Exodus 31-33

The face of God cannot be seen. This is an amazing truth and one that ends our reading for the day. Do you respect and revere God in this way? He is really something to behold and be near – and you get that with Christ daily!

Chapter 31 shows us that God makes people to specifically do things. He made craftsmen that would work for building the tabernacle and Ark. Chapter 32 shows us that the people get impatient and God deals with them harshly – first with the Levites (who just earned special favor – wait and see) and then with a plague. Do you agree with God here?

However, after this, Moses speaks to God on their behalf and God relents. He then pleads with God to go with them – even if the nation is less than God should expect or deserve. God tells him He will. Moses then asks to see His glory, which will set us up for chapter 34.

Exodus 28-30

There is some deep symbolism with the priestly clothes. First, they were made of the finest materials that Israel had to offer. These garments showed that not just anyone could approach the God of the universe. He could only be one – the high priest – and he was coming with various stones and jewels attached to his garments. On these gems and stones were the names of the Israelite tribes – he was literally "carrying" his people into the presence of God.

Unfortunately, when this passage is looked at, many miss the main point. They say things like, "We must bring our finest to God," or "You must be dressed a certain way to go to church, like the high priest was." Please understand me, there is nothing wrong with dressing up to go to church – but the churches that do not dress up are not in sin. The main point of this passage is that the high priest must be wearing glorious clothes and must be carrying the people to His presence. Our high priest is doing that – Jesus is clothed in glory now (Rev. 1) and is carrying us into His presence daily. It is His righteousness that allows us to pray and come to God. Please hear me – the point is not clothes, nor hair, nor anything else – but the righteousness of Christ on our behalf. Cling to this and be saved!

This same principle is true of the consecration process for the priests. God's point is not to give endless boring rules and precepts that must be followed. God just wants to show us that we are not able to just walk into His presence – He is holy and everything we do should be done in a way to remind us of this. Whatever music is played – if God is the intended audience – worship is happening (no matter how good or bad the quality is). This reminds us to get over our own preferences and desires and to just praise Him and worship the one who made everything.

Exodus 25-27

This likely feels like a lot of unnecessary detail. I used to feel that way. When I was younger, I just thought everything came together and was done. I had no idea how much planning and thinking goes into everything. This was the place where God was going to meet with His people – the tabernacle, Ark of the Covenant, Table for Bread, lampstands, etc. There should be no shortage of guidance here, don't you think? You wouldn't want God to be meeting His people just anywhere. Of course, He could, but you wouldn't want it, I think. This was my perspective on this passage – how about you guys? You've all been quiet lately.

History of Halloween

A great post on Halloween that should be read by all.

Exodus 22-24

Isn't the description of God on the mountain amazing and scary? I find it fascinating that the elders of Israel, Moses and a few others get to experience Him in this way? It is amazing to me.

Notice that Moses gets the law and commandments on the tablets – not just the Ten Commandments. Those tablets did not look like the ones in our courthouses or posters. Yet the principles in those ten does trickle down to the rest. Many have argued that commandments 1-4 deal with God and 5-10 deal with people, pulling from our "Love the Lord, Love your neighbor" command from Jesus. The other laws we see in these chapters primarily teach us how to live with one another in a manor that would please Him. Notice God deals with the minor details – even what may be considered trivial – to live together in harmony and to live the way God would want us to.

Exodus 19-21

God deserves separation – His holiness demands it. Some might look at the beginning of 19 and say, "God is mean and afraid of people getting close." This simply is not true – He is "holy" or "other" and is teaching the people this. He wants us to know we are not like Him. He wants us to know we can't get close to Him anymore (remember the fall in the garden?). However, this is the start of a relationship with Him that will be fulfilled through Christ that we might get close to Him again – that we might be allowed to enter His throne room with confidence. Chapter 20 of course is the Ten Commandments – are there any that read differently to you now that you are reading them yourself?

The people's reaction to His voice (vox dei) on the mountain shows us that God is not trying to create separation. Separation already exists. The fact that the people don't want to hear from God anymore should show us this. He is a God that creates fear. Fear of God is a strange emotion and action. It is not as much a scary fear, but one of reverence. It is one of potential: If He is like that (all-powerful), then He could (do anything, including judge me right now), but doesn't and I am fearful/respectful/in awe. It is also a bit like how you might feel when meeting a celebrity – only way more intense! You are speechless and stuttering in His presence. This is a sign of fear, but not the cowering in the corner from an abuser sort of fear. The fear of God is due to His power, His holiness, His potential.

Chapter 21 is a look into some of the laws the Israelites are to obey now. Some would cringe at the passages about slavery, but one must see that God is teaching the Israelites to be different than those around them. Notice there is retribution for mistreating a slave. This was not the case in Egypt, and certainly not the case in Canaan. God wanted Israel to be different, and this was the start. Where today the church has won the battle of slavery (men like William Wilberforce in England for one), at the time of these laws, there was much to be learned. You might imagine God standing before a classroom, pointing at a board and saying, "Repeat after me class, 'A human is a human and must be treated like a human.' Good! Class, Good!" God was revealing his ways and teaching them to act His ways – slowly so they could keep up and follow through.

Exodus 16-18

How long would it take for you to start being upset with God if things don't really go as planned? Do you trust Him? The Israelites have been walking for only 6 weeks and are already upset with what God isn't doing for them. They think they would rather be slaves and well-fed then be free and not eating much. God's answer is judgment… or not. God blesses them with quail at night and bread in the morning. He provides in amazing ways for them – and it suits them for now. Things did not become less challenging for Moses here – shortly after this the people realize that they want water to drink, so they once again yell at Moses and ask for there to be water. He once again reminds them that they are not quarreling with Aaron and him, but with God. So the Lord provides by having Moses strike a rock and then water comes out to go to the people. The challenges do not stop here – as a nation known as the people of Amalek attack them in the desert. God gives them victory over Amalek. He does this by giving victory whenever Moses holds his arms up in the air. Whenever Moses' arms fell, the Israelites would lose. Joshua fought the battle with the people, and Aaron and Hur would hold Moses' arms up. It is good to have fellow leaders that will hold up the arms of another leader.

It is around this time that Moses' father-in-law comes to see Moses and sees all that he is doing. Jethro realizes for Moses that he is doing too much. He inspires his son-in-law to set others in charge of numbers of people so that they can take care of the squabbling amongst themselves. Imagine every court case today going to just one judge – for an entire nation! Jethro is very wise and this helps Moses tremendously.

Exodus 13-15

Because the Lord "bought" the firstborn children by saving their lives, they owed Him their lives. Therefore they were consecrated to Him. After this, they crossed the Red Sea by God's amazing grace. He allows them to cross and then destroys the Egyptian army that was following them. After this, Moses leads the people in a song about what just happened – and Miriam follows it up with another song for the ladies, led by a tambourine. God's love and provision makes people praise Him – it is a response to His provision!

Exodus 10-12

As the plagues come to a close, it would be beneficial to see the escalation here. It is suggested and likely true that God was attacking Egyptian gods one-by-one until they were utterly defeated. This can partly be true simply by looking at the ninth plague sent to pharaoh. The key Egyptian god was Ra, a god of sun. The ninth plague was a plague of darkness – and this seems to show us what God is doing. Next, however, life will be taken from Egypt and Egypt will so hate what God is doing that the Israelites will be released. They will also be given a number of goods to go with them on the journey. I am saddened by pharaoh. He has a chance there to give it all up and just let the people go, but he chooses to remain hard hearted and this will cost his people greatly. Yet, isn't this like us so often? We wait to get help until it is too late. All too often that is what happens.

Then the Lord gives a beautiful picture of Christ through the Passover Lamb. He is such a good God – worthy of praise and freedom. Nothing should hold us back from Him. Nothing.

Exodus 7-9

The plagues begin, as does the struggle between Moses and the priests of pharaoh. It all starts with their ability to change their staffs into snakes as well – however, Aaron's staff eats all theirs. This is followed by the plague of blood and frogs, which the magicians also copied. However, Moses was the lone prayer that would receive relief. He would bring relief by praying to God. As relief happens, pharaoh gets a hard heart. The plague of gnats is next, and the magicians cannot repeat it. This leads to them saying all of this is from God – but pharaoh does not change his mind. The flies get pharaoh to almost let them go – but he pulls back the offer again when relief is felt. It was in that plague that the land of Goshen (where the Israelites live) is unaffected by the plague. Then there is a plague of death on the livestock, but not on the livestock of Israel – but pharaoh stays hard. Then we have the plague of boils, which stops the magicians from being in the presence of Moses. Still, there is a hard heart. The last plague of our reading is the plague of hail within a mighty thunderstorm. Pharaoh again does not relent of his poor behavior, and keeps them from going out to sacrifice to God, the Lord.

Exodus 4-6

God begins by giving Moses some signs to convince the Israelites what is right – that God again is talking to and with them. Moses still has some reservations based on his speech. However, I have a problem with Moses here. He has been trained in Egypt. Perhaps his issues are that he doesn't speak as well as pharaoh – basically that he is putting himself to a much higher standard than he needs to. This is especially true considering Acts 7:22. I think Moses is looking for an out here. Where are you looking to excuses to be your main thing? How often are you trying to pass things off on your inadequacies when they may not really be there? Don't get me wrong, some of us are better at some things and should definitely not really be doing some of the things we are doing. However, have you been trained in something and are still not using that skill? Have you been mentored and are now walking away from this time? God wants you to use it – no matter what! This ends with Aaron being able to do the work of God in Moses' place and I see a story brewing involving the staff of Moses. God tells him to bring it along to do the signs – I bet it does more than that! (sometimes I just laugh and laugh when I write this stuff)

Chapter 4 verses 22 and 23 are telling. God wants Israel to be his firstborn, and if pharaoh will not let Israel go, God will take the firstborn of pharaoh – they were warned right off the bat.

I know that you are going to have questions about verses 24-26, and the answers are varied. We aren't totally sure why God was desiring to kill Moses. Some suggested it was a bad illness (and that this was a way of describing it – God came for him), or that God was upset that Moses had not followed through on circumcision, or that God was upset that Moses was not willingly obedient. We do know that God relented upon the circumcision of his sons. It also seems that they were not originally circumcised because of Zipporah's lack of desire. Perhaps God was upset that Moses was not willing to follow Him but was willing to do what Zipporah said. It is all unclear, so sorry I don't have more. If you want to read more, I would suggest a commentary or two (WBC – Word Biblical Commentary, The Pulpit Commentary) to start. Then follow the trail that they lay down for you to keep following.

The Israelites are very happy to hear that God is going to do something, until pharaoh turns up the heat in chapter 5. Then they don't like God or Moses or Aaron as much and complain to them. Moses goes to God and asks for some reassurance. God gives it to him and tells him what to say. Moses once again tells God he doesn't talk well and God tells Moses that he would be like God and that Aaron would be like a prophet. Then there is a curious genealogy given at the end, showing the legitimacy of Moses and Aaron being leaders of the people – they're descendants from Levi. This doesn't mean much yet, but it will and by the time this was written it was valuable – I will explain later.

An Interesting Article

I am appreciating all the fearmongering that is happening. However, this article struck me. What surprised me most was the line from a doctor. "'We're in this race against the virus, and only Mother Nature knows how many cases are going to occur over the next six to 10 weeks,' said Michael Osterholm, a vaccine expert at the University of Minnesota." Did you notice what he just said? He just said that only Mother Nature can tell us how many people will get this. I laughed quite hard at this. This man quoted in this article is an expert – sorry "expert" – and is giving omniscience (limitless knowledge) on a whimsical mythical character for our safety. Because it makes a whole lot more sense to believe in her as opposed to God. Sure it does.

Exodus 1-3

The kings of the land (pharaohs) are blessed at first by the Hebrews. We found out in the later part of Genesis that the Egyptians would not associate with shepherds. They saw this as a lesser job, and were likely happy that someone wanted to do it for them. However, as the "non-native" Hebrews (which is derived from the word "across" or "over" for over the river or sea) grow and become more powerful, they are dealt with in a very harsh way. They are eventually enslaved and then the pharaoh desires to destroy the men by killing little boys. The midwives do not obey and the people continue to grow.

One mother, from the tribe of Levi (which will become the tribe of priests) decides to hide her child from the evil Egyptians and when he is three months old she puts him by the rushes on the Nile. The pharoah's daughter finds him and likely at risk of punishment decides to keep him. His mother nurses him in the palace and there is no indication here that Moses does not know where he is from or what people to call his own. This is proved by his defense of another Hebrew when he was out checking on everyone. When he murders a man and is found out, he flees to the land of Midian (Saudi Arabia) to avoid judgment. Here he meets some women and saves them in a battle (showing his military strength) with other shepherds. He then marries one of the women (Zipporah) and becomes the son-in-law of Jethro.

It is after 40 years in the desert that the burning bush happens. I find it interesting that Moses claims not to be the man for the job. He knows intimate details of Egypt and how to speak their language – he was made for this – he was saved by God for this. Now it is his time to shine. In the midst of this, God tells Moses that God has a plan to make the Israelites get freedom and become wealthy by the Egyptians. That is awesome!

Genesis 47-50

Jacob and sons move to Egypt and settle in the land of Goshen. This land is attached to the delta in Egypt and is quite green and beautiful. In fact, it should be no surprise that they are still wanting to live there 400+ years later. Unfortunately they will become slaves there. Jacob blesses the sons of Joseph, and they become tribes in Israel (so there is no tribe of Joseph, only Ephraim and Manasseh). He then blesses his children and tells what they will be about. Then he dies and Joseph takes his bones and puts them in the tomb that he purchased with Rebekah's bones. There is an intense mourning throughout the land of Egypt and Joseph mourns as well.

When his brothers start thinking again, they are afraid that now since Israel (their father) is dead, Joseph will look for revenge. He promises that he won't and that God's way is more important. They meant to harm him, but God intended good out of that harm. What faith!

We have finished a book of the bible, with 65 more to go! Congrats, keep going!

Genesis 43-46

One thing that bothers me about how this starts – the brothers are not talking about Simeon first, but about how the man wanted the youngest child to return (which Jacob is leery to do considering that this is the last piece of his beloved Rachel left – he doesn't know that Joseph is alive and well). This really bothers me – they are very selfish and cut-throat. I also love how Joseph checks on his family without them knowing who he is. I almost imagine this to be like Edmund Dantes when he returns to Marseilles for the first time and talks to Mr. Morall – and tries to see if the man will recognize him (click here and skip to 7:29 on the clip). When Morall does not recognize him, Edmund decides to become the Count of Monte Cristo and to get his revenge. Joseph will have other plans, but I think there was likely a scene where Joseph said, "Gentlemen!" and looked right at them. When they didn't recognize him, he decided to go into detail for their lives. "Do you have a father?" "What about another brother?" This is funny to me. His servants also have to be thinking that Joseph is losing his mind – as he keeps running out of the room and weeping whenever his brothers are around.

Judah is a stand-up guy in this story, where he wasn't just a few chapters before. Granted, he is protecting his father, here, but he is willing to put Benjamin's punishment on himself. That is pretty incredible.

Chapter 45 is where it all comes forth. Joseph finally tells them who he is. The brothers have to have felt fear and dread about how he would deal with them. However, they likely were also thinking of Joseph's dreams and realizing it had all come true – they had bowed before him – he had become the most powerful brother! 45:15 likely went like this: "Are you going to kill us for what we did to you?" Joseph: "No!" Brothers: "Are you going to tell dad what we did to you?" I see this as being a somewhat comical time of bartering and hoping. Verse 24 is funny as well – do not fight on the way home!

Then we have this happy reunion, a provision by God and a nation that begins with 66 people in Egypt and will become a strong nation despite its size and location. God will use Israel for His purposes and He has continued to protect them throughout.

Genesis 40-42

God can even use prison for His benefit and glory! Joseph has the opportunity to interpret in His name to these two men – one favorably and another not so much. God uses Joseph in the midst of Joseph's worst situation in life – which begs the question – Is God using you for His glory right now? If not, why not? He can use you anywhere and anytime. Obviously Joseph was trustworthy and a leader – even in prison! The captain of the guard put him in charge of the two men before he had the opportunity to interpret their dreams.

Chapter 41 strikes me for Joseph's boldness before the Pharaoh. As you may know, Egyptians had a full pantheon of gods, often pharaoh being one of them. Yet Joseph stands before him and in boldness tells him that God will be the one to interpret the dream. Notice how Joseph had to shave before going to pharaoh? This should be no surprise as many of you have seen paintings and movies involving Egypt and you notice that the men were often clean-shaven and hairless. Pharaoh obviously sees the same leadership qualities in Joseph that Israel, Potiphar and the captain of the guard see – for he puts Joseph in charge of much – the whole land of Egypt. This proves to be wise, as Joseph will show himself to be wise and able.

In 42, Joseph sees his brothers again and is broken by seeing them. He deals roughly with them, it says, by putting them in jail for a few days and then keeping Simeon –asking them to bring their "youngest brother" with them when they return. He does this "to prove they are not spies" but also to get to see his only full brother – Benjamin. They are concerned when they find that all their money is still in their grain sacks. Imagine that walk home. They have eliminated Joseph in their minds – now have lost Simeon in their minds. Reuben reminds them that he said it was a bad idea to harm Joseph – and that now they are being cursed for it. Joseph is doing what he can to stay true to the Egyptians and to be able to see his brother. This story is amazing.

Genesis 37-39

If your younger brother (who is a teenager) began telling you that he was having dreams that you were bowing down to him, how would that affect you? Genesis 37 starts with this story, then the dream that Joseph has that involves his parents as well. However, Jacob still favors Joseph and gives him a multi-colored coat. This coat would have been common for a supervisor to wear. This could mean that Joseph is in charge of his brothers. Also, he is sent to check on his brothers because they are where? Shechem… yes. This is likely a reaction to what happened only a few chapters before with Dinah and Shechem. The brothers, tired of being dreamed about and lorded over decide to kill Joseph. Reuben talks them down and they just throw him in a pit. Then they sell him. Then he works for Potiphar. Then he is wrongly thrown in jail. Notice the transition here. Chapter 38 is all about a failure by one of the brothers – Judah. Chapter 39 is about the righteous actions of another brother, Joseph.

Some may ask why Onan died. Many believe that you cannot waste your baby-making abilities, because the Messiah is going to be born from this family. It is putting yourself over God in trying to control when you will reproduce. The main issue here might be that you want to have many kids so that you would be a "blessing to the earth" by becoming a great nation. You don't waste a good opportunity to get together. Also, the issue here might be that he was getting the good parts of the situation without doing what the act was meant to do – continue the family's name. I am not sure, but all of these are possibilities.

Genesis 34-36

Genesis 34 is the story of the depth and deception to one's heart. We can feign love for lust. We can feign forgiveness for vengeance. We are really evil, often, in the heart. Truthfully, all of us would be ashamed to show what is really at the center of our heart. We are broken. We are messed up. Christ came despite this, to fix this and to change us. Yet Genesis 34, like much of the Old Testament shows us what happens when God is not in the center of our lives. This will be casting some context onto later chapters.

Genesis 35 begins with Jacob fleeing again, but this time God really gets his attention – and he begins to clean up his family. He makes them cast aside their idols and remove their earrings (often a symbol of service or adherence to a god). They are now set apart, and the family of Israel is going to begin the process of seeking God and running, following Him and sinning, wanting Him and giving up on Him. They live in this constant pulling from here on out. They never totally give Him what He deserves, but they try, at least some do, from time to time. The chapter ends with happiness and sorrow mingled. Benjamin is born, but the birth leads to Rachel's death. Reuben sleeps with his father's concubine, but to the best of our knowledge, Jacob does nothing. Isaac passes away as well.

Genesis 36 tells us that Esau becomes a great nation (called Edom) and does not dwell near Israel. They will become another nation in the land (and will be the source of the book of Obadiah). The rest of the book just tells us who Esau's children were. We find out their names and see many of them become their own nation.

Genesis 31-33

Jacob continues to live a life of deceit in running from his father-in-law with all he owns and with all his family. He waits for the right moment, and his favorite wife steals her father's "household idols." I do not know what god they represented, but there is a wide variance there. Interestingly, when Laban does catch up (he had a dream the night before) he once again says, "Your father's god," as so many have done before, showing that Jacob here is in the minority. His wives may not worship YHWH – his father-in-law doesn't and the land he left didn't seem to either. It shows why Abram was charged to leave all those years ago. Laban tracks them all down, confronts them, makes a covenant and says good-bye. One thing I noticed here is that Jacob has worked for Laban for 20 years. The first 7 were working to acquire Rachel. Instead Laban gave him Leah, and then got Jacob to work another 7 for Rachel (he married them both within one week). This means he had two wives and they had their maidservants within the first 7 years and two weeks. He now has 11 sons and an undefined number of daughters (this will be proven next chapter) in a period of 13 years. This also shows that Reuben (the oldest) cannot be more than 12 years older than Joseph. This might put the rest of the story in frame for you so you see how far apart all the children are. Benjamin has not been born yet. He will truly be the baby of the family.

After dealing with Laban, Jacob has two major other battles to fight – Esau and God. Esau he tries to appeal to by sending huge gifts ahead to appease his brother. When it is all said and done, he still is not close to his brother, but settles near Succoth and then Shechem (important city for the next few chapters!). He really feels that Esau means him harm and continues to act sneaky by going away from his brother. However, the other fight he cannot get away from – it is important that he has this fight, and it becomes destiny in a way. He wrestles with a man until daybreak. Now the book of Hosea (12:4) tells us that this is an angel, or messenger. Others believe this to be the true God in a theophany (or christophany). *those words are fancy words that mean "God sighting" or "Christ sighting"* I know that this story is important no matter who it was. The man wrestles with Jacob until daybreak. The man touches Jacob's hip and causes him to limp for the rest of his life (at least that is implied). Then the man mysteriously wants to leave. Jacob will not let him go until he is blessed. The man asks for a name – which is a huge sign that suggests authority (you didn't ask for a name unless you wanted authority over someone) – and Jacob replies with his name. The man blesses him and gives him a new name – יִשְׂרָאֵל, or Israel in English – which means "struggles with God" or "contends with God." Then Jacob asks for the name of the man (always trying to get ahead) but the man knows what Jacob is doing and says, "why do you ask what my name is?" This is a time when God shows man that he can run as far as he wants, try as he may, but he will never outrun Him – the God of all. Jacob, Israel, is noticeably different from here. He deceives, yes, but he claims God as his own. He may not follow Him well, but He is now Jacob's God. This is significant. Are you wrestling right now?

Genesis 28-30

This family has some issues. However, it is through some of these issues that the greatest story ever told is unfolding. God really does work in spite of us, amen? In the midst of Esau wanting to kill Jacob, Rebekah has Jacob go find a wife from their "homeland," which will birth the twelve tribes of Israel. However, Esau then realizes how disgraceful his marriages are to his parents. To respond to this, he goes and marries another woman – a woman from Ishmael's line – as if this would really help. You thought your family had issues.

Jacob is running and has a dream (Jacob's ladder) and is startled by the Lord. However, his response shows that he really doesn't know God yet. He says, "surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it," as if God isn't everywhere. I believe Him to be in all places at all times (omnipresence). However, Jacob doesn't know God intimately – yet. He makes a stand after this and an oath. If the Lord will protect him, he will claim God as his own. The deceiver is still trying to barter. Isn't this interesting? It fits with who Jacob has shown us he is so far. How often do you do this? How often do you make your service to Him conditional? Jacob says he will give God a tenth (yet another reference to the tithe – like Abraham to Melchizedek).

If you are a little creeped out by all the family ties that are being created, don't be. This was early on the earth, and at this point there were no rules as to who could and couldn't be married. Often, we marry those that have a major something in common with us. Sometimes it is shallow, "I was the quarterback, she was a cheerleader," or due to living in the same area or region, or going to the same college, having the same major, etc. In this case, the ties are herding animals and being of the same lineage. This is the affinity that is drawing them all together. Jacob loves Rachel and finds her to be attractive. However, when he wants to marry her, Laban pulls a trick on the trickster. In this Jacob marries Rachel and Leah – each of whom have maidservants. He ends up working 14 years in total for Rachel.

He ends up having 12 sons between his wives and their maidservants – in order (mother in parenthesis) they are: Reuben (Leah), Simeon (Leah), Levi (Leah), Judah (Leah), Dan (Bilhah – Rachel's servant), Naphtali (Bilhah), Gad (Zilpah – Leah's servant), Asher (Zilpah), Issachar (Leah), Zebulun (Leah), Joseph (Rachel) and Benjamin (Rachel). There were daughters in there as well, but these would become the twelve tribes of Israel.

This section ends with Jacob once again cheating someone to get ahead. This time it is his father-in-law, Laban. He finds a way to manipulate the breeding habits of the goats and sheep, and keeps all the speckled, spotted and dark-colored ones and has them mate with the ones that aren't. After this, most of them are speckled, spotted and dark.

Genesis 25-27

Whenever I read this section I am always thinking about the deception that has happened so far in this family and whether that has an effect on how Jacob will turn out. Abraham, you remember, lied at least twice about Sarah being his sister to avoid being killed. Now, in these chapters, Isaac does the same thing. If you were the son and grandson of someone who deceived, what would your set of values (morals) concerning lying be? It should be no surprise then, that Jacob would be a deceiver. He starts right away by grabbing his brother's heel and then follows this up by stealing his birthright for a stew dinner. Esau (or Edom) then has his blessing stolen by the very sneaky plan of Rebekah and Jacob. He makes a meal and covers himself in hair so as to confuse his father who has poor sight. This leads to the stealing of the blessing, a murderous threat and a fleeing Jacob. Talk about family disfunction!

All the while, more nations are being birthed. Edom will become a nation that will affect Israel, so will some of Abraham's later sons – Midian, Joktan, etc. This will provide Israel some difficult situations in the days to come – note this storyline detail!

Genesis 22-24

This section begins with a story that shows us a picture of what God has planned. No one in the story understands it necessarily, but we have all the elements of what makes God's own sacrifice so great: 1)a father giving up his son, 2)a sacrifice in the place of another life (here it is a ram saving Isaac, not Jesus saving humanity), 3)the pain that comes with being asked to do something uncommon, 4)a realization that God is merciful. He is so good, and through Isaac's near sacrifice we see a prototype of what God will do. Imagine being in Isaac's shoes. How hard would that be?

In chapter 23, Sarah dies and is buried in the caves near Mamre, which is Hebron. God once again provides for Abraham and he acquires the land that will provide a burial site for his wife. He and Isaac mourn for her and Abraham will take another wife in chapter 25.

Chapter 24 is this neat story of how Isaac married Rebekah. However, what strikes me about this part of the story is how Abraham's servant talks about God. Notice that he continually says to Rebekah, the Lord, God of my master Abraham. He does not claim God to be his own. He mentions that the Lord has blessed him, but does not seem to use this as proof that God really exists. This is striking and makes me think of our families. Some of us belong to a family that thinks we are weird for following God – and they don't claim Him as their own. This looks different for everyone. Some just say that God is what we claim (like the servant). Others think us to be out of touch with reality. Still others feel judged by our faith and use this as a "reverse weapon" against us – meaning they feel threatened, so they pre-emptive strike us by saying things like, "he won't approve, but" or "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but." You know it to be true because you might experience it. Sorry, but it has been happening since Abraham's time. You need to accept the fact and be conscience of those around you and their beliefs. However, don't lose who you are because of others' opinions (Matt. 25:31-46).

Genesis 19-21

Yeah, Isaac is born! However, this is in the midst of some pretty crazy circumstances, don't you think? His cousins are born in a cave and are the product of incestuous relationships – eww. His other cousin, Lot, had just watched his cities burn and wife go to dust – which led his daughters to do this horrible thing. Hagar and Ishmael are sent away and God provides for them even though He doesn't have to fulfill this part of the covenant to Abraham. Also, Abraham is showing an interesting trend of saying his wife is his sister (which she is a half-sister) instead of his wife. He had already done this in Egypt and now does this with Abimelech, a king in his region. Then he has to set up a covenant to avoid well issues with Abimelech (could be the same king or another one altogether). It is in this context that Isaac is born, the child of promise to Abraham. This story is about to get even more interesting, trust me.

Genesis 16-18

This is where things start to get complicated. Abram and Sarai get impatient and she passes Hagar off to him, whom he promptly impregnates (btw – it is surprising to me that Sarai is so quick to judge her husband's abilities later on) and creates the most difficult situation in the Bible. Isaac's children will have direct competition with his half-brother, Ishmael.

I also must say, I understand why Hagar left and see God fulfilling an obligation to Ishmael that perhaps was never meant to be fulfilled. He did say that Abram's son would be the father to a great nation. He did not have to carry that on through Hagar's son, but God is good and does things that make gasp at his goodness (this has some parallels to how Jonah felt in Jonah 4). Our God is matchless in mercy and grace – mighty to save and quick to listen. He is so mighty as to give promises to those that don't deserve them – even when He has no obligation to do so! I, as a Gentile (as far as I know I have no Jewish blood), receive God's good mercy even though my ancestors did not believe. I am blessed through Him and only Him, much like Ishmael – much like Isaac and Abram for that matter!

After this God renews his promise to Abram, names him Abraham ("exalted father" to "father of many nations") and gives Sarai the name Sarah. Isaac will be named Isaac (meaning "he laughs") because of Abram's chuckling to himself when told that he would have another son. God tells Abram that He was to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham pleads with Him to save it on account of a few good men. Our headings in chapter 19 tell us that didn't go so well. What are you guys seeing in the reading? Ask questions in the comments and my crack squad of theologians will jump all over it!

Genesis 13-15

God was blessing Abram, even when Abram wasn't doing things right. That is my opinion, but so many people ask, "Why would God bless Abram when he lies (ala Genesis 13)?" I do not think that Abram was being blessed due to lying, but was being blessed in spite of lying. Often in the Old Testament people are not following the laws of God and good things still happen. This does not mean that God honors it, but that He works in spite of us. Abram's riches from Egypt, however, cause some problems. He has to separate from his nephew, Lot, due to each of them growing so rich. This leads Lot to live in Sodom (ch. 13), be captured by some fighting kings (ch. 14), lose his house and wife (ch. 19) and cause his daughters to seduce him to have offspring (which happen to be two nations that will cause Israel problems throughout the OT (ch. 19 – Ammonites and the Moabites). Abram also receives a slave woman that leads to an illegitimate son, Ishmael, that too becomes a thorn in the side of the nation of Israel. Sometimes what starts as a blessing becomes anything but.

In Genesis 14, king Melchizedek (literally "king of righteousness" מֶלֶךְ־סְדֹם) of Salem (peace) appears to bless Abram and give honor to God. He is mysterious and becomes a major biblical character in the book of Hebrews. Check it out if you have time, just skim for Melchizedek's name and see the crazy parallels to Christ this man mirrored! Truly a neat story, and Abram saves his nephew.

Genesis 15 is the renewal of the Abrahamic covenant. We have not talked about covenants much, but there have been a couple already. A covenant, from the Hebrew word בְּרִית, is equal to a pact or alliance or vow made between men. If you were wondering why God had Abram cut things into halves, it represented that lives would come together on this pact. This happened in the Garden of Eden, if you were looking (Genesis 3, when God called the animals forward and shed their skin to cover Adam and Eve – the Adamic covenant). It happened in Genesis 9, with a "bow in the sky" to pronounce no more worldwide flooding (the Noahic covenant). Now, the Abrahamic covenant is given and God goes it alone, without Abram. This is significant as normally two parties went through the covenant together – pledging a life for a life. Here, however, Abram is off the hook. He is not responsible to fulfill any part of this bargain. God would give them the land, no matter what. If they failed to be what God desired in the covenant a life would have to be given up – His life. No one else was on the hook but God, and He never fails in His promises. Has he flooded the earth again? No. Has Satan conquered this earth? Don't think so. Did Israel deserve salvation? You will see – nope. Did God pay with His life? Through Christ – absolutely! How neat is that?

Genesis 11:6

Maybe this will help from the "Handbook on Genesis" - Genesis 11.6.

And the Lord said introduces the speech of God, which is actually a thought or reflection. It may be more appropriate in some languages to say "Then the Lord thought to himself" or "The Lord said within his heart."

For Behold see 1.29 and comments. In some translations an idiomatic exclamation expressing surprise or concern has been used as a suitable equivalent for this Hebrew exclamation; an English example may be "My word! …"

They are one people: this is the Lord's observation and one of the reasons for his decision to separate them. The meaning is "They are one race," or "They are a single tribe," "… a single ethnic group." The decision to scatter them, as seen in the words of the Lord, is not primarily because they are building a city and a tower, but because of their singleness of race and language, and because of what they will eventually be able to do.

They have all one language: language is the same word as used in verse 1, and the thought here is practically the same as in verse 1.

And this is only the beginning of what they will do: this refers to the building of the city with its tower. Only the beginning suggests that the Lord's concern is for the future, the much greater things they will eventually do. We may translate "there is no telling what they will do" or "just think what they may do next."

Nothing they propose to do will now be impossible for them: this suggests that God sees them as becoming like him and so again passing their human limits, as in 3.5. We may translate "Soon they will be able to do everything they can think of." neb and Speiser say "Nothing … will be beyond their reach." One example found in two different translations says "It won't be long and they will be able to do whatever they like." Another translation has "If they think of some thing that they want to do, it won't be taboo to them any more."

Some translators may find it necessary to shift the various clauses in verse to give a smoother and more natural flow of ideas and to lead into verse . We may need to begin verse with this is only the beginning, since this refers to the building of the city; or we may say "See how building this city and tower is only the beginning of what these people will do. They will soon be able to do anything they can imagine. The reason is that they all belong to a single tribe [race, nation] and all speak the same language."

 

I think that God lets man walk away if man wants to (Rom. 1). Here perhaps God wasn't as much "threatened" as much as broken hearted that man would walk away and He confused them to give them another path to walk back to Him.

Genesis 10-12

I know that genealogies might seem boring, but there are things there that can show us interesting things. For one, the sons (or children) of Japheth have some interesting names in there. One of the sons is named Tarshish – important name to the story of Jonah and at least one of the Old Testament kings. Two other children become the offspring to the Kittim and Dodanim – which in Hebrew shows us that they are complete nations. The suffix "-im" means plural in Hebrew and shows us that they are a whole people group. Also we find out that he is the father of all sea-faring peoples. We know that they settle from Philistia, parts of Egypt and up to Greece and elsewhere around the Mediterranean. Ham's offspring are the peoples of the south (read Africa) and make up the nations of Egypt and Cush most famously. We also learn that Cush's child, Nimrod starts the nation of Babylon by consolidating some of its great cities and building Nineveh. All the sons of Shem are the semitic people – the people of Eber. This is the tribe that will spawn Abram and the Hebrew nation – the Jewish people. The Lord told all the people to spread out and multiply. They chose not to do so and desire to build a city to show their greatness in Babylon.

Verse 11:16 drives me just as nuts as you, promise. I don't think God would ever feel threatened by humans, but the translation is pretty clear.

Chapter 12 introduces us to the father of the nation that becomes the hope of the world – Abram. We will be dealing with Him over the next few days, but if we were going in chronological order, Job would fit in right here. Notice that Abram is 75 and is told to leave his home. However, what is interesting is that he was already going to settle in Canaan with his dad in chapter 11 but they settle short of where they were meant to go. Now Abram is to finish the journey and follow God's call. He will be a blessing to all peoples and this is a major narrative detail that many of us miss – Abram was to be the hope of the world from the very beginning. Why you might ask? God had chosen the tiny nation of Israel (which hasn't been formed or even named yet) to be the nation that would birth the Messiah. God would use them to bring salvation back to earth.

Genesis 7-9

Right away you might have been surprised in these passages. Verse 2 tells us that Noah brought seven pairs of the clean animals and birds on the ark. You probably had all these wonderful pictures (from your childhood) of all the animals neatly lining up two-by-two and marching onto the boat – but some had more than two!

Also it may have surprised you to notice that Noah had 7 days after being told to gather all the animals to get everything on the ark. Wow, that is not much time, but if God can provide a whole universe in that time, He could surely help Noah get all the animals on board in a hurry. It then rained 40 days and nights and the water then (after 150 days) subsided enough to land on a mountain (Ararat) and then after a few periods of 7 days, they exit the ark under a new sky and onto a new earth. This means that they spent between 7 months to a year on the ark (not the best scenario with a bunch of wild animals). Upon exit, Noah gives a sacrifice to God and God gives the symbol of "my bow in the sky" to assure them all that He would not flood the entire earth again.

This is usually where you end the story in your mind, likely. However, you were likely surprised by the end of chapter 9 and the events that unfold. It would have been shameful to see your father naked (likely true today as well) and even more so to just talk about it instead of covering it up (as Ham did). Shem and Japheth then walk in backwards to cover their father who was drunk and naked and do not look upon his nakedness. They acted in a prudent way, and are blessed by Noah when he comes to. Canaan, Ham's son, however is cursed by Noah for his father's poor actions. Much could be said about this, but I will leave it at this – because of Ham's sin, Canaan and his descendents (the Canaanites) would be cursed and Shem's descendants (one of which would be Abram) would be a blessing to the earth. It is amazing what small things can affect history in a mighty way!

Genesis 4-6

It always amazes me how quickly man goes downhill. From the fall to murder is a very short leap and it just shows how messed up we really are. Cain kills his brother, Abel, and then Cain's offspring take the mercy God gave and claim it for themselves – and claim to expand it for themselves. Lamech's story (Genesis 4:23-25) gives us a picture of what man expects from God. Lamech knew that his ancestor Cain received some mercy for killing his brother (the fact that God did not destroy him alone is mercy – let alone protecting him from retaliation) and now Lamech was claiming Cain's promise on himself – giving him at least the perception that he was protected from judgment. Isn't that the case a lot of time with us – we look to what has happened to others as a guide for how "good" we are or for "what we deserve" from God. This isn't true – you have your life and your things to deal with – no one else's. You need to follow God and let Him give you what He wants to give you. It is all about Him.

In this, the people begin to spread throughout the earth. Noah lives righteously and is saved from judgment. He is blessed and is allowed to live despite the world's judgment. Does this mean that if you live righteously that you will not suffer or that God will save you from everything? Of course not, you have your life – now – to do what God wants you to do at this moment. He is not likely to ask you to build an ark. You will see bad things happen in this life. You will experience pain and sometimes it will be at the hands of those who do not follow God. He is not avoiding you, neglecting you or forgetting you. You have what He has to offer and give you – now – not for anyone else. Think about this.

Interestingly, Noah's dad dies a couple of years before the flood. He saw his son build a boat for 95 years and died 5 years before the flood start. This did not mean that Noah was wrong. This is interesting to me. Also, Noah's grandpa, Methuselah, died in the flood. His family didn't even believe him, it seems. Some of you are living in a family that does not believe what you believe. Some of you are swimming upstream. I know life is not always easy – don't claim the promises of someone else and trust that God is going to make it easy. I grow the most when challenged. Also, don't feel that God is absent when you are not being followed by many around you. Noah's family didn't follow – and he built for 100 years before the flood started.. He was still right – and faith is important. Hold it close to you and let your Bible help you.

Genesis 1-3

Notice the transition and the narrative that is unfolding. There is nothing – except God. Then there was something – and God made it – from nothing. Then God created the only being in the universe that could deny Him and be salvaged by Christ's blood. He breathed life into him and saw that he needed a her. This her came from him and He was together with them. Too many pronouns, I know, but God made man and woman in His own image. He gave them this planet to explore and work in. We were to do what He wanted us to do. Yet we didn't think He was good enough for us. Some of you reading this are thinking, "Chris, don't put that on me, I wasn't there, I am not Eve or Adam." Yet you have and do believe this all the time. You don't think He is worth listening to. Yet in spite of our disobedience and wandering, He was going to send someone (Gen. 3:15) that would win all back to Himself. He was coming. So, here's the story so far. God created all, including man and woman, and charged them to live for Him. They chose not to, and God said He would clean it up one day. This is what I see in Genesis 1-3.

Welcome!

Well, it is here that we begin. Tomorrow we will begin to read the Bible together in one year, and this blog will help us all interact and learn together. Feel free to post things in the comments to these posts so that you can have a question answered. If you need to know what to read, the main post on the blog will include the chapters to be read. It should take no longer than 15 minutes to do the reading and then a little bit of follow-up time here if you so choose. I am very excited about this and can't wait to see what we all discover. I will do my best to answer posts and comments. If you need to see the reading schedule (because you didn't grab the print-out tonight) it is available here. Check it out and join us on this amazing journey.