Genesis 17:17-21

2007.May.15 02:43

Why not Ishmael?

Read Genesis 17:17-21 Full Chapter

Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?” And Abraham said unto God, “O that Ishmael might live before Thee!” And God said, “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.” (Genesis 17:17-21, KJ21)

God has changed Abram’s name to Abraham, Sarai’s to Sarah. They’ve received many blessings from Jehovah, but they long for one more, a child. This has been complicated about fourteen years prior by Sarai’s suggestion, and Abram’s acceptance, that he sleep with Hagar, who has had a son, Ishmael. When Jehovah ends this name changing with an explanation that Sarah will give birth, the newly named Abraham laughs. This is a guy that the author of Hebrews goes on about for his faith, and he’s laughing at God’s promise. Of course, as he points out, he is one hundred, his wife ninety. Not really child bearing age.

Jehovah does not turn his back on Abraham for this questioning, but affirms his promise, naming the as-yet-unconceived child Isaac, for whom he has a very specific and long-ranging plan. God has chosen to establish an everlasting covenant with Isaac and his descendants. What this covenant contains, Jehovah does not here elaborate, though we may assume that it includes God’s previous covenant with Abraham to give to his descendants the land of Canaan.

There is an additional thread to this discussion, beyond the promise of Isaac and the forthcoming covenant. The CEV translates Abraham as asking, “”Why not let Ishmael inherit what you have promised me” (Genesis 17:18, CEV)? Abraham’s logic here is pretty simple: he already has a son. Jehovah does not really answer the question, but he does respond to Abraham’s desires for his first-born. Ishmael, God promises, will be blessed. He will father twelve princes, and have many descendants. Indeed, the promises for Ishmael are not so different than those for Isaac.

But I must pause on one very important difference. It is with Isaac, not Ishmael, that Jehovah will establish his particular covenant. The burning question of why, then. Well, God does not explain here. In fact, I’m not sure it’s ever explained in the Bible. A few ideas come to mind, but I only want to ponder one just now: Isaac is the child of God’s promise (Genesis 15). Ishmael is the child of an attempt to rush God’s promise. Abram and Sarai tried to take over the process. Jehovah has not punished Ishmael for this, although he has had some rough times do to dissension between Sarai and Hagar. Neither does Jehovah switch his promises over to Ishmael, but instead stays his course, bringing Isaac to birth in his timing. Now, maybe that’s the reason and maybe it’s crazy talk. But sometimes when we ask “Why not”, it’s because we’re not seeing the promise.

Genesis 21:1-8

2007.Nov.13 01:04

The birth of Isaac

Read Genesis 21:1-8 Full Chapter

Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. (Genesis 21:1-3, NASB)

God fulfills a promise. Years after hope no longer makes sense, Sarah and Abraham have the child they’ve desired. And Yahweh takes another step in fulfilling his promise of creating from these two a great nation, because of their faith. Not only does God fulfill this promise, he does so just when he said he would. Isn’t he great?

I can’t help but consider, though, if the last chapter is in sync chronologically, whether Yahweh healed, as it were, Sarah’s barrenness (or Abraham’s infertility? Well, I suppose he was fertile once before, anyway…) at the same time as doing so for Abimelech’s wife and servants. I don’t know that there is any valuable point to be made about that, but it strikes me as neat.

Perhaps the reason this possibility strikes me is because of a mental constraint I tend to put on my understanding of Yahweh: I often think of God’s actions as being purely practical. He does such and such with the goal of bringing people to him, picking whichever option is best towards that end. Now, that may not be at all accurate anyway, but that is the way I tend to think about why he does things. So inclined, it strikes me particularly when he does something that seems to me primarily aesthetic. Did God create rainbows principally because they made a striking symbol of his promise, or did he create them because he thought they were beautiful, then used them as a symbol? Is that actually a sensible question? Probably not. But I need to remember that Jehovah does seem to like beautiful things, and to not try to restrict him to “the practical”.

Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. (Genesis 21:4-8, NASB)

So, what do the happy parents do in response to this. They largely forget about Hagar and Ishmael, apparently, but that’s for next entry. Aside from this unhappy point, Abraham and Sarah obey and celebrate. Abraham circumcises Isaac as God had previously commanded him, and they have a feast on Isaac’s, erm, weaning-day? And Sarah laughs.

I think that’s a good way to respond to Yahweh’s fulfilled promises: obedience and celebration.

Genesis 22:2

2007.Dec.18 03:32

Your Only Son

Read Genesis 22:2 Full Chapter

He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” (Genesis 22:2, NASB)

According to Wikipedia, some Islamic traditions hold that it was Ishmael, not Isaac, that God asked Abraham to sacrifice. I mention this because Yahweh specifically calls Abraham to sacrifice his “only son”. Assuming this chapter is chronologically placed (which seems likely, since the son named is Isaac), Abraham has two sons at this point. This could be a translation issue, but every translation I checked has the “only son” language.

There are a couple of important points about the only son business as illustrative of God’s plan. It is perhaps cliche, but quite relevant, to remember that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16, NASB), and that Yahweh, in addition to testing Abraham’s faith, may also have been giving the Israelites a reference story for better understanding Christ’s sacrifice later on. In that illustration, making a point of the only child (or, in these cases, son specifically) being sacrificed is relevant, even if not technically accurate.

Second, Yahweh’s intent was for Abraham to have only one son at this time. I suppose it may be that God permitted Abraham and Sarah to send away Hagar and Ishmael particularly to regain this intent. A more interesting possibility to me though is that Abraham had already–from Abraham’s point of view–had to sacrifice one son. Now, he has to sacrifice the second. So, maybe I should ponder the reflection of this story not only in the Messiah but also in humanity’s original murder. In that situation, Eve and Adam lost one of their two sons when Cain murdered Abel, and then lost Cain as well. “Sin pays off with death,” Paul reminds us (Romans 6:23, CEV). One aspect of death is separation. At this point, Ishmael was dead to Abraham as Cain was dead to Adam; they were separated indefinitely, and that separation directly followed sin.

Jumping to another point sans segue, God is aware of the sacrifice, in both the cases of Ishmael and Isaac. Sarah’s reaction to the anticipated sacrifice of Isaac–if she even knew–is not recorded, so I am focusing of Abraham’s reactions. When Sarah asked Abraham to send away Hagar and Ishmael, “The matter distressed [him] greatly” (Genesis 21:11, NASB). This should have been just as distressing, and Yahweh is aware of this reality. He knows that Isaac is now in many ways Abraham’s only child, and he acknowledges Abraham’s love of his son. God, in regards to both of Abraham’s sons is not unaware of what he is asking.

Genesis 22:3-10

2007.Dec.21 02:07

Obedience by Step

Read Genesis 22:3-10 Full Chapter

So Abraham got up early the next morning and chopped wood for the fire. He put a saddle on his donkey and left with Isaac and two servants for the place where God had told him to go.

Three days later Abraham looked off in the distance and saw the place. He told his servants, “Stay here with the donkey, while my son and I go over there to worship. We will come back.” Abraham put the wood on Isaac’s shoulder, but he carried the hot coals and the knife. As the two of them walked along, Isaac said, “Father, we have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?”

”My son,” Abraham answered, “God will provide the lamb.”

The two of them walked on, and when they reached the place that God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and placed the wood on it. Next, he tied up his son and put him on the wood. He then took the knife and got ready to kill his son. (Genesis 22:3-10, CEV)

“Faith without works,” James reminds us, “is dead” (James 2:26, NASB). I’m not in the mood to focus on Abraham’s faith. Of course he had faith. He’d already sent off a son and a (former?) lover on the basis of God promising to take care of them. So, now he’s going to sacrifice one. Yay, he has faith. Okay, so what? I’m not sure it’s of any value to read this passage and just say, “Abraham had faith”.

After reading Mark 4 a few days ago, I had these thoughts:

Consistently have faith and be obedient. The farmer didn’t understand how the seed grew, but he had faith that it would and therefore did the work required of him, preparing, planting, fertilizing and harvesting. It requires consistency. Those who let their reception of God’s word be choked by cares of the world, those who spring up quickly with no root, could have never lasted to the harvest; in the former case, they probably wouldn’t have even obeyed to the planting. Faith and obedience are inseparable in the kingdom of heaven. In many ways, they are two sides of the same. But with such faith, the return can be incredible.

Here, Abraham has faith, but it is his obedience which makes that faith matter. He could have had faith that Yahweh could raise or rescue Isaac and not actually acted at all toward that end. Instead, he had faith, and then through that faith, acted in obedience. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son” (Hebrews 1:17, NASB).

This thought reminds me of an article by Joel Spolsky entitled “Fire and Motion”. The article talks about applying the fire and motion military strategy to software development. In his conclusion, Spolsky states simply, “you have to move forward every day”. I think that’s an important part of pursuing righteousness, of becoming more obedient. You simply aren’t going to get saved and be super-obedient person. Actually, you’re not going to be there 50 years later. And that can get discouraging. I don’t know Abraham’s frame of mind, but if I were in his shoes, I would not be thinking about being atop the mountain; I’d focus on getting there. Abraham starts by obeying, he starts by moving. Ultimately, Abraham has obeyed enough that he finds himself at the point of actually sacrificing his son. Fortunately, as it will turn out, Yahweh has no intention of Abraham carrying through with the act.

Often Yahweh asks people to do things we never think we could do. But if we’ll obey him in the first step, then the second, then the third…

Genesis 24:1-4

2008.Feb.02 20:43

Read Genesis 24:1-4 | Full Chapter

Well, we’ve spent a while now looking at the lives of Abraham and Sarah. Finally, somebody else is going to get married! Yay. Chapter 24 of Genesis is about Isaac marrying Rebekah. Isaac, of course, is not a central figure in this story. And even Rebekah is not the principal actor. It is instead the oldest of Abraham’s household servant, to whom Abe has assigned the task of finding a wife for Isaac.

Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in every way. Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, "Please place your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
(Genesis 24:1-4, NASB)

The job is finding a spouse for the heir of Yahweh’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. Abraham assigns this job to the eldest of his household servants, which indicates to me that this is very important to Abraham. As I reckon it should be. Of course, as the eldest servant, we might assume he’s, well, old, so it is also a testament to his devotion to Abraham (whether out of love, fear, or something else), that he agrees to this adventure.

Now, we come to the point that it is extremely important to Abraham that Isaac does not marry a native of Canaan. This does have a nice logical ring to it: it would be difficult for Isaac’s descendants to dispossess the Canaanites of Palestine if they are, in fact, all Canaanites. Throughout the next four books of the Bible, too, are warnings against inter-marrying with the then-inhabitants of Palestine, due to the probability that the Israelites would adopt the prominent religions of the land, forsaking Yahweh. For example:

People of Israel, the LORD your God will help you take the land of the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. These seven nations have more people and are stronger than Israel, but when you attack them, the LORD will force them out of the land. Then you must destroy them without mercy. Don't make any peace treaties with them, and don't let your sons and daughters marry any of them. If you do, those people will lead your descendants to worship other gods and to turn their backs on the LORD. That will make him very angry, and he will quickly destroy Israel.
(Deuteronomy 7:1-4, CEV)

I don’t know if this is particularly Abraham’s concern. Indeed (and I may just be missing something obvious), it’s not clear to me why this is so important to Abraham. The results represented in the rest of this chapter certainly suggest that Yahweh supports and agrees with this decision. Then, it’s not necessary to know the precise reason for each action of the patriarchs and matriarchs of Judeo-Christian tradition. Trying to do so is one of those things that I, at least, can get caught up in at the expense of really seeking God himself.