. Moses told him to set a time for the frogs to go away, so there would be no question of who caused the plague to cease, and Pharaoh says, "Tomorrow." Isn't that just like us? We want the consequences of our sin to go away, but we want to coddle the sin for just one more day. We don't want to quit drinking; we only want to slow down, etc. The frogs have another parallel with our sin. They stank. Twenty-four hours after Moses prayed, the frogs began to die in the houses and the courtyards and fields. They piled them up and they smelled bad. As soon as the frogs were gone, however, Pharaoh again changes his mind about letting the Israelites go, just as God said he would.
Then they called up gnats out of the dust of the ground, and Egypt is a dry, dusty place. This plague the magicians weren't able to duplicate. Even they had to admit this was the finger of God. God was really ratcheting up the pressure on Pharaoh and wanted him to know only He could cause these miracles.
Have you ever been attacked by a swarm of gnats? I have. They get up your nose, in your ears and eyes and sometimes you suck them in when you take a breath. It can drive one mad shortly. I have seen horses and dogs go almost insane from gnats bothering them. They burrow down in their ears and chew on them until they are just a mass of scabs.
Pharaoh bowed his neck and refused to ask for relief from the gnats, so God sent Aaron and Moses to threaten to add swarms of flies to the gnat problem. God would keep the flies away from the Land of Goshen, where all the Israelites lived, though, and this would be Pharaoh's proof that God had brought the flies to plague Egypt. After the land was ruined by the flies, Pharaoh finally is wearying of all the plagues and relents somewhat. He tells them they can go sacrifice to their God, if they do not to go out of Egypt. Isn't that just like sin? It tries to hold us, once it has entrapped us. "Ok, you can go to church, but then come back to your old way of life the other six days a week," it whispers. What a lie.
However, Moses insists they must go at least a three-day journey to make their sacrifices because their animal killing would be detestable to their Egyptian neighbors, who would then call for their deaths. Therefore, Pharaoh consents to their journey into the desert and asks them to pray for relief from the flies. When the flies subside, so does Pharaoh’s promise. Again, he changes his mind, and declines to let the Hebrews leave.
Then God strikes Egypt in the pocketbook. He tells Moses to threaten the livestock, cattle, sheep, goats, horses, camels and donkeys. This was their livelihoods. The animals provided food, clothing, and many forms of commerce, just as they do today. However, the livestock of the Hebrews are exempted. Pharaoh stiffened his neck and the Lord struck. Every animal belonging to the Egyptians died, but not one of the Hebrew's animals succumbed to this plague. Pharaoh just became belligerent at this point, said through gritted teeth, I imagine, "I will not let the slaves go!"
Then God sent a plague of boils on all the Egyptians. Have you ever had even just one boil? I have. They are painful and nasty. You just wish they would go away. They were so bad; the magicians couldn't even stand before Moses and Aaron to try to make the plague go away. Still, Pharaoh kept on in his stubbornness.
While the people were still sore with boils, God sent a huge hailstorm on Egypt. Before doing so, He reminds Pharaoh that He could have just killed them all before this point. Even that reasoning has no effect on this king of Egypt. Some of the Egyptians, by this time, were believers in the God of Israel. They hurried to bring their families, slaves and animals under shelter.
Moses stands before all Egypt with his staff outstretched toward the sky and the thunder rolls, lightening flashes all around him and the worst storm in Egypt's history begins--except in the Land of Goshen.
At this point, Pharaoh has a moment of true repentance, though short-lived. That is just like us. We get a head knowledge of God, but it hasn't traveled the 12 or so inches to our hearts. He states, "This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong."
Though his pseudo-repentance didn't fool Moses or God, Moses stopped the storm so that Pharaoh would know the Lord is God. Sure enough, as soon as the storm stopped, Pharaoh changes his mind again.
Therefore, the wars of the miracles and plagues began when Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh to demand the release of the slaves. Aaron throws down his staff and it becomes a snake, but Pharaoh's magicians are able to duplicate the miracle, however, Aaron's snake quickly swallows up the snakes that come from the magicians' staffs. As God predicted, Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let the people go.
Then God instructs Moses to meet Pharaoh the next morning at the Nile River when he goes to bathe. Moses is to ask for the people's release again and, when Pharaoh refuses, he is to strike the Nile with his staff and it will turn to blood, killing all the fish and making the water unsanitary. Again, Satan gave the magicians the ability to duplicate the plague, so Pharaoh didn't believe that Moses' power came from God.
After a lull of seven days, God again instructs Moses to go to Pharaoh and threaten him with a plague of frogs. Frogs were worshipped in ancient Egypt, sort of as cattle are today in India, so Pharaoh had no fear of frogs. The plague of frogs commenced. There were frogs everywhere--in their beds, ovens, and dishes and wherever they could see. Pharaoh's magicians also called up frogs, which only compounded the problem. Isn't that the way sin works? Satan adds to our folly at all times.
Pharaoh gets tired of the frogs quickly, and asks Aaron and Moses to pray to their God to take them away. Apparently, his magicians couldn't reverse this plague. Here Pharaoh does a strange thing, though. Moses told him to set a time for the frogs to go away, so there would be no question of who caused the plague to cease, and Pharaoh says, "Tomorrow." Isn't that just like us? We want the consequences of our sin to go away, but we want to coddle the sin for just one more day. We don't want to quit drinking; we only want to slow down, etc. The frogs have another parallel with our sin. They stank. Twenty-four hours after Moses prayed, the frogs began to die in the houses and the courtyards and fields. They piled them up and they smelled bad. As soon as the frogs were gone, however, Pharaoh again changes his mind about letting the Israelites go, just as God said he would.
Then they called up gnats out of the dust of the ground, and Egypt is a dry, dusty place. This plague the magicians weren't able to duplicate. Even they had to admit this was the finger of God. God was really ratcheting up the pressure on Pharaoh and wanted him to know only He could cause these miracles.
Have you ever been attacked by a swarm of gnats? I have. They get up your nose, in your ears and eyes and sometimes you suck them in when you take a breath. It can drive one mad shortly. I have seen horses and dogs go almost insane from gnats bothering them. They burrow down in their ears and chew on them until they are just a mass of scabs.
Pharaoh bowed his neck and refused to ask for relief from the gnats, so God sent Aaron and Moses to threaten to add swarms of flies to the gnat problem. God would keep the flies away from the Land of Goshen, where all the Israelites lived, though, and this would be Pharaoh's proof that God had brought the flies to plague Egypt. After the land was ruined by the flies, Pharaoh finally is wearying of all the plagues and relents somewhat. He tells them they can go sacrifice to their God, if they do not to go out of Egypt. Isn't that just like sin? It tries to hold us, once it has entrapped us. "Ok, you can go to church, but then come back to your old way of life the other six days a week," it whispers. What a lie.
However, Moses insists they must go at least a three-day journey to make their sacrifices because their animal killing would be detestable to their Egyptian neighbors, who would then call for their deaths. Therefore, Pharaoh consents to their journey into the desert and asks them to pray for relief from the flies. When the flies subside, so does Pharaoh’s promise. Again, he changes his mind, and declines to let the Hebrews leave.
Then God strikes Egypt in the pocketbook. He tells Moses to threaten the livestock, cattle, sheep, goats, horses, camels and donkeys. This was their livelihoods. The animals provided food, clothing, and many forms of commerce, just as they do today. However, the livestock of the Hebrews are exempted. Pharaoh stiffened his neck and the Lord struck. Every animal belonging to the Egyptians died, but not one of the Hebrew's animals succumbed to this plague. Pharaoh just became belligerent at this point, said through gritted teeth, I imagine, "I will not let the slaves go!"
Then God sent a plague of boils on all the Egyptians. Have you ever had even just one boil? I have. They are painful and nasty. You just wish they would go away. They were so bad; the magicians couldn't even stand before Moses and Aaron to try to make the plague go away. Still, Pharaoh kept on in his stubbornness.
While the people were still sore with boils, God sent a huge hailstorm on Egypt. Before doing so, He reminds Pharaoh that He could have just killed them all before this point. Even that reasoning has no effect on this king of Egypt. Some of the Egyptians, by this time, were believers in the God of Israel. They hurried to bring their families, slaves and animals under shelter.
Moses stands before all Egypt with his staff outstretched toward the sky and the thunder rolls, lightening flashes all around him and the worst storm in Egypt's history begins--except in the Land of Goshen.
At this point, Pharaoh has a moment of true repentance, though short-lived. That is just like us. We get a head knowledge of God, but it hasn't traveled the 12 or so inches to our hearts. He states, "This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong."
Though his pseudo-repentance didn't fool Moses or God, Moses stopped the storm so that Pharaoh would know the Lord is God. Sure enough, as soon as the storm stopped, Pharaoh changes his mind again.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Exodus 4 - 6
Moses really didn't want to go back to Egypt to face his past and embrace what God was asking him to do. He was arguing with God about it, so God started showing him the power available to him from above. Moses throws down his walking stick and it becomes a snake in an instant, scaring Moses so badly, he runs from it. Then God tells him to grab hold of it, which Moses does, and it turns back to a stick. God gives Moses two other examples of miracles God has enabled him to perform in order to make the people know he has been sent by God to lead them.
Then he starts in saying he is not an eloquent talker and he thinks that will disqualify him from the task, but God reminds him who gave him speech in the first place. Moses still resists and God becomes angry, but His anger is tempered with grace, as it always is, and He tells Moses to take his brother, Aaron, who is well spoken. In fact, God has already spoken to Aaron, and Aaron is on his way out to the desert to meet Moses. Moses is still tentative about going to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, but he goes back to his father-in-law to ask his leave to go "visit" his family. No mention is made of what God had commissioned him to do. Jethro gave his blessing, so Moses loaded up his wife and sons on a donkey and set out.
Apparently, God had spoken with Moses about circumcising his sons but Moses had never done it. It had to be done before they joined the Israelite tribes, or they would not be accepted, so God got very angry with Moses and was about to kill him. Also apparent from the text, Moses' wife, Zipporah, didn't agree with the circumcision ritual, but to save her husband’s life, she quickly took a knife and did the surgeries, but she was mad about it, calling Moses a “bloody husband,” while throwing the foreskins at his feet.
Aaron and Moses meet along the trail at the very same mountain where Moses saw the burning bush, Mt. Horeb, which they now called The Mountain of God. (My son has been to this mountain!) Here Moses told Aaron what their task was to be and they both returned to Egypt, where Moses, indeed, had Aaron do the talking to the elders while he performed all the miracles God had given him to cause them to believe them. The Hebrews were very touched when they learned that God knew of their misery and was concerned for them after all, so they worshipped Him.
Chapter 5 begins the saga of Moses and Aaron speaking to Pharaoh and asking permission for the Israelis to leave Egypt and Pharaoh refusing. Pharaoh did not know the God of whom they spoke, so he had no regard for Him. He gave orders for the Hebrews to be oppressed even more. The leaders of the Hebrews appeal personally to Pharaoh, and are rebuffed. They blame Moses and Aaron for getting them in trouble with Pharaoh. Therefore, Moses goes back to God and complains of the treatment they received.
God reminds Moses of the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them the land of Canaan, and of his intention to keep that covenant. He tells Moses to get back to Pharaoh and demand the release of the Hebrews. Moses again argues with God, reminding Him of his speech impairment. So God calls Aaron to meet with them and commissions them both to go lead the people out of slavery in Egypt.
There follows a short genealogy of Moses and Aaron’s family to show they were from the tribe of Levi, and chosen by God to be priests and leaders of Israel.
Then he starts in saying he is not an eloquent talker and he thinks that will disqualify him from the task, but God reminds him who gave him speech in the first place. Moses still resists and God becomes angry, but His anger is tempered with grace, as it always is, and He tells Moses to take his brother, Aaron, who is well spoken. In fact, God has already spoken to Aaron, and Aaron is on his way out to the desert to meet Moses. Moses is still tentative about going to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, but he goes back to his father-in-law to ask his leave to go "visit" his family. No mention is made of what God had commissioned him to do. Jethro gave his blessing, so Moses loaded up his wife and sons on a donkey and set out.
Apparently, God had spoken with Moses about circumcising his sons but Moses had never done it. It had to be done before they joined the Israelite tribes, or they would not be accepted, so God got very angry with Moses and was about to kill him. Also apparent from the text, Moses' wife, Zipporah, didn't agree with the circumcision ritual, but to save her husband’s life, she quickly took a knife and did the surgeries, but she was mad about it, calling Moses a “bloody husband,” while throwing the foreskins at his feet.
Aaron and Moses meet along the trail at the very same mountain where Moses saw the burning bush, Mt. Horeb, which they now called The Mountain of God. (My son has been to this mountain!) Here Moses told Aaron what their task was to be and they both returned to Egypt, where Moses, indeed, had Aaron do the talking to the elders while he performed all the miracles God had given him to cause them to believe them. The Hebrews were very touched when they learned that God knew of their misery and was concerned for them after all, so they worshipped Him.
Chapter 5 begins the saga of Moses and Aaron speaking to Pharaoh and asking permission for the Israelis to leave Egypt and Pharaoh refusing. Pharaoh did not know the God of whom they spoke, so he had no regard for Him. He gave orders for the Hebrews to be oppressed even more. The leaders of the Hebrews appeal personally to Pharaoh, and are rebuffed. They blame Moses and Aaron for getting them in trouble with Pharaoh. Therefore, Moses goes back to God and complains of the treatment they received.
God reminds Moses of the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them the land of Canaan, and of his intention to keep that covenant. He tells Moses to get back to Pharaoh and demand the release of the Hebrews. Moses again argues with God, reminding Him of his speech impairment. So God calls Aaron to meet with them and commissions them both to go lead the people out of slavery in Egypt.
There follows a short genealogy of Moses and Aaron’s family to show they were from the tribe of Levi, and chosen by God to be priests and leaders of Israel.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Exodus 1 - 3
Finally, I'm leaving Genesis and I feel like I'm moving away from an old friend. Don't worry, old friend, God willing, I'll be back.
Now begins the story of how the Israelites came to leave Egypt to return to the Promised Land. First, Moses, the author, gives an accounting of his ancestors, who came to Egypt with Jacob during the famine to live. He states there were seventy in all, including Joseph.
Joseph, his father and all his brothers die while living in Egypt, but not before producing many, many offspring. In fact, Exodus 1:7 says they soon filled the land. An ominous statement next says a new king came to the throne of Egypt who didn't know of Joseph or how he had saved his nation from starvation. He was frightened by the size and strength of the Israelite clan living among them, so he gave orders for their oppression and the Hebrews became slaves. However, God was for the Israelites and multiplied them even more, so Pharaoh gave bloody orders for the midwives to kill all the Hebrew boy babies as soon as they were born. The midwives had more regard for God than they did for Pharaoh, though, and disregarded his orders.
Fearing the king a little, they gave a slight misrepresentation when he asked them why they did not obey his orders and told him the Hebrew women had their babies so quickly, they could not be killed as they were born. Then Pharaoh gave orders that all the newborn Israelite boys must be drowned in the Nile.
In chapter 2, Moses gives an account of his own birth and early childhood. He tells us his parents were from the tribe of Levi, the tribe that would later become the priests in Israel. His mother kept him hidden for three months, then made a special waterproof ark for him when he could no longer be hidden. Her heart must have been in torment thinking what would happen to her baby, but she knew she must place him into the river. His sister, also, must have been distressed, because she watched and followed the basket to see what would happen to it.
It just so happened (remember, there are no accidents with God) that Pharaoh's daughter was bathing in the river nearby. Seeing the special little basket in the reeds, she asked that it be brought to her. Moses' helpless cries got to her, and she deducted he must be a Hebrew baby, but she had pity on him. Again, it just so happened, the baby's sister was standing nearby and offered to find a Hebrew nursemaid for him and she just happened to know a mother whose breasts were full--Moses' own mother. Imagine that.
So Pharaoh's daughter paid Moses’ mother to nurse her own baby, how great is that? In addition, she gets to keep him until he is weaned, at which time he was given back to Pharaoh's daughter to be raised as her own son. This early training in the palace of the king would serve Moses well later, when he would be called upon to go before the king to ask for the people's release from slavery.
Pharaoh's daughter must have told Moses of his Hebrew heritage, or his own family inculcated that in him in the two to three years they kept him, because Exodus 2:11 says, when he was grown up he went to visit his people, the Israelites. Upon seeing an Israeli mistreated by his Egyptian taskmaster, Moses takes action and kills the Egyptian, burying him in the sand so no one would find out.
However, as the Bible says later, "you can be sure your sins will find you out." The next day Moses tried to stop two Hebrews who were fighting with each other, however, the culprit brought up Moses' guilt in the murder of the Egyptian. Verse 14 says Moses became frightened, and with good cause, because Pharaoh ordered Moses arrested and killed when he heard of it, so Moses fled to the desert. Here he was in for another forty years of preparation for leading the Israelites out of Egypt.
Moses was just a noble character from the start, it seems. Verse 26 says the daughters of the priest of Midian came every day to draw water from a well for their father's animals, but other shepherds were in the habit of driving them away from the life-giving water. Moses stopped by the well to rest and refresh himself and put a stop to this monkey business when the girls came for water, even helping them draw water.
When the priest of Midian heard what Moses had done, he sent for him to come to his home for a meal. Like the homeless bum who might "camp out on your couch and never leave," Moses had found his home in the wilderness, later marrying one of the priest's daughters. Her name was Zipporah.
Meanwhile, back in Egypt, the Israelites were still under a heavy burden... Their cries went up to God, who remembered his promise to their ancestors. Actually, God had never forgotten it; he was working on a solution, preparing Moses to lead his people by teaching him to herd a bunch of sheep (rather the same).
In Chapter 3, we have the burning bush incident. Moses is strolling along in the Sinai Desert behind the flocks when a bush bursts into flames before his eyes, however, it was not consumed by the fire, it just continued to burn. This caught Moses' attention and he went closer to investigate. As he nears, God speaks to Moses from the bush and told him not to come any closer. Moses is instructed to remove his sandals because he is in holy territory before God.
Then God introduces Himself to Moses, and Moses hides his face in fear. God tells him of His plan to rescue the Israelites from Egypt and send them back to Canaan, the Promised Land. When God breaks the news to Moses that he is to lead them, Moses actually begins arguing with God. This seems silly as we read Exodus, but if you think about it, you and I have likely argued with God many times; I know I have.
God reassures the frightened Moses that He would be with him, but Moses is still not done arguing. He asks God who he should say sent him to lead them when they question his authority, as they had done after the murder incident. Moreover, God tells him simply to say I AM sent him. Then he goes on to say, "Tell them...the God of Abraham...Isaac...and Jacob--has sent me to you." Then God tells Moses of the opposition he will face from the king of Egypt. He tells him there will be heavy pressure and many miracles, but that his mission will be very successful, with the Egyptians sending Israel away with great wealth at the end of the struggle.
God knows the end from the beginning. If you will just go through the battle with Him and be obedient to Him, he will give you a great blessing when it is finally over.
Now begins the story of how the Israelites came to leave Egypt to return to the Promised Land. First, Moses, the author, gives an accounting of his ancestors, who came to Egypt with Jacob during the famine to live. He states there were seventy in all, including Joseph.
Joseph, his father and all his brothers die while living in Egypt, but not before producing many, many offspring. In fact, Exodus 1:7 says they soon filled the land. An ominous statement next says a new king came to the throne of Egypt who didn't know of Joseph or how he had saved his nation from starvation. He was frightened by the size and strength of the Israelite clan living among them, so he gave orders for their oppression and the Hebrews became slaves. However, God was for the Israelites and multiplied them even more, so Pharaoh gave bloody orders for the midwives to kill all the Hebrew boy babies as soon as they were born. The midwives had more regard for God than they did for Pharaoh, though, and disregarded his orders.
Fearing the king a little, they gave a slight misrepresentation when he asked them why they did not obey his orders and told him the Hebrew women had their babies so quickly, they could not be killed as they were born. Then Pharaoh gave orders that all the newborn Israelite boys must be drowned in the Nile.
In chapter 2, Moses gives an account of his own birth and early childhood. He tells us his parents were from the tribe of Levi, the tribe that would later become the priests in Israel. His mother kept him hidden for three months, then made a special waterproof ark for him when he could no longer be hidden. Her heart must have been in torment thinking what would happen to her baby, but she knew she must place him into the river. His sister, also, must have been distressed, because she watched and followed the basket to see what would happen to it.
It just so happened (remember, there are no accidents with God) that Pharaoh's daughter was bathing in the river nearby. Seeing the special little basket in the reeds, she asked that it be brought to her. Moses' helpless cries got to her, and she deducted he must be a Hebrew baby, but she had pity on him. Again, it just so happened, the baby's sister was standing nearby and offered to find a Hebrew nursemaid for him and she just happened to know a mother whose breasts were full--Moses' own mother. Imagine that.
So Pharaoh's daughter paid Moses’ mother to nurse her own baby, how great is that? In addition, she gets to keep him until he is weaned, at which time he was given back to Pharaoh's daughter to be raised as her own son. This early training in the palace of the king would serve Moses well later, when he would be called upon to go before the king to ask for the people's release from slavery.
Pharaoh's daughter must have told Moses of his Hebrew heritage, or his own family inculcated that in him in the two to three years they kept him, because Exodus 2:11 says, when he was grown up he went to visit his people, the Israelites. Upon seeing an Israeli mistreated by his Egyptian taskmaster, Moses takes action and kills the Egyptian, burying him in the sand so no one would find out.
However, as the Bible says later, "you can be sure your sins will find you out." The next day Moses tried to stop two Hebrews who were fighting with each other, however, the culprit brought up Moses' guilt in the murder of the Egyptian. Verse 14 says Moses became frightened, and with good cause, because Pharaoh ordered Moses arrested and killed when he heard of it, so Moses fled to the desert. Here he was in for another forty years of preparation for leading the Israelites out of Egypt.
Moses was just a noble character from the start, it seems. Verse 26 says the daughters of the priest of Midian came every day to draw water from a well for their father's animals, but other shepherds were in the habit of driving them away from the life-giving water. Moses stopped by the well to rest and refresh himself and put a stop to this monkey business when the girls came for water, even helping them draw water.
When the priest of Midian heard what Moses had done, he sent for him to come to his home for a meal. Like the homeless bum who might "camp out on your couch and never leave," Moses had found his home in the wilderness, later marrying one of the priest's daughters. Her name was Zipporah.
Meanwhile, back in Egypt, the Israelites were still under a heavy burden... Their cries went up to God, who remembered his promise to their ancestors. Actually, God had never forgotten it; he was working on a solution, preparing Moses to lead his people by teaching him to herd a bunch of sheep (rather the same).
In Chapter 3, we have the burning bush incident. Moses is strolling along in the Sinai Desert behind the flocks when a bush bursts into flames before his eyes, however, it was not consumed by the fire, it just continued to burn. This caught Moses' attention and he went closer to investigate. As he nears, God speaks to Moses from the bush and told him not to come any closer. Moses is instructed to remove his sandals because he is in holy territory before God.
Then God introduces Himself to Moses, and Moses hides his face in fear. God tells him of His plan to rescue the Israelites from Egypt and send them back to Canaan, the Promised Land. When God breaks the news to Moses that he is to lead them, Moses actually begins arguing with God. This seems silly as we read Exodus, but if you think about it, you and I have likely argued with God many times; I know I have.
God reassures the frightened Moses that He would be with him, but Moses is still not done arguing. He asks God who he should say sent him to lead them when they question his authority, as they had done after the murder incident. Moreover, God tells him simply to say I AM sent him. Then he goes on to say, "Tell them...the God of Abraham...Isaac...and Jacob--has sent me to you." Then God tells Moses of the opposition he will face from the king of Egypt. He tells him there will be heavy pressure and many miracles, but that his mission will be very successful, with the Egyptians sending Israel away with great wealth at the end of the struggle.
God knows the end from the beginning. If you will just go through the battle with Him and be obedient to Him, he will give you a great blessing when it is finally over.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Genesis 49 - 50
So this is getting more like the monthly dose! I had to return to work full-time, plus putting on about 3,000 miles a month for my job, so it's hard to find the time. On the positive, I'm almost through Genesis, so here goes. I will persevere.
Israel knows he is near death, so he gathers his twelve sons to pronounce a blessing over each one. Over his firstborn, Reuben, however, he more or less pronounces a curse. Seems Reuben had been caught having relations with one of Israel's concubines. Cowardly Jacob neither did nor said anything about it at the time, but he lets Reuben know he did not get away with sin while he is on his deathbed. Simeon and Levi also garnered a curse from their father. He still had not forgotten when they made his name an anathema in Sechem.
Judah, who was evil in his youth, but who had totally repented, gains his father's blessing. Israel pronounces that Judah will be the father of a perpetual king over Israel, referring to Christ, who would come from the lineage of Judah. Israel uses poetry in his blessing ritual with his sons and he referrs to Judah as a lion. This same poetic language would later be used to refer to the coming Messiah.
Zebulun gets a mild blessing as Israel pronounces that he will live by the sea, which history says he did. Issachar gets an ominous message that says his descendants will become slaves. Dan is likened to a snake.
Gad's future is said by Israel to hold much war, Asher is said to behold riches and dine sumptously, and Naphtali is likened to a graceful deer.
Not surprisingly, Israel dwells on Joseph as he pronounces his blessing, and calls him a prince among his brothers. He acknowledges that God has been with Joseph and will continue to be.
Benjamin is last and gets only a short pronouncement which seems to say he will be a successful warrior.
Then Jacob gives his last request and that is that he be buried beside Leah, his first wife, in the family burial plot back in Canaan where Abraham, Sarah and Isaac are buried. It strikes me as a little out of character for Jacob to want to be buried beside Leah instead of Rachael, whom he loved so dearly. Again, he stresses that Abraham bought the field and burial plot from the Hittites. When he was all done with these prounouncements and requests, he breathed his last.
Jacob's death caused Joseph to become very emotional. He called for the Egyptian embalmers to embalm his father so he could be carried back to Canaan for burial without his body decomposing. There was a 70 day mourning period, after which Joseph approached Pharaoh to ask permission to leave to return his father's body to Mamre. Although Joseph was Prime Minister of Egypt, he still considered himself a servant to Pharaoh and submitted himself to him.
Pharaoh thought highly of Joseph and sent a large contingent of important people with him for the funeral.
Following the burial of their father, Joseph's brothers again become fearful of what he might do to them now that their father was gone. They sent a message to him saying their father requested their forgiveness before his death, and they also asked meekly for forgiveness. This grieved Joseph, I think, because he had already spoke and demonstrated his forgiveness over them. But in complete fulfillment of the dream God had sent Joseph when he was a boy, his brothers came and prostrated themselves in front of him and pronounced themselves his slaves. Joseph reminds them that, even though they meant to do him harm, God meant the whole episode for their good, and he promised to provide for them and their families.
They remained in Egypt where Joseph lived to the age of 110 and was a great-grandfather. Before he died, he expressed his faith that God would return the twelve tribes to The Promised Land and made his brothers promise to take his body with them when they returned to be buried in the cave at Mamre with his ancestors. His body was also embalmed and placed in a coffin there in Egypt, where it stayed for a long time until the Exodus, which is where we will go next.
Israel knows he is near death, so he gathers his twelve sons to pronounce a blessing over each one. Over his firstborn, Reuben, however, he more or less pronounces a curse. Seems Reuben had been caught having relations with one of Israel's concubines. Cowardly Jacob neither did nor said anything about it at the time, but he lets Reuben know he did not get away with sin while he is on his deathbed. Simeon and Levi also garnered a curse from their father. He still had not forgotten when they made his name an anathema in Sechem.
Judah, who was evil in his youth, but who had totally repented, gains his father's blessing. Israel pronounces that Judah will be the father of a perpetual king over Israel, referring to Christ, who would come from the lineage of Judah. Israel uses poetry in his blessing ritual with his sons and he referrs to Judah as a lion. This same poetic language would later be used to refer to the coming Messiah.
Zebulun gets a mild blessing as Israel pronounces that he will live by the sea, which history says he did. Issachar gets an ominous message that says his descendants will become slaves. Dan is likened to a snake.
Gad's future is said by Israel to hold much war, Asher is said to behold riches and dine sumptously, and Naphtali is likened to a graceful deer.
Not surprisingly, Israel dwells on Joseph as he pronounces his blessing, and calls him a prince among his brothers. He acknowledges that God has been with Joseph and will continue to be.
Benjamin is last and gets only a short pronouncement which seems to say he will be a successful warrior.
Then Jacob gives his last request and that is that he be buried beside Leah, his first wife, in the family burial plot back in Canaan where Abraham, Sarah and Isaac are buried. It strikes me as a little out of character for Jacob to want to be buried beside Leah instead of Rachael, whom he loved so dearly. Again, he stresses that Abraham bought the field and burial plot from the Hittites. When he was all done with these prounouncements and requests, he breathed his last.
Jacob's death caused Joseph to become very emotional. He called for the Egyptian embalmers to embalm his father so he could be carried back to Canaan for burial without his body decomposing. There was a 70 day mourning period, after which Joseph approached Pharaoh to ask permission to leave to return his father's body to Mamre. Although Joseph was Prime Minister of Egypt, he still considered himself a servant to Pharaoh and submitted himself to him.
Pharaoh thought highly of Joseph and sent a large contingent of important people with him for the funeral.
Following the burial of their father, Joseph's brothers again become fearful of what he might do to them now that their father was gone. They sent a message to him saying their father requested their forgiveness before his death, and they also asked meekly for forgiveness. This grieved Joseph, I think, because he had already spoke and demonstrated his forgiveness over them. But in complete fulfillment of the dream God had sent Joseph when he was a boy, his brothers came and prostrated themselves in front of him and pronounced themselves his slaves. Joseph reminds them that, even though they meant to do him harm, God meant the whole episode for their good, and he promised to provide for them and their families.
They remained in Egypt where Joseph lived to the age of 110 and was a great-grandfather. Before he died, he expressed his faith that God would return the twelve tribes to The Promised Land and made his brothers promise to take his body with them when they returned to be buried in the cave at Mamre with his ancestors. His body was also embalmed and placed in a coffin there in Egypt, where it stayed for a long time until the Exodus, which is where we will go next.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Genesis 46 – 48
Old Jacob sets out for Egypt with the carts Pharaoh sent him loaded with all his earthly possessions and offspring. Stopping at Beersheba where he met God before, he offered sacrifices to Him, hoping to speak with Him once more. God obliged by speaking with Jacob, who must have had some temerity about the move to Egypt, and told him not to be afraid to go. It was all a part of God’s plan to sequester Israel while He grew her into a great nation. They would be outcasts in Egypt, so they would be left to themselves to develop the worship and culture God wanted them to have. God promised Israel He would bring them back to Canaan.
Genesis enumerates all who went with Jacob to Egypt, including Joseph and his sons who were already there. There were seventy of them, not counting Jacob’s daughters-in-law. I guess they didn’t count them because they weren’t descendants of Jacob. Jacob was 130 years old when he moved to Egypt.
Joseph hitched his chariot and went to meet his father in the Land of Goshen in the Nile River Delta. There was a tearful reunion when father laid eyes on son and old Jacob proclaimed he was then ready to die, since he had seen his favorite son. Joseph promised them Goshen as their country, since it was lush and could support all their livestock, and he was pretty sure Pharaoh would go along with that, since herds and herdsmen would not be welcomed by the general population of Egypt. They disdained sheep and sheepherders, probably for the same reason we do today—they smell bad.
Pharaoh gave them the most fertile region of Egypt and also put them in charge of his livestock.
The famine got more severe, just as Joseph had predicted by God’s guidance. Joseph was a strict Prime Minister, however, and required payment for all the food he doled out of the storehouses. Soon all the land belonged to Pharaoh and all the people are indentured to him.
So Jacob lived another seventeen years in Egypt. He is on his deathbed and Joseph goes to see him one last time. Jacob made him promise to take him back to Canaan for burial alongside Abraham and Isaac. They had a custom then where, instead of shaking hands to seal a deal, one would put his hand under the other’s thigh. Joseph did this, and we see Israel worshipping God at the end of Chapter 47.
Joseph takes his two sons to see their grandfather before he dies and Jacob blesses them, curiously, giving the greater blessing to the younger brother. Joseph tried to correct his father in this, but Jacob persisted. Ephraim, the younger brother, would become a mightier nation than the tribe of Manasseh, and we will see this played out in later chapters.
Jacob promised a certain portion of land he had fought for and won back in Canaan to Joseph’s descendants.
Genesis enumerates all who went with Jacob to Egypt, including Joseph and his sons who were already there. There were seventy of them, not counting Jacob’s daughters-in-law. I guess they didn’t count them because they weren’t descendants of Jacob. Jacob was 130 years old when he moved to Egypt.
Joseph hitched his chariot and went to meet his father in the Land of Goshen in the Nile River Delta. There was a tearful reunion when father laid eyes on son and old Jacob proclaimed he was then ready to die, since he had seen his favorite son. Joseph promised them Goshen as their country, since it was lush and could support all their livestock, and he was pretty sure Pharaoh would go along with that, since herds and herdsmen would not be welcomed by the general population of Egypt. They disdained sheep and sheepherders, probably for the same reason we do today—they smell bad.
Pharaoh gave them the most fertile region of Egypt and also put them in charge of his livestock.
The famine got more severe, just as Joseph had predicted by God’s guidance. Joseph was a strict Prime Minister, however, and required payment for all the food he doled out of the storehouses. Soon all the land belonged to Pharaoh and all the people are indentured to him.
So Jacob lived another seventeen years in Egypt. He is on his deathbed and Joseph goes to see him one last time. Jacob made him promise to take him back to Canaan for burial alongside Abraham and Isaac. They had a custom then where, instead of shaking hands to seal a deal, one would put his hand under the other’s thigh. Joseph did this, and we see Israel worshipping God at the end of Chapter 47.
Joseph takes his two sons to see their grandfather before he dies and Jacob blesses them, curiously, giving the greater blessing to the younger brother. Joseph tried to correct his father in this, but Jacob persisted. Ephraim, the younger brother, would become a mightier nation than the tribe of Manasseh, and we will see this played out in later chapters.
Jacob promised a certain portion of land he had fought for and won back in Canaan to Joseph’s descendants.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Genesis 43 - 45
Israel eats all the grain Joseph sent home with his brothers and the famine was still severe. Jacob tries to get his sons to go back for more without Benjamin, but they refuse, fearing what the prime minister of Egypt might do to them. When the rumblings of Jacob's stomach get louder than the rumblings coming from his lips, he relents. Judah is adamant that he will be personally responsible for Benjamin's safety, so their father loads them down with gifts for the PM and sends them back with twice the amount of silver, in case there was some mistake made when the money was placed back in their sacks.
Jacob is now a believer in God Almighty, praying over the brothers as they prepare to leave.
Joseph prepares a great feast for them upon their return. But the guilty brothers are fearful it is a trick to take them all captive. They try to explain the return of the money from the first trip to Joseph's steward, who calms their fears, also invoking the name of the God of Israel. They again bow themselves at Joseph's feet, who inquires after their father's health. Joseph was greatly moved upon seeing his younger brother, Benjamin, and excused himself to go to his room and weep.
The brothers are slightly astonished when they are seated according to their ages, but still don't suspect the Prime Minister is their brother. They must have been perplexed when Benjamin was served five times as much food as any of the rest of them, but still clueless.
Joseph again fills their feed sacks and returns the money on top of the grain, but he also has his steward stash his own silver cup in the mouth of Benjamin's sack—still working his plan to reveal the contents of his brother's hearts. When the Israelites left Egypt with their sacks of grain, Joseph sends the army after them to apprehend them with an accusation of theft of the cup.
Unaware of the cup hidden in Benjamin's sack, they swear on his life and their freedom they don't have it. In dramatic fashion, the steward searches all their sacks, going from oldest to youngest and finding the cup in Benjamin's bag. They tore their clothing as a sign of sorrow and returned to Joseph, where they prostrated themselves on the ground in front of him. Judah, who has become the spokesman for the family, offers them all up to him. When Joseph refuses to enslave them all, but demands Benjamin, the supposed thief, become his slave while the rest of them return to Canaan, Judah gives a very impassioned speech, offering himself in place of Benjamin.
Joseph can no longer contain himself. He sees the true repentance and sorrow of his brothers, so he sends all the Egyptians out and makes his identity known to them with weeping so loud that even Pharaoh heard of it. The brothers are speechless and terrified.
Joseph calms their fears by telling them how God had turned to the good what they meant as evil. He requests they return to Canaan to fetch their father and come live in Egypt for the duration of the famine, which was just starting. Pharaoh agreed, because he valued Joseph very much, and was caught up in the drama unfolding before him, sending carts, donkeys and provisions for their trip back.
Old Jacob almost had heart failure when he was told Joseph was alive and the ruler of Egypt.
What a story! I love this story. It proves that dreams really do come true, and that God can turn things men mean as evil into something very good and that men can and do repent and become changed—that Jesus is alive and working in the affairs of humans.
Jacob is now a believer in God Almighty, praying over the brothers as they prepare to leave.
Joseph prepares a great feast for them upon their return. But the guilty brothers are fearful it is a trick to take them all captive. They try to explain the return of the money from the first trip to Joseph's steward, who calms their fears, also invoking the name of the God of Israel. They again bow themselves at Joseph's feet, who inquires after their father's health. Joseph was greatly moved upon seeing his younger brother, Benjamin, and excused himself to go to his room and weep.
The brothers are slightly astonished when they are seated according to their ages, but still don't suspect the Prime Minister is their brother. They must have been perplexed when Benjamin was served five times as much food as any of the rest of them, but still clueless.
Joseph again fills their feed sacks and returns the money on top of the grain, but he also has his steward stash his own silver cup in the mouth of Benjamin's sack—still working his plan to reveal the contents of his brother's hearts. When the Israelites left Egypt with their sacks of grain, Joseph sends the army after them to apprehend them with an accusation of theft of the cup.
Unaware of the cup hidden in Benjamin's sack, they swear on his life and their freedom they don't have it. In dramatic fashion, the steward searches all their sacks, going from oldest to youngest and finding the cup in Benjamin's bag. They tore their clothing as a sign of sorrow and returned to Joseph, where they prostrated themselves on the ground in front of him. Judah, who has become the spokesman for the family, offers them all up to him. When Joseph refuses to enslave them all, but demands Benjamin, the supposed thief, become his slave while the rest of them return to Canaan, Judah gives a very impassioned speech, offering himself in place of Benjamin.
Joseph can no longer contain himself. He sees the true repentance and sorrow of his brothers, so he sends all the Egyptians out and makes his identity known to them with weeping so loud that even Pharaoh heard of it. The brothers are speechless and terrified.
Joseph calms their fears by telling them how God had turned to the good what they meant as evil. He requests they return to Canaan to fetch their father and come live in Egypt for the duration of the famine, which was just starting. Pharaoh agreed, because he valued Joseph very much, and was caught up in the drama unfolding before him, sending carts, donkeys and provisions for their trip back.
Old Jacob almost had heart failure when he was told Joseph was alive and the ruler of Egypt.
What a story! I love this story. It proves that dreams really do come true, and that God can turn things men mean as evil into something very good and that men can and do repent and become changed—that Jesus is alive and working in the affairs of humans.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Genesis 40 - 42
Joseph then comes in contact with the fellow who would be his deliverer from prison later when he is placed over the king's baker and cupbearer who were also thrown in there with him. The dreamer became the interpreter of dreams when the king's servants each had a dream the same night. They were troubled by their dreams and told them to Joseph at his request.
The cupbearer's dream was of a fruitful vine with three branches from which he took grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, placing the cup in the king's hand. Joseph called on God and told the cupbearer the meaning of the dream. He said the three branches represented three days, after which the cupbearer would be restored to his position. Joseph entreated the cupbearer to remember him when he was again presenting the cup to Pharaoh and to ask for his release from prison.
The baker was emboldened by the favorable interpretation Joseph gave to the cupbearer, so he also told his dream, which involved three baskets of bread on his head for Pharaoh, but birds were eating the bread from them. In a grisley interpretation, Joseph told the baker that in three days, Pharaoh would behead him and place his body on a tree for the birds to peck at!
It happened that in three days, Pharaoh did just as Joseph said, but the cupbearer, in his excitement or intrepedation, neglected to mention Joseph's release from prison until two full years later.
At that time, Pharaoh himself had dreams which troubled him. After all the magicians and so-called wise men of Egypt couldn't discern the meaning of Pharaoh's dreams, the drinky fellow suddenly remembered Joseph and reported to Pharaoh that Joseph was able to correctly interpret dreams. So Pharaoh called for Joseph, who took time to shave and clean himself up before presenting himself to the king. This is notable in that Hebrews didn't believe in shaving, so it shows that Joseph had adopted Egyptian culture and desperately wanted to be acceptable to the king. He had been in jail unfairly about 12 years at this point! Joseph again gave God the credit for his ability to interpret dreams.
Pharaoh's dreams involved seven fat cows being consumed by seven skinny cows and seven full heads of grain being swallowed up by seven anemic heads of grain. Joseph told him the dreams were a warning from God that seven years of plenty were coming, to be followed by seven years of drought and famine. Joseph notes here that the repetition of the same dream in another form was confirmation from God that the contents of the dream would, indeed, come to pass. He advised Pharaoh to put a wise man in charge of the land to store up produce during the seven good years so there would be provision in the seven years of famine.
Pharaoh was converted that day by Joseph. He became a believer in God and he discerned that Joseph had God's spirit in him, so he put Joseph in charge of all Egypt, even giving him his signet ring, which had the force of law when imprinted on papyrus. This scene evokes the story of the prodigal son which will be written in the new testament and our stories as we become children of the living God. Joseph is given a new name, Zaphenath-Paneah, a robe, a position of authority, jewelry and servants to help him in his duties. He is age 30 when he began is ministry, also a parallel with Jesus, who was the same age at the beginning of his public ministry.
So Joseph was busy for seven years gathering up the riches of Egypt during the seven good years, and was ready when the famine came.
In chapter 42, the story of Joseph comes full-circle and his own childhood dreams come true when his brothers show up in Egypt asking to buy food during the famine which was also in Canaan. By this time, about 22 years have passed since Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, and he has become like an Egyptian in speech and outward appearance, so they don't recognize him as they bow themselves at his feet to ask for food. He recognizes them, remembering the dream in which their sheaves of grain bowed to his, and he quickly decides to test them to see if their hearts are still hard toward him and God.
Jacob had kept Joseph's full brother, Benjamin, at home, possibly suspecting his other sons had something to do with Joseph's disappearance. Joseph knew of his father's great love for his and Benjamin's mother, so requests one of them go back to fetch their youngest brother while the rest stay there to prove their story that they were not spies. They hesitate, so Joseph puts them all in prison for three days. What a complete turn of the tables. Those boys had thrown Joseph into a pit for probably three days until the caravan came by; now he throws them into a dungeon for that same amount of time. Then he offers them the alternative of leaving one brother there as a hostage while the rest of them go back to Canaan with food.
They are convicted of their guilt as they reflect on their misdeed against Joseph 22 years earlier and begin to discuss how this misfortune that has befallen them is possibly related to that sin. They still didn't realize Joseph was their brother and could understand everything they said. Joseph is very moved by their repentance and has to hide his tears. He keeps Simeon as the hostage. Simeon was the second-born son of Jacob and Joseph's half-brother. Joseph probably would have kept Reuben, the first-born, except that Reuben had shown compassion for him during the dastardly deed, entreating his brothers not to kill Joseph with the intent to come back later and rescue him from the cistern.
So Joseph sends them on their way with sacks of grain, into which he placed the money they had brought for purchasing the food. When they poured out the grain upon their return and saw the money, they were frightened that they would then be accused of thievery and Simeon would be dead when they returned. Old Jacob, the eternal pessimist, moaned that everything was against him. He was quite sure Simeon was dead, along with Joseph, and now the brothers were wanting to take his beloved youngest son from him. But Reuben promises on his son's lives to protect Benjamin and bring him back alive. Jacob resists until his belly begins groaning more than his mouth.
I can't help but also drawing a parallel here between Jacob's eldest, Reuben, and my eldest brother, Jim. Jim was always looking after his younger siblings and wanting to protect us. He began helping support us as soon as he was out of high school and had a job, buying our school lunch tickets and helping Mom with whatever needs our father's ranch job couldn't provide.
The cupbearer's dream was of a fruitful vine with three branches from which he took grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, placing the cup in the king's hand. Joseph called on God and told the cupbearer the meaning of the dream. He said the three branches represented three days, after which the cupbearer would be restored to his position. Joseph entreated the cupbearer to remember him when he was again presenting the cup to Pharaoh and to ask for his release from prison.
The baker was emboldened by the favorable interpretation Joseph gave to the cupbearer, so he also told his dream, which involved three baskets of bread on his head for Pharaoh, but birds were eating the bread from them. In a grisley interpretation, Joseph told the baker that in three days, Pharaoh would behead him and place his body on a tree for the birds to peck at!
It happened that in three days, Pharaoh did just as Joseph said, but the cupbearer, in his excitement or intrepedation, neglected to mention Joseph's release from prison until two full years later.
At that time, Pharaoh himself had dreams which troubled him. After all the magicians and so-called wise men of Egypt couldn't discern the meaning of Pharaoh's dreams, the drinky fellow suddenly remembered Joseph and reported to Pharaoh that Joseph was able to correctly interpret dreams. So Pharaoh called for Joseph, who took time to shave and clean himself up before presenting himself to the king. This is notable in that Hebrews didn't believe in shaving, so it shows that Joseph had adopted Egyptian culture and desperately wanted to be acceptable to the king. He had been in jail unfairly about 12 years at this point! Joseph again gave God the credit for his ability to interpret dreams.
Pharaoh's dreams involved seven fat cows being consumed by seven skinny cows and seven full heads of grain being swallowed up by seven anemic heads of grain. Joseph told him the dreams were a warning from God that seven years of plenty were coming, to be followed by seven years of drought and famine. Joseph notes here that the repetition of the same dream in another form was confirmation from God that the contents of the dream would, indeed, come to pass. He advised Pharaoh to put a wise man in charge of the land to store up produce during the seven good years so there would be provision in the seven years of famine.
Pharaoh was converted that day by Joseph. He became a believer in God and he discerned that Joseph had God's spirit in him, so he put Joseph in charge of all Egypt, even giving him his signet ring, which had the force of law when imprinted on papyrus. This scene evokes the story of the prodigal son which will be written in the new testament and our stories as we become children of the living God. Joseph is given a new name, Zaphenath-Paneah, a robe, a position of authority, jewelry and servants to help him in his duties. He is age 30 when he began is ministry, also a parallel with Jesus, who was the same age at the beginning of his public ministry.
So Joseph was busy for seven years gathering up the riches of Egypt during the seven good years, and was ready when the famine came.
In chapter 42, the story of Joseph comes full-circle and his own childhood dreams come true when his brothers show up in Egypt asking to buy food during the famine which was also in Canaan. By this time, about 22 years have passed since Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, and he has become like an Egyptian in speech and outward appearance, so they don't recognize him as they bow themselves at his feet to ask for food. He recognizes them, remembering the dream in which their sheaves of grain bowed to his, and he quickly decides to test them to see if their hearts are still hard toward him and God.
Jacob had kept Joseph's full brother, Benjamin, at home, possibly suspecting his other sons had something to do with Joseph's disappearance. Joseph knew of his father's great love for his and Benjamin's mother, so requests one of them go back to fetch their youngest brother while the rest stay there to prove their story that they were not spies. They hesitate, so Joseph puts them all in prison for three days. What a complete turn of the tables. Those boys had thrown Joseph into a pit for probably three days until the caravan came by; now he throws them into a dungeon for that same amount of time. Then he offers them the alternative of leaving one brother there as a hostage while the rest of them go back to Canaan with food.
They are convicted of their guilt as they reflect on their misdeed against Joseph 22 years earlier and begin to discuss how this misfortune that has befallen them is possibly related to that sin. They still didn't realize Joseph was their brother and could understand everything they said. Joseph is very moved by their repentance and has to hide his tears. He keeps Simeon as the hostage. Simeon was the second-born son of Jacob and Joseph's half-brother. Joseph probably would have kept Reuben, the first-born, except that Reuben had shown compassion for him during the dastardly deed, entreating his brothers not to kill Joseph with the intent to come back later and rescue him from the cistern.
So Joseph sends them on their way with sacks of grain, into which he placed the money they had brought for purchasing the food. When they poured out the grain upon their return and saw the money, they were frightened that they would then be accused of thievery and Simeon would be dead when they returned. Old Jacob, the eternal pessimist, moaned that everything was against him. He was quite sure Simeon was dead, along with Joseph, and now the brothers were wanting to take his beloved youngest son from him. But Reuben promises on his son's lives to protect Benjamin and bring him back alive. Jacob resists until his belly begins groaning more than his mouth.
I can't help but also drawing a parallel here between Jacob's eldest, Reuben, and my eldest brother, Jim. Jim was always looking after his younger siblings and wanting to protect us. He began helping support us as soon as he was out of high school and had a job, buying our school lunch tickets and helping Mom with whatever needs our father's ranch job couldn't provide.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Genesis 37 - 39
Now comes one of my favorite Biblical characters and his story! I love the story of Joseph, partly because I also had eleven siblings, of which I was third to the youngest, so I often felt persecuted by my older brothers and sisters as they teased and threw rocks at me to keep me from following them. When I was six, my dad came home with a paint pony just for me, which caused a lot of jealousy from my siblings, some of which I didn't even learn of until many years. Can't help but draw a parallel there with Joesph's coat of many colors.
We meet Joseph as a seventeen-year-old lad out tending his father's sheep alongside his eleven brothers. He was rather a tattler, it seems, and would give his father bad reports on his brothers, he being his father's favorite. So when Jacob presented Joseph with a colorful cloak, such as none of them had, they began to have hard feelings toward him.
This boy was a dreamer who should have kept his nocturnal mind pictures to himself. He dreamt about being exalted above his brothers, as well as his father and mother. They really hated him when he told them of the dreams, and even Jacob rebuked him. But Jacob also played him off against his brothers, sending him to check up on them when they were herding the sheep a goodly distance from Hebron, Jacob's headquarters. Joseph was to bring a report back to their father, but the brothers plotted to kill him when they saw him coming.
His oldest brother, Reuben, however, persuaded them not to kill Joseph, but to toss him into a cistern from which he planned to rescue him later. So the brothers jerked the robe Jacob had made for Joseph off his body and threw him into the pit, planning to leave him there to die, but as they sat down nearby to eat their lunch, a caravan of Ishmaelites came by on their way to Egypt. Joseph's brother, Judah, cooked up a scheme to get some money for Joseph by selling him to the travelers as a slave. He was sold for 20 shekels of silver, the exact price that was later paid for Jesus, the price of a slave. So Joseph went to Egypt as a slave and was sold to a high government official there.
Chapter 38 tells a very sordid tale, which bothers some people that God would have included it in His letter to us. But God doesn't sugarcoat the history of His people. He shows us their flaws and foibles so that we can learn and perhaps not repeat their mistakes. In addition, this chapter gives us a glimpse into the characters of the direct ancestors of our Lord, Jesus, Judah and Tamar, and it draws a sharp contrast between Joseph and Judah.
Judah marries and has three sons, then finds a wife named Tamar for his oldest son, but Tamar became a widow before producing any offspring with Er, Judah's eldest son. In that culture there was a tradition that if a brother died, the next oldest brother would take the wife as his own to produce heirs to his brother's estate. Therefore, Tamar wed Onan, Judah's second son, but the text says the Lord took him also. Judah was in a quandary at this point. He only had one young son left, and he was beginning to think that Tamar was bad news. Therefore, he withheld Shelah from her in fear.
Tamar suspected her father-in-law had betrayed her, so she dressed up as a harlot, wearing a veil and sitting by the side of a road she knew Judah was about to travel. When Judah propositioned her, she was wise enough to ask for collateral to hold as evidence. Tamar became pregnant by her father-in-law.
When Judah heard his daughter-in-law was pregnant out of wedlock, he wanted to kill her. Then she revealed by whom she was pregnant by displaying the Judah's staff and seal, which she collected from him as she sat by the road. To his credit, Judah repented of his sin and didn't insist on having her killed. Instead, he supported her and didn't have any further sexual relations with her. Tamar was pregnant with twin boys. She named one Perez and one Zerah. Perez is an earthly ancestor of Jesus.
Meanwhile back in Egypt, Joseph is thrown into jail for not succumbing to sexual temptation. The wife of the official, into whose home he has been thrust, tries to seduce Joseph, who has been made steward of Potiphar's household. Nevertheless, Joseph resists, telling her it would be not only a sin against her husband, but also a sin against God. Mrs. Potiphar didn't like being rebuffed by a slave, so she grabbed him one day, intending to force him into having sex with her, but he ran away, leaving an article of clothing in her hand as she gripped it. Angry and embarrassed, she cried rape to get back at Joseph. Joseph wound up in an Egyptian prison.
But the Bible tells us that God was with Joseph, even in the jail. This was all part of God's plan to mold Joseph into the strong leader God needed him to be.
When God is with someone, it shows. After a short time, the warden put Joseph in charge of the prison. So what lesson can we learn from this? The same lesson we will be given repeatedly by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament: In all things, give thanks to God.
We meet Joseph as a seventeen-year-old lad out tending his father's sheep alongside his eleven brothers. He was rather a tattler, it seems, and would give his father bad reports on his brothers, he being his father's favorite. So when Jacob presented Joseph with a colorful cloak, such as none of them had, they began to have hard feelings toward him.
This boy was a dreamer who should have kept his nocturnal mind pictures to himself. He dreamt about being exalted above his brothers, as well as his father and mother. They really hated him when he told them of the dreams, and even Jacob rebuked him. But Jacob also played him off against his brothers, sending him to check up on them when they were herding the sheep a goodly distance from Hebron, Jacob's headquarters. Joseph was to bring a report back to their father, but the brothers plotted to kill him when they saw him coming.
His oldest brother, Reuben, however, persuaded them not to kill Joseph, but to toss him into a cistern from which he planned to rescue him later. So the brothers jerked the robe Jacob had made for Joseph off his body and threw him into the pit, planning to leave him there to die, but as they sat down nearby to eat their lunch, a caravan of Ishmaelites came by on their way to Egypt. Joseph's brother, Judah, cooked up a scheme to get some money for Joseph by selling him to the travelers as a slave. He was sold for 20 shekels of silver, the exact price that was later paid for Jesus, the price of a slave. So Joseph went to Egypt as a slave and was sold to a high government official there.
Chapter 38 tells a very sordid tale, which bothers some people that God would have included it in His letter to us. But God doesn't sugarcoat the history of His people. He shows us their flaws and foibles so that we can learn and perhaps not repeat their mistakes. In addition, this chapter gives us a glimpse into the characters of the direct ancestors of our Lord, Jesus, Judah and Tamar, and it draws a sharp contrast between Joseph and Judah.
Judah marries and has three sons, then finds a wife named Tamar for his oldest son, but Tamar became a widow before producing any offspring with Er, Judah's eldest son. In that culture there was a tradition that if a brother died, the next oldest brother would take the wife as his own to produce heirs to his brother's estate. Therefore, Tamar wed Onan, Judah's second son, but the text says the Lord took him also. Judah was in a quandary at this point. He only had one young son left, and he was beginning to think that Tamar was bad news. Therefore, he withheld Shelah from her in fear.
Tamar suspected her father-in-law had betrayed her, so she dressed up as a harlot, wearing a veil and sitting by the side of a road she knew Judah was about to travel. When Judah propositioned her, she was wise enough to ask for collateral to hold as evidence. Tamar became pregnant by her father-in-law.
When Judah heard his daughter-in-law was pregnant out of wedlock, he wanted to kill her. Then she revealed by whom she was pregnant by displaying the Judah's staff and seal, which she collected from him as she sat by the road. To his credit, Judah repented of his sin and didn't insist on having her killed. Instead, he supported her and didn't have any further sexual relations with her. Tamar was pregnant with twin boys. She named one Perez and one Zerah. Perez is an earthly ancestor of Jesus.
Meanwhile back in Egypt, Joseph is thrown into jail for not succumbing to sexual temptation. The wife of the official, into whose home he has been thrust, tries to seduce Joseph, who has been made steward of Potiphar's household. Nevertheless, Joseph resists, telling her it would be not only a sin against her husband, but also a sin against God. Mrs. Potiphar didn't like being rebuffed by a slave, so she grabbed him one day, intending to force him into having sex with her, but he ran away, leaving an article of clothing in her hand as she gripped it. Angry and embarrassed, she cried rape to get back at Joseph. Joseph wound up in an Egyptian prison.
But the Bible tells us that God was with Joseph, even in the jail. This was all part of God's plan to mold Joseph into the strong leader God needed him to be.
When God is with someone, it shows. After a short time, the warden put Joseph in charge of the prison. So what lesson can we learn from this? The same lesson we will be given repeatedly by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament: In all things, give thanks to God.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Genesis 34 - 36
Jacob settled with his family and livestock around Shechem, a city named for the king of the land's son. This young man sets his eyes on the new girl in the neighborhood, Jacob's only daughter, Dinah. One day when she was visiting the women of the city, Shechem raped her, and then became enamored with Dinah. So begins a very sordid tale in the lives of Israel and his family. The Bible doesn't gloss over these things. We can all learn something of Israel's, and our own, character from the stories God chose to include in His letter to us.
Shechem asks his father to get Dinah as a wife for him after he raped her. Jacob heard of the rape, but did nothing about it himself. Dinah's brothers were furious when they heard. King Hamor presented marriage with his son as a kind of peace treaty. Jacob's sons devise a plan to get even with the king's son for his bad deed. They told him he and all the men of the land needed to be circumcised before they could intermarry.
Can you just imagine the reaction of the men of the city when they were told they would all have to be circumcised, young and old? Hamor also appeals to their greed when he tells them all of Jacob's livestock and property will become community property. While they were all still sore and weakened from the circumcision, two of Dinah's brothers, Levi and Simeon, took their swords and killed every male in the city, retrieving their sister as the other brothers plundered the village, seizing livestock and women.
If they were expecting praise from their father, they were sorely mistaken. Jacob chewed them all out, fearing only for his own property and safety, and not his daughter's or his family's honor.
God used this episode to move Jacob back to Bethel, where He had first appeared to Jacob. Jacob then gives his family a lesson in pure worship of God, telling them to rid themselves of all their idols in preparation for building an altar. God visited Jacob again at that altar, reminding him that He had changed his name to Israel, and reminding him of the promise of the land and many descendants.
Israel's dearest wife, Rachel, dies while giving birth to Benjamin as they were moving on from Bethel and was buried at Bethlehem. Rachel's tomb is still a landmark in Israel, so history supports the Biblical account of Jacob and his family. At the end of Chapter 35, we see Israel returning home in time to see his aged father, Isaac, who apparently died soon after Israel's return home. Again we see Jacob and Esau reunited as they bury their father, and presumably, their life-long family feud.
Chapter 36 tells us that Jacob and Esau again went their separate ways, however, because their families, flocks, and herds were too large for the land to support all of them if they stayed together. Esau's family moved away to the hill country of Seir, which is southeast of the Dead Sea. There ensues an account of Esau's descendants. It is good to peruse this listing, because it tells us that many of Israel's strongest enemies down through the years descended from Esau. We see the name Amalek, from whom we get the Amalekites, and Hadad, whose descendant, Ben Hadad, would cause Israel much grief.
Shechem asks his father to get Dinah as a wife for him after he raped her. Jacob heard of the rape, but did nothing about it himself. Dinah's brothers were furious when they heard. King Hamor presented marriage with his son as a kind of peace treaty. Jacob's sons devise a plan to get even with the king's son for his bad deed. They told him he and all the men of the land needed to be circumcised before they could intermarry.
Can you just imagine the reaction of the men of the city when they were told they would all have to be circumcised, young and old? Hamor also appeals to their greed when he tells them all of Jacob's livestock and property will become community property. While they were all still sore and weakened from the circumcision, two of Dinah's brothers, Levi and Simeon, took their swords and killed every male in the city, retrieving their sister as the other brothers plundered the village, seizing livestock and women.
If they were expecting praise from their father, they were sorely mistaken. Jacob chewed them all out, fearing only for his own property and safety, and not his daughter's or his family's honor.
God used this episode to move Jacob back to Bethel, where He had first appeared to Jacob. Jacob then gives his family a lesson in pure worship of God, telling them to rid themselves of all their idols in preparation for building an altar. God visited Jacob again at that altar, reminding him that He had changed his name to Israel, and reminding him of the promise of the land and many descendants.
Israel's dearest wife, Rachel, dies while giving birth to Benjamin as they were moving on from Bethel and was buried at Bethlehem. Rachel's tomb is still a landmark in Israel, so history supports the Biblical account of Jacob and his family. At the end of Chapter 35, we see Israel returning home in time to see his aged father, Isaac, who apparently died soon after Israel's return home. Again we see Jacob and Esau reunited as they bury their father, and presumably, their life-long family feud.
Chapter 36 tells us that Jacob and Esau again went their separate ways, however, because their families, flocks, and herds were too large for the land to support all of them if they stayed together. Esau's family moved away to the hill country of Seir, which is southeast of the Dead Sea. There ensues an account of Esau's descendants. It is good to peruse this listing, because it tells us that many of Israel's strongest enemies down through the years descended from Esau. We see the name Amalek, from whom we get the Amalekites, and Hadad, whose descendant, Ben Hadad, would cause Israel much grief.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Genesis 31 - 33
Jacob has become very rich in Haran and the brothers of his wives have become jealous, so when God tells him to return to Canaan, he obeys. Rachel and Leah are not hesitant to leave their Father, but Jacob didn't want to tell him they were leaving. They left while Laban was away shearing his sheep, but not before Rachel stole her father's idols. They had a three-day head start on Laban when he began to pursue them.
Although Laban was not a believer in Jacob's God, this God also spoke to Laban while he was in pursuit and told him to be careful what he said to Jacob. This tells me God is able to speak to anyone and to control anyone he chooses. Therefore, Laban is very diplomatic when he confronts Jacob. Laban's main anger is directed toward the theft of his household gods.
Not knowing his beloved Rachel was the thief, Jacob angrily told his father-in-law to go ahead and search his camp for his gods. Then he pronounces a death sentence on anyone found with the idols. Rachel matches her father trick for trick. She has placed the idols in her camel's saddle on which she was sitting in her tent. Telling her father she was menstruating stopped him from searching her, and the idols go unfound.
Then it was Jacob's turn to be angry. He let his father-in-law have it for all the wrongs over all the years. They made an agreement to part ways and never cross the line into each other's territory again. With his angry, conniving father-in-law behind him, Jacob turns his attention to his next obstacle, his brother Esau.
Jacob sends messengers to his brother to let him know he is returning home. The messengers come back to say Esau is coming to meet him. Jacob begins to quake with fear. Still a schemer, Jacob divides his people and property, so that one group may survive an attack. Then he turns to God in prayer. Prayer should have been his first thought, but his faith is progressing. Then Jacob separates out gifts of livestock to send ahead of him to Esau--still scheming and hedging his bets. Then he sends his immediate family and his personal possessions across the Jabbok River while he stayed behind. Now he is hiding behind his family.
Left alone, however, he has a lot of time to think, and Jacob wrestles with God, both
mentally and physically. Jacob refused to give in, so God had to cripple him, just as He does us when we refuse to humble ourselves. Jacob demands a blessing from God before letting Him go, and gets it in the form of a new name, Israel, as a symbol of his being a changed man. Israel means, “He struggled with God and men and overcame.” After that, Jacob walked with a limp.
At the beginning of Chapter 33, the account of Jacob’s meeting with Esau ensues. Esau had four hundred men with him. He looked ready for a fight. Nevertheless, his emotions for his own flesh and blood brother overcame him as they met, and he opened his heart and his arms. After meeting Jacob’s family, Esau politely declines the gifts Jacob sent ahead to him. However, Jacob is insistent.
Still not completely trusting his brother, the heel-catcher didn’t want to travel with Esau, so he used the excuse the young children and animals couldn’t travel as fast as Esau and his army. Then he lied to his brother, telling him he would come to him at Seir, while he did not intend to do so. As soon as Esau was out of sight, Israel changed course and crossed the Jordan River, where he bought some land from the natives. So God promised the land to the Israelites, they bought the land, and later, they would fight for it. Indeed, they are still fighting for it.
Although Laban was not a believer in Jacob's God, this God also spoke to Laban while he was in pursuit and told him to be careful what he said to Jacob. This tells me God is able to speak to anyone and to control anyone he chooses. Therefore, Laban is very diplomatic when he confronts Jacob. Laban's main anger is directed toward the theft of his household gods.
Not knowing his beloved Rachel was the thief, Jacob angrily told his father-in-law to go ahead and search his camp for his gods. Then he pronounces a death sentence on anyone found with the idols. Rachel matches her father trick for trick. She has placed the idols in her camel's saddle on which she was sitting in her tent. Telling her father she was menstruating stopped him from searching her, and the idols go unfound.
Then it was Jacob's turn to be angry. He let his father-in-law have it for all the wrongs over all the years. They made an agreement to part ways and never cross the line into each other's territory again. With his angry, conniving father-in-law behind him, Jacob turns his attention to his next obstacle, his brother Esau.
Jacob sends messengers to his brother to let him know he is returning home. The messengers come back to say Esau is coming to meet him. Jacob begins to quake with fear. Still a schemer, Jacob divides his people and property, so that one group may survive an attack. Then he turns to God in prayer. Prayer should have been his first thought, but his faith is progressing. Then Jacob separates out gifts of livestock to send ahead of him to Esau--still scheming and hedging his bets. Then he sends his immediate family and his personal possessions across the Jabbok River while he stayed behind. Now he is hiding behind his family.
Left alone, however, he has a lot of time to think, and Jacob wrestles with God, both
mentally and physically. Jacob refused to give in, so God had to cripple him, just as He does us when we refuse to humble ourselves. Jacob demands a blessing from God before letting Him go, and gets it in the form of a new name, Israel, as a symbol of his being a changed man. Israel means, “He struggled with God and men and overcame.” After that, Jacob walked with a limp.
At the beginning of Chapter 33, the account of Jacob’s meeting with Esau ensues. Esau had four hundred men with him. He looked ready for a fight. Nevertheless, his emotions for his own flesh and blood brother overcame him as they met, and he opened his heart and his arms. After meeting Jacob’s family, Esau politely declines the gifts Jacob sent ahead to him. However, Jacob is insistent.
Still not completely trusting his brother, the heel-catcher didn’t want to travel with Esau, so he used the excuse the young children and animals couldn’t travel as fast as Esau and his army. Then he lied to his brother, telling him he would come to him at Seir, while he did not intend to do so. As soon as Esau was out of sight, Israel changed course and crossed the Jordan River, where he bought some land from the natives. So God promised the land to the Israelites, they bought the land, and later, they would fight for it. Indeed, they are still fighting for it.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Genesis 28 - 30
Genesis 28 begins the odyssey of one of the Bible's most endearing and repugnant (yes, at the same time) characters, Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Isaac sent him off to Aram with his blessing and told him to find a God-fearing wife from his mother's relatives there.
When Esau heard of his father's instructions to Jacob, he suddenly realizes his father's displeasure with his pagan wives, then he further complicates things by running to Isaac's half-brother, Ishmael, to get another wife from his family.
While on his way to Haran, Jacob had a dream known as "Jacob's Ladder." He was about ten miles north of Jerusalem when he lay down to sleep and God appeared to him in his dream, along with a ladder going up to heaven with angels going up and down on it. God renews the covenant He made with Abraham and Isaac. God told Jacob He would give him and his descendants the land on which he lay, and that his descendants would be "like the dust of the earth."
So Jacob took the rock on which he was resting his head and made an altar to the Lord at Bethel, and, ever the bargainer, tried to make a bargain with God there. God told him in the dream He would be with him and bring him back to that land, but Jacob said, "if God be with me" and if God will give me food to eat and clothes to wear and safety, "then the Lord will be my God."--Genesis 28:21. So he doesn't really have great faith in God at this point.
Jacob reaches Haran at the beginning of Chapter 29 and this is where he also meets the beautiful Rachel, his cousin, with whom he is immediately smitten. Jacob meets his match in Rachel's father, his Uncle Laban, however. They were both hucksters and bargainers.
For Rachel's hand in marriage, Jacob pledged seven years of labor to her father, and he performed it. When the seven years were up, though, Laban substituted his older daughter, Leah, at the wedding. The text says Leah had weak eyes, so we assume she either couldn't see very well or had some other eye problem, and she wasn't as attractive as her younger sister, Rachel, so was not as desirable as a wife.
Questioning people want to know how Laban could have tricked Jacob in this manner, but if you think about Middle Eastern customs even to this day, women kept themselves completely covered and Leah would have been wearing a thick veil. The text says that Laban had a great feast, likely involving some wine, so Jacob would likely have been a little inebriated. It also says Laban waited until evening to give Jacob his daughter. So Jacob and Leah went to the tent in the dark to consummate the marriage.
Jacob was furious the next morning when he realized he was in bed with the wrong woman, and he angrily confronts Laban. Laban just blows him off, telling him it isn't customary for the younger daughter to be given in marriage before the older and that he can have Rachel too, if he will work another seven years.
So Jacob's life has instantly become very complicated with two wives, who are also sisters--a little more than what he bargained for. Nevertheless, his love for Rachel was so great he went for it.
Right away, the problems begin. Rachel is barren, but Leah starts producing sons quickly. By the end of Chapter 29, Leah has had four sons to Rachel's none. An extreme jealousy sets in between the two sisters, and Rachel makes a rash statement, "Give me children, or I'll die!" Little did she know that she would die in childbirth while bearing her second son.
Each of the two sisters were given a maidservant by their family at the time of their marriage, so Rachel cooks up a plan to have Jacob sleep with her servant so she could claim the offspring of that unholy union as her own. Sound familiar? Surely, Jacob knew of his grandfather's mistake in doing the same thing and all the trouble it had caused in the family, but he does so, anyway. Two more sons are added to Jacob's household through Rachel's servant, Bilhah.
Then Leah, whose body had stopped bearing children for a time, followed suit with her maidservant, Zilpah, and Jacob became a man with four wives. Leah did conceive again later and bore two more sons and Jacob's only daughter, Dinah.
Finally, God decided to grant Rachel's prayers for children, and she bore Joseph. Following the birth of Joseph, Jacob begins to long for the old country, and asks his father-in-law to let him go back, but Laban bargains to keep him, his daughters and his grandchildren near.
There is a curious passage in Chapter 30 that tells of the bargain they made for Jacob's labor. Jacob gets all the speckled or spotted sheep and goats, and Laban gets to keep all the solid colored, white animals. That way, they could keep their livestock separate and each would know if the other was stealing from him.
Jacob heard an old wives' tale about placing striped branches in front of the herds while they mated--that it would cause them to have streaked, or spotted offspring, and he did that with Laban's stronger animals. Then he would claim any spotted lambs and kids. I suspect it was God's provision for Jacob that the animals produced spotted offspring, however, and not the branches they saw while mating, and indeed, we see at the end of Chapter 30 that Jacob has become exceedingly prosperous.
When Esau heard of his father's instructions to Jacob, he suddenly realizes his father's displeasure with his pagan wives, then he further complicates things by running to Isaac's half-brother, Ishmael, to get another wife from his family.
While on his way to Haran, Jacob had a dream known as "Jacob's Ladder." He was about ten miles north of Jerusalem when he lay down to sleep and God appeared to him in his dream, along with a ladder going up to heaven with angels going up and down on it. God renews the covenant He made with Abraham and Isaac. God told Jacob He would give him and his descendants the land on which he lay, and that his descendants would be "like the dust of the earth."So Jacob took the rock on which he was resting his head and made an altar to the Lord at Bethel, and, ever the bargainer, tried to make a bargain with God there. God told him in the dream He would be with him and bring him back to that land, but Jacob said, "if God be with me" and if God will give me food to eat and clothes to wear and safety, "then the Lord will be my God."--Genesis 28:21. So he doesn't really have great faith in God at this point.
Jacob reaches Haran at the beginning of Chapter 29 and this is where he also meets the beautiful Rachel, his cousin, with whom he is immediately smitten. Jacob meets his match in Rachel's father, his Uncle Laban, however. They were both hucksters and bargainers.
For Rachel's hand in marriage, Jacob pledged seven years of labor to her father, and he performed it. When the seven years were up, though, Laban substituted his older daughter, Leah, at the wedding. The text says Leah had weak eyes, so we assume she either couldn't see very well or had some other eye problem, and she wasn't as attractive as her younger sister, Rachel, so was not as desirable as a wife.
Questioning people want to know how Laban could have tricked Jacob in this manner, but if you think about Middle Eastern customs even to this day, women kept themselves completely covered and Leah would have been wearing a thick veil. The text says that Laban had a great feast, likely involving some wine, so Jacob would likely have been a little inebriated. It also says Laban waited until evening to give Jacob his daughter. So Jacob and Leah went to the tent in the dark to consummate the marriage.
Jacob was furious the next morning when he realized he was in bed with the wrong woman, and he angrily confronts Laban. Laban just blows him off, telling him it isn't customary for the younger daughter to be given in marriage before the older and that he can have Rachel too, if he will work another seven years.
So Jacob's life has instantly become very complicated with two wives, who are also sisters--a little more than what he bargained for. Nevertheless, his love for Rachel was so great he went for it.
Right away, the problems begin. Rachel is barren, but Leah starts producing sons quickly. By the end of Chapter 29, Leah has had four sons to Rachel's none. An extreme jealousy sets in between the two sisters, and Rachel makes a rash statement, "Give me children, or I'll die!" Little did she know that she would die in childbirth while bearing her second son.
Each of the two sisters were given a maidservant by their family at the time of their marriage, so Rachel cooks up a plan to have Jacob sleep with her servant so she could claim the offspring of that unholy union as her own. Sound familiar? Surely, Jacob knew of his grandfather's mistake in doing the same thing and all the trouble it had caused in the family, but he does so, anyway. Two more sons are added to Jacob's household through Rachel's servant, Bilhah.
Then Leah, whose body had stopped bearing children for a time, followed suit with her maidservant, Zilpah, and Jacob became a man with four wives. Leah did conceive again later and bore two more sons and Jacob's only daughter, Dinah.
Finally, God decided to grant Rachel's prayers for children, and she bore Joseph. Following the birth of Joseph, Jacob begins to long for the old country, and asks his father-in-law to let him go back, but Laban bargains to keep him, his daughters and his grandchildren near.
There is a curious passage in Chapter 30 that tells of the bargain they made for Jacob's labor. Jacob gets all the speckled or spotted sheep and goats, and Laban gets to keep all the solid colored, white animals. That way, they could keep their livestock separate and each would know if the other was stealing from him.
Jacob heard an old wives' tale about placing striped branches in front of the herds while they mated--that it would cause them to have streaked, or spotted offspring, and he did that with Laban's stronger animals. Then he would claim any spotted lambs and kids. I suspect it was God's provision for Jacob that the animals produced spotted offspring, however, and not the branches they saw while mating, and indeed, we see at the end of Chapter 30 that Jacob has become exceedingly prosperous.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Genesis 25 – 27
After finding a wife for Isaac and mourning the death of Sarah, Abraham also found, for himself, another wife. Her name was Keturah, with whom he fathered even more children--amazing because he was past 130 years of age when he married her. The text tells us that although he gave gifts of his wealth to these other offspring, his authority, land and major wealth went to Isaac upon his death at age 175.
So we see that human life-spans are getting shorter after the flood. I wonder if God removed a protective layer in the atmosphere in order to make it rain and this removal began a process of shortening the life spans of humans. Or maybe God just decided to gradually lessen our life spans in order to limit the amount of evil we can accomplish during our days here. He does say in other scripture that man’s days are to be about 70 years, which is an average lifetime today.
Following an account of Abraham’s offspring, other than Isaac, at the beginning of Chapter 25, there follows a listing of Ishmael’s offspring. We learn here that Ishmael also had twelve male heirs during his 137 years who settled in the south of Canaan, near the Egyptian border, and who lived in “hostility toward all their brothers.”—Genesis 25:18.
Rebekah was barren for a time, just as Sarah had been, until Isaac prayed for her to become pregnant. God answered his prayer in a big way and Rebekah found she was carrying twins when she asked God why her womb was in such turmoil. God told her there were two “nations” in her womb and the older would be a servant to the younger. The twins were already at war in her womb.
Jacob came out holding on to his twin brother, Esau’s heel, and his name meant “usurper,” which is exactly what he would become. At the end of the chapter, we see him usurping his brother’s birthright. It seems Jacob was a mamma’s boy who stayed in close to camp and learned to cook while Esau honed his hunting skills and pleased their father. Esau came in from hunting one day famished and Jacob was there cooking stew, so Jacob bargained with him a bowl of stew for the birthright. The text says Esau despised his birthright. I think it was just a boyish carelessness. He didn’t really understand what he was bargaining away, but maybe he should have. He was selling his right to become the heir to his father’s fortune and the patriarch of the family. God knew he was going to do this, because He had told Rebekah so before the birth of the twins.
Isaac repeated some of the same mistakes his father had made. When a famine came, they went to the land of Abimelech to find food. Isaac told the same lie about Rebekah that Abraham had told of Sarah—that she was his sister, because he feared for his life. Abimelech must have been on guard for that lie, because he caught Isaac kissing Rebekah and confronted him. When Isaac confessed that Rebekah was his wife, the king gave orders for their peace and safety.
But they soon became too prosperous for the Philistines and they began quarreling over water and pasture for their flocks. So Isaac migrated back northward, reopening the wells his father had dug on his travels, and having the same quarrels with the natives over precious water, until he was back in Beersheba, where God reaffirmed the promise he made to Abraham.
Isaac’s neighbors couldn’t help but see that God was blessing him, so they scrambled to make treaties with him.
There is a curious passage at the end of Chapter 26 that says Esau married two pagan wives from the Hittite tribes surrounding them when he was age 40. Apparently Isaac had been remiss in finding suitable wives for his sons, as his father had done for him, so Esau took things in his own hands. The scripture says these Canaanitish women were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Chapter 27 begins a sad tale of espionage and deceit in Isaac’s family that would have long-lasting implications. Knowing he was about to die, Isaac wanted to pass the blessing on to his oldest son, Esau, so he called him in. Being a selfish and carnal man, however, he demanded his son go out hunting first and bring back some tasty venison for him to eat. The delay gave Rebekah time to take matters into her control.
Rebekah wanted Jacob to inherit the major portion of their goods, so she had him quickly kill goats with which she could trick Isaac. Jacob protested a little, not wanting his father’s wrath to come down on him if the trick came under scrutiny, but the mamma’s boy wound up caving in. The trick worked and Jacob stole the blessing before Esau came in from hunting. When the plot was uncovered, it was too late for Esau. His blessing gone, he hatched a murderous plot of his own against his brother. So Rebekah sent her son, Jacob, on his way to her relatives back in Haran, which is what God had planned all along.
So we see that human life-spans are getting shorter after the flood. I wonder if God removed a protective layer in the atmosphere in order to make it rain and this removal began a process of shortening the life spans of humans. Or maybe God just decided to gradually lessen our life spans in order to limit the amount of evil we can accomplish during our days here. He does say in other scripture that man’s days are to be about 70 years, which is an average lifetime today.
Following an account of Abraham’s offspring, other than Isaac, at the beginning of Chapter 25, there follows a listing of Ishmael’s offspring. We learn here that Ishmael also had twelve male heirs during his 137 years who settled in the south of Canaan, near the Egyptian border, and who lived in “hostility toward all their brothers.”—Genesis 25:18.
Rebekah was barren for a time, just as Sarah had been, until Isaac prayed for her to become pregnant. God answered his prayer in a big way and Rebekah found she was carrying twins when she asked God why her womb was in such turmoil. God told her there were two “nations” in her womb and the older would be a servant to the younger. The twins were already at war in her womb.
Jacob came out holding on to his twin brother, Esau’s heel, and his name meant “usurper,” which is exactly what he would become. At the end of the chapter, we see him usurping his brother’s birthright. It seems Jacob was a mamma’s boy who stayed in close to camp and learned to cook while Esau honed his hunting skills and pleased their father. Esau came in from hunting one day famished and Jacob was there cooking stew, so Jacob bargained with him a bowl of stew for the birthright. The text says Esau despised his birthright. I think it was just a boyish carelessness. He didn’t really understand what he was bargaining away, but maybe he should have. He was selling his right to become the heir to his father’s fortune and the patriarch of the family. God knew he was going to do this, because He had told Rebekah so before the birth of the twins.
Isaac repeated some of the same mistakes his father had made. When a famine came, they went to the land of Abimelech to find food. Isaac told the same lie about Rebekah that Abraham had told of Sarah—that she was his sister, because he feared for his life. Abimelech must have been on guard for that lie, because he caught Isaac kissing Rebekah and confronted him. When Isaac confessed that Rebekah was his wife, the king gave orders for their peace and safety.
But they soon became too prosperous for the Philistines and they began quarreling over water and pasture for their flocks. So Isaac migrated back northward, reopening the wells his father had dug on his travels, and having the same quarrels with the natives over precious water, until he was back in Beersheba, where God reaffirmed the promise he made to Abraham.
Isaac’s neighbors couldn’t help but see that God was blessing him, so they scrambled to make treaties with him.
There is a curious passage at the end of Chapter 26 that says Esau married two pagan wives from the Hittite tribes surrounding them when he was age 40. Apparently Isaac had been remiss in finding suitable wives for his sons, as his father had done for him, so Esau took things in his own hands. The scripture says these Canaanitish women were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Chapter 27 begins a sad tale of espionage and deceit in Isaac’s family that would have long-lasting implications. Knowing he was about to die, Isaac wanted to pass the blessing on to his oldest son, Esau, so he called him in. Being a selfish and carnal man, however, he demanded his son go out hunting first and bring back some tasty venison for him to eat. The delay gave Rebekah time to take matters into her control.
Rebekah wanted Jacob to inherit the major portion of their goods, so she had him quickly kill goats with which she could trick Isaac. Jacob protested a little, not wanting his father’s wrath to come down on him if the trick came under scrutiny, but the mamma’s boy wound up caving in. The trick worked and Jacob stole the blessing before Esau came in from hunting. When the plot was uncovered, it was too late for Esau. His blessing gone, he hatched a murderous plot of his own against his brother. So Rebekah sent her son, Jacob, on his way to her relatives back in Haran, which is what God had planned all along.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Genesis 22 - 24
Genesis Chapter 22 gives a very curious account of the testing of Abraham's faith in God and a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of God's only son. God told Abraham to take his son, his only son, Isaac, and sacrifice him on Mount Moriah, near Jerusalem. Abraham didn't question God this time, but obeyed immediately and fully. The very next morning, he got up and prepared to take Isaac to the mountain. So we see that Abraham has finally learned some lessons.
It was a journey of three days by donkey from Beersheba, where they were camped at that time. When they were a small distance away, Abraham left the donkeys and the servants he took with them, telling them, "We will worship and then we will come back to you,"--Genesis 22:5. His use of the word we in the second instance tells me he felt very confident Isaac would return alive to the others. The chapter doesn't tell us exactly how he thought God would accomplish this, since he had orders to kill his son. It does, however, tell us that he expected that God would provide a lamb for the sacrifice instead, which is exactly what happened, but Abraham could not have known that from the orders God gave him.
Isaac questioned his father on the way up the mountain about the sacrificial animal. They took wood, a knife and fire starter, but no animal. Isaac must have been terrified when his father bound him and placed him on the altar he built, but there is no mention of that in the text. No struggle, no fight, no crying, just submission to his father, exactly as Jesus would do as he went to death on the cross on that very same mountain many centuries later.
What a dramatic chapter. Just as Abraham raised the knife to slay Isaac, Jesus himself called Abraham's name from heaven, telling him not to kill the boy. The text says it was the angel of the Lord. Whenever the scripture states the angel of the Lord, we can know it is referring to Jesus Christ, God with us. If it says, an angel of the Lord, then it is usually referring to Michael or some other angelic being.
Therefore, Abraham passed the test, and God did provide the lamb for the sacrifice. God now knows Abraham is His man. Moreover, God tests each of us while we are on earth in much the same manner. He demands that we not place anyone or anything ahead of Him. He demands our obedience before giving us the great blessings we desire, as he did Abraham. Our relationship to God as Father shown here is so striking. Abraham considered God his father, and he acted in total obedience. Isaac was in total obedience to his father, Abraham. As human parents, we may have children that are very obedient and others that are not so obedient, or very disobedient. Which do we reward the most? Do we have ways of testing our children to see if they are obedient before giving them more responsibility? Sure we do, if we are good parents. God is a good Father, so He tests us, but mostly not in such a dramatic fashion.
God there promised Abraham he would, indeed, be blessed. Through his offspring, "all nations on earth will be blessed," speaking of Christ. Christ can save anyone who comes to Him today.
Chapter 23 gives an account of Sarah's death at age 127 in Canaan. The Hittites, from whom Abraham purchased a burial plot for Sarah, then occupied the land. The account of the bargaining done for the cave, or tomb, at Machpelah, is classic Middle East dickering. First, the cave is offered free of charge. Abraham, being a proud man, refuses and insists on paying for it. Again, it is freely offered, but Abraham persists. The owner of the cave then politely states the worth of the cave, which he greatly inflated, but insists it is only a small sum. Abraham, being a rich man, counts out the money without trying to beat him down on the price. There would be no argument later over ownership of the property, because the bargain and payment were made in a very public manner. Although God promised Abraham the land, he hadn't given it to him yet, so he wanted to establish ownership over that small piece near Hebron, as a burial place. This is further evidence that he believed God would, one day, give the land to his descendants.
With the death of Sarah, Abraham is feeling his own mortality creeping in, and he wants to choose a wife for Isaac from among his family, not the Canaanites, to avoid introducing outside pagan influences. He sends his servant, Eliezer, back to the land of his birth to find a wife for his son.
The servant took camels and other great riches in order to pay a dowry for the girl he hoped to find back in the city of Nahor, Abraham's brother. Camping by the city's water supply, a well just outside the town, Eliezer prayed to God for a sign concerning which woman he should choose for Isaac. He asked that the girl be gracious, kind, and have a servant's heart, in that she would offer to draw water not only for him, but also for his ten camels. (Do you know how much water ten camels would drink after a trip across the desert?!!)
The scripture says that even before he finished praying, Rebekah appeared with her water jar--Genesis 24:15. Elsewhere in the Bible, God tells us he will answer our prayers even before we are through praying them.
Rebekah was the girl intended for Isaac. She gave Eliezer a drink, and then offered to draw water for his camels. Eliezer thought she was the one, so he began to question her about her family. After informing him she was the granddaughter of Nahor, she then invited him to stay at their farm.
Eliezer went and made his request for Rebekah to return with him to become the bride of Isaac. Then he wowed them with the lavish gifts he brought. Although Rebekah was willing to return with him, her brother, Laban, and her mother didn't want to let her go. Laban will pop up later in the scripture as a very unsavory character, so at this point, I have to wonder if he was angling for more gifts, but I imagine Rebekah's mother simply didn't want to see her go so far away, because she might never see her again, and she would miss her.
The end of chapter 24 gives us a very poignant glimpse into Isaac and Rebekah's first meeting and their immediate marriage. It seems Isaac was waiting and watching for his bride to come, so he went out to meet them. Upon seeing Isaac, her future husband, Rebekah shows her purity and her intentions as a bride, by dismounting her camel and covering her face with a veil. Isaac is a picture of our Lord Jesus in this scene. Jesus is waiting and watching for us to come to Him as his bride. The church of God is the bride of Christ, so our intentions need to be pure and we need to be in submission to Jesus.
It was a journey of three days by donkey from Beersheba, where they were camped at that time. When they were a small distance away, Abraham left the donkeys and the servants he took with them, telling them, "We will worship and then we will come back to you,"--Genesis 22:5. His use of the word we in the second instance tells me he felt very confident Isaac would return alive to the others. The chapter doesn't tell us exactly how he thought God would accomplish this, since he had orders to kill his son. It does, however, tell us that he expected that God would provide a lamb for the sacrifice instead, which is exactly what happened, but Abraham could not have known that from the orders God gave him.
Isaac questioned his father on the way up the mountain about the sacrificial animal. They took wood, a knife and fire starter, but no animal. Isaac must have been terrified when his father bound him and placed him on the altar he built, but there is no mention of that in the text. No struggle, no fight, no crying, just submission to his father, exactly as Jesus would do as he went to death on the cross on that very same mountain many centuries later.
What a dramatic chapter. Just as Abraham raised the knife to slay Isaac, Jesus himself called Abraham's name from heaven, telling him not to kill the boy. The text says it was the angel of the Lord. Whenever the scripture states the angel of the Lord, we can know it is referring to Jesus Christ, God with us. If it says, an angel of the Lord, then it is usually referring to Michael or some other angelic being.
Therefore, Abraham passed the test, and God did provide the lamb for the sacrifice. God now knows Abraham is His man. Moreover, God tests each of us while we are on earth in much the same manner. He demands that we not place anyone or anything ahead of Him. He demands our obedience before giving us the great blessings we desire, as he did Abraham. Our relationship to God as Father shown here is so striking. Abraham considered God his father, and he acted in total obedience. Isaac was in total obedience to his father, Abraham. As human parents, we may have children that are very obedient and others that are not so obedient, or very disobedient. Which do we reward the most? Do we have ways of testing our children to see if they are obedient before giving them more responsibility? Sure we do, if we are good parents. God is a good Father, so He tests us, but mostly not in such a dramatic fashion.
God there promised Abraham he would, indeed, be blessed. Through his offspring, "all nations on earth will be blessed," speaking of Christ. Christ can save anyone who comes to Him today.
Chapter 23 gives an account of Sarah's death at age 127 in Canaan. The Hittites, from whom Abraham purchased a burial plot for Sarah, then occupied the land. The account of the bargaining done for the cave, or tomb, at Machpelah, is classic Middle East dickering. First, the cave is offered free of charge. Abraham, being a proud man, refuses and insists on paying for it. Again, it is freely offered, but Abraham persists. The owner of the cave then politely states the worth of the cave, which he greatly inflated, but insists it is only a small sum. Abraham, being a rich man, counts out the money without trying to beat him down on the price. There would be no argument later over ownership of the property, because the bargain and payment were made in a very public manner. Although God promised Abraham the land, he hadn't given it to him yet, so he wanted to establish ownership over that small piece near Hebron, as a burial place. This is further evidence that he believed God would, one day, give the land to his descendants.
With the death of Sarah, Abraham is feeling his own mortality creeping in, and he wants to choose a wife for Isaac from among his family, not the Canaanites, to avoid introducing outside pagan influences. He sends his servant, Eliezer, back to the land of his birth to find a wife for his son.
The servant took camels and other great riches in order to pay a dowry for the girl he hoped to find back in the city of Nahor, Abraham's brother. Camping by the city's water supply, a well just outside the town, Eliezer prayed to God for a sign concerning which woman he should choose for Isaac. He asked that the girl be gracious, kind, and have a servant's heart, in that she would offer to draw water not only for him, but also for his ten camels. (Do you know how much water ten camels would drink after a trip across the desert?!!)
The scripture says that even before he finished praying, Rebekah appeared with her water jar--Genesis 24:15. Elsewhere in the Bible, God tells us he will answer our prayers even before we are through praying them.
Rebekah was the girl intended for Isaac. She gave Eliezer a drink, and then offered to draw water for his camels. Eliezer thought she was the one, so he began to question her about her family. After informing him she was the granddaughter of Nahor, she then invited him to stay at their farm.
Eliezer went and made his request for Rebekah to return with him to become the bride of Isaac. Then he wowed them with the lavish gifts he brought. Although Rebekah was willing to return with him, her brother, Laban, and her mother didn't want to let her go. Laban will pop up later in the scripture as a very unsavory character, so at this point, I have to wonder if he was angling for more gifts, but I imagine Rebekah's mother simply didn't want to see her go so far away, because she might never see her again, and she would miss her.
The end of chapter 24 gives us a very poignant glimpse into Isaac and Rebekah's first meeting and their immediate marriage. It seems Isaac was waiting and watching for his bride to come, so he went out to meet them. Upon seeing Isaac, her future husband, Rebekah shows her purity and her intentions as a bride, by dismounting her camel and covering her face with a veil. Isaac is a picture of our Lord Jesus in this scene. Jesus is waiting and watching for us to come to Him as his bride. The church of God is the bride of Christ, so our intentions need to be pure and we need to be in submission to Jesus.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Genesis 19 - 21
God sent two angels to get Lot out of Sodom before destroying it. Lot recognized them as angels, and asked them to come into his home to spend the night. The other worldly men of Sodom did not recognize them as being from the Lord, because they were unspiritual and living in darkness. They came to Lot's house and demanded he send them out so they could have homosexual sex with them. Lot refused, but offered his virgin daughters to them instead. Lot was saved, but totally backslidden.
When Lot withstood their advances, they accused him of sitting in judgment over them, just as the homosexual of today does when one tries to point out to them they are acting contrary to God's Word. The angels then pulled Lot back into the house and blinded the men at the door, which threw them into confusion. The angels warned Lot to gather his family and leave Sodom.
Some of Lot's daughters had married men of Sodom, but they scoffed at him when he tried to get them to leave sin city. So he grabbed the two daughters who remained in his home and his wife, and began to flee. They were told not to even look back at what they were leaving, but Lot's wife was reluctant to leave her life in Sodom, and she cast a longing look back at the life of sin from which they were being miraculously saved. She became a pillar of salt.
It strikes me here that this is a word picture of how we are saved from sin. God may perform a miracle to save us, and we are told not to look back longingly on our former life of sin, but sometimes we do, and our hearts become a little harder each time.
Lot was told to flee to the mountains, but he had lived in the city for so long, he was frightened of country life, and begged the angels to let him flee to Zoar, a smaller city, to which they assented. But he became terrified after seeing what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah, so he took his two daughters and moved to the mountains to become a cave dweller, as the angels had urged him. He became a recluse, brooding about the turn his life had taken.
Sexual sin again prevails in Lot's story at this point, resulting in two tribes being born whose people would be a thorn in Israel's side for centuries. Lot's daughters, fearing there would be no husbands for them, got their father drunk and had sex with him, resulting in both becoming mothers of sons. One son was named Moab, who grew to become the head of the Moabites, and the other, Benammi, who became the patriarch of the Ammonites. Both tribes became arch enemies of the Hebrews.
Thus, the sordid tale of Lot's life ends. Lot was a miserable excuse for a man, who knew God, but was just worthless and weak. He should not have chosen for himself the best land, moved into Sodom, where he became an important city council member, and he should have trained his offspring in the ways of the Lord, none of which he did. He also should have been proactive about making a good home and finding good husbands for his two daughters.
Abraham seems to have just given up on Lot at this point (Chapter 20) and decided to move on with his life. He moved off to the south of Jerusalem, pitching his tent on land claimed by King Abimelech, where he repeated the same sin he committed in Egypt. Fearing for his life, he told the king Sarah was his sister. Sarah must have still been a real beauty at her advanced age, because the king gathered her into his harem.
God sent King Abimelech a bad dream, warning him against going near Sarah, and that she was, indeed, Abraham's wife. Abimelech chewed out both Abraham and Sarah and sent them packing, although again giving them great riches to take along. It was immediately after this episode that Sarah became pregnant with Isaac, delivering him according to the exact time line prescribed by God. And Sarah laughed, this time with delight, but it wasn't long until she was angry again at her servant, Hagar, and her child, Ishmael, who had been taunting Isaac.
Again, Sarah complained to Abraham of the situation, and insisted he run the slave woman and her son out of the tribe. This time Abraham brooded about the situation, as he had become fond of his son, Ishmael. In visiting with God about the problem, God told him to listen to Sarah this time, and send Hagar and Ishmael away. God knew if they stayed, it would only cause chaos in his chosen tribe, and He also promised Abraham to provide for Hagar and Ishmael, making it easier for Abraham to lead them out into the desert to leave them there with a little food and water.
Still Hagar thought they would die and prepared again to do so. Again, Jesus called out to Hagar that He would be providing for her, which He did by causing a water well to appear immediately. In fact, it seems Hagar and Ishmael were very well provided for as they lived in the wilderness.
Abraham was also being blessed by God, which was not lost on his neighbors. They noticed, just as our neighbors do today when we are living under God's umbrella of protection. So King Abimelech came to make a treaty with Abraham. It seems the two peoples had been fighting over water in that hot, dry land, but they were able to come to a peace agreement.
When Lot withstood their advances, they accused him of sitting in judgment over them, just as the homosexual of today does when one tries to point out to them they are acting contrary to God's Word. The angels then pulled Lot back into the house and blinded the men at the door, which threw them into confusion. The angels warned Lot to gather his family and leave Sodom.
Some of Lot's daughters had married men of Sodom, but they scoffed at him when he tried to get them to leave sin city. So he grabbed the two daughters who remained in his home and his wife, and began to flee. They were told not to even look back at what they were leaving, but Lot's wife was reluctant to leave her life in Sodom, and she cast a longing look back at the life of sin from which they were being miraculously saved. She became a pillar of salt.
It strikes me here that this is a word picture of how we are saved from sin. God may perform a miracle to save us, and we are told not to look back longingly on our former life of sin, but sometimes we do, and our hearts become a little harder each time.
Lot was told to flee to the mountains, but he had lived in the city for so long, he was frightened of country life, and begged the angels to let him flee to Zoar, a smaller city, to which they assented. But he became terrified after seeing what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah, so he took his two daughters and moved to the mountains to become a cave dweller, as the angels had urged him. He became a recluse, brooding about the turn his life had taken.
Sexual sin again prevails in Lot's story at this point, resulting in two tribes being born whose people would be a thorn in Israel's side for centuries. Lot's daughters, fearing there would be no husbands for them, got their father drunk and had sex with him, resulting in both becoming mothers of sons. One son was named Moab, who grew to become the head of the Moabites, and the other, Benammi, who became the patriarch of the Ammonites. Both tribes became arch enemies of the Hebrews.
Thus, the sordid tale of Lot's life ends. Lot was a miserable excuse for a man, who knew God, but was just worthless and weak. He should not have chosen for himself the best land, moved into Sodom, where he became an important city council member, and he should have trained his offspring in the ways of the Lord, none of which he did. He also should have been proactive about making a good home and finding good husbands for his two daughters.
Abraham seems to have just given up on Lot at this point (Chapter 20) and decided to move on with his life. He moved off to the south of Jerusalem, pitching his tent on land claimed by King Abimelech, where he repeated the same sin he committed in Egypt. Fearing for his life, he told the king Sarah was his sister. Sarah must have still been a real beauty at her advanced age, because the king gathered her into his harem.
God sent King Abimelech a bad dream, warning him against going near Sarah, and that she was, indeed, Abraham's wife. Abimelech chewed out both Abraham and Sarah and sent them packing, although again giving them great riches to take along. It was immediately after this episode that Sarah became pregnant with Isaac, delivering him according to the exact time line prescribed by God. And Sarah laughed, this time with delight, but it wasn't long until she was angry again at her servant, Hagar, and her child, Ishmael, who had been taunting Isaac.
Again, Sarah complained to Abraham of the situation, and insisted he run the slave woman and her son out of the tribe. This time Abraham brooded about the situation, as he had become fond of his son, Ishmael. In visiting with God about the problem, God told him to listen to Sarah this time, and send Hagar and Ishmael away. God knew if they stayed, it would only cause chaos in his chosen tribe, and He also promised Abraham to provide for Hagar and Ishmael, making it easier for Abraham to lead them out into the desert to leave them there with a little food and water.
Still Hagar thought they would die and prepared again to do so. Again, Jesus called out to Hagar that He would be providing for her, which He did by causing a water well to appear immediately. In fact, it seems Hagar and Ishmael were very well provided for as they lived in the wilderness.
Abraham was also being blessed by God, which was not lost on his neighbors. They noticed, just as our neighbors do today when we are living under God's umbrella of protection. So King Abimelech came to make a treaty with Abraham. It seems the two peoples had been fighting over water in that hot, dry land, but they were able to come to a peace agreement.
Genesis 19 - 21
God sent two angels to get Lot out of Sodom before destroying it. Lot recognized them as angels, and asked them to come into his home to spend the night. The other worldly men of Sodom did not recognize them as being from the Lord, because they were unspiritual and living in darkness. They came to Lot's house and demanded he send them out so they could have homosexual sex with them. Lot refused, but offered his virgin daughters to them instead. Lot was saved, but totally backslidden.
When Lot withstood their advances, they accused him of sitting in judgment over them, just as the homosexual of today does when one tries to point out to them they are acting contrary to God's Word. The angels then pulled Lot back into the house and blinded the men at the door, which threw them into confusion. The angels warned Lot to gather his family and leave Sodom.
Some of Lot's daughters had married men of Sodom, but they scoffed at him when he tried to get them to leave sin city. So he grabbed the two daughters who remained in his home and his wife, and began to flee. They were told not to even look back at what they were leaving, but Lot's wife was reluctant to leave her life in Sodom, and she cast a longing look back at the life of sin from which they were being miraculously saved. She became a pillar of salt.
It strikes me here that this is a word picture of how we are saved from sin. God may perform a miracle to save us, and we are told not to look back longingly on our former life of sin, but sometimes we do, and our hearts become a little harder each time.
Lot was told to flee to the mountains, but he had lived in the city for so long, he was frightened of country life, and begged the angels to let him flee to Zoar, a smaller city, to which they assented. But he became terrified after seeing what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah, so he took his two daughters and moved to the mountains to become a cave dweller, as the angels had urged him. He became a recluse, brooding about the turn his life had taken.
Sexual sin again prevails in Lot's story at this point, resulting in two tribes being born whose people would be a thorn in Israel's side for centuries. Lot's daughters, fearing there would be no husbands for them, got their father drunk and had sex with him, resulting in both becoming mothers of sons. One son was named Moab, who grew to become the head of the Moabites, and the other, Benammi, who became the patriarch of the Ammonites. Both tribes became arch enemies of the Hebrews.
Thus, the sordid tale of Lot's life ends. Lot was a miserable excuse for a man, who knew God, but was just worthless and weak. He should not have chosen for himself the best land, moved into Sodom, where he became an important city council member, and he should have trained his offspring in the ways of the Lord, none of which he did. He also should have been proactive about making a good home and finding good husbands for his two daughters.
Abraham seems to have just given up on Lot at this point (Chapter 20) and decided to move on with his life. He moved off to the south of Jerusalem, pitching his tent on land claimed by King Abimelech, where he repeated the same sin he committed in Egypt. Fearing for his life, he told the king Sarah was his sister. Sarah must have still been a real beauty at her advanced age, because the king gathered her into his harem.
God sent King Abimelech a bad dream, warning him against going near Sarah, and that she was, indeed, Abraham's wife. Abimelech chewed out both Abraham and Sarah and sent them packing, although again giving them great riches to take along. It was immediately after this episode that Sarah became pregnant with Isaac, delivering him according to the exact time line prescribed by God. And Sarah laughed, this time with delight, but it wasn't long until she was angry again at her servant, Hagar, and her child, Ishmael, who had been taunting Isaac.
Again, Sarah complained to Abraham of the situation, and insisted he run the slave woman and her son out of the tribe. This time Abraham brooded about the situation, as he had become fond of his son, Ishmael. In visiting with God about the problem, God told him to listen to Sarah this time, and send Hagar and Ishmael away. God knew if they stayed, it would only cause chaos in his chosen tribe, and He also promised Abraham to provide for Hagar and Ishmael, making it easier for Abraham to lead them out into the desert to leave them there with a little food and water.
Still Hagar thought they would die and prepared again to do so. Again, Jesus called out to Hagar that He would be providing for her, which He did by causing a water well to appear immediately. In fact, it seems Hagar and Ishmael were very well provided for as they lived in the wilderness.
Abraham was also being blessed by God, which was not lost on his neighbors. They noticed, just as our neighbors do today when we are living under God's umbrella of protection. So King Abimelech came to make a treaty with Abraham. It seems the two peoples had been fighting over water in that hot, dry land, but they were able to come to a peace agreement.
When Lot withstood their advances, they accused him of sitting in judgment over them, just as the homosexual of today does when one tries to point out to them they are acting contrary to God's Word. The angels then pulled Lot back into the house and blinded the men at the door, which threw them into confusion. The angels warned Lot to gather his family and leave Sodom.
Some of Lot's daughters had married men of Sodom, but they scoffed at him when he tried to get them to leave sin city. So he grabbed the two daughters who remained in his home and his wife, and began to flee. They were told not to even look back at what they were leaving, but Lot's wife was reluctant to leave her life in Sodom, and she cast a longing look back at the life of sin from which they were being miraculously saved. She became a pillar of salt.
It strikes me here that this is a word picture of how we are saved from sin. God may perform a miracle to save us, and we are told not to look back longingly on our former life of sin, but sometimes we do, and our hearts become a little harder each time.
Lot was told to flee to the mountains, but he had lived in the city for so long, he was frightened of country life, and begged the angels to let him flee to Zoar, a smaller city, to which they assented. But he became terrified after seeing what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah, so he took his two daughters and moved to the mountains to become a cave dweller, as the angels had urged him. He became a recluse, brooding about the turn his life had taken.
Sexual sin again prevails in Lot's story at this point, resulting in two tribes being born whose people would be a thorn in Israel's side for centuries. Lot's daughters, fearing there would be no husbands for them, got their father drunk and had sex with him, resulting in both becoming mothers of sons. One son was named Moab, who grew to become the head of the Moabites, and the other, Benammi, who became the patriarch of the Ammonites. Both tribes became arch enemies of the Hebrews.
Thus, the sordid tale of Lot's life ends. Lot was a miserable excuse for a man, who knew God, but was just worthless and weak. He should not have chosen for himself the best land, moved into Sodom, where he became an important city council member, and he should have trained his offspring in the ways of the Lord, none of which he did. He also should have been proactive about making a good home and finding good husbands for his two daughters.
Abraham seems to have just given up on Lot at this point (Chapter 20) and decided to move on with his life. He moved off to the south of Jerusalem, pitching his tent on land claimed by King Abimelech, where he repeated the same sin he committed in Egypt. Fearing for his life, he told the king Sarah was his sister. Sarah must have still been a real beauty at her advanced age, because the king gathered her into his harem.
God sent King Abimelech a bad dream, warning him against going near Sarah, and that she was, indeed, Abraham's wife. Abimelech chewed out both Abraham and Sarah and sent them packing, although again giving them great riches to take along. It was immediately after this episode that Sarah became pregnant with Isaac, delivering him according to the exact time line prescribed by God. And Sarah laughed, this time with delight, but it wasn't long until she was angry again at her servant, Hagar, and her child, Ishmael, who had been taunting Isaac.
Again, Sarah complained to Abraham of the situation, and insisted he run the slave woman and her son out of the tribe. This time Abraham brooded about the situation, as he had become fond of his son, Ishmael. In visiting with God about the problem, God told him to listen to Sarah this time, and send Hagar and Ishmael away. God knew if they stayed, it would only cause chaos in his chosen tribe, and He also promised Abraham to provide for Hagar and Ishmael, making it easier for Abraham to lead them out into the desert to leave them there with a little food and water.
Still Hagar thought they would die and prepared again to do so. Again, Jesus called out to Hagar that He would be providing for her, which He did by causing a water well to appear immediately. In fact, it seems Hagar and Ishmael were very well provided for as they lived in the wilderness.
Abraham was also being blessed by God, which was not lost on his neighbors. They noticed, just as our neighbors do today when we are living under God's umbrella of protection. So King Abimelech came to make a treaty with Abraham. It seems the two peoples had been fighting over water in that hot, dry land, but they were able to come to a peace agreement.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Genesis 16 - 18
Chapter 16 ushers in one of the most sordid tales in the Bible. Abram made a mistake of historic proportions when he agreed with Sarai, his wife, to have offspring with her Egyptian servant, Hagar. The ramifications of that sin are still wreaking havoc in the world today.
Immediately after Hagar conceived a child by Abram, she began taunting Sarai, who was still barren. This was a development Sarai didn't plan and didn't like one bit. She complained to her husband, who tried to act uninvolved and told her to take care of the situation as she saw fit. So Sarai mistreated Hagar until she fled.
But Jesus sees everything. He appeared to Hagar as she sat by a well in the desert. Jesus almost always begins a conversation by asking questions, although He already knows all the answers. He asked Hagar where she had come from and where she was going. He wanted her to think about those things. When she told Him she was running away from Sarai, He instructed her to go back and submit to whatever treatment she was subjected to. Then He told her the child in her womb was a male and told her that she was to name him Ishmael, also making the prediction that he would be a man of war, living in hostility against his fellow man.
Hagar her realizes this appearance is from God and she calls Him El-Shaddai, which is Hebrew for the One who sees me. When she returned and had a son in Abram's 86th year, Abram named him Ishmael.
Chapter 17 details the second covenant God makes with Abram,the covenant of circumcision. This ritual would serve to further set Abram's tribe apart from the general populace. Here, God changed Abram's name to Abraham, meaning father of many, and Sarai became Sarah.
God told Abraham to circumcise every male on their eighth day of life, as a sign they were God's people. Modern medicine has found babies to have more resistance to bleeding from circumcision, and are less likely to remember the pain, up to and including, their eighth day. Seems God knows what He is doing.
Again, God reassures Abraham that he and Sarah will, indeed, have a son of their own. Abraham humbly questioned this assertion by God, because of his and Sarah's advanced age. Tenderly, God insists there will be an Isaac born to the couple, from whom the King would come. Abraham pleaded also for his son, Ishmael, to be blessed by God, and God promised to also make him a great nation.
Apparently, God made a habit of visiting with his friend, Abraham. Chapter 18 tells of a visit they had near Mamre one hot day. God and two other visitors came to speak with him about their plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Again, God promised a son to Abraham and Sarah and gave them an idea of when Isaac, meaning laughter, would be forthcoming, which made Sarah laugh.
When Abraham heard God's plans to destroy Sodom, he became alarmed for his nephew, Lot, who had become an important person in the city of Sodom. Abraham began bargaining with God for the life of Lot and his family. God promised to relent if only ten good people could be found in the city. Apparently, there were not ten to be found.
Immediately after Hagar conceived a child by Abram, she began taunting Sarai, who was still barren. This was a development Sarai didn't plan and didn't like one bit. She complained to her husband, who tried to act uninvolved and told her to take care of the situation as she saw fit. So Sarai mistreated Hagar until she fled.
But Jesus sees everything. He appeared to Hagar as she sat by a well in the desert. Jesus almost always begins a conversation by asking questions, although He already knows all the answers. He asked Hagar where she had come from and where she was going. He wanted her to think about those things. When she told Him she was running away from Sarai, He instructed her to go back and submit to whatever treatment she was subjected to. Then He told her the child in her womb was a male and told her that she was to name him Ishmael, also making the prediction that he would be a man of war, living in hostility against his fellow man.
Hagar her realizes this appearance is from God and she calls Him El-Shaddai, which is Hebrew for the One who sees me. When she returned and had a son in Abram's 86th year, Abram named him Ishmael.
Chapter 17 details the second covenant God makes with Abram,the covenant of circumcision. This ritual would serve to further set Abram's tribe apart from the general populace. Here, God changed Abram's name to Abraham, meaning father of many, and Sarai became Sarah.
God told Abraham to circumcise every male on their eighth day of life, as a sign they were God's people. Modern medicine has found babies to have more resistance to bleeding from circumcision, and are less likely to remember the pain, up to and including, their eighth day. Seems God knows what He is doing.
Again, God reassures Abraham that he and Sarah will, indeed, have a son of their own. Abraham humbly questioned this assertion by God, because of his and Sarah's advanced age. Tenderly, God insists there will be an Isaac born to the couple, from whom the King would come. Abraham pleaded also for his son, Ishmael, to be blessed by God, and God promised to also make him a great nation.
Apparently, God made a habit of visiting with his friend, Abraham. Chapter 18 tells of a visit they had near Mamre one hot day. God and two other visitors came to speak with him about their plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Again, God promised a son to Abraham and Sarah and gave them an idea of when Isaac, meaning laughter, would be forthcoming, which made Sarah laugh.
When Abraham heard God's plans to destroy Sodom, he became alarmed for his nephew, Lot, who had become an important person in the city of Sodom. Abraham began bargaining with God for the life of Lot and his family. God promised to relent if only ten good people could be found in the city. Apparently, there were not ten to be found.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Genesis 13 - 15
Abram returned to Canaan from Egypt a richer man. He was still carrying around his extra familial baggage, however, in the form of his Nephew, Lot, who had also acquired a family and great herds of livestock. Abram went back to the place where he had first built an altar to God and communed with Him there. I think God may have reiterated to Abram the need to separate from his extended family there, because he then went back to Lot and suggested they part ways. To which Lot agreed, saying he would go east, where he could see lush pastures for his herds.
After Lot departed, God again made a covenant with Abram concerning the land and his descendants. God told him to go scope out the land as far as he could see in any direction, because He was giving him the title deed to it. So Abram became a nomad, living in a tent and moving around from place to place. He believed God.
But Lot wasn't through causing trouble for Uncle Abraham. He foolishly moved into Sodom, where the people were wicked and weak. Still, the five kings of Sodom and Gomorrah challenged four kings of neighboring lands, and were forced to flee. So the four conquering kings carried off all the remaining inhabitants and possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, including Abram's nephew, Lot. A captive managed to escape and reported to Abram his nephew had been taken in the raid.
Abram had 318 men who had been trained as fighters in his tribe by that time, so he mustered them all and went after the four kings who captured Lot. A brilliant warrior himself, Abram divided his men and attacked at night. He routed the four kings and recovered all the captives and their possessions.
In Chapter 14, there is a very obscure event that has puzzled Bible scholars down through the ages. First it says Abram was met by the King of Sodom in the King's Valley. The next verse says he met Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, who brought out bread and wine. He blessed Abram and Abram gave a tithe to Melchizedek, a tenth of all he had acquired. This is the first tithe recorded in the Bible, and the mystery of Melchizedek abounds. Who was this priest? I think it was an incarnation of Jesus. The bread and wine certainly signals this may be the case, along with the tithe offered by Abram as He communed with this King.
Then the king of Sodom informed Abram he didn't have to share the spoils of the war with him; he just wanted the people of his kingdom returned, but righteous Abram would have none of the loot. He didn't want that wicked king to be able to say he made Abram rich.
Chapter 15 concerns itself with the Abrahamic covenant. Abram was confused and concerned because God had promised him several times that he would have many descendants, but no son was forthcoming and he was getting old. God now seals that promise and also the promise that the land from Egypt all the way up to the Euphrates River would be his inheritance. Abram's part in the covenant was to sacrifice some young animals and birds. Abram was tired after this work and he fell into a deep sleep. God spoke to him in his sleep and fortold of the captivity of Abram's descendants in Egypt and how they would be freed from it.
After Lot departed, God again made a covenant with Abram concerning the land and his descendants. God told him to go scope out the land as far as he could see in any direction, because He was giving him the title deed to it. So Abram became a nomad, living in a tent and moving around from place to place. He believed God.
But Lot wasn't through causing trouble for Uncle Abraham. He foolishly moved into Sodom, where the people were wicked and weak. Still, the five kings of Sodom and Gomorrah challenged four kings of neighboring lands, and were forced to flee. So the four conquering kings carried off all the remaining inhabitants and possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, including Abram's nephew, Lot. A captive managed to escape and reported to Abram his nephew had been taken in the raid.
Abram had 318 men who had been trained as fighters in his tribe by that time, so he mustered them all and went after the four kings who captured Lot. A brilliant warrior himself, Abram divided his men and attacked at night. He routed the four kings and recovered all the captives and their possessions.
In Chapter 14, there is a very obscure event that has puzzled Bible scholars down through the ages. First it says Abram was met by the King of Sodom in the King's Valley. The next verse says he met Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, who brought out bread and wine. He blessed Abram and Abram gave a tithe to Melchizedek, a tenth of all he had acquired. This is the first tithe recorded in the Bible, and the mystery of Melchizedek abounds. Who was this priest? I think it was an incarnation of Jesus. The bread and wine certainly signals this may be the case, along with the tithe offered by Abram as He communed with this King.
Then the king of Sodom informed Abram he didn't have to share the spoils of the war with him; he just wanted the people of his kingdom returned, but righteous Abram would have none of the loot. He didn't want that wicked king to be able to say he made Abram rich.
Chapter 15 concerns itself with the Abrahamic covenant. Abram was confused and concerned because God had promised him several times that he would have many descendants, but no son was forthcoming and he was getting old. God now seals that promise and also the promise that the land from Egypt all the way up to the Euphrates River would be his inheritance. Abram's part in the covenant was to sacrifice some young animals and birds. Abram was tired after this work and he fell into a deep sleep. God spoke to him in his sleep and fortold of the captivity of Abram's descendants in Egypt and how they would be freed from it.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Genesis 10 - 12
Chapter 10 gives an account of Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth and their descendants. Japheth's family became a sea-faring people who probably migrated west and north to become first the Phoenicians, then the Europeans, Scandanavians and Russians.
Ham had a son named Cush, which was also the name of a country in Africa until later, when the name of that country became Sudan. Chapter 10 says that Ham's descendants migrated to the south of Ararat into Gaza and farther.
The Israelites are descendants of Shem, who the text says settled in the eastern hill country and became known as Shemites then Semites.
Chapter 11 tells us that after the flood, there was only one language. Of course, it would have been so, since only one family remained.
Cush had a son he named Nimrod. Genesis 10:8 tells us that Nimrod grew to be a mighty warrior. Nimrod tried to keep everyone centered around the city he built, Babylon, where he began to build a monument to himself, which came to be known as the Tower of Babel. God was not pleased with this display of idolatry, so He caused them all to speak different languages, resulting in mass confusion. Work on the tower and city ground to a halt. The people were all babbling and couldn't communicate with one another, so they scattered out and went separate ways.
Shem had a son in his 100th year and the rest of chapter 11 basically traces Shem's offspring down to the next major players on the Biblical Stage, Abram and Lot. Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldeans, which is located in present-day Iraq. Abram's father, Terah, had in mind to migrate to Canaan, but he only got as far as Haran, which is near the headwaters of the Euphrates River, where he died at the relatively young age of 205 years.
God chose a man, Abram, his family, and his tribe to be the ancestors of His earthly offspring, and called them out to begin consecreating them for this purpose. Chapter 12 tells us that He told Abram to "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you."--Genesis 12:1. It is here that God pronounces that whoever blesses Abram and his descendants, He will bless, and whoever curses them, He will curse, "and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."--Genesis 12:3. This promise still stands today.
Abram went, but took some extra baggage with him. He only partially obeyed God. He took with them, his nephew, Lot, and others of his father's family, whereas God had told him to leave them. Lot will cause "lots" of problems for his Uncle Abram for many years.
When he arrived in Canaan, which is the region around present-day Jerusalem, God promised that land to Abram and his offspring. Then Abram traveled on toward Egypt because food was scarce in Canaan at the time.
Arriving in Egypt, Abram commits the first of several sins and blunders. That is what I respect about the Bible. If it was just a book about heroes, it wouldn't give us the sordid details of their mistakes and sins. The Bible doesn't sugar-coat anything. It gives us these details so that we will know these people were real. They were human, just like us, and we can learn from their mistakes. Abram feared for his life because his wife was very beautiful. He knew the customary thing would be for the King of Egypt to kill him and put his beautiful Sarai into a harem. So, they agreed she would say she was his sister, which was only a half-lie, because she was his half-sister, and also his wife. God had not forbidden these marital practices yet, but he will later, when he gives instructions to Moses.
So the Pharaoh (King) of Egypt did, indeed, take Sarai into his harem, not knowing she was another man's wife. In fact, he honored Abram with lavish gifts and treated him well, thinking he was the beautiful woman's brother. But God intervened in this situation and "inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his people," as Chapter 12 tells us. Pharaoh finally discerned the cause of the trouble and hastily sent Sarai back to Abram with a strong admonishment. They were sent out of Egypt, but a little richer for the experience. However, Abram didn't learn the lesson here, as we will see him repeat the same sin in a later episode.
Ham had a son named Cush, which was also the name of a country in Africa until later, when the name of that country became Sudan. Chapter 10 says that Ham's descendants migrated to the south of Ararat into Gaza and farther.
The Israelites are descendants of Shem, who the text says settled in the eastern hill country and became known as Shemites then Semites.
Chapter 11 tells us that after the flood, there was only one language. Of course, it would have been so, since only one family remained.
Cush had a son he named Nimrod. Genesis 10:8 tells us that Nimrod grew to be a mighty warrior. Nimrod tried to keep everyone centered around the city he built, Babylon, where he began to build a monument to himself, which came to be known as the Tower of Babel. God was not pleased with this display of idolatry, so He caused them all to speak different languages, resulting in mass confusion. Work on the tower and city ground to a halt. The people were all babbling and couldn't communicate with one another, so they scattered out and went separate ways.
Shem had a son in his 100th year and the rest of chapter 11 basically traces Shem's offspring down to the next major players on the Biblical Stage, Abram and Lot. Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldeans, which is located in present-day Iraq. Abram's father, Terah, had in mind to migrate to Canaan, but he only got as far as Haran, which is near the headwaters of the Euphrates River, where he died at the relatively young age of 205 years.
God chose a man, Abram, his family, and his tribe to be the ancestors of His earthly offspring, and called them out to begin consecreating them for this purpose. Chapter 12 tells us that He told Abram to "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you."--Genesis 12:1. It is here that God pronounces that whoever blesses Abram and his descendants, He will bless, and whoever curses them, He will curse, "and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."--Genesis 12:3. This promise still stands today.
Abram went, but took some extra baggage with him. He only partially obeyed God. He took with them, his nephew, Lot, and others of his father's family, whereas God had told him to leave them. Lot will cause "lots" of problems for his Uncle Abram for many years.
When he arrived in Canaan, which is the region around present-day Jerusalem, God promised that land to Abram and his offspring. Then Abram traveled on toward Egypt because food was scarce in Canaan at the time.
Arriving in Egypt, Abram commits the first of several sins and blunders. That is what I respect about the Bible. If it was just a book about heroes, it wouldn't give us the sordid details of their mistakes and sins. The Bible doesn't sugar-coat anything. It gives us these details so that we will know these people were real. They were human, just like us, and we can learn from their mistakes. Abram feared for his life because his wife was very beautiful. He knew the customary thing would be for the King of Egypt to kill him and put his beautiful Sarai into a harem. So, they agreed she would say she was his sister, which was only a half-lie, because she was his half-sister, and also his wife. God had not forbidden these marital practices yet, but he will later, when he gives instructions to Moses.
So the Pharaoh (King) of Egypt did, indeed, take Sarai into his harem, not knowing she was another man's wife. In fact, he honored Abram with lavish gifts and treated him well, thinking he was the beautiful woman's brother. But God intervened in this situation and "inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his people," as Chapter 12 tells us. Pharaoh finally discerned the cause of the trouble and hastily sent Sarai back to Abram with a strong admonishment. They were sent out of Egypt, but a little richer for the experience. However, Abram didn't learn the lesson here, as we will see him repeat the same sin in a later episode.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Genesis 7 - 9
So God gathered Noah, his family and all the animals He wanted to save from the catastrophic flood He was about to create, then He shut up the ark and sealed it. Noah was 600 years old when the flood hit. People lived longer then, when the atmosphere was unpolluted. Adam lived to be 930 years old and Noah's grandfather, Methuselah, lived 969 years, possibly the longest anyone has ever lived on earth. Noah was 500 years old before he had his three sons who went into the ark with him.
After 40 days and nights of rain, the whole earth was covered with water. In Chapter 7 of Genesis, we read it rose at least 20 feet above the highest mountain, so every mammal and bird outside the ark drowned.
There is some good research concerning this world-wide flood event at the website of the Institute of Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/noahs-flood/. Some make a case for the Grand Canyon on the North American Continent being carved out by this flood.
The ark floated over 150 days, then came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, but it was several months later when the water went down enough for Noah to emerge from the ark. It strikes me here that God began his human creation in the Middle East near the mountains of Ararat; He started over near the same location; and when Jesus returns to rule the earth, Revelation says He will place his feet down not too far from that location. The cradle of civilization. There is a pattern to everything God does.
Then God made a promise to Noah there would never be another world-wide flood and the first rainbow was seen in the sky, as a reminder of that promise.
God laid down some new guidelines for Noah and his sons for the repopulation of the earth, including some new dietary rules. Until that time, humans were vegetarian. Now God told them they could kill and eat animals as long as they did it in a humane and sanitary manner.
Noah, accustomed to being a farmer in his life before the flood, set about planting a vineyard. We get the idea here he liked to drink the fruit of the vine and one day he imbibed a little too much, which caused him to become drunk and fall down naked in his tent. Too much alcohol can cause one to do that, but Noah was discovered there in this drunken state by his son, Ham, who proceeded outside to snicker about the old man lying drunk and naked in his tent, where he told the sordid tale to his two brothers. The two brothers had compassion for their father, so they placed a robe between them on their shoulders and walked in backwards to cover their father without subjecting themselves to the sight. Love covers a multitude of sins!
When Noah found out what his son Ham had done, he put a curse on him and his descendants and proclaimed they would be slaves to the offspring of Shem and Japheth, the two true sons. We will learn later that Ham migrated south to the Egyptian region and his descendants on into Africa, where they did, indeed, become slaves taken from there.
Noah lived another 350 years after the flood and died at the ripe old age of 950 years at the end of chapter 9, one of the most long-lived people in the scriptures. Human life spans would only get less and less from here on out. Animals and reptiles probably had longer life spans then, too, which could explain why there are no dinosaurs remaining. A reptile continues to grow it's entire life. So little lizards could have become large dinosaurs back then with a longer life span--something to think about.
After 40 days and nights of rain, the whole earth was covered with water. In Chapter 7 of Genesis, we read it rose at least 20 feet above the highest mountain, so every mammal and bird outside the ark drowned.
There is some good research concerning this world-wide flood event at the website of the Institute of Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/noahs-flood/. Some make a case for the Grand Canyon on the North American Continent being carved out by this flood.
The ark floated over 150 days, then came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, but it was several months later when the water went down enough for Noah to emerge from the ark. It strikes me here that God began his human creation in the Middle East near the mountains of Ararat; He started over near the same location; and when Jesus returns to rule the earth, Revelation says He will place his feet down not too far from that location. The cradle of civilization. There is a pattern to everything God does.
Then God made a promise to Noah there would never be another world-wide flood and the first rainbow was seen in the sky, as a reminder of that promise.
God laid down some new guidelines for Noah and his sons for the repopulation of the earth, including some new dietary rules. Until that time, humans were vegetarian. Now God told them they could kill and eat animals as long as they did it in a humane and sanitary manner.
Noah, accustomed to being a farmer in his life before the flood, set about planting a vineyard. We get the idea here he liked to drink the fruit of the vine and one day he imbibed a little too much, which caused him to become drunk and fall down naked in his tent. Too much alcohol can cause one to do that, but Noah was discovered there in this drunken state by his son, Ham, who proceeded outside to snicker about the old man lying drunk and naked in his tent, where he told the sordid tale to his two brothers. The two brothers had compassion for their father, so they placed a robe between them on their shoulders and walked in backwards to cover their father without subjecting themselves to the sight. Love covers a multitude of sins!
When Noah found out what his son Ham had done, he put a curse on him and his descendants and proclaimed they would be slaves to the offspring of Shem and Japheth, the two true sons. We will learn later that Ham migrated south to the Egyptian region and his descendants on into Africa, where they did, indeed, become slaves taken from there.
Noah lived another 350 years after the flood and died at the ripe old age of 950 years at the end of chapter 9, one of the most long-lived people in the scriptures. Human life spans would only get less and less from here on out. Animals and reptiles probably had longer life spans then, too, which could explain why there are no dinosaurs remaining. A reptile continues to grow it's entire life. So little lizards could have become large dinosaurs back then with a longer life span--something to think about.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Genesis 4 - 6
Ok, so by chapter 3, Adam and Eve had gone past the stop sign and gone directly to jail. They were cast out of paradise and entered the world of toil and struggle, in which we still live. In chapter 4, we have the first-ever murder, even a fratricide, when Cain kills his brother, Abel. Seems a bit of jealousy was created when God accepted the offering of Abel's animal, but rejected Cain's offering of fruits and vegetables. We assume both boys were instructed in the proper offerings to God by their earthly father, Adam. God's sacrifice of an animal to cover Adam and Eve after they sinned set the pattern for the kind of offering God accepts. So, we have to conclude that Cain's offering was in disobedience to God. God lectures Cain about it, and warned him about having a bad attitude, but that attitude prevailed longer, as Cain lured his brother out into the field where he killed him.
Here we find that God sees everything. Although Cain thought he was being sly by taking Abel into the woods where the deed was hidden, God knew what he had done. So Cain compounded his sin by lying when God questioned him as to Abel's where-abouts. He gives what has become a universal statement of non-responsibility when he responds with, "Am I my brother's keeper?" God cursed Cain, but showed mercy in that He allowed him to live longer, however, as a marked man. Cain was driven away from his family to become a nomad.
Then, we get the question of Cain's wife. Where did Cain get his wife? Well it could have been a sister or niece. Cain was probably a grown man when he killed Abel. Adam and Eve, no doubt, had other children in the meantime. Or God could have made a wife for Cain as simply as He made Eve. That's not a stretch if one believes in an omnipotent God.
Adam and Eve then had Seth, from whose lineage Jesus will come many years in the future. Chapter 5 mainly traces that lineage from Seth down to Noah, who would be only one of four men to survive a worldwide flood. Also in chapter 5, we find a strange reference to a man named Enoch in the lineage of Seth, who was a worshiper of God and who did not experience death. He simply disappeared from the earth. "Enoch walked with God; then he was not, for God took him."--Genesis 5:24. Elijah, an Old Testament period prophet, is another who was taken in a like manner. In Revelation, we see the return of two prophets, who will testify to Israel in end times. I wonder if these two men will be Enoch and Elijah, who are being kept in their human forms awaiting their return to earth to fill these roles.
By chapter 6, God is fed up with man's sinfulness. He is ready to destroy us all and start over. There is a strange reference to Nephilim in Verse 4, that has led to much speculation. Some believe the Nephilim were fallen angels who were intermarrying with humans. Nephilim simply means giants, so I rather think it was a large race of people who resulted from all the close marriages within families that was taking place. Humanity was already very depraved and forgetful of God.
Except for Noah. Noah still worshiped God, so God decided to let him live. In His great mercy, he also gave Noah plenty of time to preach to his neighbors to try to save some while he was building the ark that God instructed him to build. Until that time, there had been no rain on the earth. There was just a cycle of dew at night to water the plants and sunshine during the day, so the people probably thought Noah was crazy. They didn't know what rain was, let alone a flood, so they disregarded him and his preaching and only Noah and his immediate family were saved from the flood.
Questions abound as to how Noah would have gathered up all those animals and gotten them into the ark, but again, if you believe God can do all things, why could He have not caused the animals to simply come to the ark and enter it? I believe He could have. The scripture seems to bear this out, as we read in Chapter 7, verses 8 and 9, "Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark..." and again verse 15 repeats the same thing as reinforcement, but I've gotten carried away and gone into tomorrow's chapter.
Here we find that God sees everything. Although Cain thought he was being sly by taking Abel into the woods where the deed was hidden, God knew what he had done. So Cain compounded his sin by lying when God questioned him as to Abel's where-abouts. He gives what has become a universal statement of non-responsibility when he responds with, "Am I my brother's keeper?" God cursed Cain, but showed mercy in that He allowed him to live longer, however, as a marked man. Cain was driven away from his family to become a nomad.
Then, we get the question of Cain's wife. Where did Cain get his wife? Well it could have been a sister or niece. Cain was probably a grown man when he killed Abel. Adam and Eve, no doubt, had other children in the meantime. Or God could have made a wife for Cain as simply as He made Eve. That's not a stretch if one believes in an omnipotent God.
Adam and Eve then had Seth, from whose lineage Jesus will come many years in the future. Chapter 5 mainly traces that lineage from Seth down to Noah, who would be only one of four men to survive a worldwide flood. Also in chapter 5, we find a strange reference to a man named Enoch in the lineage of Seth, who was a worshiper of God and who did not experience death. He simply disappeared from the earth. "Enoch walked with God; then he was not, for God took him."--Genesis 5:24. Elijah, an Old Testament period prophet, is another who was taken in a like manner. In Revelation, we see the return of two prophets, who will testify to Israel in end times. I wonder if these two men will be Enoch and Elijah, who are being kept in their human forms awaiting their return to earth to fill these roles.
By chapter 6, God is fed up with man's sinfulness. He is ready to destroy us all and start over. There is a strange reference to Nephilim in Verse 4, that has led to much speculation. Some believe the Nephilim were fallen angels who were intermarrying with humans. Nephilim simply means giants, so I rather think it was a large race of people who resulted from all the close marriages within families that was taking place. Humanity was already very depraved and forgetful of God.
Except for Noah. Noah still worshiped God, so God decided to let him live. In His great mercy, he also gave Noah plenty of time to preach to his neighbors to try to save some while he was building the ark that God instructed him to build. Until that time, there had been no rain on the earth. There was just a cycle of dew at night to water the plants and sunshine during the day, so the people probably thought Noah was crazy. They didn't know what rain was, let alone a flood, so they disregarded him and his preaching and only Noah and his immediate family were saved from the flood.
Questions abound as to how Noah would have gathered up all those animals and gotten them into the ark, but again, if you believe God can do all things, why could He have not caused the animals to simply come to the ark and enter it? I believe He could have. The scripture seems to bear this out, as we read in Chapter 7, verses 8 and 9, "Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark..." and again verse 15 repeats the same thing as reinforcement, but I've gotten carried away and gone into tomorrow's chapter.
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