Genesis 17:1-8

2007.Apr.21 01:45

A New Name

Read Genesis 17:1-8 Full Chapter

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.”

Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.” (Genesis 17:1-6, NASB)

It can be frustrating to hear Jehovah promise and promise and promise and promise…and where’s the beef? Here is a reiteration of a promise God has given to Abram before (Here, here and here, for example). Twenty-four years after setting out to Canaan, God is once again promising Abram that he will have many, and successful, descendants. This passage doesn’t tell me what Abram was thinking, but if he was thinking “Yeah, right”, I can sympathize. But that’s not faith. “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” ((2 Corinthians 1:20, NIV). We can have utter confidence in Jehovah’s promises, and sometimes we must remind ourselves that those promises will be fulfilled not in our timing nor according to our planning, but according to God’s plan.

Abram’s faith has not been perfect, but he has had faith despite his sins. He has gotten up after each fall, “for the righteous falls seven times and rises again” (Proverbs 24:16a, ESV). Now, Jehovah adds to the promise. First, he makes explicit that he is establishing a covenant with Abram. And in doing so, God gives Abram a new name: Abraham. Our birth name can seem like one of the few permanent, established things in life. That’s probably often a good thing, but it can lead us to forget how completely God can work changes in us. When you are tempted to say “I can’t change, that’s just the way I am”, remember that God can change your name, can change your “stuff”. He can change your DNA, and I am not saying that metaphorically. When Jehovah changes Abram’s name to Abraham, it’s a statement that this man is no longer the mostly faith-filled, but still doubting, still trying to make it happen on his own, not there yet guy we’ve so far met. He is no longer a man who’s been promised something, but he is named the promise, and he is in it. Saying God is creator of the Universe is a nice way to talk about his power, but it may not mean much in everyday life. But see this power, to change the destiny of a person, of a “me”.

As if that were not enough, Jehovah continues, now extending the covenant to Abraham’s descendants:

”I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:7-8, NASB)

God is God of the present–which is something I sometimes find myself forgetting–but he is also God of the future. When he does us a good turn on this earth, he often does it not just for now, but for our, well, legacy, since I can’t think of a better word. Jehovah makes promises that are forever. And–and this is the huge thing to me–he means it. Wow. What an awesome God he is.

Genesis 17:15-16

2007.May.11 03:11

The Curse of Pain in Labor

Read Genesis 17:15-16 Full Chapter

And God saith unto Abraham, ‘Sarai thy wife – thou dost not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [is] her name; and I have blessed her, and have also given to thee a son from her; and I have blessed her, and she hath become nations – kings of peoples are from her.’ (Genesis 17:15-16, YLT)

About a year ago now, I looked at the curse of pain in labor, part of the post-lapsum curse placed on Eve, and apparently, women in general. Sarai’s life has included another twist. She has had no children and seems to desire some. After all, she proposed that her husband sleep with her slave, for that purpose. She is removed from the curse of pain in labor, but only because she is removed from a blessing she desires, due to no apparent fault of her own.

God wants to free us from the curses of sin, but not through removing us from blessings. He has another plan for Sarai, and so he changes her name from a name of non-blessing and possibly cursing (she’s had a rough few years here), to a name of blessing. But look at how God says this (both above, and here, in the CEV): “I will bless her, and you will have a son by her”. Jehovah doesn’t just say that Sarah will have a child, but first that God will bless her.

Jehovah flip-flops the curse. Sarai may have seen herself as double curse, but now God gives her a new name with a double blessing, a general blessing throughout her life and a specific blessing of the child for which she has longed. That her descendants will be numerous and powerful is another layer to the cake. And this is not Abraham’s descendants that happen to also be Sarah’s, but God states that Sarah herself has “become nations – kings of people are from her.”

Now, I don’t know if Sarah had particular pain in childbirth. But I do know that God can take a overflowing of curses and change from them to an abundance of blessings.

Genesis 19:30-38

2007.Sep.11 02:43

Lot’s Legacy

Read Genesis 19:30-38 Full Chapter

Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose.(Genesis 19:30-33, ESV)

Maybe I should create a subsection of this site called “Biblical Patriarchs Getting Drunk and Doing Stupid.” Lot’s lot (ha ha) in life has dropped rapidly. From being very wealthy and successful, he is reduced to living in a cave, fearful, without any male heirs. Actually, I think the last point is irrelevant, except that it happens to be a central point to this last look at Lot’s biography. Perhaps Lot is a righteous man, or at least desires to be, but he’s also a foolish man. He may have faith, but it is weak. He had asked to go to Zoar, but is now afraid to live there. Is he afraid that he might be turned to salt as his wife? Afraid that the people of Zoar might be no different than those of Sodom? Afraid that he would be resented as the foreigner who escaped? What? I want to shout at him, “Go find Abraham and Sarah!”

No. Lot chooses a cave. He chooses also, for his daughters, a life alone. His daughters, following a twisted logic – that they could have a) learned from their father, b) learned from the people of Sodom, c) developed all on their own – conclude that the best solution to ensuring the continuance of their family name (here, I am wondering, “Why bother?”) is:

a) Get their dad drunk and sleep with him b) Beat their father senseless and try to lead normal-ish lives c) Convince their father they should go find their relatives.

Go guessed it, they chose A!

The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day. (Genesis 19:30-38, ESV)

I find myself thinking about the upbringing of these two women, that this plan seems good. Yes, it works, technically. Both women become pregnant and Lot’s name is carried on.

To me, the legacy these three leave is one of righteousness spoiled. It’s seems all were taught some amount of obedience to Jehovah. I’m speculating in the case of the daughters, but at least Lot had seen his aunt and uncle walk in righteousness. For what righteousness and faith they had, and the faith of Abraham, they were saved from destruction of a town that was ugly to them, but in which Lot chose anyway to live. It’s not an awful legacy, but its so full of “What could have beens?”

Like Abraham and Sarah, Lot and his daughters sought another way than God’s to have descendants (No, I do not care that Lot was drunk; even if his daughters had used some BC date-rape drug on him, he long since acquired culpability in this mess. As it stands, he appears to be quite okay with getting completely drunk two nights in a row). Unlike Abraham and Sarah, this story ends there. Maybe it’s just because God didn’t give Lot the same extra chance he gave to Lot’s relatives. But, I think, Lot had already decided how far his faith was willing to go.

Or, maybe God didn’t think Lot really cared about having descendants. After all, Lot had offered these same daughters to be raped, and probably killed. As a dad, Lot pretty much sucked. For Lot’s daughters who wanted children–for whatever reason–Jehovah did give them children, and he blessed those children. Which leaves me thinking of God’s grace.