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Genesis 23:17-20

2008-01-26T21:02:00Z

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The Burial Ground

So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the border thereof round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city. And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying-place by the children of Heth.
(Genesis 23:17-20, ASV)

I find it kind of fascinating–well, I probably won’t be fascinated by it for very long–that the first property that Abraham is recorded as actually possessing in Canaan, indeed for the whole nation of Israel, is a place for burying.

For a religion that holds as a centerpiece resurrection–"Paul says, ‘If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we day’" (1 Corinthians 15:32) –to have as one of its great ancestral acts the purchase of a place to bury the dead…well, it strikes as a bit ironic doesn’t it?

But it also seems to me to be very appropriate. In her death, Sarah begins to redeem the land from the idolatry of the current inhabitants (See Deuteronomy 7:1-5) (NB: I acknowledge that the preceding sentence may be completely misguided). And throughout the Bible, there is a connection between death and redemption, particularly in the sacrifices of Mosaic law and in Jesus’ death.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
(Hebrews 9:11-14, NASB)

So, I’ll no doubt have plenty of opporutunity to talk about the blood sacrifice stuff, and I’m not in the mood. Instead, I just want to remind myself that death is something God is able to handle. And not only that, but where I see death from a mortal perspective, he sees it–in part–from the perspective of what is waiting to be redeemed. I don’t know that I can really get a hold of that.

Genesis 23:3-16

2008-01-19T22:42:00Z

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Negotiation

Read Genesis 23:3-16 | Full Chapter

And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, "I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
(Genesis 23:3-4, ESV)

Sarah has died and Abraham is mourning for her. He decides to bury her. I assume that burial (as opposed to cremation, etc.) is the custom of Abraham’s culture (remember, even though he’s mostly viewed as a father of a people, he’s also the child of a people, whose culture influences him even as his life influences later cultures, including, naturally, mine). I don’t know that there’s any useful thing to say about Abraham’s decision to bury Sarah.

We now embark on a fascinating negotiation between Abraham and the local people–the Children of Heth, as it were. I should probably research the details of this negotiation custom, full of “I’m going to pay you”, “We’ll give it to you” back and forth, and I believe I’ve seen some footnotes about it here and there, but I think the process speaks for itself.

"Sir," they answered, "you are an important man. Choose the best place to bury your wife. None of us would refuse you a resting place for your dead." Abraham bowed down and replied, "If you are willing to let me bury my wife here, please ask Zohar's son Ephron to sell me Machpelah Cave at the end of his field. I'll pay what it's worth, and all of you can be witnesses." Ephron was sitting there near the city gate, when Abraham made this request, and he answered, "Sir, the whole field, including the cave, is yours. With my own people as witnesses, I freely give it to you as a burial place for your dead." Once again, Abraham bowed down and said to Ephron, "In front of these witnesses, I offer you the full price, so I can bury my wife. Please accept my offer." "But sir," the man replied, "the property is worth only four hundred pieces of silver. Why should we haggle over such a small amount? Take the land. It's yours." Abraham accepted Ephron's offer and paid him the four hundred pieces of silver in front of everyone at the city gate. That's how Abraham got Ephron's property east of Hebron, which included the field with all of its trees, as well as Machpelah Cave at the end of the field.
(Genesis 23:5-16, CEV)

Basically Abraham wants to buy a plot of land in which to bury Sarah, and has one picked out, belonging to Ephron. Ephron and his kinsmen tell Abraham he can have any land he wants. Ephron states the price, in terms of “Why should we haggle over this”, Abraham accepts and the sale is closed in front of witnesses.

I have no deep spiritual, or for that matter cultural or historical insight to offer. I just want to make a couple of comments. First is that I kind of like this method of negotiation. The Hittites are able to show their respect for Abraham and their willingness to give him land out of that respect, without being put in the situation where they do it out of embarrassment. Likewise, Abraham is able to receive their respect while still purchasing the property as he desires. No doubt, there’s a lot more going on than that.

I’ve been in several situations in which I’ve mentioned wanting something and someone chose to give it as a gift but it either a) became way too complicated a situation, much as I appreciated the gift itself, or b) for reasons (sometimes bad reasons, such as pride), it was important to me to make the purchase on my own. I think Abraham’s case is the latter, and the Hittites, while stating their willingness to give him something freely, do not deny him the opportunity to show respect for his wife by paying for her burial ground.

The second thing I want to note is the presence of a contract, different from a covenant, but still significant. There’s no long-term binding between Abraham and Ephron over this field, but they do show value for each other by establishing this contract in the presence of others.

Genesis 23:1-2

2008-01-13T00:21:00Z

Sarah

Read Genesis 23:1-2 Full Chapter

Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. (Genesis 23:1-2, ESV)

These are the years of the life of Sarah. She was born Sarai, probably in Ur of the Chaldeans. She journeyed with her husband and his family first to Haran (Genesis 11:31) and then to Canaan, with a side stop in Egypt (Genesis 12). Big moments in her life include not quite becoming a concubine of various kings (Genesis 12, 20), convincing her husband to sleep with her slave, getting mad about it afterwards (Genesis 16), and having her first and only child at ninety (Genesis 21).

So, it occurs to me that the emphatic points of Sarah’s story have to do with traveling and sex. I’m not sure that’s unusual, though.

Anyway, Sarah seems to me to have lived a good life, both in the sense that she received significant blessings from God and in the sense that she was righteous, that is, she was generally obedient and generally had faith. I don’t mean to belittle how she treated Hagar, which was pretty bad for a while, but from my cynical view, being a complete jerk to only one person in your life is exceptionally good.

I think I may have said this before, but Sarah and David strike me as very similar, they lived righteously, with one big except. Where we really see David’s repentance in several passages (Psalm 51, 2 Samuel 12), I don’t know if Sarah ever repented for her treatment of Hagar (and I suppose, it’s my interpretation that Sarah acted sinfully in this matter, but I am confident in that interpretation). For Sarah, her sin was wrapped in a pressing desire for a child. Maybe her desire was primarily cultural, maybe a child is something she deeply wanted, maybe God had placed a specific desire in her heart… Whatever reasons, Sarah let her desire dictate her actions at one point, from which so much bitterness and hurt grew in her home. God’s plan for the eventual birth of Isaac was the same after the birth of Ishmael as before, regardless of Sarah’s faith. But Sarah’s lapse of faith produced pain in her life, whereas later, persisting in her faith produced laughter and joy.

And again, none of this has any bearing, I think, on how we should see Ishmael.

Genesis 22:20-24

2008-01-09T21:57:00Z

Children of Nahor

Read Genesis 22:20-24 Full Chapter

Abraham’s brother Nahor had married Milcah, and Abraham was later told that they had eight sons. Uz was their first-born; Buz was next, and then there was Kemuel who became the father of Aram; their other five sons were: Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel, who became the father of Rebekah. Nahor also had another wife. Her name was Reumah, and she had four sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah. (Genesis 22:20-24, CEV)

The amount of time spent in the Bible keeping track of families and lineages first strikes me as very high. While it’s useful to know the connections between various people in the Bible, Chesed’s relation to Abraham means nothing to me. And then I think about it a little longer and the time spent on ancestry isn’t very much. Did Chesed marry, after all? Did he have children? Who were the parents of Mrs. Chesed? Maybe it doesn’t matter sitting here in Oklahoma in 2008. But maybe it matters a great deal? After all, I like having information organized and available. Another few generations listed might have had a use I can’t imagine.

Paul reminds Titus to “avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless” (Titus 3:9, NIV). I imagine that Jehovah has made some effort to minimize information in the Bible that could lead to such unprofitable focus. Still, the Bible does give significant focus to the family connections between people. I interpret this as at least revealing a significant value that Jehovah places on the connections between people. After all, his chosen nation, Israel, was principally defined during Biblical times (I think) by their common ancestry in Jacob.

And I’ve just realized that I have nothing more at this time to say on this point. This genealogical aside segues from the Isaac as potential, then actual, child segment of Genesis–focusing on the experiences of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar and Lot. The next few chapters have a “passing the torch” feel, following Isaac into adulthood, and through the deaths of Abraham and Sarah. Isaac himself sometimes seems to me a segue, a necessary step between the stories of Abraham/Sarah and of Jacob. Perhaps, then, one of the most significant values of this passage is a reminder that all these patriarchs and matriarchs that we read about and discuss are also members of a family, dealing with regular life. That is, they are not heroes who sprung from the ground fully formed, but, well, people.

Genesis 22:13-19

2007-12-30T04:44:00Z

Obedience and Blessing

Read Genesis 22:13-19 Full Chapter

Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the bushes. So he took the ram and sacrificed it in place of his son.

Abraham named that place “The LORD Will Provide.” And even now people say, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” The LORD’s angel called out from heaven a second time: You were willing to offer the LORD your only son, and so he makes you this solemn promise, “I will bless you and give you such a large family, that someday your descendants will be more numerous than the stars in the sky or the grains of sand along the beach. They will defeat their enemies and take over the cities where their enemies live. You have obeyed me, and so you and your descendants will be a blessing to all nations on earth.”

Abraham and Isaac went back to the servants who had come with him, and they returned to Abraham’s home in Beersheba. (Genesis 22:13-19, CEV)

I’m a guy. So I’ve daydreamed about being a super spy and saving the world. Gals probably do this too, but I figure it’s a requirement for growing up a boy in our culture. Whether it’s a positive requirement is another issue.

My daydreams, though, keep running into a problem. How does a Christian pull off super-spy? Lying seems pretty much a requirement (what exactly the ninth commandment – the no-lying one – covers is an issue I will probably delve into deeper when I get to Exodus 20). Add to that somewhat indiscriminately killing folks, and my daydreams keep running into moral issues. Is it even possible for a Christian spy to succeed or does an occupation like that require an amoral outlook on life?

Abraham’s situation is (only vaguely) similar. He has been called him to do something, that I would guess, Abraham cannot imagine being acceptable to Jehovah. Especially weird is that the Jehovah himself is the one who called Abraham to sacrifice his son. He is in a self-contradictory situation. Can there be any solution?

Yes. “The LORD will provide.”

If the only way I can see to make my daydreams work requires either sin or pain to others, they end as daydreams. However, if God gives me a clear instruction, I can follow it even if I don’t see the “way”, knowing that he will provide. Of course, I need to check what I believe I’ve heard against the Word, and, if it still appears problematic (and often even if not), I need to talk with other Christians that I trust, but having done those things, I can rely on the knowledge that Jehovah will provide.

When considering obedience in impossible situations, I often think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. “Your Majesty,” the book of Daniel records telling Nebuchadnezzar, “we don’t need to defend ourselves. The God we worship can save us from you and your flaming furnace. But even if he doesn’t, we still won’t worship your gods and the gold statue you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18, CEV).

In other words, when obeying God puts me in what I see as an impossible situation, know that:

God can provide the means I cannot; and
Even if he doesn’t, I should be obedient and worship him.

The reward, as it is here for Abraham, is often great blessing, but being obedient to Jehovah is an end to itself.

Genesis 22:11-12

2007-12-22T22:07:00Z

Test Passed

Read Genesis 22:11-12 Full Chapter

But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Genesis 22:11-12, NASB)

Abraham passed the test. He showed by his actions that he had faith. This test, remember, was particular to Abraham, although Isaac showed a good deal of faith–either in Yahweh or in his father–as well, as I suppose did anyone else who knew, if there was anyone else. But what exactly was the test and how did Abraham pass?

In the simplest, the test was whether Abraham feared and honored Yahweh enough to be willing to sacrifice his own son to Yahweh. He passed the test because he actively showed that he was willing, should Yahweh ask that of him. Or, in a different sense, Yahweh was testing if Abraham was willing to obey when it would cost him an exceptionally extreme amount. And Abraham obeyed fully to the point that God told him to halt.

More abstractly, I think the test could be seen as whether Abraham was humble enough to deny his own son, his dreams for the future (remember, he’s over 100 years old), and his reasoning. Those are some pretty big things (I realize the last is not big for everyone, but for people like me who greatly value their ability to reason, accepting that God’s plan is just not going to make sense to me is a huge test of my humility). God then may be asking Abraham, “Are you willing to give me complete control?”

To an extent, most of the tests and such that we go through could be interpreted as God asking if we are willing to give him control, to acknowledge that he is God and I am not; indeed, to explicitly release my claim on godhood. Abraham does so twice in this test, first by acknowledging that Yahweh–not Abraham–can provide a solution to the contradictory notion that he is expected to sacrifice the son from which God has promised to build a nation; and then again by being willing to put down the knife and accept so clearly that he is giving a sacrifice to God that was not in any way provided by Abraham.

NB: In later books of the Bible (Leviticus 20, for example), God clarifies that human sacrifice is a sin punishable by stoning. This would have been a very different story if it had happened after Yahweh gave the Law to Israel. Even in this situation, God ultimately makes clear his position that humans should not be sacrificed, which sort of makes Christ’s sacrifice even more amazing (if that’s possible).

Genesis 22:3-10

2007-12-21T02:07:00Z

Obedience by Step

Read Genesis 22:3-10 Full Chapter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Genesis 22:2

2007-12-18T03:32:00Z

Your Only Son

Read Genesis 22:2 Full Chapter

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

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

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

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

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

Genesis 22:1

2007-12-03T03:02:00Z

The Test

Read Genesis 22:1 Full Chapter

I’m going to start this entry not by quoting the principal passage–as I am accustomed–but with another passage. It will make sense later.

The LORD had not spoken to Samuel before, and Samuel did not recognize the voice. When the LORD called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, “Here I am. What do you want?” Eli finally realized that it was the LORD who was speaking to Samuel. (1 Samuel 3:7-8)

Yahweh had twice before that night awoken Samuel. Each time, Samuel assumed it was Eli, the priest, calling him. He did not realize that the voice was that of Yahweh, because God “had not spoken to [him] before.” Fortunately, Yahweh began speaking to Samuel when someone else, Eli, was around who could help Samuel figure out what was going on.

I bring this up because recognizing God’s voice is required for understanding personally specific commands.

Some time later, God tested Abraham�??s faith. �??Abraham!�?? God called.

�??Yes,�?? he replied. �??Here I am.�?? (Genesis 22:1, NLT)

Abraham doesn’t have to wonder whose voice he’s hearing, because he knows God’s voice. And Abraham responds.

In this passage, God is testing Abraham’s faith, by asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. There’s a lot that will go on with that, but if Abraham didn’t know the voice of Yahweh or didn’t respond, the test would have never gone anywhere.

I’ve heard a lot about learning to recognize God’s voice. It boils down to 1) read the Bible, 2) pray (stopping to listen at times), and 3) having good relationships with other Christians who are willing to tell you when something you think is from God is not Biblically sound. You have to know God’s voice, the kind of things he says, and you have to listen to him, or your faith can’t get very far.

Genesis 21:22-34

2007-11-28T15:13:00Z

Covenant between Humans

Read Genesis 21:22-34 Full Chapter

About this time Abimelech and his army commander Phicol said to Abraham, “God blesses everything you do! Now I want you to promise in the name of God that you will always be loyal to me and my descendants, just as I have always been loyal to you in this land where you have lived as a foreigner.” And so, Abraham promised. (Genesis 21:22-24, CEV)

Abimelech and Abraham promise to be nice to each other. Wow, isn’t that sweet. But this promise seems to be more of a promise in passing. So far, it seems to lack depth. But that will change.

One day, Abraham told Abimelech, “Some of your servants have taken over one of my wells.”

”This is the first I’ve heard about it,” Abimelech replied. “Why haven’t you said something before? I don’t have any idea who did it.” Abraham gave Abimelech some sheep and cattle, and then the two men made a peace treaty. Abraham separated seven female lambs from his flock of sheep, and Abimelech asked, “Why have you done this?”

Abraham told him, “I want you to accept these seven lambs as proof that I dug this well.” So they called the place Beersheba, because they made a treaty there. When the treaty was completed, Abimelech and his army commander Phicol went back to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and worshiped the eternal LORD God. Then Abraham lived a long time as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines. (Genesis 21:25-34, CEV)

Now, Abraham and Abimelech have gone through a situation that has promoted their mutual promise into a covenant. You can divide the covenants in the Bible into groups based on the participants in those covenants: God with group of humans, God with single human, single human with single human, and so on. Something I’ve noticed throughout the Bible is a difference between promises and covenants within all these groups.

Now God’s promises are secure, but even in his case, covenants seem to be, if you will, a higher order of promise. They involve some sort of “signing” activity. So the promise that Abimelech and Abraham make is not backed by any marker to which they can point; that promise comes under fire over the issue of one of Abraham’s wells, which some of Abimelech’s servants take over. (Unless, that is, verses 22-24 are meant as a summary rather than a separate event; but I’m going to persist with my current point in either case). The two “A” guys sort it out, but Abraham adds something to this.

Abe presents Abimelech with seven lambs, to be proof that Abimelech has accepted this particular well as belonging to Abraham. They also make a treaty (written?). So, now there’s an evidence of the promise, which I think is a significant part of a covenant. But Abraham actually adds an additional marker, a tamarisk tree. My guess is this tree is a marker of Abraham’s thanks to Yahweh for whatever part he played in working this out (I imagine including given wisdom to Abraham).

So, in summary, it seems a covenant needs (at least benefits from) a marker of some sort. Markers are generally used in covenants anyway; maybe more important is to recognize that the addition of a marker ought to bring the promise to a higher level, ought to be accompanied by a deliberate decision to count the cost of the covenant before entering.

Genesis 21:14-21

2007-11-22T02:03:00Z

Exile

Read Genesis 21:14-21 Full Chapter

I’m going to take a sidestep in modern geopolitics. I’ve heard people say that the “situation” in the middle east can never be understood apart from the situations surrounding the births of Ishmael and Isaac. I bring it up, because this chapter is probably the most relevant Biblical chapter to that. The supposition goes–at least what I’ve heard–that Arabs descended from Ishmael and Israelis from Isaac, and they’re still fighting to this day because, well, I guess because both Ishmael and Isaac were born. I suppose it would be a good lesson on never knowing just how far your decisions may reach.

As best I can tell, both Biblically and historically, it’s hogwash (that is, the concept as a whole; some of the particulars are at least Biblically supported). Now, I’m neither a Biblical scholar or historian, much less one who has explicitly studied this, but I don’t see any evidence for this. The supposition that this is a generational curse strikes me as a bit extreme. I certainly believe that generational curses are real, but God’s intent is to break those, not let them fester for thousands of years. Indeed, what I get from the Bible is that God chose to bless both Ishmael and Isaac. It seems to me, rather, that the short-sightedness of international and specifically British foreign policy and European and US economic policies are mostly responsible for the badness in the Middle East, not helped by the fact that–at least since Roman times–the middle east apparently makes a good launching point for empire building and those living there tend to get the worst of every emerging empire. It doesn’t foster a sense of good will towards the fellow man.

I digress.

So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me see the boy die.” And she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice and wept.

God heard the lad crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.”

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink. God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. (Genesis 21:14-21, NASB)

…

God told Jeremiah to write a letter to the Jewish people exiled in Babylon. God wanted the people to understand that they should live their lives in Babylon to the fullest. He didn’t want them to wish away these years or waste them in bitterness. Instead he told them to go about their lives, raise kids, let their kids marry; and to “Pray for peace in Babylonia and work hard to make it prosperous” (Jeremiah 29:7, CEV). Yahweh tells the people, through his prophet, to trust him, to know that’s he’s going to bring them home in due time, and to rejoice in the lives he’s giving them in the mean time. It is this that sets up one of the most oft-quoted verses in the Bible:

”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29 :11, NIV)

Okay, I don’t think you got that. Let’s try again.

You’re in EXILE in BABYLON which has just LAID WASTE to your HOME. And Jehovah God says, live your lives and bless this land because–God says–, “I WILL bless you with a future filled with hope–a future of success, not of suffering.” (Jeremiah 29:11, CEV).

You’ve lost your home, probably feel like you’ve lost your identity. When we quote this verse at church, it’s often like “Hey, that’s great.” Find the moments in your life where this verse doesn’t work in the Sunday morning way, but in the somebody’s reading you Jeremiah’s letter way.

For me, it’s the week that we find out Pi wasn’t going to be born. My wife was three months pregnant–and I was really getting used to the idea–with our first child, who we called Pi. And, then, boom, suddenly, there’s no baby in the grainy picture. Early miscarriage, blighted ovum. I couldn’t speak highly enough of most of the medical professionals we encountered over those couple of weeks, but there’s no way to make news like that…well, I don’t know…it just sucks. Somewhere between watching the second ultrasound and walking out after the DNC, that’s my moment. That’s when God says “I know the plans I have for you,” and I’m thinking, do you even see this context? Look at where I’m at right now, I’m in freaking BABYLON!

For Hagar (yeah, I’m actually going to talk about the passage) this is her moment. Go back and read the passage. The context is pretty much there. This is sucks-ville, this is exile, this is Babylon for Hagar. She’s without home and her son is dying of thirst. And God says, “Hagar, I know the plans I have for you and Ishmael. I’m going to bless you and not harm you.”

And Hagar takes that promise at face value. And God fulfills it.

Genesis 21:11-13

2007-11-18T23:37:00Z

Distressing Decisions

Read Genesis 21:11-13 Full Chapter

The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named. And of the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant.” (Genesis 21:11-13, NASB)

Abraham is in a difficult situation. I imagine this makes splitting up with Lot and such seem easy to the man from Chaldea. As I discussed regarding Sarah in my last entry, he made a bad decision that got him into this mess. I’ll grant that decision (to have sex with Hagar based on Sarah’s suggestion) involved some difficulties, but I still think the wise decision (“no”) was obvious. Now he faces another distressing decision.

Here’s the two major options, now:

Keep Hagar and Ishmael in the family; piss off Sarah.
Do as Sarah requests; send Hagar and Ishmael (his (mistress?) and son) off, quite possibly to die.

What the f— do you do in a situation like that? Seriously. I want to say #1, but how would he? Granted, I’m not too concerned with figuring it out. I can’t conceive of getting into this situation in the first place. But, then, I suppose it’s pretty normal, predicted or not, to end oneself up in a situation simply with no good solution, by the slow accretion of foolish decisions.

I guess I could quote most of Proverbs here, about wisdom and such. But when I’m thinking of distressing decisions, what comes to my mind is Paul talking himself and others going out and sharing about Jesus.

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:1-10, NASB)

I’m not sure why that passage is so precisely my response to this situation. In part, because if Abraham and Sarah had taken on this mindset that Paul is talking about, they might have faced perplexing decisions, but not ones causing despair. They forgot at times–as we all do–that our bodies are earthen vessels. If we fall of the table, we’re gonna bust. There’s just no way around it. We might land a little better or a little worse–Abraham might have made a more or less wise decision here–but (unless God intervenes, which I think he generally doesn’t at that point) we’re gonna break into pieces.

Yahweh makes beautiful things out of shards of pottery. But he didn’t say we had to have all that pain.

He steps in here and tells Abraham to go ahead and send off Hagar and Ishmael. Ishmael was not going to be the heir to all the promises God had given Abraham, but that had already been established. But, also, God has plans of wonderful blessing for Ishmael. He is going to be the heir to a promise, but a different one from Isaac. There really ought to have been no solution to this, but God, even though it’s come about because of sinful attitudes, makes a way. For one thing, he’s not going to punish Ishmael for the sins of his parents (and psuedo-parents). More generally, he’s got a beautiful plan.

Genesis 21:9-10

2007-11-15T04:11:00Z

(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.

Genesis 21:1-8

2007-11-13T01:04:00Z

The birth of Isaac

Read Genesis 21:1-8 Full Chapter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Genesis 20:17-18

2007-11-10T03:41:00Z

Barrenness

Read Genesis 20:17-18 Full Chapter

So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; for the LORD had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham�??s wife. (Genesis 20:17-18, NKJV)

Quick review:

Abraham and Sarah go to Gerar.
King Abimelech: “Hey, that 90 year old lady [referring to Sarah] is H-O-T!”
Abraham to Sarah: “Say you’re my sis.”
Sarah: “I’m his sis.”
Abimelech says, “Sweet, consider yourself my prisoner.”
God: “Abimelech, Sarah’s married. You’re a dead man.”
Abimilech: “I didn’t know.”
God: “Then fix it.”
Abimelech to Abraham: “Oops.”
Abraham: “Figured you’d kill me.”
Abimelech: “Here’s Sarah… and some silver”

So, now Abraham and Sarah are back together, and a bit richer (Although I would not want to be there when Sarah and Abraham first discuss this fiasco). Abraham responds by praying. Yahweh responds by healing. Various women in Abimelech’s country respond by having babies. Chalk up one by barrenness on the OT themes board.

Barrenness as a concept is strange. The relevant entry from dictionary.com here is “not producing or incapable of producing offspring; sterile”. That’s a big “or”. Not producing offspring and incapable of doing so are pretty different. And —-, there’s a lot of questions in that phrase. Is a women only barren if she is actively trying to conceive. Since barrenness is used metaphorically, is a task only barren if it has been attempted? And, aside from trying to parse the definition, there’s ten thousand cultural issues wrapped up in this concept, including stupidities like woman viewed like land, valued only for what they “produce”. Bleh.

It’s an interesting side note that God orchestrated the birth of the Messiah to require a “fertile” woman (the English language occassionally completely sucks) but not a fertile man. I wonder if Yahweh may have been making a statement there?

To this particular passage though, there’s a few implications (not explicit, so I’m guessing here) that I want to consider:

The women in the king’s household were barren, possibly since the moment Sarah was brought into the king’s…whatever. (the barrenness is explicit; what I’m trying to highlight is the implication that this had been going on for some time. I guess that is pretty obvious though; it’s not something that becomes apparent in a couple of days).
Abimelech was not motivated by this (granted, I’ve been biased against this guy throughout my study of this chapter, so I may be reading in too much), and did not act until he was convinced that his very life was at stake. It’s so important to pay attention to what Yahweh is doing in our lives; don’t wait until you’re at the edge of losing everything.
Yahweh’s blessing doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the king’s expectation. God heals Abimelech (of what I don’t know), but that’s all of two words. The attention is on Yahweh healing the barrenness of these various women. (sorry, “infertile” and “sterile” are the only synonyms I can think of and I’m not keen on either word).
While Abraham and Abimelech are playing these goofy games, Sarah and the women of Abimelech’s court are suffering in various ways – I’m assuming that’s God’s healing implies they were wanting children. I could be quite wrong. God is teaching the “powerful men” some lessons but he’s also focused on Sarah, the queen, and the servants.

So, aside from the ten thousand issues with barrenness here, it’s that subtle thing God does so often in the Bible. Yes, here we’re recording the big events, in the lives of the rich and powerful. And boom, God says, hey, that’s great that you grew up a little, now I’m going to bless…your servants!

Oh, snap.

Come back next entry for the surprise conclusion…