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!
Showing posts with label Sarai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarai. Show all posts
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
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.
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.
Friday, February 3, 2012
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!
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!
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