By this time, Isaac is doddering around the tent, and mainly just being old. The word says his vision was failing, so basically all he could do is taste and smell.
He calls in Esau and tells him to go hunt him some of his favorite game, and cook him up something tasty so that Isaac could deliver his blessing. Isaac still favored Esau here, in spite of the LORD telling Rebekah in Gen 25:23 that Jacob would be served by Esau. Rebekah as we know favored Isaac, so she planned to have Jacob deceive his old man. The ruse: Dressing up as and smelling like Esau and bringing Isaac some goats prepared from their own flock. Jacob did not need to be coerced at all by his mother Rebekah. He basically went along with it from the beginning. But this was different from back in chapter 25 when Jacob took advantage of the short-sighted and hungry Esau by trading stew for his birthright.
And the Bible doesn't editorialize here. It reports. I decide. I decide that Jacob is a jerk for taking advantage of Esau, and then falsely claiming God provided for him when Isaac asked how "Esau" got the food so quickly, and Rebekah is just as conniving, and I wonder what changed between who she is here, and the camel-watering servant girl from chapter 24. Wealth?
So the trick works, and Isaac doles out this magnificent blessing upon Jacob, ending with "May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed." I wonder what ran through Jacob's mind as he heard these blessings spoken, realizing they were not intended for him, and what would have been.
So Jacob bails, and Esau returns, bearing tasty game. Sure enough, a horrified Isaac realized he's been tricked, but there's not much he can do now. It was heartbreaking to read how Esau reacted, bursting out with a loud and bitter cry. This was it, this was major, and how his future would be directed. And it was gone, and Esau knew it. So maybe he made some wrong decisions along the way, it doesn't detract from my sympathy for him.
"Bless me - me too, my father." I can imagine Esau weeping aloud in his desperation for something great from his father, anything good.
Isaac simply says, "Jacob took your blessing."
Esau refers to Jacob's name apparently meaning deception, in that he grasps the heel. He refers to the stew episode.
As Isaac gave Jacob everything, he could give Esau only servitude, poverty and violence. What a downer. So much so that Esau looked forward to mourning his father so he could kill Jacob. Rebekah found out about it, and warned Jacob to go hide with her brother Laban until Esau gets over it. Which...is going to take some kind of cosmic miracle.
Then, in order to cover for Jacob, she tells Isaac she's sick of these (local) Hittite women, creating a story that Jacob went to live with Laban to find a wife. Rebekah just has all the bases covered.
OK, so, I'm seeing a lot of intermarriage here, and close relatives hooking up. I don't mean to skim over it, just that I assume it was a better option than marrying pagan women outside of God's covenant. I don't mean to skim over it, because I shudder at the thought of marrying a half-sister or something, but this was how they did it back then, and apparently it simply wasn't as taboo as it is today.
Showing posts with label Isaac. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Isaac. Show all posts
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Ge. 26: Isaac and Abimelech
Kicking off the second half of Genesis, we find out there is a famine in the land. So Isaac goes and pays a visit to his dad's old friend, Abimelech in Gerar.
Meanwhile, God tells Isaac not to go down to Egypt. Not sure if it has something to do with his stepbrother Ishmael's wife, or that Egypt just sucked. Anyway, God tells him to avoid Egypt. In verse 4, God almost word-for-word reiterates the promise he made to Abraham back in Gen 22:17. But he adds a caveat, saying that Abraham obeyed God, and did everything required of him. This was a challenge to Isaac to follow the same path.
Follow the same path, he did...right down to letting Abimelech think Rebekah was Isaac's sister. When his dad pulled the stunt, it was before he was born, so maybe Isaac thought of it on his own, or maybe Abraham told him about it....I'unno. The point is, we have a husband with a hot wife, fearing for his life in spite of God's promise of preservation, Abimelech (or his cohorts) under the impression hot wife was a sister, Abimelech getting upset because they don't mess with married women, and then a decree going out not to harm the prophet. Maybe this was how Isaac figured it worked. Bring your wife in, let them think she's your sister, and then they protect you and lavish gifts upon you. Not a bad racket, I guess.
Isaac planted crops in that land, and God gave him a hundredfold increase. I'm no farmer, but if I plant one seed of corn or wheat or something, and I get 100 plants, I'd say that's pretty amazing, and a miracle.
So he gets rich. Big time. So much so that the Philistines living in the land got jealous. All they had were their cave paintings and sloping, ape-like foreheads presumably. So what do you do when you're jealous of the new rich guy in town? Go fill in all his wells. Grr...now they've got him.
Abimelech gets word of this, and tells Isaac to move away. He's become too big a fish for the small pond. So he moves away to the Valley of Gerar, which is apparently distinct from Gerar.
Isaac reopened all the wells, but was apparently not far enough away from Gerar, as the Gerarian herdsman argued with him over land and wells. He finally moved far enough away to be able to call a well Rehoboth, or "Room." Then he went to Beersheba. God again reconuts his promise, and Isaac builds an altar.
I'm pretty amazed by how often God recounts his promise to Abraham and Isaac. So far it's been 5 or 6 times. He must mean it.
Abimelech tracks him down, and goes to meet Isaac. Isaac is like, "What do you want? We moved away from your hostility." Abimelech goes, "No, we see that you and the LORD are like...tight. We want to make a deal with you."
Just like Abimelech, trying to get on God's good side without making any effort on his own.
So they have a feast and everyone's happy. They're cool.
Then they find out Ishmael went and married some Hittite chicks. And this really bugged Isaac and Rebekah.
Meanwhile, God tells Isaac not to go down to Egypt. Not sure if it has something to do with his stepbrother Ishmael's wife, or that Egypt just sucked. Anyway, God tells him to avoid Egypt. In verse 4, God almost word-for-word reiterates the promise he made to Abraham back in Gen 22:17. But he adds a caveat, saying that Abraham obeyed God, and did everything required of him. This was a challenge to Isaac to follow the same path.
Follow the same path, he did...right down to letting Abimelech think Rebekah was Isaac's sister. When his dad pulled the stunt, it was before he was born, so maybe Isaac thought of it on his own, or maybe Abraham told him about it....I'unno. The point is, we have a husband with a hot wife, fearing for his life in spite of God's promise of preservation, Abimelech (or his cohorts) under the impression hot wife was a sister, Abimelech getting upset because they don't mess with married women, and then a decree going out not to harm the prophet. Maybe this was how Isaac figured it worked. Bring your wife in, let them think she's your sister, and then they protect you and lavish gifts upon you. Not a bad racket, I guess.
Isaac planted crops in that land, and God gave him a hundredfold increase. I'm no farmer, but if I plant one seed of corn or wheat or something, and I get 100 plants, I'd say that's pretty amazing, and a miracle.
So he gets rich. Big time. So much so that the Philistines living in the land got jealous. All they had were their cave paintings and sloping, ape-like foreheads presumably. So what do you do when you're jealous of the new rich guy in town? Go fill in all his wells. Grr...now they've got him.
Abimelech gets word of this, and tells Isaac to move away. He's become too big a fish for the small pond. So he moves away to the Valley of Gerar, which is apparently distinct from Gerar.
Isaac reopened all the wells, but was apparently not far enough away from Gerar, as the Gerarian herdsman argued with him over land and wells. He finally moved far enough away to be able to call a well Rehoboth, or "Room." Then he went to Beersheba. God again reconuts his promise, and Isaac builds an altar.
I'm pretty amazed by how often God recounts his promise to Abraham and Isaac. So far it's been 5 or 6 times. He must mean it.
Abimelech tracks him down, and goes to meet Isaac. Isaac is like, "What do you want? We moved away from your hostility." Abimelech goes, "No, we see that you and the LORD are like...tight. We want to make a deal with you."
Just like Abimelech, trying to get on God's good side without making any effort on his own.
So they have a feast and everyone's happy. They're cool.
Then they find out Ishmael went and married some Hittite chicks. And this really bugged Isaac and Rebekah.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Ge. 25: The Greatest Stew in the History of Man
Chapter 25 opens describing how Abraham took a second wife: Keturah. I think this is for a couple of reasons. The first is that maybe he was still trying to kick God's promise into gear. After all these promises, after all these signs, could he really be trying to take over and do it himself? To help God out perhaps? As we have seen previously, forcing God's hand can lead to problems. See Hagar. And let's not forget that in Gen. 17:19, God says He will establish His covenant with Isaac anyway.
The other reason, possibly, is that Abraham needed a companion. What's wrong with taking a second wife in case of death? He could have been lonely, and needed that type of intimacy. After all, "things" have only been "working" for a few years.
Anyway, Keturah gives Abraham a quintet of sons...maybe some daughters, but unless I'm mistaken, only in the case of Rebekah have daughters been mentioned. Crazy sexist Bible. Would these sons ally themselves with Isaac, or be enemies to Abraham's descendants? I don't know yet. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say probably not.
Abraham probably didn't endear himself to Keturah's sons by leaving all of his vast wealth and land to Isaac, although he did offer them some nice parting gifts before sending them on their way.
Abraham kicked off after 175 years, a good old age indeed as prophesied in Gen. 15:15. Isaac and Ishmael came together to bury their old man in Machpelah with Sarah. Apparently still on friendly terms with the Hittites.
Ishmael, as God promised, was fruitful and had 12 sons with the wife from Egypt that Hagar found for him as mentioned in Gen. 21:21.
Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 12 sons. Just as the Angel of the LORD said to Hagar in Gen 16:12, they lived in hostility toward their brothers. Well, I guess that answers my question.
Isaac didn't have it as easy to begin with as Ishmael. Rebekah, as hot as she was, turned out to be barren. So he did what Abraham exemplified, Isaac took it to the LORD in prayer. Abraham must have raised Isaac in the culture of prayer, and walking with God daily...Chapter 22 being the most amazing example.
As promised, God heard Isaac's prayer and Rebekah became pregnant. With two. With two jostlers, who wrestled in the womb. This was all weird and scary to Rebekah. She asked God about it as well.
"What's the deal?"
"Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." Kind of cryptic sounding, but actually pretty clear. That kind of thing would be hard for me to hear. I'd want my kids to get along, and be friends for life, especially if they were twins. So...not only will they possibly not get along, their whole lines will be at each other's throats.
The first on the twins to come out was all red and hairy, so he was named Esau, which I guess means "red" or "hairy" or a combination of both. Good thing he wasn't pink. The next little fella came out grasping Esau's heel, so he was given the name "Jacob," meaning heel-grasper. Hmm...where else have we heard about heels? Possibly unrelated, but there is some importance to the heel.
Esau grows up to be a skillful hunter, while Jacob kind of mellows out and hangs around the tents. Isaac, who loved the taste of wild game preferred Esau, but Rebekah favored Jacob.
OK, this one time, like Esau came back from hunting all starved, and momma's boy Jacob had made some red stew. Esau could not wait to get that stew in him. He's all like, "Quick, give me some stew." Jacob realized it was time to be an exploiter, and told Esau to sell him his birthright...his inheritance, you know? Drama queen Esau was like, "I'm dying anyway, what good is my birthright?" So he swore an oath to Jacob, that for a bowl of stew, Jacob would receive all Isaac owned. Nice deal, Esau, way to be.
Questions for God:
1. Wow, I...cool. I'm glad I can just ask for something. Why would you want to keep hearing the minutia begged for by all of humanity. Well, not all humanity...those who call upon you?
The other reason, possibly, is that Abraham needed a companion. What's wrong with taking a second wife in case of death? He could have been lonely, and needed that type of intimacy. After all, "things" have only been "working" for a few years.
Anyway, Keturah gives Abraham a quintet of sons...maybe some daughters, but unless I'm mistaken, only in the case of Rebekah have daughters been mentioned. Crazy sexist Bible. Would these sons ally themselves with Isaac, or be enemies to Abraham's descendants? I don't know yet. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say probably not.
Abraham probably didn't endear himself to Keturah's sons by leaving all of his vast wealth and land to Isaac, although he did offer them some nice parting gifts before sending them on their way.
Abraham kicked off after 175 years, a good old age indeed as prophesied in Gen. 15:15. Isaac and Ishmael came together to bury their old man in Machpelah with Sarah. Apparently still on friendly terms with the Hittites.
Ishmael, as God promised, was fruitful and had 12 sons with the wife from Egypt that Hagar found for him as mentioned in Gen. 21:21.
Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 12 sons. Just as the Angel of the LORD said to Hagar in Gen 16:12, they lived in hostility toward their brothers. Well, I guess that answers my question.
Isaac didn't have it as easy to begin with as Ishmael. Rebekah, as hot as she was, turned out to be barren. So he did what Abraham exemplified, Isaac took it to the LORD in prayer. Abraham must have raised Isaac in the culture of prayer, and walking with God daily...Chapter 22 being the most amazing example.
As promised, God heard Isaac's prayer and Rebekah became pregnant. With two. With two jostlers, who wrestled in the womb. This was all weird and scary to Rebekah. She asked God about it as well.
"What's the deal?"
"Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." Kind of cryptic sounding, but actually pretty clear. That kind of thing would be hard for me to hear. I'd want my kids to get along, and be friends for life, especially if they were twins. So...not only will they possibly not get along, their whole lines will be at each other's throats.
The first on the twins to come out was all red and hairy, so he was named Esau, which I guess means "red" or "hairy" or a combination of both. Good thing he wasn't pink. The next little fella came out grasping Esau's heel, so he was given the name "Jacob," meaning heel-grasper. Hmm...where else have we heard about heels? Possibly unrelated, but there is some importance to the heel.
Esau grows up to be a skillful hunter, while Jacob kind of mellows out and hangs around the tents. Isaac, who loved the taste of wild game preferred Esau, but Rebekah favored Jacob.
OK, this one time, like Esau came back from hunting all starved, and momma's boy Jacob had made some red stew. Esau could not wait to get that stew in him. He's all like, "Quick, give me some stew." Jacob realized it was time to be an exploiter, and told Esau to sell him his birthright...his inheritance, you know? Drama queen Esau was like, "I'm dying anyway, what good is my birthright?" So he swore an oath to Jacob, that for a bowl of stew, Jacob would receive all Isaac owned. Nice deal, Esau, way to be.
Questions for God:
1. Wow, I...cool. I'm glad I can just ask for something. Why would you want to keep hearing the minutia begged for by all of humanity. Well, not all humanity...those who call upon you?
- Noah: 1046 - 1996
- Shem: 1548 - 2148
- Flood and the shortened lifespan - 1646
- Arphaxad: 1648 - 2086
- Shelah: 1683 - 2116
- Eber: 1713 - 2143
- Peleg: 1747 - 1956
- Reu: 1777 - 2016
- Serug: 1809 - 2039
- Nahor: 1839 - 1987
- Terah: 1868 - 2073
- Abraham: 1938 - 2113
- Ishmael: 2024 - 2161
- Isaac: 2038 -
- Jacob: 2098 -
- Esau: 2098 -
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Ge. 24: Rebekah meets Isaac
Abraham is an old man, so he makes his chief servant go find Isaac a wife. Abraham is really itching to get this whole "ancestors as numerous as the stars" thing going.
A promise is apparently made by one putting his hand under another's thigh.
Abraham told servant-man not to go get a wife for Isaac among the Canaanites. Probably because they did not fear God. But even more important to Abraham was that Isaac didn't leave and go live somewhere else. Who knows what would have happened, in addition to going outside of the covenant.
What's amazing is that Abraham tells his servant that God will send his angel ahead, to prepare the way. Abraham knows women are sometimes...uncontrollable. Not the right word, but...ok...women need a little extra convincing to go along with a plan sometimes. An angel was needed for Pete's sake.
The servant knows that the hotspot for all the girlie action is the local well.
He asks God for an indicator, saying, "OK, if I ask her for a drink, and she hooks me up, and then offers to water the camels, she's the one." And it happened. Rebekah, who we met in Gen. 22:23, is the first taker. Everything basically follows according to plan. God makes it pretty easy.
The servant tells Rebekah's family this story, and they, for the most part, are on board with her leaving town. They recognize that this is from the LORD., except for some reason they want her to stay ten more days.
But she's like, "Pshhhh...I'm about to go get married."
She meets Isaac and they fall in love....Wooooo!
A promise is apparently made by one putting his hand under another's thigh.
Abraham told servant-man not to go get a wife for Isaac among the Canaanites. Probably because they did not fear God. But even more important to Abraham was that Isaac didn't leave and go live somewhere else. Who knows what would have happened, in addition to going outside of the covenant.
What's amazing is that Abraham tells his servant that God will send his angel ahead, to prepare the way. Abraham knows women are sometimes...uncontrollable. Not the right word, but...ok...women need a little extra convincing to go along with a plan sometimes. An angel was needed for Pete's sake.
The servant knows that the hotspot for all the girlie action is the local well.
He asks God for an indicator, saying, "OK, if I ask her for a drink, and she hooks me up, and then offers to water the camels, she's the one." And it happened. Rebekah, who we met in Gen. 22:23, is the first taker. Everything basically follows according to plan. God makes it pretty easy.
The servant tells Rebekah's family this story, and they, for the most part, are on board with her leaving town. They recognize that this is from the LORD., except for some reason they want her to stay ten more days.
But she's like, "Pshhhh...I'm about to go get married."
She meets Isaac and they fall in love....Wooooo!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Ge. 22: Don't kill me, dad.
Numb is how I felt reading through most of chapter 22.
I wonder if that's how Abraham must have felt as he acted out chapter 22.
OK, picture this, Abraham has his son for...oh, probably a few years. This is the son for whom Abraham has waited 10 decades. God calls down to him, saying, "Take your son - your only son - you know, the son you love...(oh...forget Ishmael), and go up to Moriah, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering..."
Wow, so...not only does Abraham have to give up his only son (who he loves), he's got to offer him as a sacrifice. Not just a sacrifice...a burnt offering. Don't want to imagine setting fire to my son.
Abraham doesn't argue...doesn't question...could it be that he's finally understanding this covenant thing? God just worked in an amazing way in the previous chapter to reinforce Abraham's faith. Still, I don't imagine Abraham got much sleep that night.
The next morning, he and Isaac and two servants set out for the mountains. On the third day of traveling to this place, God revealed the place where He would have Abraham sacrifice Isaac. He tells his two servants that they will go up, worship, and return. I imagine they didn't probably buy it. I wonder what that three day journey was like. I'm sure the silence was deafening. It would be hard to listen to Isaac talk about whatever kids talked about back then...full of life and curiosity and energy, and knowing that he as a father would have to sacrifice his son. He leaves the servants behind and he and Isaac continue onward.
Isaac notices as they near the spot, Abraham has the fire and the knife...Isaac is hauling the wood...no lamb.
"Dad..."
"Yes, my son?"
"We have the fire and the wood. Where's the lamb?"
What a heartbreaking exchange to read.
Abraham answers out of either faith, or to protect Isaac from fear, "God will provide." God has always provided for Abraham, but I wonder how convicted Abraham sounded. Did he declare those words, or did he sort of choke them out?
Abraham got as far as raising the knife over his trembling son before an Angel of the Lord put a stop to the process. "Now I know that you fear God, because you would not even withhold your son." My first reaction is "What a cruel God to make Abraham go through this horrible thing." I can't imagine going through this, and I don't really understand. Did Abraham really need to get to this extreme? Did he begin to take for granted who Isaac was, and what he meant to the world? Did he forget what all he went through before he was granted his wife's son? I don't know. I imagine that I assign attributes to God that are kind of watered-down by the society in which I live, even in my own faith, that God is this soft, touchy-feely emotional being without any hardline. Like camping, God is intense!
Anyway, God provided a ram that got caught by its horns in the thicket. And Abraham sacrificed that as a burnt offering, instead of his son. I'm not sure exactly how that was a sacrifice, unless it came out of his own flock somehow, or it was there, and he could have kept it...but it was either the ram or his son...I 'unno. I'm sure I'm not the first person to ask this question, but it makes me wonder. Ooh, it really makes me wonder...
And Abraham called that place The Lord will Provide. Places were named pretty obviously 4.7 billion years ago.
The angel calls out again, and says that because Abraham was willing to go through with this, God will surely bless Abraham and make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and the sand on the shore, and that his descendents will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and bless all nations. Not much different than what was promised previously in chapter 15. Except for the whole taking over enemies' cities thing.
So Abraham goes back and lives in Beersheba.
As a footnote, Abraham finds out that his long lost brother Nahor has some kids: Uz, Buz, Kemuel, Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Nahor's concubine had some sons, as well...Tebah, Galham, Tahash, and Maacah. Neat.
I wonder if that's how Abraham must have felt as he acted out chapter 22.
OK, picture this, Abraham has his son for...oh, probably a few years. This is the son for whom Abraham has waited 10 decades. God calls down to him, saying, "Take your son - your only son - you know, the son you love...(oh...forget Ishmael), and go up to Moriah, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering..."
Wow, so...not only does Abraham have to give up his only son (who he loves), he's got to offer him as a sacrifice. Not just a sacrifice...a burnt offering. Don't want to imagine setting fire to my son.
Abraham doesn't argue...doesn't question...could it be that he's finally understanding this covenant thing? God just worked in an amazing way in the previous chapter to reinforce Abraham's faith. Still, I don't imagine Abraham got much sleep that night.
The next morning, he and Isaac and two servants set out for the mountains. On the third day of traveling to this place, God revealed the place where He would have Abraham sacrifice Isaac. He tells his two servants that they will go up, worship, and return. I imagine they didn't probably buy it. I wonder what that three day journey was like. I'm sure the silence was deafening. It would be hard to listen to Isaac talk about whatever kids talked about back then...full of life and curiosity and energy, and knowing that he as a father would have to sacrifice his son. He leaves the servants behind and he and Isaac continue onward.
Isaac notices as they near the spot, Abraham has the fire and the knife...Isaac is hauling the wood...no lamb.
"Dad..."
"Yes, my son?"
"We have the fire and the wood. Where's the lamb?"
What a heartbreaking exchange to read.
Abraham answers out of either faith, or to protect Isaac from fear, "God will provide." God has always provided for Abraham, but I wonder how convicted Abraham sounded. Did he declare those words, or did he sort of choke them out?
Abraham got as far as raising the knife over his trembling son before an Angel of the Lord put a stop to the process. "Now I know that you fear God, because you would not even withhold your son." My first reaction is "What a cruel God to make Abraham go through this horrible thing." I can't imagine going through this, and I don't really understand. Did Abraham really need to get to this extreme? Did he begin to take for granted who Isaac was, and what he meant to the world? Did he forget what all he went through before he was granted his wife's son? I don't know. I imagine that I assign attributes to God that are kind of watered-down by the society in which I live, even in my own faith, that God is this soft, touchy-feely emotional being without any hardline. Like camping, God is intense!
Anyway, God provided a ram that got caught by its horns in the thicket. And Abraham sacrificed that as a burnt offering, instead of his son. I'm not sure exactly how that was a sacrifice, unless it came out of his own flock somehow, or it was there, and he could have kept it...but it was either the ram or his son...I 'unno. I'm sure I'm not the first person to ask this question, but it makes me wonder. Ooh, it really makes me wonder...
And Abraham called that place The Lord will Provide. Places were named pretty obviously 4.7 billion years ago.
The angel calls out again, and says that because Abraham was willing to go through with this, God will surely bless Abraham and make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and the sand on the shore, and that his descendents will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and bless all nations. Not much different than what was promised previously in chapter 15. Except for the whole taking over enemies' cities thing.
So Abraham goes back and lives in Beersheba.
As a footnote, Abraham finds out that his long lost brother Nahor has some kids: Uz, Buz, Kemuel, Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Nahor's concubine had some sons, as well...Tebah, Galham, Tahash, and Maacah. Neat.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Ge. 21: Huzzah for Isaac...Ishmael is outty-five
OK, Finally! I can rejoice with Abraham, because in chapter 21, Sarah gives birth to Isaac (c. 2038), presumably meaning "laughter." The Bible says it was at God's appointed time, exactly when He said He'd deliver (Gen 18:10). I'm pretty happy for Abe, because he waited a very long time to have a son by his wife, the way it was meant to be. I have only the frame of reference of a few years at the longest in waiting on God to provide an answer to prayer. And when He did, I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving and...well, relief. God consistently shows He is a specific person, not a vague concept. I cannot imagine the joy that Abraham felt. He just wanted to party.
The birth of Ishmael led to pain and controversy and family dischord. The birth of Isaac was unifying, to Abraham and Sarah, and to Abraham and his family.
Ishmael was born pre-circumcision covenant...he had to be brought in after the 8 day rule. Isaac was born, and was circumcised into the covenant exactly as God intended.
Ishmael was a result of man attempting to force God's hand. Isaac was the hand God stacked the deck to play.
Ishmael was a mocker at the feast celebrating Isaac's weaning. Sarah saw this, and was not willing to have Ishmael share in Isaac's inheritance. She told Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham wasn't at peace with that type of decision, so he took it to the LORD. God said, "Listen to Sarah, because like I said, Isaac will be the source of your offspring, and fulfillment of my promise."
What's interesting next is that God says he will also make Ishmael a great nation as well. This is not because God wanted Hagar or Ishmael to feel better, or as some sort of a consolation. It was merely because Abraham was his father. So Abe gives them the boot the next day.
Hagar and Ishmael wander around in the desert until the provisions given them by Abraham run out. Hagar is desperate. In her tears, the Angel of the Lord comforts her. I don't know if this is a new angel, or if its the one that gave her comfort the last time she was in the desert after being banished. The angel encourages Hagar, telling her that God hears her cries, and not to worry. God graciously reveals a well that may or may nor have been there before, and Hagar and Ishmael are saved. The Bible says God was with Ishmael, despite him not necessarily being a part of the covenant. Was this due to Ishmael's father being Abraham, or the fact the God was benevolent to everyone? Maybe it's something else entirely.
Meanwhile, Abimelech is conferring with Abraham, telling him not to pull any stunts on him, as a favor to the nation in which he lives that shows him kindness. After swearing it, Abraham tells Abimelech that maybe his nation isn't so kind. Apparently some of Abimelech's men seized a well dig by Abraham's men. Abimelech is like, "This is news to me." Abraham gives Abimelech seven ewe lambs as a testimony that he is telling the truth. Seven, like on the ark...
Anyway, the well is called Beersheba. Maybe there were a lot Beersheba's back in the day, because Beersheba is where Hagar encountered the angel. Same, different...thats a question for God.
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree and called on the name of the Eternal God.
Questions for God:
1. Is everyone assigned an angel, or what? How does that work?
The birth of Ishmael led to pain and controversy and family dischord. The birth of Isaac was unifying, to Abraham and Sarah, and to Abraham and his family.
Ishmael was born pre-circumcision covenant...he had to be brought in after the 8 day rule. Isaac was born, and was circumcised into the covenant exactly as God intended.
Ishmael was a result of man attempting to force God's hand. Isaac was the hand God stacked the deck to play.
Ishmael was a mocker at the feast celebrating Isaac's weaning. Sarah saw this, and was not willing to have Ishmael share in Isaac's inheritance. She told Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham wasn't at peace with that type of decision, so he took it to the LORD. God said, "Listen to Sarah, because like I said, Isaac will be the source of your offspring, and fulfillment of my promise."
What's interesting next is that God says he will also make Ishmael a great nation as well. This is not because God wanted Hagar or Ishmael to feel better, or as some sort of a consolation. It was merely because Abraham was his father. So Abe gives them the boot the next day.
Hagar and Ishmael wander around in the desert until the provisions given them by Abraham run out. Hagar is desperate. In her tears, the Angel of the Lord comforts her. I don't know if this is a new angel, or if its the one that gave her comfort the last time she was in the desert after being banished. The angel encourages Hagar, telling her that God hears her cries, and not to worry. God graciously reveals a well that may or may nor have been there before, and Hagar and Ishmael are saved. The Bible says God was with Ishmael, despite him not necessarily being a part of the covenant. Was this due to Ishmael's father being Abraham, or the fact the God was benevolent to everyone? Maybe it's something else entirely.
Meanwhile, Abimelech is conferring with Abraham, telling him not to pull any stunts on him, as a favor to the nation in which he lives that shows him kindness. After swearing it, Abraham tells Abimelech that maybe his nation isn't so kind. Apparently some of Abimelech's men seized a well dig by Abraham's men. Abimelech is like, "This is news to me." Abraham gives Abimelech seven ewe lambs as a testimony that he is telling the truth. Seven, like on the ark...
Anyway, the well is called Beersheba. Maybe there were a lot Beersheba's back in the day, because Beersheba is where Hagar encountered the angel. Same, different...thats a question for God.
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree and called on the name of the Eternal God.
Questions for God:
1. Is everyone assigned an angel, or what? How does that work?
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Gen. 17: Don't be Cut Off
So, chapter 17 takes place about 13 years after chapter 16 comes to a close. By this time, Ishmael is a young boy, and Abram is 99 years old, his wife Sarai is about 90. Abram was already an old fogey when God made the covenant with him all those years ago. By this time, I wonder how Abram's faith was holding up. Even with screwed-up ages compared to modern times, its getting pretty late in the game to father an heir. If God made me a promise, I'd probably give Him less than 13 years before I'd start letting my doubts creep in.
Finally, God appears before Abram and says, "All right, I'm ready to confirm this covenant. You're numbers will start to increase." I don't know if God jumped out of nowhere after 13 years of total silence, or if He had been making appearances here and there...the Bible doesn't say. But Abram falls face down before God...out of fear, awe, reverence...I'd do the same, I suppose.
God announces that this is a covenant of circumcision. Ouch. Every male 8 days and up from here to...forever...will have to have a bit of minor surgery on the most intimate part of his body. Perhaps this cutting is a reminder of the reproductive dedication to the covenant between God and man? This covenant is one of flesh. That it is not the human body that reproduces humans...there is a miracle from God that reproduces humans. Imagine Abram's reaction to God telling him this.
"You want me to what my what?"
Anyway, in order to be identified as a child of God, there must be circumcision. The foreskin must be removed. It is possible the foreskin was symbolic of the unclean? Anyone who doesn't undergo circumcision will be...well, "cut off." Hey, God's words, not mine. This is a covenant that man is capable of breaking in flesh. God says, "I'm good to go" but if man refuses to take this action, he breaks the covenant, and will not be a part of God's promise.
Sarai becomes Sarah, and Abram becomes Abraham. Probably means "father of many nations." This name change comes as a result of the new covenant, I'd assume, as things change drastically in this movement of God. What an amazing thing to be told that Kings of nations would be born in your line. Awesome.
Anyway, Abraham...I'm not sure how he's taking this. God said all this before. Abraham even laughs...."I'm 99 years old, and my wife is about to hit 90. How will we see this? Are you talking about Ishmael?"
Noooooo....God said it would include Sarah...duhhh.
God gets very specific with Abraham, telling him that the covenant will be established through Isaac, who will be born to Sarah. Sure, Ishmael will have it good, be the father of 12 nations and such, but the everlasting covenant will be through Isaac, who will be born by this time NEXT YEAR! Finally! God gives a time frame. Sometimes we just need those.
Finally, God appears before Abram and says, "All right, I'm ready to confirm this covenant. You're numbers will start to increase." I don't know if God jumped out of nowhere after 13 years of total silence, or if He had been making appearances here and there...the Bible doesn't say. But Abram falls face down before God...out of fear, awe, reverence...I'd do the same, I suppose.
God announces that this is a covenant of circumcision. Ouch. Every male 8 days and up from here to...forever...will have to have a bit of minor surgery on the most intimate part of his body. Perhaps this cutting is a reminder of the reproductive dedication to the covenant between God and man? This covenant is one of flesh. That it is not the human body that reproduces humans...there is a miracle from God that reproduces humans. Imagine Abram's reaction to God telling him this.
"You want me to what my what?"
Anyway, in order to be identified as a child of God, there must be circumcision. The foreskin must be removed. It is possible the foreskin was symbolic of the unclean? Anyone who doesn't undergo circumcision will be...well, "cut off." Hey, God's words, not mine. This is a covenant that man is capable of breaking in flesh. God says, "I'm good to go" but if man refuses to take this action, he breaks the covenant, and will not be a part of God's promise.
Sarai becomes Sarah, and Abram becomes Abraham. Probably means "father of many nations." This name change comes as a result of the new covenant, I'd assume, as things change drastically in this movement of God. What an amazing thing to be told that Kings of nations would be born in your line. Awesome.
Anyway, Abraham...I'm not sure how he's taking this. God said all this before. Abraham even laughs...."I'm 99 years old, and my wife is about to hit 90. How will we see this? Are you talking about Ishmael?"
Noooooo....God said it would include Sarah...duhhh.
God gets very specific with Abraham, telling him that the covenant will be established through Isaac, who will be born to Sarah. Sure, Ishmael will have it good, be the father of 12 nations and such, but the everlasting covenant will be through Isaac, who will be born by this time NEXT YEAR! Finally! God gives a time frame. Sometimes we just need those.
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