Genesis 7:1-16

2006.Sep.18 21:28

Statistics and Obedience

Read Genesis 7

Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.” (Genesis 7:1, NASB)

So, now the ark is completed, and God gives the go ahead for Noah, his family, seven pairs (I think) of clean animals and birds, and a pair each of unclean animals, (Assumedly, he made the clean/unclean distinction to Noah at some prior point.) “For”, states Jehovah, “after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.” (Genesis 7:4, NASB). So, Noah does as commanded, and his family and this array of animals load onto the boat, and, on the seventh day after God tells them it’s going to start raining in seven days, it starts raining.

So, yeah, that pretty much covers this section. What it is replete with is numbers, especially seven, and including to the day of Noah’s life on which this occurred; and the refrain that Noah did as God had commanded him. What strikes me about the numbers is that Noah obeyed to very specifics. It appears he actually bothered to get seven pairs of each clean animal, etc., and to be in the boat and ready on the seventh day. This was not a, ‘Yeah, I’ll get to it’ obedience, but a ‘Yes, God, I’m listening and now I’m doing and not delaying or modifying’ obedience and the guy is six hundred years old, which is not a spring chicken even by pre-flood Genesis standards.

When I put that level of concentrated obedience together with God’s comment that Noah alone has he “seen to be righteous…in this time”, I remember that while relationship is very important to God, the quality of that relationship is determined largely by my obedience to His laws and his specific will for me. And I have a couple of advantages over Noah. I have immediate access to the readable Word of God in the Bible, and I have freedom in Christ. How much more then ought I, if I really desire to be a friend of God, be obedient to Him.

Genesis 15:7-12

2007.Mar.25 04:21

That’s a Promise? Part 1

Read Genesis 15:7-12 Full Chapter

[Jehovah] also said to [Abram] “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” (Genesis 15:7-9, HCSB)

Quoting a new version for me this week, the Holman Christian Standard Bible (Wikipedia). One of many things I’m enjoying about my “FromGenesis” Bible study is that it pushes me to check out more translations, both out of curiosity and the need for clarity. Likewise, I spend a lot of time on Wikipedia looking up more information on…well, all sorts of things. Although it occurs to me, I’ve never perused the entry for Abraham. Maybe next week.

Speaking of next week, it will be a direct continuation of this article, more so than the normal entry. In other words, I’m going to make my comments on the first half of this passage, Genesis 7-20, then stop, because I think this entry will turn into a rambling mess unless I break it up.

Anyway, Jehovah reasserts his promise to Abram that he will possess Canaan. I wonder, but am not at all sure, whether this is in the same conversation as v. 1-6. In either event, Abram asks God for some evidence. Now that he’s decided to have faith about having a child, Abram may be wanting a faith boost. He’s had a lot of success in his life, and Jehovah has abundantly blessed him, but I can’t blame Abram for starting to think maybe this is all a little far-fetched; maybe his mind is going a bit and he’s making up these conversations with God in order to feel good about himself. I feel that way from time to time, and I can imagine that exaggerating with age.

Jehovah responds, “Bring me meat!” Roughly. I’m not knowledgeable on animal-sacrifice symbolism, so, we’ll just go with God’s response is for Abram to bring him some animals, and move on. (No doubt, an OT scholar could make a full entry on that verse alone, and it would probably be pretty cool.) Okay, so Abram gets the animals.

So [Abram] brought all these to [Jehovah], split them down the middle, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the birds. Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and suddenly a terror and great darkness descended on him. (Genesis 15:7-12, HCSB)

Abram does as Jehovah directs. This is an important point. If I ask God to give me a sign of a promise, and he tells me to do something, I should do it. He’s pretty willing to reassure us with what one might call fancy tricks, burning up stuff, sticks into snakes, etc. Now, I don’t mean “fancy tricks” to minimize the amazing things God does in the situations, but rather to say, he’s willing to do things that have no purpose other than proving to some human that either 1) he really is going to do what he says; or 2) it’s really him speaking. I could understand him becoming sick of this. But, “we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15, NASB), and a God who is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth” (Exodus 34:6, NASB). But, he’s also a just and righteous God who expects our obedience in turn, as Abram does obey.

Abram shoes away some birds and eventually falls asleep. And then, something happens. In the HCSB, “a terror and great darkness descended on him”, the NASB “and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him” (Genesis 15:12). That’s a powerful description to me, and I’m not really sure how it fits. Terror does not generally follow obedience, so I wonder if there’s something else here, or if Abram was just not really prepared to meet with God this close.

Genesis 16:6-16

2007.Apr.20 02:53

Hagar’s Child

Read Genesis 16:6-16 Full Chapter

Abram said, “All right! She’s your slave, and you can do whatever you want with her.” But Sarai began treating Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away. Hagar stopped to rest at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur. While she was there, the angel of the LORD came to her and asked, “Hagar, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She answered, “I’m running away from Sarai, my owner.” (Genesis 16:6-8, CEV)

As I said last entry, I have a lot more sympathy for Hagar than Sarai or Abram in this situation. However, Hagar’s pride comes back to her. We are, after all, responsible for our own sin, regardless of the mitigating circumstances. That Jehovah gives us grace is a gift rather than a right. Abram, who–I assume–had been keeping Sarai from treating Hagar badly, gives in to the pressure from his wife. Sarai and/or Abram could have reprimanded Hagar for her attitude in an appropriate way. Instead, Sarai treats her so harshly that Hagar runs away. Error compounds error, sin compounds sin. Sarai’s desire for a child turned into a lust, which caused her to abandon faith, which led to jealousy, to hatred, to cruelty. Which is to say nothing of Abram’s sins and follies here.

God’s having nothing of this mess though. He has an angel visit Hagar as she’s running away. Hagar makes a first move in getting this whole deal sorted out. When the angel asks her what she’s doing, she responds honestly. God makes himself known through his messenger, and Hagar does not run from him or start throwing out excuses. And suddenly, things start to change. Now, this soap opera is not going to suddenly go happy for everyone, and there’s much more to play out in it, but responding honestly to Jehovah changes the situation from an ever-sliding disaster to one in which appropriate steps can be taken. Now that someone’s listening to God, it turns out he has things to say.

The angel said, “Go back to Sarai and be her slave. I will give you a son, who will be called Ishmael, because I have heard your cry for help. And later I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all. But your son will live far from his relatives; he will be like a wild donkey, fighting everyone, and everyone fighting him.” Hagar thought, “Have I really seen God and lived to tell about it?” So from then on she called him, “The God Who Sees Me.” That’s why people call the well between Kadesh and Bered, “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.” Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to their son, and he named him Ishmael. (Genesis 16:6-8, CEV)

Jehovah instructs Hagar to submit to Sarai. This now becomes a choice on Hagar’s part; she has run away, and does not have to go back, but she can honor God by doing so. That is to pointedly say, this is not a affirmation of human slavery, but rather a reminder that God may call us to submit to inhumane conditions because of a greater purpose. Jehovah does not leave Hagar to imagine what her carrot might be here. The angel tells her one of the blessings Jehovah has in store. Hagar’s child will be born, and while his life will have plenty of difficulties, Hagar’s descendants, like Sarai’s, will be numerous.

Hagar’s response to all this really encourages me. She doesn’t even get caught up in the descendants bit, as Abram sometimes seems to do. She is pleased to know that God has heard her and responded to her. She calls him “The God Who Sees Me”, from then on. She rejoices in the presence of God, makes a personal connection with him, and obeys him. And a situation that had multiple people competing for the dumb—- in the Bible award turns around by the power of God and the willingness of one person. Everything perfect? No, but things are looking up, as Hagar returns, gives birth and has Abram name his first-born Ishmael, in obedience to Jehovah’s instruction to Hagar.

Genesis 17:22-27

2007.May.21 02:49

A Family Obeys

Read Genesis 17:22-27 Full Chapter

God finished speaking to Abraham and then left. On that same day Abraham obeyed God by circumcising Ishmael. Abraham was also circumcised, and so were all other men and boys in his household, including his servants and slaves. He was ninety-nine years old at the time, and his son Ishmael was thirteen. ” (Genesis 17:22-27, CEV)

Here, Abraham does the kind of thing that helps explain why Jehovah has so blessed him and made a covenant with him and his descendants: he obeys. He has a bit of a crazy thing to obey, too. He must be circumcised and so must all the males of his household. And he does it, because Jehovah told him too. And all the males in his household go along. I don’t know, but I like to think it is because Abraham has led them effectively and kindly and so they trust him when he tells them what God has commanded. Then again, maybe he didn’t give them much choice. But in either event, they too obey.

Part of me just wants to leave this entry there. The value of obedience to God. Because it’s often a hard thing to get through our stubborn minds. Even more, immediate obedience. Even more, immediate obedience that you know is going to cause yourself and people you care for physical pain.

But I also want to consider something this is not. This is not Abraham creating a little cult to worship him and having half the cult members engage in self-mutilation to show their loyalty. Although it kind of reads that way. I’d say the first thing that demonstrates that Abraham is doing this for God rather than himself is that he is obedient to God’s command on his own body. More importantly, Abraham does not add anything to Jehovah’s command. This is a sign of the covenant between Jehovah and Abraham and his family. Abraham could have abused the opportunity by requiring additional obedience of his household to him–Abraham–but he doesn’t. Just as obedience should not take away from the command, neither should it add to the command. That doesn’t mean Jehovah has to be explicit on all points, but rather that we should not–even through our “reason”–add to ourselves or others additional commandments which God never gives.

It is also nice to note that Abraham is not using circumcision to create/embellish class distinctions. His family, his slaves, his servants, all his household, is part of this covenant (in my opinion, women included–earlier thoughts on that). And Abraham avoids such pitfalls because his focus–judging from his actions–is on obedience to Jehovah.

Genesis 21:9-10

2007.Nov.15 04:11

(Too Much) Takin’ Care of Business

Read Genesis 21:9-10 Full Chapter

But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” (Genesis 21:9-10, ESV)

Sarah is in a class with David. For the most part, seems pretty righteous, pretty holy. But with respect to one situation, a punk. I mean, Sarah refrains from actually murdering anyone, but the kind of treating people terribly because of emotions is consistent with these two, and, well, a good half or more of everyone who’s ever tried to be righteous.

For Sarah, Ishmael is a reminder of a foolish and probably sinful decision she made. Tangent: I’ve probably said this before, I’ll say it again: every last one of us humans, including Jesus Christ–can chase the line to our birth back to a sin. Every one of us. If 1) that bothers you, or 2) that makes you think you can judge others whose “ancestral sin” is more identifiable, you need to read the Bible. And, in the second case, be beaten with Texas lawyer’s truck. Ishmael is not punished for Sarah’s decision, except in this case by Sarah herself and his father. And although Yahweh doesn’t give Ishmael the full Isaac blessing, Yahweh does indeed bless Ishmael, quite a bit more than the average nomad of those days.

Anyway, returning from that foray, Ishmael and Hagar’s presence reminds Sarah that her faith in God lapsed and she tried to take matters into her own hands. Well, that’s my guess, actually. I really don’t have any Biblical reason to back that up. Sarah also is jealous of Ishmael’s place as first-born instead of her son, Isaac.

David could have fessed up to Uriah. Sarah could have tried to make this family work. I say could have in the sense of “I can’t imagine how”. Because the sin that results in Sarah turning against her slave and the child she (Sarah) had desired, the sin that resulted in Uriah being murdered, occurred way before. Before even Hagar or Bathsheba came into the pictures. Yeah, at any point either Sarah or David could have changed things, but doing so becomes exponentially more difficult with each step.

And so Sarah finds herself telling Abraham to send away the woman who has been so faithful to her (by any accounts I’ve read) and the child she had so wanted.

It’s not about obsessing over what possible butterfly effects your each action could have. It’s about being obedient to Jehovah, about making decisions about the lines in your life and trying hard not to cross them and every time you realize you have, flying back across. Easy to say. Incredibly difficult to practice. I love about God’s grace that he allows me to keep trying to obey him better.