Genesis Post 40 - The Deed is Done (Chapter 23)

Chapter 23 starts out on a sad note.

Sarah lived 127 years, and then she dies in Kiriyat Arba, that is, Hebron.

Sarah is the only female whose age is recorded at the time of her death.  She was 90 when Isaac was born, so she got to enjoy raising her son and seeing him live to the age of 37.  She does not get to see him married; however.  That is still to come.

Many Jewish (and Arab) burial practices stem from this historical moment, when Abraham says goodbye to his beloved Sarah.

Great care is given to the body of the dead.  It is seen as an offering back to the God who took us from the dust of the earth in the first place.  This great care given to the body is also is anticipating the resurrection.  Cremation and burning to Jewish people is more of a statement that life is all over and done with.  This is one of the reasons that Hitler burned Jewish bodies.  It was one more in-your-face act toward those that he despised.

Remembering is a big Jewish custom.  On the death anniversary of their loved one, they will burn a yarzeit candle, and remember the life of the deceased.  Historically, Jews were not so much into birthdays, but the death day has always been a very important day.  A day of remembrance.  Visiting a grave remains a major Jewish practice today.  Usually a rock, seen as a better symbol of eternity than flowers, is placed on the grave.

One year after death, the Jews would collect the bones from the decomposed body and re-bury them in an ossuary, or bone box.  In the same way, Yosef's bones were brought up from Egypt and buried in Shechem.  I think of the passage in Ezekiel 37 that speaks of dry bones coming to life.

A memorial candle

The cave of Machpelah is a giant memorial to the patriarchs, made of rocks and filled with burning candles.  It is the final resting place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah.

Anyway, we now have a written account of the deed for the land in Hebron, recorded for all of human history to see.

Abraham negotiates with the sons of Heth (the Hittites) for the cave of Machpelah.  The guy who owns the land, Ephron the Hittite, opens the negotiations by saying he wants to give Abraham the land for free.  (Interestingly, Ephron means dust),

Perhaps Abraham knows the importance of having a recorded deed of sale for this very significant place that would someday be so contested.  He insists on paying for it.

Ephron says, ok fine (his intention all along) and in the typical custom of Middle Eastern negotiations, names a price that is probably much higher than what the land is worth.

In verse 16, Abraham pays Ephron what he asks for the land, without even batting an eye or entering into heated bargaining, because of his great love for Sarah.

The sale of the land is recorded in scripture, complete with witnesses, in verses 17 and 18:

So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

The Cave of Machpelah was beautified under Herod the Great

Why is it so important to have a recorded deed of this land?

Hebron is the second holiest city to the Jews.  I have been there three times, visiting the tiny Jewish community there, along with the Cave of Machpelah.   It is one of the few places in Israel where you can actually walk the very dirt that was walked almost 4000 years ago by Father Abraham.  It is something else to visit the graves of Ruth the Moabite and of David's father, Yishai.

And oh, is Hebron a contested place!

In 1929, there was a terrible massacre of 67 Jews by Muslims in Hebron, due to high tensions stemming from Jews returning to the Promised Land, accompanied by incitement of the Arab residents by the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Al Husseini.

18-month old Shlomo Slonim survived the massacre and lived to age 86

Between 1948 and 1967, Hebron, and all of what the world calls the "West Bank" was off limits to Jews.  This off-limits area included the old city of Jerusalem.  Jerusalem was liberated by the IDF on June 7, 1967; and Hebron was liberated the very next day.  

Its history continues to be very complicated.  As a result of the 1995 Oslo II "Peace" accords, Hebron was carved up in 1997.  Eighty percent of the city was given to the PLO, an area called H1, and 20 percent was placed under Israeli rule, called H2.

The Arab population of H1 is estimated at 120,000.  Jews are not allowed to enter that area.  In the remaining 20 percent called H2, there live about 30,000 Arabs and about 700 Israelis.  In other words, Hebron today is about 99.5% Arab and about a 1/2  of one percent Jewish.  (Kiryat Arba is a modern Jewish town outside of Hebron proper, with a population of 7000-8000 Jews).

The Cave of Machpelah is located on the Jewish side of H1. It features an entrance for Jews, and s separate entrance on the other side for Arabs.  When we looked at chapter 13, we talked about the meaning of the word Hebron, which is conjunction, or joining.  Someday soon, these Jewish and Arab children of Abraham, neither of whom follow the Messiah (for the most part), will be joined together as children of the One True God under Yeshua in the Messianic kingdom.

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Genesis Post 39 - Abraham, Isaac, and Our Provider (Chapter 22)

Chapter 22 brings us to another theologically explosive chapter.

It's a tough chapter, one that I have been wrestling with lately.  Here are the first 19 verses:

Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”

And he said, “Here I am, my son.”

Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

So he said, “Here I am.”

And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son,from Me.”

Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.  And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”  So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

Right off the bat, we see that God tested Abraham.  The word for tested is nasah.  I really wanted to get a good understanding of this word, so I dug around in the Hebrew for awhile.  It means to test, to prove, to put to the proof.  The word is used later on when the Queen of Sheba wanted to test Solomon with hard questions, to see what he was made of.  

Of course, God already knew what Abraham was made of; He had already established an everlasting covenant with him.  Perhaps the testing is for us; that our faith is made stronger by the tests that God allows in our life.
Sometimes we pass those tests, sometimes we fail.  Sometimes we just don't understand the test. And sometimes, we get an A+, as in extra credit.  After wrestling a long time with this passage, I believe that Abraham didn't fully understand the test, but he was going for extra credit.  Hold that thought. for a bit.. I'll come back to it.

Several words in this passage are first mentions.  Some scholars say that first mentions are important, because they introduce the concept and context for the whole rest of the Bible.  Whether that is true or not, let's look at them.

Nasah - testing.  We have already looked at this word.  It sets the context for the whole scenario.  The word nissi comes from the same root word - banner.  A banner, or standard, is something that you want people to focus on, or to rally around. In warfare, a commander of an army would raise up the troop's banner, so the fighters could clearly rally around it and know where the battle was taking place.

Hineni - here I am. But you’ve got to watch out how you say it, because it is a way of expressing total readiness to give oneself – it’s an offer of total availability.  In other words, I hear your call. I understand what you are asking of me. And I am prepared and ready to do it, because I recognize, although it is hard, it is also important that I act.

In this chapter, Abraham uses hineni three times! This is the word used in Isaiah 6:8, after Isaiah had been cleansed by the coal to his lips.  God was looking for someone to send, and Isaiah responds, Here I am!  Pick me!  At Your service!

Ahava - love.  Take your only son (that remains, the other one had been sent away), whom you love...

Unlike the Greek language, which has numerous words for love, Hebrew has a single word for love just like we do in English.  It has always seemed weird to say I love God and also I love coffee using that same term, but I guess it is ok because Hebrew does it, too.  Abraham loved his son, Jacob loved Rachel, and Isaac loved goat stew.

Ahava (Love) sculpture

Moriah - the mountain in Jersualem where once stood (and will stand again) God's temple.  Today it is the site of a golden idol that I don't think will be around much longer.  Moriah means chosen by YHVH.  Scripture tells us in numerous places that Jerusalem is the only place where God has put His name (see 1 Kings 11:36, 1 Kings 14:21, 2 Kings 21:4 and 7, 2 Kings 23:27, 2 Chronicles 6:6, 2 Chronicles 12:13, 2 Chronicles 33:4, Ezra 6:12, Psalm 102:21, Jeremiah 3:17).

Seh - lamb.  Believe it or not, this chapter is the first place this word shows up.  Other patriarchs made sacrifices before, but a lamb is special and significant.

YHVH Yireh - The LORD will provide (or as the song goes, Jehovah Jireh).  This is the ONLY PLACE it shows up in the entire Bible.  That means, pay attention to what is being provided!

So let's back up.  I need to park on verse 2 for a bit.

I use Blue Letter Bible app, because it lets me look at the original languages.  So I was stumbling through the Hebrew of verse 2 with my limited knowledge thereof, and the first thing that jumped out at me was the presence of the word ET  (Alef Tav).  Three times in one verse!  I won't go into the meaning of that word here, other than long story short it is a covenant word that embodies Yeshua the Messiah.  The word is hidden, not well understood by the Jewish Rabbis, and is never translated into the English.  (If you need a refresher on the word et, you can click here.)

Ok, I was off to a good start.  But my biggest reason for wrestling with this chapter is because the idea that God would tell someone to kill their child does not jive with the character of God.  In fact, someone I know very well cannot get beyond that idea.  It's just wrong, she says.  And I agree.  How do we reconcile this test that the LORD gives to Abraham, without believing that God participates in something that He clearly and frequently calls an abomination, namely child sacrifice?

Recently I was listening to a pastor teaching on this subject, and he pointed out that God never told Abraham to kill his son.

There are two key words to look at:  Ala and Ola.  In the translation to English, they are used like this:  go to the land of Moriah, and ala him there as an ola on one of the mountains I will show you.

Ala is the verb, the root word from which we get the Hebrew word aliyah.  Israelis use that term, to make aliyah, to mean moving to Israel; returning to the land of their forefathers.  Technically, however, it means to go up.  To go up to Jerusalem. To go up to the Temple.  For the smoke of an offering to go up.  To rise up, ascend.  Yes, the word is used frequently in scripture to depict a burnt offering because of the smoke that rises up, but the word encompasses so much more.  It is an act of complete surrender before God.

Ola, on the other hand, is really just the noun form of the same word ala... the object of the offering.  It also can mean the steps that you ascend.

I believe that Abraham's understanding was that he should actually kill his son.  Child sacrifice was well-known in the ancient world, and had not yet been clearly condemned by God in the Mount Sinai covenant.  Even in what I believe to be Abraham's misunderstanding of the command, he didn't argue with God.  He simply obeyed, without question, to the best of his understanding.  He went for extra credit on the test.

There are several Hebrew words that mean to kill, and God did not use any of those words:  Zevach, ratsach, harag.

I now believe that God is asking Abraham to perform a prophetic act, just as He does with many of the other prophets in scripture.  (I think of Ezekiel whose wife died and God commanded him not to mourn, and Hosea whom God commanded to marry a harlot - in order to be an example to the people of Israel.).

God wants Abraham to ascend a particular hill, and offer his son to God, similar to the way we dedicate our children to the LORD.  Isaac is the promised covenant child, and God is asking, Are you all in, Abraham?  This prophetic act of Abraham is to foreshadow the most significant act of God in all of human history.

What hill did they ascend?  The rabbis teach that Abraham offered up his son on Mount Moriah, which is where the Temple eventually stood and where the Dome of the Rock sits today.  But if we read the text carefully, we see that Abraham is go to to the land of Moriah, to a hill that God would show him.  In other words, go to Moriah and then I will point it out to you.

The Mount of Olives is straight across from Mount Moriah.  I believe this was the place where Abraham's act foreshadowed the actual sacrifice that was to follow thousands of years later... in the SAME PLACE!

Aerial photo of the Mount of Olives

Moriah is only mentioned twice in scripture.  Here and in 2 Chronicles 3:1 when Solomon is building the house of the LORD.  These two hills, Moriah and Olives, show the redemption of humanity.

On the third day (sound familiar?), Abraham sees the hill that God is directing him to and tells his servants to wait while he and Isaac go to shachah, or worship.  For those three days, Abraham must have been mourning what he expected to be the death of his son.

Isaac then carries the wood for the sacrifice, walking the very same route that our future Lamb of God would take carrying His own wood.  In the father's hand was the fire and the knife.

Even though Abraham believed he was supposed to kill his son, we can see that he also believed in the future resurrection.  He told his servants, we'll be back.

Isaac doesn't say much; he just questions his father, who explains that God will provide HIMSELF, the lamb.  Isaac isn't recorded as saying anything when his own father places him on the altar.  He is silent as a sheep before the slaughter?  Hmm.

Ahava (love) and shachah (worship) are connected in this passage.

Sacrifice demonstrates/proves love.  Does God have a sense of humor putting people together with completely opposite love languages?  Perhaps it is an opportunity for sacrifice.

As Abraham wields his knife, is all of the heavenly host looking on in horror?  Is there a collective sigh of relief when YHVH steps in to stop Abraham?

We then see that YHVH provides a ram (not a lamb, as Abraham had prophesied), caught in the thorn bushes.  The foretold Lamb shows up thousands of years later,  when YHVH would provide Himself, the lamb.  YHVH yireh - the LORD who Provides... Himself.

Add caption

Right after that, we see the connection of this prophetic picture of Yeshua's sacrifice to the Abrahamic Covenant that was introduced in Genesis 12:3. The land, the seed, and the blessing...  they are inseparable.

Here is something amazing.  This passage of Genesis 22 is part of the liturgy in synagogues around the world on Yom Teruah, the first of the appointed times of the fall.  In that very liturgy, we see the words salvation, forgiveness, and atonement... all gospel words.  We also have the connection to the ram's horn that is caught in the thorn bush.

The Feast of Trumpets is a dress rehearsal for the return of the Messiah and the resurrection, which I believe is coming soon.

Judaism does not teach blood atonement today in its theology, and yet this narrative shows up in the synagogues on the Feast of Trumpets.  (God's timing is such that I am teaching this concept to my Sunday school class on the very eve of Feast of Trumpets.)

The chapter ends with Abraham and company traveling to Beersheva.  Is that where Sarah was?  Had Abraham told Sarah what he planned to do?  Was she freaking out?  We just don't know.

And where in the world is Isaac?  This whole chapter was about him.  Is his absence a prophetic picture of Yeshua returning to heaven for a time after His sacrifice?  In Genesis, Isaac will not appear again in the story until he sees his bride face to face.  Can you say Revelation 19:7? Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.

We are then given a geneology of some of Abraham's relatives, setting up the big event that won't take place for another two chapters.  So stay tuned!

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Genesis Post 38 - The Wait is Over! (Chapter 21)

Genesis 21 begins with the LONG AWAITED PROMISE!

And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.  And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac.  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.  And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Yitzach, or Isaac, means laughter.

There was much laughter surrounding his conception and birth. Abraham had laughed in joy, then Sarah had laughed in disbelief, now she laughs again after he is born, this time with profuse joy!

Laughter and joy

It is interesting that Abraham's age is mentioned in this passage, but not Sarah's.  It was more of a miracle that SHE had the baby.   Maybe this is why nobody ever asks women their age. We know from other passages that she is 90 years old when she gives birth to Isaac.

This birth is completely supernatural.  It isn't just that Sarah is old.  She was completely barren during her childbearing years.

The whole manifestation of the Abrahamic Covenant is bathed in the miraculous, and not in the natural. More miraculous births will happen in this line, as we will soon see, and the eventual miraculous birth in the line of the covenant is the birth of the Messiah.

But even today, we have another supernatural birth...  The birth of Israel in 1948 was a miracle, foretold in the scriptures.  Remember what Isaiah 66:8 says?
Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.

And also you.  You must be born again… our own rebirth is a supernatural event.

And now for a contrast, the text goes right to the account of Ishmael and Hagar in verse eight.

When Isaac was about three, he was weaned.  Abraham throws a giant party to celebrate.  (Or maybe Sarah convinced him to do it?)

Sarah sees the son of the Egyptian woman making fun of the whole thing.  The Hebrew word for mocking or scoffing is tsachach, which ironically comes from the same root word as Yitzak.  It is a mocking laughter.

Ishmael, a teenager, is mocking the supernatural.

Well, you don't mess with moms and their kids.  Even the animal kingdom demonstrates this.  Bears don't bother you unless they have a cub with them.

The root of anti-Semitism had begun when Hagar despised Sarah. And now, her son is mocking Sarah‘s son. It continued generationally, and it continues today, some 4000 years later.

Hagar is called the Egyptian here. This is a contrast to the promised land. We have a picture of the son of the slave woman, and the son of the free woman, the allegory of which comes up in Galatians 4:21-31.  It is a snapshot of how Yeshua freed us from the law of sin and death and allows us to walk in freedom from it.  Look at how this seed, planted in Genesis, plays out:

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—  for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—  but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written:
“Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”  (Isaiah 54:1)

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.  But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.  Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

Sarah says that the son of the slave woman is not going to share in the inheritance of her son.  Abraham was not happy with the situation, but YHVH tells Abraham to do whatever Sarah says because it is Isaac that the covenant will continue.  And then the LORD reminds Abraham that Ishmael will also become a nation, because he too is Abraham's seed.

The entire scriptures give us a theme about separation between the common and the holy. God is not being mean here, he is giving us a picture of that truth.

We were all born of Egypt until we got born again... the natural, then the spiritual. We were born sons of the slave woman, and we supernaturally became saved, the sons of the free woman.

This also what Jeremiah 31:31 is about, when it foretells a new covenant that is forthcoming.  It is the covenant that fulfills the covenant made with Moses in the wilderness, which was temporary.

Remember however, the Abrahamic Covenant is  NOT temporary, but was given by YHVH as an everlasting covenant.

So anyway, in verse 14, Abraham sends Ishmael and Hagar away.

We see that Hagar and Ishmael are desolate in the wilderness of Beersheva.  Hagar weeps at the hopelessness of her situation.  But then the LORD shows up to her again, as He did so many years earlier when she was expecting Ishmael.  He gently reminds her that Ishmael will become a huge nation, and He graciously provides for them.

Ishmael became an archer (a hunter) and his Egyptian mom found him an Egyptian wife.  (Islam is rooted in Egyptian-ness).

Ishmael was an archer.  Could this be a throwback to Nimrod the mighty hunter?  In an upcoming chapter, we will see Esau as a hunter, too.  There are three hunters in Genesis, and all are negative.  But then there is Abraham, a shepherd.  And Isaac is a mild man, staying near tents.  Then you have Moses the shepherd and David the shepherd, and then we have the Good Shepherd.  There may be a spiritual lesson here on hunters vs shepherds.  All the good guys were shepherds.

Chapter 21 wraps up with a fight over water, and then a treaty between Abraham and Abimelech, the same king we saw in chapter 20.  Abimelech actually sees that God is with Abraham in everything, so he wants to be his BFF.

They figure it out the water issue and make an oath, calling it Beersheva, or well of the oath, or well of the seven.  This covenant of peace between Abraham and Abimelech was kept until the time of Samson.

Beersheva well today

Then Abraham plants a tamarisk tree.  The Hebrew word is eshel, or grove of trees.  It is a symbol of settling down, making roots.

And then Abraham gives YHVH a new title:  YHVH El Olam.  This us usually translated eternal or everlasting God, or YHVH, God of the universe.  It is the only place in the whole bible that this title shows up, but the Jews use it today in all their prayers... melech ha olam, or King of the Universe.  

Chapter 21 ends with Abraham Living in peace with Gentiles, the mocker is gone, and Isaac is growing up.   Everything is perfect in this picture... there are no foreseeable problems, right?  And he stayed there as a sojourner for a long time.

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Genesis Post 37 - Here We Go Again (Chapter 20)

We now come to chapter 20, which seems to be a repeat of what happened with Abraham and Sarah in Egypt.

The same pattern shows up again. Abraham tells the same half-truth, the king takes Sarah, a plague of infertility happens, and Abraham and Sarah depart with great riches.

There are some differences, however.

Abraham had gone to Egypt because of a famine in the promised land.  Egypt is a metaphor for sin, and the big moral of that story was departure out of sin, metaphorically speaking.  This time, Abraham did not leave the land.

Also, Abimelech is open to hearing from YHVH, who shows up in a dream to the king. It is a scary dream.  Abimelech is told, The woman you have taken is married and you are about to die.

But in verses 4 and 5, Abimilech declares, Wait a minute!  The guy said she was his sister.  Plus I haven't touched her!  I am innocent in this matter!  Will you also slay a righteous nation?  (He must be referring to Sodom and Gomorrah here).

In the dream, Abimelech calls God Lord, or adonai, meaning master.  He does not know the name of God, YHVH, but he does know that this Lord is the boss.  And he has a built-in conscience that knows right from wrong... a built-in morality. He knows it is wrong to take a married woman.  And Abimelech also knows that taking Sarah would have been a sin against God Himself.

Confrontation between Abe and Abi over Sarah.

We have been given that same conscience because of the fruit eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Ever since Adam took that first bite, man has had the knowledge of good and evil.  But many people allow their consciences to be seared against that knowledge.

In verse 6, God affirms Abimelech's innocence and then gives him some instructions in verse 7. Give her back to her husband... he is a prophet and he will pray for you.  This is the first time the word nevi, or prophet, is used in scripture.  Abraham the prophet is about to intercede for the foreign king.

But first they have a heated discussion in verses 9-13, after which Abraham wraps up the chapter with a healing prayer for the household of Abimelech.

So why is this chapter even in our book, this basic re-run of what took place in Egypt?

This time, Abraham is not told to leave. He is already in the promised land. He gets to stay.  In verse 15, Abimelech offers him his choice of whatever land he wants (which was really nice of Abimelech but YHVH had already given it to Abe).  And then in verse 16, the king redeems Sarah with boatloads of silver, thus clearing her.

And this time, Sarah is about to conceive the promised covenant child, Isaac.  Once again, God protects the covenant.  In fact, she may have already been pregnant at this point, although we don't read about it until the next chapter.

This story highlights the attempt of a foreign king to take away the Abrahamic Covenant.  But then we see the faithfulness of YHVH to that covenant.  And we see redemption by silver.  Does that sound familiar?  It should.  Silver represents the price of redemption and shows up frequently in the scriptures.

In the midst of all these human foibles, YHVH protects His everlasting covenant with Abraham, and His plan continues to unfold today.

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Genesis Post 36 A Lot of Awkwardness (Chapter 19)

In Genesis 19, we left off where Lot and his family ran for their lives, Mrs. Lot looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Pillar in the wilderness near the Dead Sea

Lot asked the LORD if he could go to Zohar, a small city.  He was not a rural dweller, preferring to live near a Starbucks instead.

Did you ever notice that it seems like the bigger the city, the greater the sin?  Perhaps because people can live anonymously there, and do whatever is in their hearts to do.  Give me a small town any day.

It is sad and tragic how sin is celebrated today.

God allowed Lot to run to Zohar before His wrath was poured out on the area. Verse 26 says,
So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

The fertile plain was now in ruins.  If you have been to the Dead Sea, you know that nothing grows there.  It is truly a wilderness.  And the four remaining righteous people were now down to three.

By the way, why was Lot called righteous in 2 Peter 2:7?  He doesn't seem all that righteous on the surface when he was in Sodom.  But because of Abraham, who raised him like a son, he had faith.  And just like Abraham, he was made righteous by his faith.

If someone had wanted to make up a big story that was to be the foundation of their faith, they probably would have cleaned these guys up and made them look good.  But all their foibles were recorded the way they happened.  To me, this is another proof that the Bible is true.  I am so thankful for the examples of these imperfect patriarchs and matriarchs, especially when I mess up.

Anyway, something about Zohar did not sit right with Lot.  Perhaps because he saw the burning sulfur raining out of the sky, completely destroying the city where he had lived, Lot now might think he still isn't safe in Zohar.  So he and his daughters take off for the mountains.

Lot had became afraid. There are probably several reasons why he’d be afraid.  Maybe the trauma of the destruction of his city and his wife gave him PTSD.

So in fear, Lot goes and hides in a cave.

Now the story gets awkward to our modern ears.

One of the biggest themes in the Bible is the importance of family, geneology, and one's name.  The concept eventually got written into the Mosaic Law... if a Jewish man died leaving no heirs, his brother was required to produce an heir with the dead man's wife, in order to carry on the name of the dead man.

What was behind the tower of Babel?  Come, let us make a name for ourselves.  

The worst thing that can happen in Judaism is to have your name erased from the Book of Life... it is the main theme of the fall holidays in Judaism today.  May your name be inscribed in the Book of Life for another year is the common new year's greeting.  And then they have ten days to make amends with anyone they are at odds with.

Lot's oldest daughter understood this concept. She took action.  Verses 31-33 tell us, 

Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

The account continues with the younger daughter following suit the next night.

Then, scripture tells us this:
Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.

Moab means progeny of a father, so the older daughter basically just named her child incest.  Cringe.

And Ben Ammi means son of my people.

And this action created two of Israel‘s worst enemies… The Ammonites and the Moabites.

The Ammonites were the first ones to bring child sacrifice into Israel.

These two people groups were like thorns and Israel side.

In the gardening world, thorns come up virtually overnight. Two nights, two daughters, two pregnancies.

To keep the family line, they had to bring out the wine…

But Isaac took a long long time to come forth. He was not a thorn.

However, something good did come out of this drunken night of incest hiding in a cave. Fast forward 1000 years, to the time of Judges, to my personal biblical hero, Ruth the Moabite.

The family line that began in that cave in fear and drunkenness became the part of the lineage of King David and of Yeshua Himself.  Talk about redemption!

The story of Ruth is one of the most beautiful and messianic stories in all of Scripture.

The first coming of the Messiah required a Gentile joining with Israel. The second coming of the Messiah will take a Ruth-like company joining with Israel.  Are you in?

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Genesis Post 35 - The Sad Saga of Sodom (Chapter 19)

We now come to the sad and tragic chapter 19.  Sodom and Gomorrah.  I'd rather skip this chapter, but alas, I cannot.

It starts out with two of the visitors who had come from Abraham's tent.

The messengers find Lot sitting in the city gate, which is very telling.  In the ancient Middle East, the gate of a city is where the leaders and important people would hang out.  Lot had become one of them, or was at least trying to be.

It is clear from the way Lot greets the messengers that he somehow knows that they are very important visitors.  And when the visitors said they would spend the night in the open square, Lot strongly insists they accompany him to his home.  Perhaps Lot knew how dangerous it would be for these two visitors to be out at night.

Lot takes them to his home and immediately shows them some good old Middle Eastern hospitality, just like Abraham had done.  An interesting detail is mentioned in the menu:  unleavened bread.  Leaven represents sin.  The meal was prophetic, in that sin was about to be dealt with!

Eventually, the perverts of the town come calling.

Lot pleads with his "brethren" to not do this thing that they threaten.  Notice, he calls them brothers.  These are his homeys.  His squad.  Apparently, Lot's squad has different goals than he does.

I have a hard time understanding what Lot does next... he offers his two virgin daughters to the crowd.  It sounds like a crazy thing for Lot to do, but it helps to understand an ancient custom, which was once you brought someone into your house, you were obligated to protect them.

Lot's squad turns on him and attacks him, and he has to be pulled back into his house by his visitors.  And then the LORD strikes the evil crowd with blindness.  (A lesson here:  choose your squad wisely)

The angelic messengers then tell Lot to gather his family together... his sons, his daughters, his sons-in-law, and get 'em outta here.  Lot goes to visit his sons-in-law, who had probably married two more of Lot's daughters, and they treat Lot's plea as a big joke.

Side note:  It is also possible that Lot only had two daughters, the virgin ones that he offered, and that they were betrothed to these sons-in-law.  Betrothal was as binding as marriage, if not more so.  But the virgin daughters would still have been in their father's home.

In the morning, Lot hesitates. It appears that he had become addicted to a luxurious lifestyle. He really didn’t want to go. The angels had to grab Lot, his wife, and the two daughters who lived at home. We are told that the LORD is merciful to Lot's family.  The angels tell them to flee to the mountains and don't look back!

The expression run for your lives comes from right here in Genesis.

For some reason, we find out that Lot was not a mountain man.  He begs to go to a little city (which was sure to have at least a Starbucks and a grocery store, perhaps?)  The angels relent and allow him to escape to Zoar, which means little city.

And then, this:
The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Why did she look back?   It is my opinion that Mrs. Lot was not simply curious. I believe she did not want to give up her luxury. She was looking back, yearning for it.

We then see Abraham, looking toward the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Word tells us that Lot was saved because of his connection to Abraham.   And I believe Lot had his own measure of faith, also thanks to Abraham, who had raised him like a son.

So why did all of this happen?  Chapter 18 told us that the outcry against Sodom was great, and that their sin was very grave.

The word for outcry in Hebrew means a cry of distress. Who is crying out?  As we examine the sin of Sodom, we can see that the cries would have been both figurative (as in Abel's blood crying out from the ground) and literal - coming from the oppressed that were inside and outside of the city.

Was homosexuality the big sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?

Nope.

Stay with me here. The Bible shows us that Sodom's sexual perversion was the resulting fruit of something much deeper and darker.

Look at the prophetic words of Ezekiel 16:49-50, in a rebuke to backslidden Israel:
Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.

Notice what comes first in Ezekiel's list of sins: Pride.  Is this why cities have their Pride fests?  How interesting that the gay agenda is driven by pride.  Did they pull the idea from Ezekiel and Genesis?  Did they intentionally steal the rainbow from the Bible, too?

In the Gospel of Luke, God compares the end-times world to the days of Noah and the days of Lot. In Noah's case, there was a rainbow.  And in Lot's case, there was homosexuality.  And in both cases there was destruction.  Pride, homosexuality, rainbows, destruction.  Ouch.

Ezekiel continues.  The next sin hits closer to home for me:  fullness of food.  In other words, gluttony.  Then comes idleness, and ignoring the poor and needy.  Notice that their abominable acts were the end result.

So the people were arrogant, overfed, under concerned. They lived in careless ease. They did not help the poor, they were prideful and they did detestable things.

Can you say uh oh?  Is this our world today, or what?

In the New Testament, we see the same idea in the first chapter of Romans. Verses 18-24 say this:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,  because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.  Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

Notice that this passage opens with God's wrath over both godlessness and wickedness.  Just as in Sodom, the sexual sin comes later and is a consequence of denying God and living for ourselves.

Look at the list of last days sins in 2 Timothy 3.
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

Despisers of good reminds me of Isaiah 5:20, which says,
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Notice that Timothy's list doesn't even mention sexual perversion.  But just like Ezekiel and Romans, Timothy mentions the sins that lead up to its final manifestation.

One more thing:  God uses the destruction of Sodom in the New Testament to warn us of the destruction that comes from ungodly living.  See 2 Peter 2 and Jude 7.

So what is the solution for us as believers in these last days, as an antidote to the unrighteousness of the world?  I believe a hint is given to us in the Romans 1 passage.  It tells us that the wicked people did not glorify God, nor were they thankful.

That's it!  Glorify God, and be thankful!  Worship Him alone, and with a heart of gratitude.  And then be His light in the darkness that surrounds us today.  And know that He is coming soon!

Click here for the next post in this series.

Genesis Post 34 - The Visitors (Chapter 18)

Chapter 18 starts out with a zinger:

Then YEHOVAH appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 

This is the first time that the tetragrammaton - YHVH - shows up as a human being in the Word.  He visits Abraham in the heat of the day.  And there's that terebinth tree again!

Abraham beholds three visitors, whom he must have immediately perceived as divine because he bowed low before them.  He addressed one of them as Adonai, which means My Lord (always in the context of God).  Abraham, although he himself was a master to many servants, calls himself a servant of the one particular visitor - Adonai.

In keeping with Middle East custom of showing hospitality, the first thing Abraham does is take care of their physical needs... water for drinking and washing, rest, and food.

In fact, the Jewish rabbis deal with this chapter by focusing on the hospitality of Abraham, and they divert from God Himself appearing as a human. It perhaps sounds too much like Yeshua, which of course, it is.  This is one of Yeshua's numerous pre-incarnate visits to earth.

So Abraham has his servants prepare a meal for the visitor faster than a Food Network episode of Chopped, so it seems.  The ingredients in his basket were flour, milk, butter, and veal.  

Abraham had it easy:  it could have been worse!

(It is interesting to note that Abraham mixed milk and dairy in a meal that he served to God Himself.  Perhaps the Torah command not to boil a calf in its mother's milk was a very straightforward command that meant: do boil a calf in its mother's milk, quite possibly because it used to be a pagan fertility ritual and God wanted Israel to be set apart).

Apparently the visitors enjoyed the meal very much, because what they tell him after they were done eating is great news indeed.

First, they inquire of Sarah's whereabouts in verse 9.  After being reassured that she was eavesdropping from the tent (even though He already knew it), Yehovah announces His great promise, finally!

And He said, “I will certainly return to you, according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”  (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.)

After 24 years of waiting, what does Sarah do?  She laughs to herself in verse 12.

Well, the LORD heard her internal laughter (proof that this is YEHOVAH in the flesh). He calls her out.  She argues.  He wins.

Why was Sarah chided for her laughter, and Abraham was not when he laughed back in chapter 17?  It is because Abraham's was a laugh of delight and Sarah's was a laugh of disbelief.  She was rebuked.

All this laughter over the birth of a miracle baby... Abraham and Sarah wouldn't need a baby name book, as we will see in a few chapters when Sarah's mocking laughter will turn into joyous laughter.

In verse 16, we see a sudden change of subject.  The men arise and look toward Sodom.  And then we see the LORD Himself about to share His plans with Abraham.  

Scripture tells us in James that Abraham was a friend of God.  Because of this, and because of the great covenant which the LORD had just established with Abraham (that affects the entire world still today), the LORD shares His plan him.

The other two angelic messengers leave, but the LORD remains behind and Abraham stands before Him.

In that moment, Abraham becomes an intercessor.  He pleads for Sodom for the sake of the righteous that might be within.  Abraham begins with 50 and ends at 10.  This is where the Jewish concept of a minyan (10 men praying together) comes from.

Prayer minyan of ten men

Today, as part of God's household of faith, we also have the privilege of being intercessors before the LORD, to plead for His mercy in place of judgment.  And we don't need ten people to do it, although community prayer certainly is a powerful thing.  Abraham interceded alone.

Also, the LORD does not hide from us when he is going to do in these last days. We know that there is a righteous judgment coming soon... His word says so. Because we are children of Abraham by faith, God has shared His plan with us. We too are his friends. God shares his plans with his friends.

When Abraham finishes pleading for mercy, the LORD departs and Abraham returns to his place.  He's got a baby to father!  And the LORD has to go deal with some serious sin.

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