Genesis 13:14-18

2007.Feb.11 21:02

Abram gets a cookie

Read Genesis 13

The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” (Genesis 13:14-17, NIV)

In Chapter 12, Jehovah promised to make Abram a great nation (Genesis 12:2), and at Shechem, he tells Abram, “I will give this land to your posterity” (Genesis 12:7, AMP). There’s references to Canaan, but here is the first time I know of that Jehovah really defines for Abram what exactly the given land will be. Not that we as the readers really gain an understanding from this description, but assumedly Abram now has a clear idea. So a few points I’d like to consider:

1. This happens after the departure of Lot. This land is not to be inherited by Lot’s descendants, but by Abram’s, and God seems to be pretty specific about that.
2. God is giving the land to Abram. He does not tell Abram to conquer it, or to, well, do anything really. It’s a gift.
3. The land of Canaan is given to Abram’s descendants permanently. That’s a big thing to me, in that God is not placing conditions on this gift. He does place conditions later on the prosperity of the Israelites, and occasionally removes them from the land, but I don’t think God has ever revoked the Israelites possession of the land. He does, though, make it very clear that this is no excuse for mistreating foreigners (with the exceptions of those that God tells Israel to kill. But I am getting off topic here).
4. Jehovah promises Abram a lot of descendants. About which I have nothing interesting to say at the moment.

Then Jehovah tells Abram to walk through the land, in essence to physically (if symbolically for now) take possession of it. Abram could have rejected the gift. In this way, again in my interpretation, Abram takes possession of the promise. I’ll sort of tangent here and mention that if you have trouble believing God’s promises for you (and there are many throughout the Bible), finding a physical act that lets you show yourself taking possession of the promise can encourage you greatly. So, what does Abram do?

So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD. (Genesis 13:18, NIV)

He starts walking! Yay! And he settles for now, at Hebron. There he builds an altar to Jehovah. So, Abram listens to God, receives the promise of God, and worships God. That’s cool. That’s a process I need to work on much more; Jehovah does his part.

Genesis 9:8-17

2006.Nov.13 10:04

Reiterating the Promise.

Read Genesis 9

In Genesis 8:21, Jehovah says, “I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done” (NASB). In the next chapter, he reinforces that promise, although this specific promise is qualified to floods:

I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. (Genesis 9:11-13)

Last entry, I mentioned that the promise of not destroying humanity and the earth again is one of the things that seems to me to distinguish humanity before and after the flood, that we now have God’s word that he’s not going to wipe us out as a species. To me, that means a policy of discipline and pruning rather than xenocide. To have, as a species, that promise, is reassuring but also somewhat daunting. It means, again to my interpretation, greater pain whilst in this earthly life, but the ultimate benefits cannot be overstated…so, I won’t try to state them at all at this point.

Now God does one more new really neat thing, he makes a sign of a covenant between him and humanity. This time, it is the rainbow, which reminds us both that we as a species brought him nearly to the point of destroying us, but more importantly, that he has promised not to do so again (actually, the covenant is between Jehovah and all animals). “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it,” says God, “to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth” (Genesis 9:16, NASB).

So, how about I suggest something corny. Next time you see a rainbow, remember that it is a sign of God’s covenant with us that he’s not going to wipe us out by a flood, no matter how bad we get. And thank 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 15:13-20

2007.Mar.31 19:09

That’s a Promise? Part 2

Read Genesis 15:13-20 Full Chapter

Quick review from last week. Abram has asked God for a bit of evidence that his descendants will possess Canaan. God has Abram bring some animals (assumedly as sacrifices), which he does. Then Abram falls asleep and “a terror and great darkness descended on him” (Genesis 15:12, HCSB). So now Jehovah’s going to talk:

God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” (Genesis 15:13-16, NASB)

This may be one of the strangest promises in the Bible. In short, Abram’s descendants will live in Canaan, but only after being oppressed slaves for four centuries (and/or generations). As a consolation prize, Jehovah will judge said nation (Egypt, as we will later discover) and Abram’s family will leave, and leave rich. After that, they will take possession. In Abram’s shoes, I would have an “um…what?” response. Jehovah does provide an explanation: “the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” A footnote from the CEV notes that “Amorite”, here, may be a generic reference for all the inhabitants of Canaan.

There’s a genocidal feel related to the Israel’s possession of Canaan. This is one of the things in the Bible that I struggle with, trying to understand what all went on with the occupation of Canaan, and how I feel about it all morally. One of my goals as I make my way from Genesis to Joshua and later books is to examine what exactly Jehovah did/told the Israelites to do and why, and particularly this question of genocide. I’m not going to dwell on it here, but I want to introduce the thought if for no other reason than to say I’m not going to ignore it.

In this passage, Jehovah makes a point of delaying the possession. One interpretation: the people of Canaan have not yet totally rejected him; knowing that they will, God is preparing a people to take their land and purify it; or, take the land and further defile it, thus proving beyond doubt humanity’s need for a savior. Which is all a little crazy to get through the head. And may be an invalid interpretation to boot, although it makes the most sense to me at this point.

It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.” (Genesis 15:17-20, NASB)

So, after that promise, complicated as it is, Jehovah burns up the offering, giving the sign that Abram had requested, and reiterating his promise. So, Abram got his sign and assurance, but it’s not all as peachy and smooth as he might have hoped for. Which is often true of God’s promises. They are true, but we can sometimes forget that there’s more than one path to the promise, and the one God designs for us may not be the one we want–or the one that we actually go on.

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.