Isaac blesses Jacob

Story: Isaac Blesses Jacob

Passage: Genesis 27

Characters: Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Esau

Summary: Isaac was about to die so he told Esau to make him a meal so he could bless him. Rebekah heard this and told Jacob to get two goats so she could make a meal that Isaac loves so he would bless Jacob instead. Jacob was worried that he would not be hairy enough and he would be caught and cursed. Rebekah said she would take the curse on herself. So they made a nice meal and Jacob put on Esau’s clothes and wore the goat hair on his arms and neck. Isaac knew that it was Jacob’s voice, but he felt the hair and assumed it was Esau. He knew for sure when he smelled Esau’s clothes so he blessed Jacob, giving him power over his brothers. When Jacob left, Esau came in and he and Isaac discovered they had been tricked. Esau was very upset and wanted a blessing too. Isaac gave him what was mostly a curse, but it did promise that Esau would one day break the yoke of Jacob from his neck. Esau wanted to kill Jacob, so Rebekah sent him to her brother Laban. Rebekah told Isaac that she loathed her life because of Esau’s Hittite wives and that Jacob could not marry a Hittite.

Notes: I have a few notes here. First of all, Isaac was intending to bless Esau even though he knew God had given the promise to Jacob. Rebekah obviously hated Esau’s wives, and she loved Jacob, so she hatched a plan to get Jacob blessed instead. While this was not Jacob’s idea, he did go along with it. You can see how desperate she was in that she was willing to take the curse on herself. I find it funny that Isaac was expecting wild game, but Rebekah planned on tricking him with goat. He obviously knew it was goat because it was one of his favorite meals. The Hebrew even specifies that what she made was delicious food. Savory food. The hair issue was solved by putting goat hair on Jacob’s arms and neck. He wore Esau’s clothes so he also had the scent of Esau. Jacob must have been nervous. Isaac should have known he was eating goat and that the arms were covered in coarse goat hair. Goat hair and human hair should not be too easy to confuse. But Isaac was ultimately tricked. He was obviously suspicious though. It wasn’t until he smelled the clothes that he finally began to bless Jacob. His blessing granted him provision with food and wine, authority over peoples and nations, and authority over his brothers, specifically his mother’s sons. This implies that he was specifically trying to give Esau authority over Jacob. This surprises me since God told Rebekah before they were born that Esau would serve Jacob. When Isaac left, Esau came in and he and Isaac discovered what had happened. Esau is distraught. He wanted some small part in the blessing, but his father had given it all to Jacob. Talk about family drama! Esau notes that his name is fitting as he has deceived him again. Esau says that Jacob deceived him when he got his birthright as well, but if we remember that story, Jacob was not deceptive at all. Instead, Esau despised his birthright. Isaac’s “blessing” to Esau stated that he would serve Jacob, but that one day, he would break the yoke of his brother off his neck. Esau was done dealing with his deceitful twin, and he decided to kill him. Jealousy was the cause of Cain’s murder of Abel and jealousy and the feeling of being cheated fueled this attempt as well. Esau did a poor job of hiding his plan though and word of it got to his mother. Rebekah wanted to send Jacob to her brother. I am convinced this is because she was hoping he would meet a daughter of her brother and fall in love. My suspicion is supported by the fact that the next verses describe her telling Isaac that she doesn’t want Jacob marrying a Hittite woman. Sure enough, tomorrow we will see that Isaac’s response to this conversation with his wife is to send Jacob to marry one of Laban’s daughters. Rebekah says that she loathes her life because of the Hittite women. Esau’s lifestyle was not one of peace and unity within his family. Another note is that Isaac was shocked at how fast Jacob had found game and cooked it, but Esau walks in right after Isaac leaves, so it would seem that Esau’s hunt was indeed very successful and brief.

Questions: How could this setup have fooled Isaac? Was Isaac wrong to try to give the blessing to Esau in the first place? Was Esau missing his birthright at this point? Why was Rebekah so desperate to get Isaac the blessing? Why did Esau’s wives irritate her so much?

Lessons: God will work things the way He wants to no matter what. Isaac tried to bless Esau when he knew very well that God intended Isaac to carry on the promise. God worked things so that Isaac accidentally blessed Jacob. Also, a marriage to an ungodly woman (or two in this case) can heavily affect everyone close to you as well. It is very important for a Christian to marry another Christian in much the same way it was important for Jacob to marry someon

Isaac and Abimelech

Story: Isaac and Abimelech

Passage: Genesis 26:6-35

Characters: Isaac, Rebekah, Abimelech, God, Esau

Summary: Isaac settled in the land of the philistines. He told them that Rebekah was his sister so they wouldn’t kill him. Abimelech saw the two of them “laughing” which told him they were married. He was mad at Isaac for lying to them since his men could have sinned. He commanded the people to not touch Rebekah or Isaac or they would be killed! God blessed Isaac. Abimelech sent him away because Isaac was more powerful than he was. Isaac left and settled nearby. He dug up the wells of his father, but the first two wells were contested by local herdsmen. The third well was not contested so Isaac knew there was room for him. God came to Isaac and made the same promise to him He had been making to Abraham. Isaac dug a well in that spot and stayed there. Abimelech came to Isaac and set up a covenant of peace since he saw that God was with Isaac and he did not want to be destroyed. Isaac made a covenant with Abimelech. Esau married two Hittite women and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

Notes: Isaac learned from his father about how to deal with having a pretty wife in a foreign land. You tell them she’s your sister! Poor Abimelech fell for it again! Once again though, God did not let Abimelech or his people actually touch Rebekah. Instead of God telling him what was going on, this time Abimelech saw the Isaac and Rebekah together and knew that they were married. Apparently, Isaac did a poor job treating Rebekah like his sister. Once again, God blessed Isaac through his deceit. He sowed and reaped one hundredfold. That’s a good profit! It still amazes me that God would bless Isaac and Abraham for this situation but it has now happened three times. Abimelech truly respected Isaac though. When he heard they were married his law protected both Rebekah and Isaac. Abimelech was intimidated by Isaac. God’s blessings made him stand out so much that Abimelech sent him away. Isaac did not travel far though. I suspect he was very well aware that he was in the land God intended to give him. Every time he dug a well though, the local herdsmen claimed it was their water. If you remember, this happened to Abraham as well. God used this frustrating event to lead Isaac to where He wanted him to live. When Isaac dug a well that was not contested, God appeared to him and told him once again that He would multiply his offspring for Abraham’s sake. This blessing is still a result of Abraham’s obedience. Abimelech came and spoke to Isaac with the commander of his army on much the same way he met with Abraham. He wanted to make a covenant with Isaac that Isaac would do them no harm. I find it interesting that he says that the Philistines did nothing but good to Isaac since his herdsmen had been a huge pain for a while. But either way, Isaac made the deal and Abimelech went on his way. Isaac threw a feast for Abimelech. This would have solidified his good intentions. Esau’s marriages with Hittite women caused Isaac and Rebekah great pain. Esau may have been Isaac’s favorite, but Isaac obviously did not support this decision by his son. Marriage inside the family was obviously very important for Abraham and Isaac and Esau completely ignored this and married whomever he saw fit. We are also supposed to marry within our family, the family of God through Christ. We are not supposed to be yoked to unbelievers. When we marry a nonbeliever, I wonder if it causes sadness in our heavenly father.

Questions: Why did Isaac think lying about his wife was a good idea? How did Rebekah feel about this? Why did God bless Isaac through his deceit? Why did Abimelech feel threatened by Isaac? Did Abimelech fear God or did he just realize and acknowledge the work of God in Isaac’s life? Why did Isaac make a deal with Abimelech if he really was so much stronger than him? Why did Esau feel theneed to marry two Hittite women?

Lessons: God can bless us even through our mistakes. God rarely makes sense. This figures since what we use to make sense of life was created by God and is therefore only capable of finite understanding. Another lesson here is the importance of who you marry. Esau’s marriage caused strain within his family and it may have caused him to compromise values that should not have been compromised.

God's Promise to Isaac

Story: God’s promise to Isaac

Passage: Genesis 26:1-5

Characters: Isaac, God

Summary: There was another famine in the land. Isaac traveled to the land of the Philistines. God told him not to go to Egypt, but to travel in the land God would show him. If Isaac were to do that, God would bless him and establish the oath He gave Abraham. God told Isaac that he would bless Isaac because Abraham kept His commandments.

Notes: I find it interesting that this land had so many famines. Abraham and Isaac each knew that this was the land God was going to give them. I wonder what they thought when they saw the number of major famines in the land. Isaac followed in his father’s footsteps and traveled to Abimelech, king of the Philistines. He was apparently on his way to Egypt, which is also what Abraham did, when God stopped him. God made the same promise to Isaac which He had made to Abraham. When He made this promise, He gave a condition which had already been met and a condition which Isaac would need to meet. The condition which was met was that Abraham obeyed God’s voice and kept His charge, commandments, statutes, and laws. The condition Isaac would need to meet was to sojourn in the land. If Isaac would follow and obey God, God would keep His promise to Isaac. It is obvious that Isaac did not look at the famine as evidence of God not caring, but rather it was opportunity to follow God’s leading in his life.

Questions: Are God’s promises conditional? Why did God not want Isaac going to Egypt? How close was Isaac to God?

Lessons: When we obey God and walk in His spirit, God will bless us. When trials come, it is a chance for us to fully depend on God and follow Him wherever He leads us.

Esau Sells His Birthright

Story: Esau sells his birthright

Passage: Genesis 25:29-34

Characters: Jacob, Esau

Summary: Esau was hunting and was famished. He found Jacob cooking red stew and he asked for it. Jacob said Esau must first give him his birthright. Esau traded his birthright for some stew.

Notes: This is an interesting story. God told Rebekah before the twins were born that the older would serve the younger. Here we see God allowing that to play out. Esau was doing what he did best, hunting. Jacob was doing what he did best, cooking. Esau thought he was going to die without the stew. I sort of doubt he really was dying honestly. I think he was exaggerating a little bit. Some people think that when Esau said he was about to die, he actually meant that he would die down the road so there was no use for a birthright. I personally don’t think that is what he thought. Whatever the case though, he did not respect the birthright at all. He gave it to Jacob without thinking and then when he had eaten, he just got up and left like nothing had happened. A birthright was more than just getting the biggest inheritance, it was also very spiritual. Whoever possessed the birthright would become the next spiritual leader of the family. While it didn’t make sense at the time why Jacob would be chosen over Esau to be the spiritual leader, we see in later chapters that while Jacob’s actions were questionable at times, his character was far superior to that of Esau. Esau gave up a possession with eternal significance for a meal which would last him part of a day. After this story, Esau was known as Edom, which sounds like the Hebrew word for red. I wonder if people called him that to make fun of him for his decision.

Questions: Was Esau really about to die? Did Jacob really come up with that that fast, or had he been scheming for a while? Did Esau care about his birthright?

Lessons: Oftentimes we exchange something of eternal importance for a temporary pleasure. We see an extreme case of this here, and it is obviously portrayed as Esau made a big mistake. We should try and learn from his mistake and truly value the eternal gifts which God has given us. When we sin and put ourselves above God we are foolishly choosing the temporary pleasures of this world over eternal Lord of the universe!

The Birth of Esau and Jacob

Story: The birth of Esau and Jacob

Passage: Genesis 25:19-28

Characters: Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, Jacob

Summary: Rebekah was barren. Isaac prayed for her and she conceived. God told her that she had twins. He told her she had two nations in her womb, and the two nations would fight with each other and the older would serve the younger. She bore the twins. The first was hairy and was named Esau. The second was grasping Esau’s heel so he was called Jacob. Esau grew up to be a hunter and his father loved him. Jacob was a quiet man and lived in the tents and Rebekah loved him.

Notes: First of all, Isaac is a man of faith! We don’t read much about his faith, but in the previous chapter, he was in a field meditating. And now he prays to the Lord to let Rebekah have children. He knew who was really in control. Rebekah felt her children fighting in the womb and it freaked her out and hurt. God’s promise was interesting. He told her she had two nations in her womb. The older would serve the younger. God does not take birth order into account. Esau was born with so much hair it says it looked like he had a cloak. I’m not that hairy even after 21 years! Esau fittingly means hairy. Jacob came out grasping Esau’s heel. Their struggle in the womb never stopped. They were fighting as they were born and they would continue to fight their whole lives. Jacob means he grasps the heel. This was a pun because it also meant he who deceives. As we will see, this name was also fitting for Jacob! God apparently enjoys puns since he made Jacob be born in such a way that his name would describe him perfectly! Esau hunted. His dad liked him best because he enjoyed eating the game he would kill. Jacob was a quiet man. This makes him sound effeminate, but the Hebrew word used to describe him is the same word used to describe Job as blameless. So really, Jacob was a whole, blameless man who just preferred to stay close to home and cook. His mother liked him best. This favoritism is unfortunate, but it is the reality for many families today just as it was back then.

Questions: Why did God chooses to bless Jacob the second born over Esau? What did Isaac think of Jacob? What did Rebekah think of Esau? How hairy was Esau?

Lessons: God can heal! God responded to prayers for healing in the Old Testament, God responded to prayers for healing in the New Testament. There is no reason to believe that God does not respond to prayers for healing now as well. We need to actually believe that and live with the faith it takes to believe that God can heal! Also, no lessons are here yet about showing favoritism to your children, but we will see in the future that this causes conflict.

Abraham's Death and His Descendants

Story: Abraham’s death and his descendants

Passages: Genesis 25:1-18

Characters: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael

Summary: Abraham took another wife and had a bunch of children through her. Abraham died at the age of 170. He was buried with Sarah by Isaac and Ishmael. Ishmael’s descendants are listed.

Notes: Abraham took another wife and had a bunch of children. However, he knew that God’s promise was through Isaac and he left everything to Isaac. I find it interesting that Isaac and Ishmael both buried Abraham. Ishmael had been out of the picture for years. Obviously his relationship with Abraham was much stronger than his relationship with Sarah. He put aside his differences with Isaac and returned to bury his father. I wonder if Ishmael moved back in the vicinity of Abraham after Sarah died. I also find it interesting that after Abraham died, God blessed Isaac. God didn’t allow any doubts that His promise to Abraham would be through Isaac. Abraham knew that the promise would be through Isaac and he sent his other sons away into other lands before he died. This meant that there would not be sibling rivalry over who would own the land. It also continued to solidify the belief that the promise would be fulfilled through Isaac and not a different son. Ishmael had 12 sons. This fulfilled the promise in Genesis 17 that 12 princes would come from Ishmael. We read here about Ishmael’s death. The final verse of this passage is translated a few different ways in different translations. It can mean he lived in strife with his kinsmen, or it can mean he died among his kinsmen. I prefer the former. The Hebrew word used here implies conflict and violence. If the word was supposed to just mean that he died, the normal word for death would have been used. Instead a word was used which communicated that Ishmael was seen as inferior by his kinsmen. Once again, we see the story of a character who is not in the line of Jesus end quickly so we can get back to the main character, Isaac in this case.

Questions: Did Ishmael and Isaac get along at this point? How did Ishmael make it in time to bury Abraham? Why did Abraham feel the need to marry another woman? What family did she come from?

Lessons: There are honestly not too many lessons here.

Isaac and Rebekah

Story: Isaac and Rebekah

Passage: Genesis 24

Characters: Abraham, His servant, Rebekah, Laban, Isaac

Summary: Abraham made his servant swear to pick a wife for Isaac from his own family and not from the Canaanites. The servant wanted to know what to do if the woman would not return with him. Abraham said that he would be released from his oath, only don’t bring Isaac back to his family’s country. The servant went to the city of Nahor. He asked God to show him who Isaac was supposed to marry. The deal was that when the servant asked for water, the woman He wanted Isaac to marry would offer to water his camels as well. Sure enough, when Rebekah walked out the servant asked her for water and she offered to water his camels as well. He found out she was a relative so he found Laban, her brother, and told him his mission. Laban said that he could take Rebekah back with him but he wanted to wait ten days. When the servant expressed his wish to leave immediately, they consulted Rebekah and she said she would go. They left and Isaac saw them coming from far away so he married her immediately.

Notes: This is the first account of a marriage relationship prior to marriage that we see in the bible. However, as we have just read, there was really very little relationship before marriage. Here are a few observations I made from this story. I am going to analyze this by character.
Abraham trusted his servant a lot! He gave him control of his house, his son, his son’s marriage, his wealth, etc. Abraham was insistent on two things: staying separate from Canaan, and staying on the land which God was giving him. So he wanted Isaac to not mix with Canaan, but continue living on their land. Having Isaac marry a family member was a good way to keep their family separate. When his servant prayed, he prayed to the God of his master Abraham. I wonder if he considered God to be his god as well. He must have trusted God since he asked a very specific request of God. I feel like serving a man like Abraham would make it easy to trust God. He finishes his prayer by saying that if God does this, the servant would know that God has shown steadfast love to his master. I really get the idea that he looked at God as his master’s god. God would come through indeed. In fact, before Abraham’s servant had finished praying, Rebekah had come out. The servant asked her the question and she responded by offering to water his camels. The servant did not jump to conclusions though. As she watered the camels, he silently watched her and prayed about whether she really was the one God wanted. It was later that he found out that Rebekah was family. God had led him straight to Abraham’s family. It was perfect! The servant retold his entire journey and what God had done and then demanded an answer. When he was told his journey was going to be successful, he wanted to get back home as fast as possible! The servant’s job was complete. He had been blessed with a successful journey.

Rebekah’s family was a little unusual from what I can tell. Her brother Laban was the one who did most of the negotiations in this story. The dad, Bethuel, was around because he was involved in giving the servant permission to take Rebekah back as Isaac’s wife. However, Laban was just as involved in giving his sister away. In fact, his name is mentioned before Bethuel’s name. It was not Bethuel who wanted Rebekah to stay another ten days, but rather it was Laban and her mom. The dad sounds like he was just not too involved in running the family. Her family blessed her as she left. They had no idea that their blessing mirrored the promise given to Abraham about his descendants. When Laban saw the man talking to his sister, he ran out to see what was going on. He was obviously very protective of Rebekah.

Rebekah is definitely wise and polite. She is portrayed as very mature in this story. She is also described as very attractive. I find it interesting that physical attraction played a role in this divine match. Is it possible that God’s design for marriage, physical attraction is actually quite important? I would say that it is very possible! Christians today are very quick to point out that a marriage cannot be based on physical attraction. This is true, but it also cannot ignore attraction. God designed marriage to involve a certain level of physical attraction! We also read in previous chapters that Sarah was very beautiful as well. Beauty played a big role in marriages in these stories! I find it amazing that Rebekah went from minding her own business, to riding on a camel towards her future husband, away from her family and land, all within a day! The faith and maturity she shows is amazing to me! To leave her family like to that to marry a man she doesn’t know who lives in land which he doesn’t owe take incredible faith!

Isaac sounds like he was still grieving his mother’s death. He was in a field meditating when Rebekah arrived. I suspect he was praying still as a result of his mother’s death. When he saw Rebekah he took her into his mother’s former tent, which was still set up apparently, and he married her. Marriage was not built around getting to know the other person and making sure you are compatible, it was a beautiful practical thing ordained and set up by God himself. It says that she became his wife and he loved her. Love is the result of marriage not the basis for marriage. And this marriage comforted Isaac after Sarah’s death.

Questions: What did Abraham think of this match? Why was Rebekah so willing to leave her family like this? Why was Laban the primary protector of Rebekah? Did Abraham’s servant truly fear God? How attached to his mother was Isaac? Why was he meditating in the field?

Lessons: Pray specifically. The servant prayed a very specific prayer and God answered it immediately. We need to pray specifically and expect God to be able to listen. This story also teaches me a lot about what marriage should look like. You do not need to love someone or get to know them perfectly before marriage, all of that will come after marriage. Marriage can be a very comforting thing. Laban is also a good model of how protective a brother should be of his sister. If the father and the brother accept their responsibility as protectors, then it is less likely that a guy will take advantage of a young woman.

Sarah's Death and Burial

Story: Sarah’s Death and Burial

Passage: Genesis 23

Characters: Sarah, Abraham, Ephron

Summary: Sarah died when she was 127. Abraham mourned for her and wanted to bury her but he did not own any land. He asked to buy a piece of land so he could bury Sarah on his own land. The Hittites were willing to give Abraham land for free, but he insisted on buying the land. The people kept trying to give it to Abraham but he ended up buying the land and burying Sarah.

Notes: Abraham refused to take land for free from the Hittites. I think there were a couple reasons for this. Abraham was all about only being dependent on God and not man. He refused the plunder from rescuing Sodom for that very reason. He did not want charity form the Hittites. Abraham also knew God was going to give him that land eventually. He was probably aware that friendly relations with the Hittites would have to end eventually. He didn’t want his wife buried on their land, he wanted her on land belonging to him. God had set Abraham and his family apart from the other people living in the land. Abraham didn’t want to bury his wife on their land. He wanted to own the land fair and square so that he could keep his family separate from the Hittites. I think it is interesting that Abraham had a cave specifically picked out! He knew what he wanted and he bought it!

Questions: Why did that specific cave stand out to Abraham? Did he buy the land because he knew it would be his land someday? Why was Abraham so respected among the Hittites?

Lessons: When God makes a promise to us, it is important that we live our lives and make our decisions with that promise in mind. If God calls us to something, that should become our life goal.

The Sacrifice of Isaac

Story: The Sacrifice of Isaac

Passage: Genesis 22

Characters: God, Abraham, Isaac, two servants

Summary: God tested Abraham by telling him to offer his son as a burnt offering in the place He would show him. Abraham took his son and traveled three days to the mountain God chose and carried the wood and the fire up the mountain. When Isaac asked where the lamb was, Abraham said that God would provide the lamb. Abraham took his knife and had bound his son and was about to kill him when God stopped him saying that now He knew that Abraham withheld nothing from God. Abraham saw a ram stuck in the bushes and he offered the ram instead. The mountain was called “God will provide”. God spoke again and made his promise to Abraham once again about his offspring. He promised that his offspring would possess the gate of their enemies. God also connected this promise to the condition of obedience which Abraham had just met. Abraham’s brother had some children.

Notes: This story is fascinating for several reasons. Many comparisons have been drawn between Abraham offering his son and God sacrificing His son for us. I think there is a slightly different analogy here as well. But first, some observations. This command from God made no sense. After all this trouble, Abraham finally had a son and God wanted him to kill him! This was no easy command either. It involved a three day trek without a known destination! Only if Abraham was devoted to God would he be willing to make a difficult trek with the purpose of killing his only son. Abraham obeyed though! He had total faith that God would provide. When Isaac inquired where the sacrifice was, Abraham said that it would be provided by God. Even though He believed God would provide, he still had the full intention of following God’s command all the way through. God did not step in until just before the strike. God made a promise to Abraham, but this promise was conditional. It was the same promise we have seen God give Abraham over and over again, but now we hear that is was conditional on his obedience. When God makes a promise, it can be and possibly always is conditional. Now to the analogy I see in this story. In my opinion, the Christ figure in this story is not Isaac, but the ram who was killed. Isaac was condemned to death by God and was led to his death. However, when the time came to kill him, God provided a lamb to be killed in Isaac’s place. I submit that Isaac represents humanity. We have been condemned to death by God. However, when we were still deserving death and about to die, God provided a lamb, His son, to die in our place and allow us to live with a promise that if we walked with Him, He would bless us and provide for us and fill us with His Spirit! This is significant and it is beautiful that God had the foresight to foreshadow this aspect of his redemptive story in ancient times. God knew Abraham’s heart so why did He need to test Abraham? I suspect it is because He wanted Abraham to see and believe that he was obedient and faithful and that God would come through. I believe this ordeal was more for Abraham’s benefit than God’s benefit.

Questions: Why did God choose that specific mountain? Why did God feel the need to test Abraham? Didn’t He know his heart? What did Isaac think during this story? Did Sarah know what was happening? How long had the ram been trapped in the bush? How many of God’s promises have conditions on them?

Lessons: God demands everything from us. Nothing is so important that we should not be willing to sacrifice it. God is our all in all. He is everything we need. He is the holy ruler of the universe and if what He says doesn’t make sense, this is because of our fallen minds and not because He made a mistake. Our only responsibility is to follow God and walk with Him in obedience. Nothing should come before that responsibility. If we obey in this, God will provide when we need His provision.

A Treaty with Abimelech

Story: A treaty with Abimelech

Passage: Genesis 21:22-34

Characters: Abimelech, Phicol, Abraham,

Summary: Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army were worried that Abraham had grown to strong. They made Abraham swear to deal honestly with them and their land. Abraham then rebuked Abimelech because some of his servants had taken a well belonging to Abraham. Abraham set apart seven lambs and gave them to Abimelech as a witness that he had dug the well. After Abimelech and Phicol had left, Abraham called on the name of the Lord and planted a tree.

Notes: Abraham had been so blessed that Abimelech was intimidated by him. When we read what he says to Abraham, it is obvious that he is worried that Abraham will take his land. If he was aware of God’s promise to Abraham, he had good reason to be worried! Abraham made a covenant with Abimelech and then immediately brought up the conflict over his well. When I read this passage I wondered if the wording was significant when the passage says Abraham set apart 7 lambs. To be set apart is what the word holy means. Abraham consecrated these lambs and then gave them to Abimelech as a witness. This proved that Abraham believed what he said. No one is willing to sacrifice for what they know is a lie. We make sacrifices for what we believe to be true. If we aren’t willing to sacrifice for something, we either don’t believe that it is true, or we don’t think it is worth sacrificing for. Look at your own life and at what you make sacrifices for. If you make sacrifices for your own benefit, what does that mean you believe in? Abraham left this meeting and immediately called on the Lord. I would have thought this would have been good to do before making a covenant with the Philistines, but it is obvious that Abraham tried to stay in communication with God. He wanted to make sure he was still following the plan God had laid out for him.

Questions: Why was Abraham so intimidating to Abimelech? Why was the commander of his army present? Why did Abraham plant a tree? What do we make sacrifices for? Do we legitimately make sacrifices for God? If not, why not?

Lessons: We need to be willing to make sacrifices for God if we believe in Him. We know he is worth it and deserves it. If we are not willing to sacrifice for God, we need to really examine our actions and our motivations for our actions. It is also important that we call on the name of the Lord. We want to be in constant communication with God through prayer and live in full submission to His will through the Spirit.

Here we go again

Hey everyone! So I forgot to update this last week, so this will serve as an update on my last two weeks!

Two weeks ago, not much happened honestly. I worked and continued to learn the ropes of my job. The week was honestly a fairly slow and I struggled to look at my time at work as time where I was working for God. I got to spend the weekend visiting London which was really nice! We basically spent the time working on homework and her list of things to get done! We both decided to sponsor a child through Compassion. Since there is a chance we could end up in India some day, we each chose a child in India. I am looking forward to writing my little boy and helping be a part of his life and showing Christ's love to him. It is appalling to me that his family makes 43 dollars a month! How many of us can't comprehend living on a salary like that! I have trouble justifying using my money to get the latest nice thing when I know that there are people around the world who would give anythings just to have 10 dollars! Giving someone ten dollars isn't even a sacrafice for us, yet many of us treat it like a sacrifice! I have been reevaluating how money should be used, and I encourage you to look into what the Bible actually teaches about giving and possessions. What I have found is that possessions are not wrong, but when we selfishly put possessions above loving others, above helping the needy, the people who Jesus spent all of his time with, that is when something needs to change. It is up to you on how you change. I will not go into details other than to say that I have changed my approach to money. Anyway, the weekend was great and then I launched into another fairly slow week at work. Friday however was the busiest day I have had yet. I honestly enjoyed it a lot! After work, I went and picked London up and she spent the weekend with me! We celebrated valentines day together, the first time either of us had celebrated it. We exchanged gifts and then had a very fun sushi excursion. London gave me a notebook filled with handwritten prayers all based on the prayers of Paul! She also printed off every article written by the Village Church, which I attended while I was in Dallas. These articles cover how the church handles various doctrines and contemporary issues. It was an amazing gift and it was a great valentines day! It was honestly a great weekend and I enjoyed helping her study and just get things done while mixing in fun things like MarioKart and a walk in a local park! I am still working on being selfless in my relationship with London. It is not about my needs or what I want. When a relationship is about me, it begins to fail. A relationship is supposed to be about the other person or both people together, but never about you. Anyway, that's a quick update on my life and what I've been doing and learning! Hopefully I can update on Sunday or Monday next week!

The Birth of Isaac, God Protects Hagar and Ishmael

Story: The birth of Isaac, God protects Hagar and Ishmael

Passage: Genesis 21:1-21

Characters: Sarah, God, Abraham, Isacc, Ishmael, Hagar

Summary: The Lord kept his promise and Sarah gave birth to a son when God said she would. They named him Isaac. Sarah said that people would laugh over her when they hear her story. Abraham threw a feast to celebrate his son being weaned, but Ishmael mocked Isaac. Sarah wanted Hagar and Ishmael gone. God told Abram to listen to Sarah so he cast them out. They wandered and ran out of water so Hagar left the baby to die under a bush but God spoke to her and promised to make Ishmael into a great nation. She saw a well and they drank. She raised Ishamel in the wilderness and he became good with a bow. He married an Egyptian woman.

Notes: God came through and Abraham followed through on his side of the deal. He named his son Isaac and circumcised him like he was told to. It is obvious that Abraham favored Isaac. We see no mention of a feast celebrating Ishmael, but here he throws a feast for Isaac. I’m not really sure what Ishmael was doing to deserve Sarah’s wrath. The ESV says he was laughing, which is fitting since Isaac’s name means “he laughs”. NIV seems to see it as a mocking laughter. Either way, Ishmael can’t have been very old at this time and I feel like his attitude can’t have been too intentionally harmful. But Sarah seems to have dealt with jealousy. Her first attempt to scare Hagar away had failed, and now she turned to Abraham to take care of it. She referred to Hagar and Ishmael as “this slave woman and her son.” This is very impersonal considering it was Sarah’s idea to let Abraham marry Hagar. She comes right out and says she doesn’t want Ishmael being Abraham’s heir. Abraham didn’t know what to do! From previous chapters we see that he liked Ishmael, but his wife hated Ishmael. God stepped in and said to do what Sarah suggested. Sarah was being selfish and hateful, yet God told Abraham to follow her advice. God can work through bad situations and even bad motives. God told him that his offspring would be named through Isaac, but Ishmael would also become a nation. God made this promise to Abraham a ridiculous number of times! So Abraham cast them out. Hagar loved Ishmael and could not bring herself to watch him die when they ran out of water. She put him under a bush and then went far enough away so that she wouldn’t have to watch. The fact that she was able to just set him down and not have him follow her tells me Ishmael was likely still very young. God heard her weeping and promised her that her son would become a great nation. He opened her eyes to see a well. This tells me that God had somehow made it so that she could not see this well right in front of her! This is a little weird to me, but God did it for a reason. Maybe He wanted her to cry out to Him. This is the first mention of a weapon. And it is in the hands of Ishmael who lived alone in the wilderness, whose descendants were going to be militant. God was already fulfilling his prophecy. Hagar found an Egyptian woman to marry him. This sounds like an arranged marriage to me. Also, Egypt is later used to represent sin. This might be another way that the passage contrasts Ishmael’s life with Isaacs. It is interesting to read the stories of people not in the line of Israel. The fact that they are mentioned means they are important, but the brevity of the stories about them shows that they are not the main characters in the story.

Questions: Why did God use Sarah’s attitude and motives to accomplish his purpose? Did Abraham regret sending Hagar and Ishmael away? Was Hagar glad to finally get away from Sarah? Why did God hide the well from Hagar? Ishmael was not a main part of God’s redemptive plan for the world, but he is included and God showed Himself to Hagar and Ishmael after they had separated from the main plot line. Why? And did God do anything else miraculous in Ishamel’s life? In other words, did God continue to directly provide for Ishmael?

Lessons: God can use wrong motives and bad situations. Just because something goes wrong or seems broken and sinful does not mean that God is unable to work through it. In this story, God separated Ishmael through Sarah’s sinful jealousy. There is no situation to dark or messed up for God to be found in.

Abraham and Abimelech

Story: Abraham and Abimelech

Passage: Genesis 20

Characters: Abraham, Sarah, Abimelech, God

Summary: Abraham traveled to Gerar. He said that Sarah was his sister and Abimelech, king of Gerar took her. God told him he would die for taking another man’s wife. Abimelech was confused and maintained his innocence. God revealed that Abimelech was innocent because God didn’t let him touch her. God told him to return Sarah to Abraham and Abraham would pray for
Abimelech and he would be spared. Abraham prayed for Abimelech and God healed his entire household. God had caused all of the women in his house to become barren.

Notes:
Abrhaham was doing it again! He was giving his wife to another man to save his own life. Once again God punished the man even though he had no idea of what he was doing! I love the way God begins His conversation with Abimelech. Remember, Abimelech had no idea that he had taken another man’s wife. God said, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman you have taken…” That’s a scary thing to hear from God when you think you are innocent! Poor Abimelech tried to maintain his innocence and the Lord immediately acknowledged that he had indeed not touched her yet. But He also says that it was God that kept him from touching her. This implies that without God, he would have. The true test became how Abimelech would respond to this knowelge. Would he return Sarah without incident? This is what he did. Although you can tell he
was mad at Abraham for deceiving him like that. Abraham tries to make excuses and justify his actions by referencing the fact that she is sort of his sister. This seems pathetic to me, but it is encouraging that God used a pathetic person like Abraham to lead and found His chosen people! This should give you a ton of hope and confidence! God loves using weak men! Abimelech gave Abraham all kinds of livestock and possessions and let him live wherever he wanted to. So once again, God blessed Abraham through this deception! Another interesting observation is that Abraham is 100 years old at this point and Sarah is also quite old. The fact that Abraham was still worried he would be killed over her beauty makes me think one of three things could have been going on here. One, she was a very beautiful old lady. Two, Abraham was blind to the fact that they had aged. Three, she was very inwardly beautiful and that was what would attract Abimelech. Obviously, Abimelech did take her so something was going on here that drew him to her.

Questions: Why did God react so harshly to Abimelech when his intentions were innocent? Why did God once again bless Abraham through this deception? What on earth did Sarah think of this deal she made with Abraham?

Lessons: God can use us even when we screw up. When we are cowardly and don’t consult God
for our decisions, He does not give up on us. Instead He continues to show us mercy and grace and guides us in the direction that we should go. Also, sinning with good intentions is still sinning and still deserves death.

God Rescues Lot, God Destroys Sodom, Lot and his Daughters

Story: God Rescues Lot, God Destroys Sodom, Lot and his Daughters

Passage: Genesis 19

Characters: Two angels, Lot, Lot’s daughters, Sodom, Lot’s sons in law, Lot’s wife

Summary: The two angels came to Sodom and Lot offered them his hospitality. They tried to refuse but Lot insisted. He served them a feast. When night came, the entire city came and wanted to molest the two newcomers. Lot went out and stopped them and offered them his daughters. The town was angry with Lot and wanted to attack him but the angels pulled him inside and struck the entire city with blindness. The angels told Lot about the coming destruction and told him to gather his family and leave. His sons in law didn’t believe him and they stayed. The angels dragged the family out of the city and told them not to look back. Lot asked to escape to a little city and he was granted his request. His wife looked back at the destruction and she turned into a pillar of salt. Lot moved to a cave in the hills and his daughters wanted to get pregnant. So first the older and then the younger got their dad drunk and then slept with him and got pregnant.

Notes: This story is full of interesting details. First of all, Lot threw a feast for these two men. I think he knew they were not ordinary men. He also knew what would happen to them in the public square at night. It makes me wonder if Lot and his family were similarly attacked when they first moved to Sodom. Lot is certainly not viewed as one of them. As we see later they call Lot a sojourner. He does not fit into the culture of Sodom and the people do not respect him for it. It seems cruel to me that Lot offered them his daughters. That he put his guests above his own family is shocking to me. As it was though, the city did not take his offer. Also, the entire city was there. Every last man young and old was at Lot’s door. This was a massive sinful mob. The fact that they turned down his daughters in favor of the new men tells me something as well. These were perverse men. If you think America has issues, Sodom was worse. When Lot suggested his daughters, the crowd was offended. They said he was judging them. I almost wonder if they saw it as Lot was judging them for wanting to sleep with men instead of women. This outcry against Lot might have been because of homosexual rights. Even today, if we even suggest that homosexuality is wrong, we are labeled as judges and bigots. This is nothing new! Lot was immediately accused of being judgmental because he told the people to abuse his daughters instead of the men staying at his house! The angels struck the people with blindness, but that did not stop them. So intense was their rage and their sinful desire that they wore themselves out by groping at the door while blind. I feel like Lot might not have truly believed that the city would be destroyed. I say this for three reasons. First, while he did warn his sons in law, they thought he was joking. He was not very persuasive. Second, he was told to flee to the hills, but he decided he would rather flee to the town of Zoar. He seemed to think the fact that it was little was significant. He mentioned its size twice. The Lord did grant his request. And third, when it came time to go, he delayed and the angels had to grab him and his family by the hand and take them out of the city. As the city was destroyed, Lot’s wife looked at it and was turned into salt. She was either curious, or not completely willing to leave the sinful city behind her. Abraham is said to have been watching for the smoke from the destruction. He was a=obviously anxious for Lot and his family. Interestingly, God told Abraham that He would spare the city if there were 10 righteous people in it. God did not spare the city, but he did spare Lot and his wife and daughters. They might not have been righteous, but God knew what Abraham was really asking for and He provided by rescuing Lot.

The next section here is interesting to me. When I try to see between the lines and get some of the implied information here I find a few interesting things. First of all, Lot does not feel safe in Zoar and ends up living in a cave in the very hills he had just pleaded with God to not make him flee to. Lot lived with his two daughters in a cave. His daughters were not content to be single. They came up with a plan to have offspring. They lament that there is no man on earth to have children with. This is obviously not true. But the women had convinced themselves that this was the case. Remember, they each had fiancés who were destroyed in Sodom. So they drugged their dad and slept with him and they each got pregnant. This is really disturbing to me. Their dad had no idea that he had just fathered two children. This was a desperate attempt by two discontented women to have kids of their own. They went about it all wrong. They used their own power and brains to come up with a plan instead of going through God first, but God still blessed them each with a child. This was how the Moabites and the Ammonites came into being. Moab literally means “from father”.

Questions: Did Lot know who the two men were? Did Lot get a similar greeting from Sodom when he moved there? Were Lot and his wife really attached to Sodom? Why did Lot’s wife look back? Why did God bless Lot’s daughters by making them pregnant? Did Abraham think Lot had died when he saw the smoke? Why did Lot offer his daughters to the angry crowd?

Lessons: Sinful people despise followers of God. If we live among sinful people, we stand out as foreigners. Even if we encounter resistance and hostility like Lot did though, God will provide if we continue to walk with Him. If God tells us to do something, we need to believe it completely and obey immediately. And third, don’t get drunk.

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

Story: Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

Passage: Genesis 18:22-33

Characters: Abraham, God

Summary: Thethree men who visited Abraham began to leave but Abraham stopped God and approached Him to ask if He would spare Sodom if there were 50 righteous men there. God said that He would. Abraham asked about what God would do for 45, 40, 30, 20, and 10 righteous people. God said He would spare the city in each circumstance.

Notes: Abraham was very bold. He stopped God and approached Him to ask Him to spare his relatives. He appealed to God's inability to punish the righteous. God is just and it is unjust to punish the righteous. As He negotiated with God, Abraham did some quick math as he calculated how many family members Lot probably had. Remember that Lot was living in Sodom at the time. God patiently answered each of Abraham's questions. You can tell that Abraham was embarassed or ashamed to be asking these questions of a holy God. His wording was never direct or to the point. He even made God do math at one point! However God always gave a direct answer. He showed no indication of being annoyed or impatient, but He was direct. It shows His authority in this encounter. The other two men were not indicated as being present for this encounter. Now the word righteous does not mean sinless in the old testament. Noah is described as righteous. To be righteous was to walk with God. What Abraham may not have fully realized is that Lot and his family were humans and were therefore not sinless and deserved the punishment which God was about to mete out on Sodom. Remember for tomorrow's reading that the deal was that God would spare the city if there were 10 righteous people in the city.

Questions: Where did the other two people go? How did God feel about Abraham's approaching Him? Was He amused? Annoyed? Were Lot and his family actually righteous?

Lessons: According to the new testament, we are supposed to be persistant in our prayers and petitions to God. God wants us to trust Him, to approach Him with our thoughts, concerns, praises, and issues. He wants us to beg Him to be involved in our lives. He wants us to acknowlege His supremacy. He won't get impatient with us. Abraham was asking God a silly thing to spare sinners from His punishment. But God patiently listened and we will find out that He did indeed spare Lot's family. God loves it when we stop Him and "annoy" Him for the sake of others.

Isaac's Birth Promised

Story: Isaac's Birth Promised

Passage: Genesis 17:15-18:21

Characters: God, Abraham, three men, Sarai

Summary: God changed Sarai's name to Sarah. He promised Abraham a son through Sarah and He blessed the son. Abraham did not believe God and asked for Ishmael to have the blessing. God said that He would bless Ishmael, but His covenant was with Isaac. Abraham circumcised his entire household. Three men appeared to Abraham. Abraham served them. The men said that Sarah would have a son in the next year. She overheard and laughed at the men and God questioned her laughter. The Lord decided to tell Abraham his plan for Sodom.

Notes: Abraham fully believed that God's covenant was with Ishmael. When God promised a son to Sarah, he laughed at God's promise! God still chose to bless Ishmael though. His covenant however was with Isaac. God's choice of names was interesting. God puts a lot of stock in names. Throughout the old testament, and even into the new testament, God changed peoples' names to better represent His plan for their lives. He had already changed Abram's name to Abraham. Now He changed Sarai's name to Sarah. Sarah means princess. I'm not sure exactly why He deliberately called her princess, but I suspect that she felt like a failure. She couldn't give Abraham a son. But God wanted her to know that she was still a princess in His eyes and she would be the mother of an eternally royal line. Isaac means "he laughs". This is fitting since both Abraham and Sarah laughed when God told them they would have Isaac. Abraham then immediately obeyed God's command to circumcise his household. Remember that although God's command occurred in the previous chapter, it was the same conversation with Abraham as this one. Abraham immediately obeyed. It wasn't just Abraham's family who was set apart, it was those who Abraham had bought and acquired. It was all of his servants. Likewise, we have been bought by God and we are set apart for him, even though most of us are not Jews. God then appeared as three men. I assume that these men represented the trinity. This is significant because I cannot think of another time in the Bible when God physically portrayed the trinity so clearly. Obviously this was a pivotal moment in the story that God was writing. The only other place I can think of where the trinity was observably present was Jesus baptism. The Spirit was a dove, the Father was a voice, and the Son was obviously Jesus. This was another pivotal moment in history. In this case, I wonder if Abraham was aware of who these visitors were. He treated them with tremendous respect and served them immediately. God asked where Sarah was and heard she was in the tent. Instead of sending Abraham to get her, He spoke about Isaac as if she were there. He was well aware that she was listening. He was also well aware that she laughed. I love that she argued with Him saying she did not laugh. God responds by saying, "No, but you did laugh." And then He just moves on. It wasn't an argument so much as it was a statement. Sarah tried to argue with God and God just sort of brushed her argument aside. I just find that funny!. Anyway, I think it is interesting that God decided to share with Abraham his plan for Sodom. Obviously, God and Abraham were very close if God felt like he deserved to be told about His plan.

Questions: Did Abraham believe God initially about Isaac? Why did God change Sarah's name to princess? Did Abraham know who the three men were? Did the men enjoy the food that Abraham gave them? Why did Sarah bother arging with God? Why did God choose to share His plans with Abraham?

Lessons: As first born, Ishmael deserved to have the covenant with God. But God places no weight on birthorder. God blesses who He wants to bless and uses who He wants to use. We as gentiles do not deserve the convenant we have with God. But God loved us and chose to use us in His story. We also see Abraham display immediate obedience. When God tells us to do something, we need to do it immediately!

Abraham and the covenant of circumcision

Story: Abraham and the covenant of circumcision

Passage: Genesis 17:1-14

Summary: God appeared to Abram and commanded him to walk before Him and be blameless. God promised that his descendants would be a multitude of nations. God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham. God commanded him to circumcise his offspring to set them apart from other nations.

Notes: God sure made a lot of covenants with Abram! And each one was more detailed and unbelievable than the one before it! In this passage God commanded Abram to : walk before Him and be blameless, to keep the covenant, to circumcise his offspring. God promised: to multiply him greatly, to make him the father of a multitude of nations, that kings would come from him, that He would be their God, and that He would give them the land as an everlasting possession. Abraham's response: fell on his face. This was an appropriate response to the holiness of God which Abraham had experienced. Abram means exalted father. This was interesting and probably frustrating since he was not a father until Ishmael. And once Ishmael was born his name changed to Abraham, which means father of a multitude. The Israelites were to be set apart through circumcision. This is significant because they were set apart by sacrificing their flesh. Today, we are set apart through the sacrifice of Christ. Our flesh dies and we are made holy, which means set apart.

Questions: Why circumcision exactly? Why did God choose this method to set apart His people? Has Abraham not gotten the point yet? Why does God have to keep making promises to Abraham? Does he not trust God? Why did God choose this timing to change Abram's name? Why right after the birth of Ishmael?

Lessons: We are called to be different. We have been adopted by Christ and are now His chosen people, set apart for Him. While we are no longer under the law of circumcision, we are still called to be set apart as holy!

Sarai and Hagar

Story: Sarai and Hagar

Passage: Genesis 16

Characters: Sarai, Abram, Hagar, the Lord

Summary: Sarai had no children so she gave her servant Hagar to Abram as a wife. Hagar got pregnant and looked on Sarai with contempt. Sarai treated Hagar harshly and Hagar fled. The Lord stopped her and gave her a promise concerning her son. So she returned and gave birth to Ishmael.

Notes: Abram and Sarai had a weird marriage! Earlier, Abram gave his wife to an Egyptian pharaoh and now Sarai is giving Abram and Egyptian servant as a wife! They had something for Egypt apparently! Egypt is generally used to represent sin in the Bible. So it might be significant that when Abram and Sarai make decisions that don't involve God, they end up marrying Egypt. This was Sarai and Abram's attempt to keep God's promise with their own efforts. Abram wanted a son and the more wives he had, the more likely it would be that he would have one. When Hagar had a son though, things went south. I'm not sure if Hagar was trying to pridefully rub it in her mistresses face that she had had a son while Sarai was barren. Hagar also might have been mad and felt like she was used. Either way, Hagar was a burden to Sarai and Abram gave Sarai permission to treat her harshly. This indifference on Abram's part shows that he didn't care so much for Hagar as he did for the son she gave him. The Lord stopped Hagar in her tracks though. I am amazed at this exchange. The Lord asked where she came from and where she was going. But He addressed her as the servant of Sarai so He knew very well where she came from and where she was going! She answered very honestly that she was fleeing from Sarai. The Lord told her to return to Sarai and submit to her. Even though she was being mistreated, the Lord wanted her to respect the authority which He had given her. If she was worried about her son's fate, God covered that next. He told her that her son's offspring would not be countable. This mirrors God's promise to Abram. In fact, Ishmael was Abram's firstborn and would be covered in the covenant God gave Abram. God then prophesied that Ishmael would basically be a loner. He would fight everyone and everyone would fight him. Interestingly, Islam traces its roots to Ishmael. This prophesy appears to hold true even today in the modern world. Muslims are sterotyped as being militant and basically loners. It is interesting that Abram received a blessing and then his two sons became the fathers of the two biggest religions in the world. Hagar obeyed God and returned to Sarai. She bore a son and Abram named him Ishmael. This tells me that Hagar had told Abram about her encounter and Abram believed her and obeyed God's command to name the boy Ishmael.

Questions: How did Sarai receive Hagar once she had returned? How did she feel about Ishmael? How did Abram view Hagar? How does Islam fulfill God's prophecy? Why did Hagar treat Sarai with contempt?

Lessons: God keeps his promises in ways we would not expect. For example, we would not expect Him to let His promise apply to Ishmael, but it is obvious that God's covenant with Abram covered Ishmael as well as Isaac. Submission to authority is important. God recognized that Sarai had authority over Hagar. Even though Sarai was abusive, He wanted Hagar to return and submit to her. This matches up with the New Testament command to love our enemies and to submit to authority. Even when it doesn't make sense, we have to understand that God places authority over us and we must respect that.

God's Covenant with Abram

Story: God's Covenant with Abram

Passage: Genesis 15

Characters: The Lord, Abram

Summary: The Lord came to Abram in a vision and promised that He would reward Abram. This was right after his rescue of Lot. Abram got frustrated with God that he still didn't have a son. God promised to make Abram's offspring as numerous as the stars. Abram believed and it was credited to him as righteousness, but he still wanted proof. God had Abram give Him an offering. God told Abram that his descendants would be oppressed for 400 years but then they would be rescued. Abram saw a fire pot and a torch pass between the meat on the altar. God reaffirmed his covenant with Abram.

Notes: Abram was upset with God. He told God he would die childless, and then he used the word behold to emphasize his claim that God had not given him children. God began His conversation with Abram by calling himself Abram's shield. Abram could trust God to protect him and keep his promise. Abram then blamed God for his lack of offspring. God assured him that his heir would indeed be his own son. Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Abram still wanted proof though. I find it interesting that Abram could ask for proof even after he believed. I wonder if he believed God's intentions but wanted God to guarantee His results. Whatever the case, God had Abram make a sacrifice. When evening came, God made a great and dreadful darkness cover Abram. God then appeared to Abram and told him about his descendants future hardships in Egypt. God promised that they would one day return and take the land! His reason was that the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet complete. It is interesting that God was going to keep the Israelites suffering because a people group had not finished their sin yet. The fire pot Abram saw represented the fate of the Israelites in Egypt. The torch represented God's light and guidance. As we have seen, Abram seems to have had trouble remembering God's promise to him. God has confirmed his promise 4 or 5 times at this point! But God never seems to tire of making the promise to Abram. His promise never changes, it only gets more detailed.

Questions: Why was Abram's belief credited as righteousness? What made his belief special? Did the Israelites remember the prophecy about their deliverance when they were in Egypt? Was Abram angry? Or was he just confused at the way God was going about keeping his promise?

Lessons: God does not act instantly. He acts in His own time. When He promises something, it will happen, it just might not happen as soon as we expect. Often times there is a big picture we don't see! For example, God was going to let the Israelites suffer so that they could serve as his intruments of justice on the Amorites. If they didn't suffer, the Amorites sin would not escalate to the point where God was going to punish them. It took 400 years of Amorite sin to get Israel out of Egypt.

The Earth is Yours

So this week I've been pondering the holiness of God. The word holy is not a word that most of us understand. That is because nothing that we experience on earth is holy! God is holy and compared to His holiness, we are nothing! Zero! Zilch! When we experience a taste of God's holiness we are undone. Throughout the Bible we see people who experience the holiness of God and are completely changed. Moses, Isaiah, Peter, Job, Habakkuk, John, etc. Every one of them is terrified and transformed. Jacob called the place he dreamt of the stairs between heaven and earth the house of God. He was totally changed by His experience. Why are we not changed when we worship God in church? Is it possible that we don't worship to communicate with a holy God? Is it possible that we have diminished God to something that created the world but is now only as powerful as we are? Do we assume that the Spirit in us is not the Spirit which raised Christ from the dead? I expect many of you would deny these accusations but if you really examine your life, you might discover that we have elevated ourselves compared to God in our minds. In reality, God's holiness is enough to destroy us if we were even to experience anything near it's totality.

In other news, this week was good! I was fairly busy at work and I am learning slowly but surely. I spent this weekend in Rolla celebrating London's birthday. She was incredibly busy and I had to learn a lot about being selfless in how I treat her. She did not have much time for me with school and ministry related events. But I was not there to get attention from her, I was there to serve her and help her focus and take some of the load off. Even though I did give her a couple gifts and we had a nice dinner, the gift which made me the happiest was when I was able to just sit and help her study and stay focused. It wasn't natural for me as I am naturally selfish and prideful, but it is something I am working on and I have to say it is very fulfilling to make a relationship completely about the other person! Until next week!

Abram Rescues Lot

Story: Abram Rescues Lot, Melchizadeck blesses abram

Passage: Genesis 14

Characters: Abram, Chederlaomer, The king of Sodom, Lot, Melchizadek

Summary: The king of Elam, Chederlaomer, was in cotrol of the land. Five kings rebelled and met the king of Elam in battle but they were defeated. Lot was captured. Abram heard that Lot was captured and took 318 men and set out to save Lot. Abram defeated the king of Elam and rescued Lot and his possessions. On the way back home, Melchizadek, a priest of God, blessed Abram and Abram gave 10% of the spoils to him.

Notes: This is the first recorded war in the Bible. Four kings went to battle against five. There is a ton of historical detail in this story. I really want to know how easy it would be to confirm some of this detail. Abram had 318 trained men born in his house. Apparently it was standard to always be ready to fight. I wonder if there were a lot of little skirmishes. Even with these men, Abram's 318 men would have probably been outnumbered by the armies of four kings! This devotion to family is impressive. The Lord blessed his efforts and gave him victory. This is confirmed by Melchizadek. Melchizadek is given very little background information, especially compared to the rest of the chapter. All we know is that he was the king of Salem. He was also a priest of God. God still had followers scattered around the Earth. Sometimes I feel like the only people who followed God in those times were those mentioned in the Bible. However, I suspect there were plenty of others who followed God, they just weren't part of God's redemptive plan for the world. Melchizadek blessed Abram and acknowleged that his victory came from God. Abram in turn gave him 10% of what he had. The king of Sodom approached Abram and asked for his people back. He was going to let Abram keep the possessions though, but Abram turned it down saying that he didn't want the king to think he contributed to Abram's blessings.

Questions: Who exactly was Melchizadek? Abram obviously respected him a lot. What was the king of Sodom doing during Abram's battle? Sodom was wicked and derserved punishment. Why did God continue to show them mercy through Abram? Was Abram outnumbered? And if so, by how much?

Lessons: The first lesson I get from this passage is that we need to learn devotion to family from this story. Abram risked his life to save his nephew. Also, any blessings or victory we get in life belong to God. Abram was not caught up in the possessions. He refused to let man think he had blessed Abram and he also willingly gave 10% to a priest of God. Everything we have is God's and comes from God!

Abram and Lot Separate

Story: Abram and Lot Separate

Passage: Genesis 13

Characters: Abram, Lot, God

Summary: Abram and Lot each had way too many possessions. The land could not support them both and their servants began to argue with each other. Abram decided they would seperate. He let Lot choose where to go first and then he would take what was left. Lot chose where to go and then God told abram He would give him all of the land he could see. And his descendants would be more numerous than the sand. Abram walked the land and then built an altar to God.

Notes: Abram and Lot followed God and He blessed them, but their material possessions were the cause of the strife which forced them to separate. Abram was selfless though in their separation as he allowed his nephew to choose where to live first. Lot chose to travel to the nicer looking land. The cities were wicked though. Lot chose based on appearance and not quality. I also find it interesting that the land was as well watered as Egypt. Apparently Egypt was a very lush country at this time! Once Lot had left, God showed up and affirmed His promise to Abram again! This was the third time He affirmed Abram in His promise! The first time God told Abram he would become a great nation. The second time He showed Abram where his land would be. This third promise told him just how large his land would be and how numerous his descendants would be. God told Abram to wander the land and look at it. It's almost as if God wanted to say, "I promised you I'd lead you to land! Look at this awesome piece of land that I have given to you!" Abram responded by building an altar to the Lord.

Questions: Why did Lot choose the land he chose? What kind of arguments developed between Lot and Abram's men? What was Abram's reaction to his land?

Lessons: God made His first promise to Abram quite a while before this event and His original promise was not very specific. We need to trust His call and follow Him before we know what the end result will be. It might take longer than we want, but God will keep His promises. The correct response to being spoken to by God is worship. As Abram built altars, we also need to worship God when He interacts with us.

Abram in Sarai in Egypt

Story: Abram and Sarai in Egypt

Passage: Genesis 12:10-20

Characters: Abram, Sarai, Pharaoh, God

Summary: Abram went to Egypt during a famine. He was worried they would find his wife beautiful and kill him to get her. His solution was to lie and tell Pharaoh she was his sister. He effectively gave his wife to Pharaoh. God sent plagues on Pharaoh and so he gave Sarai back and sent Abram and his people away.

Notes: Abram was a coward, plain and simple. He gave his wife to another man because he was afraid of being harmed. It is possible that he was concerned that if he died, God’s promise about his offspring would not come true, but even then his decision was based out of fear. When you think about it though, what standard did Abram have for marriage? Other than a direct revelation from God hich is not mentioned, Abram’s approach to marriage would have been based on the cultural norms. 2000 years into a broken world and the culture would have been extremely selfish. So Abram’s behavior is actually sort of understandable. I find it funny that the princes of Egypt praised Sarai’s beauty. Apparently men have always been obsessed with women and talked about which ones were the best looking. I could easily see this scene happening today so I enjoy reading about it happening back in Abram’s time. God blessed Abram through Pharaoh and then He punished Pharaoh even though he had no idea that Sarai was married. Was it unjust for God to punish Pharaoh who did not know he was taking someone’s wife? Was it unjust for God to reward Abram? No. Pharaoh deserved every plague that happened to him, as did Abram, as do we! God is allowed to do what He wants. As God told Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” He extends mercy to who He wants! Ironically, I suspect that if Pharaoh ever had thoughts of killing Abram, it was because Abram had deceived him. Pharaoh gave orders to kick Abram and his family out of Egypt along with all of their possessions. Apparently, he didn’t want his stuff back. One more interesting note is that when there was famine in the land, Egypt was the place to go to! Egypt must have been nothing like it is today!

Questions: How lush was Egypt? What did Sarai think of Abram’s plan? Was she on board? Why did God punish Pharaoh? What was Pharaoh’s reaction when He discovered the truth? Did Pharaoh believe in God as a result of this story?

Lessons: Lessons: God is not fair by human standards. But He is also not fair by His own standard! If He were, we would all be destroyed the instant we sinned! Also, this is an example of how not to treat your wife! No matter what Abram’s reasons were, I suspect that God was not consulted in Abram’s decision process. Abram acted out of fear. We have not been given a spirit of fear! Our decisions are to based in the power of the Spirit!

The call of Abram

Story: The call of Abram

Passage: Genesis 12:1-9

Characters: Abram, God, Lot, Sarai

Summary: God told Abram to leave his house and family and got to the land He would show him. He promised to turn Abram into a great nation. He took Lot and Sarai with him. When they had traveled for a while, God appeared to him and gave him the land he was on. He kept traveling.

Notes: Abram was told to leave everything he knew. This is crazy, but it is not just an ancient calling! This radical call on Abram's life is on every Christian alive today. Christ wants us to leave everything, our possessions, even our families to follow Him. When we obey, He will bless people through us just as He blessed people through Abram. We have the call of Abram on us today! I also noticed that Abram was not told where He was going. God did not say to leave his home and move to the land of the Canaanites. God told him to leave and go to the land which He would show him. We can't expect to wait for God to give us details before we follow Him. We have to trust His calling and focus on Him. Make Him our goal and He will lead us where He wants us to end up. I wonder why Lot went with Abram. It is possible that Lot had as much faith as Abram did as he also left his home to wander the earth. God appeared to Abram as they traveled and affirmed His promise. This is different from when God told Abram to leave his home because in this case, He appeared to Abram. Abram's experience was probably much more vivid and real. He would have no excuse to not follow now that the Lord had appeared to Him. We must remember that the Lord has revealed Himself to us as well through His word and His Spirit! We also have no excuse to not follow Him! Abram began calling on the name of the Lord. He understood his total inadequacy compared to God's holiness and he cried to the Lord for direction. Calling on the Lord makes me imagine there was a sense of desperation and helplessness involved here. Just a side note, Islam finds its roots in Ishmael, who is the son of Abram. Sometimes I wonder if these blessings and curses apply to Ishmael's descendants as well.

Questions: How did God appear to Abram? Is Islam a part of the blessings and curses involving Abram? Did Tarah come with them as they wandered?

Lessons: We are called to leave everything behind us to follow Christ. When we don't give everything, when we give the minimum amount of money, when we wait for the support of our family and friends, when we wait for more training or a more clear calling, we are saying that oney, family, friends, or convenience are more important than God. We are technically putting ourselves before God when we assume we deserve those comforts and God doesn't. Maybe we don't say that or even think it, but if you examine the motivation behind not obeying God's call to leave everything and follow Him, it is always because you are putting something before God. We do not need to know the details of His plans. We only need to trust Him and follow Him with our entire lives.

Shem's and Tarah's Descendants

Story: Shem's and Tarah's descendants

Passage: Genesis 11:10-32

Characters: Lots of people

Summary: Almost none. Terah takes his grandson and son and his wife and tries to travel to Canaan but they stop in the land of Haran.

Notes: The ages of people began to drastically drop. By Terah's death, the earth was 2081 years old. A lot can happen in 2000 years! Creation would have felt as ancient as Christ's time on earth to us! Tarah and his family settled in his dead son's land. Nahor appears to have married his brother's daughter. I believe Sarai, Milcah, and Iscah were the first women mentioned by name since Eve.

Questions: What caused the life expectancy to drop? Why did Tarah go to Canaan in the first place? Why did they give up and stop in Haran?

Lessons: Not too much.