Genesis 14:1-16

2007.Feb.25 19:21

War

Read Genesis 14

And now for the first war in the Bible (I think–I at least can’t think of a previous one). I don’t understand what’s going on very well, and the abundance of names of uncertain pronounciation is not encouraging. Nevertheless, here’s my best shot of a summary:

King Chedorlaomer and his three allies have ruled over five kingdoms, including Sodom and Gomorrah, for twelve years. In year thirteenth year, the five subservient kings rebel in some shape or form. A year later, Chedorlaomer and his allies launch what appears to be a widespread campaign against everybody except the aforementioned rebellious kingdoms (assuming that this passage is in chronological order). Now, beginning verse 8, the Sodom/Gomorrah alliance battles Chedorlaomer. The battles ends in disorganized retreat, at least by the armies of Sodom and Gomorrah (not sure about the others), and Chedorlaomer’s armies pillage those two cities, capturing, among other things, our dear beloved Lot.

At this time Abram the Hebrew was living near the oaks that belonged to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram’s friends. Someone who had escaped from the battle told Abram that his nephew Lot had been taken away. Three hundred eighteen of Abram’s servants were fighting men, so he took them and followed the enemy as far north as the city of Dan (Genesis 14:13-14, CEV).

Alright, so Abram’s nephew is captured, emphasising that Lot’s choice of location may have lacked wisdom. When Abram hears the news, he is quick to pursue Chedder-king’s army (I’m sick of pasting that guy’s name). Verses 15 and 16 show Abram and his 318 troops defeating “the enemy”, and rescuing Lot’s family and possessions. Phew.

Abram once again shows himself wise (unlike, in my opinion, in the “Case of the Pharoah and Sister/Wife”), as he did when he recommended to Lot that they split up. The wisdom I am speaking of is that he either recruited or trained servants to be ready to fight in battle. There’s certainly no evidence of Lot being so prepared. Now, I’m not advocating personal armies, but in Abram’s situation, this makes sense. After all, he appears to basically be the king of a nomadic tribe. Lot, in a similar position, does not seem to have taken precaution. Then again, this is a lot of reading between the lines, and may very well be inaccurate.

Abram also appears (again, reading between lines) to be operating in faith. There is no recording of hesitation on Abram’s part. Lot is family, and Abram pursues his captors. This could be pure machoism or the mesopotamian equivalent, but I’d like to think that by this point, Abram, recipient of Jehovah’s continual blessings, is trusting God for victory.

That’s a lot of interpretation, and I’m not altogether certain on the sequence of events, but at least it’s a bit clearer to me, now. Oh, one more thing, Lot has put himself under the authority of those (the king of Sodom, et al) who are, well, failing. The king of Sodom is under the rule of another kingdom, rebels, and gets flattened. Lot might have taken a different tact, continuing to seek his uncle’s wisdom and assistance, rather than placing himself under King Bera of Sodom.

Genesis 14:21-24

2007.Mar.15 03:00

Spoils of War

Read Genesis 14

The king of Sodom said to Abram, “All I want are my people. You can keep everything else.” Abram answered: The LORD God Most High made the heavens and the earth. And I have promised him that I won’t keep anything of yours, not even a sandal strap or a piece of thread. Then you can never say that you are the one who made me rich. (Genesis 14:21-23, CEV)

It is now the king of Sodom’s chance to talk to Abram. This situation adds some complexities not apparent in the interaction between Abram and Melchizedek. Recall that Abram fought Chedorlaomer, et al, to rescue his relatives, Lot and his family (v. 14) after king Bera and his allies had fought against and lost to Chedorlaomer’s alliance. That is to say, this should not have been Abram’s war, and he had no reason to fight in it, except to rescue his relatives. Sodom and Gommarah benefitted from the attack by Abram’s small force, but they had no right to claim the spoils. Indeed, I would guess that Abram probably had rights to claim those cities under his own authority and to keep all the spoils. So when the king of Sodom offers less than that, to give Abram the spoils, but not the rule of the city, he in fact may be insulting Abram.

Abram refuses this offer, but for reasons not having to do with the extent of his “entitlement”. His issue is that others might give Bera, instead of Jehovah, credit for Abram’s success. That Abram is willing to refuse on these grounds means that he is either proud and uses Jehovah as an excuse (a possiblity which seems discredited by his interaction with Melchizedek) or that he has faith that God will continue to bless him abundantly (or any of thousands of other options, but admitting those makes my argument less convincing, unless I actually take the time to examine several more of those options, which sounds like a lot of work, so I’m going to artificially limit the axioms here–and elsewhere.). Although Abram deserved the spoils, at least according to custom, he valued more his promises to God and let his faith, rather than immediate worldly concerns, determine his answer.

Let my share be the food that my men have eaten. But Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre went with me, so give them their share of what we brought back. (Genesis 14:24, CEV)

Abram continues with a few qualifications. His men have eaten, probably of the spoils, and Abram notes that this can be his share. After all, they who fought deserve at least to be fed by the king whose kingdom they rescued (fat lot of good it will do king Bera). In addition, Abram notes that Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre who fought alongside him, should receive their portion. This appears to me a righteous and appropriate decision, although it may seem hypocritical in a quick reading. Abram’s decision does not imply that the taking of spoils in itself would have been wrong, but rather that it would have misappropriated the glory for Abram’s success from Jehovah to the king of Sodom. To deny those who fought beside him their portion would have dishonored them.

And, thus, I find myself coming back to the issue of balance. One can get obsessed with receiving or giving, with having no appearances of hypocrisy or with being more concerned with “doing right by others” as to forget God’s laws. God’s law and Word is not too complicated to be useful, but it is more than two or three rules that can be applied obsessively. That we Christians often obsess over two or three things at the expense of others is a good example of why we need God’s full Word that does address the complexities of human society, as well as our counselor, the Holy Spirit, to direct us to what we most need of God’s Word and to clarify it. And, that, my friends, is a last-paragraph tangent.

Genesis 18:20-33

2007.Jun.16 20:21

How Many Righteous

Read Genesis 18:20-33 Full Chapter

And the LORD said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” (Genesis 18:20-22, NASB)

So Jehovah explains his intentions to Abraham. There’s been a lot of sinning going on in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, enough to produce a great outcry to Jehovah, whatever that means. Insofar as I do believe in God’s omniscience, I don’t suppose this next part is quite necessary, but God is going to go there (at least to Sodom, anyway) and see if the outcry is accurate. At some point in this, Jehovah possibly communicates to Abraham that he will destroy these cities if their sin is indeed so great. That, or Abraham assumes this, which is a pretty interesting point to ponder. This passage does not make that intent explicit.

I really like the idea that God investigates personally (or has his messengers investigate personally; I really ought to learn Hebrew so I have a better chance of figuring out these details). He’s not going to wipe out this city based on what other humans say about it, or even what he just knows. He actually sends a research party physically there, possibly including himself. Jehovah’s justice is just. It is not distant and unknowing.

Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD. Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Genesis 18:23-25, NASB)

When following Abraham’s reasoning here, it’s worth remembering that his nephew, Lot, has chosen to live in the vicinity of these cities, and that, as revealed in Genesis 19, Sodom is Lot’s current residence. In other words, this is not an impartial cry for justice for it’s own sake. And, yet, there’s a lot to be learned from the times when our decisions come as much from emotion as from “reason”. I admire Abraham for his care for his relatives, but I also remember that Lot made this decision, chose this path, based largely on the physical benefits of the land while apparently accepting or ignoring the prevailing unrighteousness.

For Abraham to judge Jehovah like this is pretty amazing. But Jehovah’s reaction is so much more impressive. In choosing to confide in Abraham, among humanity, this plan, Jehovah reveals that he values Abraham’s input and reactions, even if only for the sake of his own glory. Jehovah listens to Abraham’s complaint, which is the basic “justice means fairness” argument where fairness is defined as the terms of the person speaking, and he says, “Okay.” Abraham is not content with this, possibly because he knows that few in Sodom, and possibly not even any of his relatives, will hit the righteous mark. He dwindles the justice mark down to ten righteous.

Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place. (Genesis 18:32-33, NASB)

Jehovah again accepts. He already knows how many righteous there are, so this is sort of a moot discussion. But he’s also proving to Abraham that he is in fact just. This is all the more important because Jehovah has set up Abraham to be the establishing patriarch of a religion and nation that ought to be Jehovah-centered. Of course, it will fail in that, but then, that may be the point: not even a religion or nation can save us, but Jehovah alone. Or maybe that’s another stretched inpretation.

Genesis 19:4-8

2007.Jul.14 15:41

Sin

Read Genesis 19:4-8 Full Chapter

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.”(Genesis 19:4-5, ESV)

The sin of the people of Sodom is a grab bag. Lack of Inhospitality is noted in the Wikipedia article. Rape, at least attempted. Those are the two obvious. It strikes me as rather unnecessary to focus that for part of the group the rape they wish to commit is homosexual. But it’s in the grab bag too. And we can get caught up in any particular piece of their brutality, but that misses the point. A whole community bands together to rape travelers stopping for the night, a whole community which refuses to see its sin in such a vile action.

I find myself thinking of human slavery, particularly the enslavement of Africans brought to the Americas and of their descendants (Ha, beat that for PC!). How do we get to these points? At what point in our minds does any given war turn from reasons to just violence. How do we arrive at starting wars without reason? At some point, you find yourself banging on a pulpit saying “These are the children of Ham and this is God’s punishment,” and you don’t even realize that you’ve embraced sin. Here’s a hint though: if you’re extrapolating from the curse of a recently drunk and rather pissed man to explain away your actions, you’re probably sinning.

How do you get there? It’s maybe not so much a slippery slope as the slow accumulation of excuses and apathy. Every sin that we say “just once more” or “not really so bad”, they add up. Or maybe there’s some other way. I am, after all, 25 and entitled to be completely wrong in my understanding of human nature. I am confident in what to do to keep from finding myself at that point: pray to Jehovah, study the Bible, keep myself around other believers so they are able to correct me, both through general association (church meeting, Bible studies, dinner, the like) and with defined accountability relationships (which I am not doing a good job of keeping up on).

Wow. That didn’t go where I was planning.

Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”(Genesis 19:6-8, ESV)

The thing with Lot is he wasn’t always part of this community, so we can actually watch him sliding (hyuck, hyuck) into it. The thing that stands out to me like a green rhino playing banjo in a cornfield is that Lot calls the men at the entrance–those people closest to the house and likely the leaders–“brothers”.

Okay. Think about that.

Not the rhino; “Brothers”.

The next thing he does is far more vile. He offers the group his daughters to rape instead. And yet, because he’s named the leaders of a gang rape “brothers”, the element of surprise that he would do so is gone. Lot has accepted this community and its sin. He continues to live in it, and considers himself close enough to its leadership to call them brothers. Lot has already accepted this community and made himself a part of it.

Look even at his reasoning. He does not say, “Do not rape,” or even “Do not rape the guests of this town,” but only “Do not rape my guests”. Lot may be the most righteous among the people standing outside his home, but somewhere along the line, he lost the line. He’s already accreting the willingness to sin of his neighbors.

The people of Sodom have engaged a lifestyle of sin, and Lot, for his part, has not rejected it.

Genesis 19:23-25

2007.Aug.23 03:03

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

Read Genesis 19:23-25 Full Chapter

Before I jump into this week’s passage, I was reading in 2 Peter last week and came across a passage about Lot that may be a bit more positive about him than I have been. I’ll examine that more in a couple of weeks when I return my focus to Lot. Also, I’d like to note that I feel…erm…iffy about this particular article/study/whatever. I’m just not sure where to go with it or if have any useful comments. But, then, it is a study after all.

The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. (Genesis 19:23-25, ESV)

According to an unsophisticated search on BibleGateway, Sodom is mentioned 28 times outside of Genesis in the Contemporary English Version. My impression, after a quick survey is that these references generally refer to pending destruction and/or comparisons. Here’s a few samplings:

Unless the LORD of hosts
Had left us a few survivors,
We would be like Sodom,
We would be like Gomorrah. (Isaiah 1:9, NASB)

You and the people of Jerusalem are evil like Sodom and Gomorrah. (Jeremiah 23:14, CEV)

You people of Jerusalem have sinned twice as much as the people of Samaria. In fact, your evil ways have made both Sodom and Samaria look innocent. (Ezekiel 16:51, CEV)

So I tell you that on the day of judgment the people of Sodom will get off easier than you. (Matthew 11:24, CEV)

We should also be warned by what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns. Their people became immoral and did all sorts of sexual sins. Then God made an example of them and punished them with eternal fire. (Jude 1:7, CEV)

One thing I notice is that Jehovah exercises his judgment on Sodom and the other cities of the plain, while retaining it in other cases for a later day of judgment. Groups who are deep in communal sin are compared to Sodom, and in several Biblical cases, judged to be worse. Perhaps then Sodom is an example of when a community has taken sin too far. As in, if your town is worse than Sodom, you need to change completely, and you need to change yesterday. If that is the case, perhaps God destroyed Sodom to make clear to future generations that such sin is unacceptable, even in the context of a fallen earth; this then is the line at which a community can no longer survive.

Or maybe not.

There is also the question of Jehovah’s justice. God’s sense of justice and fairness is not the same as my natural sense of these things. I can often come to an understanding of his actions, but sometimes my immediate take on his justice is that it is not intuitive. Why judge Sodom so harshly? Why give mercy to so many others? Of course, I have a hard time questioning God’s giving mercy to anyone, since I am so grateful he has given mercy to me. And yet…and yet…and yet.

Is it worth thinking about such things? Yes, it is. But let me not forget, in such thoughts, God’s holiness, nor his mighty hand. I may not understand the details of his decision, but I rejoice both in his grace and his righteousness. And I also must be humbled by these things. When I find myself proud, I want to remember how easily God overthrew these proud cities.