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.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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.
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