Exodus 2:11-3:22

For several years, which we know pretty much nothing about, Moses lived as an Egyptian, part of the royal family.  We can assume that perhaps he was trained and educated along with any other males of the Pharaoh's family and given good opportunities.  He at least had freedom of movement (as he was free to go survey his people's condition).  However, it's clear that he never forgot, and was never blinded to, the fact that he was a Hebrew.  He might have stayed there forever, we don't know, if he hadn't killed the Egyptian.  I've always wondered why Moses saw that as a viable option.  It was definitely premeditated: he looked right and left to see if anyone was watching, and then he hid him in the sand.  Definitely trying to cover it up and get away with it.  Does it ever strike you as odd that God chose a murderer to do His work?

I rather think that Moses experiences in his middle years (post-Egypt, pre-Exodus) were among the most important formatively.  He went from being as a prince to being a hired shepherd, and then taken in as a son when he married Zipporah.  Reuel (or Jethro) also seems to have been a good father-in-law and mentor, as his advice in Numbers will prove later on.  These experiences prepared Moses to meet the Lord within the burning bush, an amazing passage in and of itself.  (Can you imagine seeing a burning bush that doesn't wither?  Can you imagine hearing God's voice coming from within it?)

But do you know the part of today's passage that struck me most?  This:

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.  Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.  And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.  God saw the people of Israel--and God knew.  (Exodus 2:23-25)

Whoa!  Doesn't it give you thrills and chills?  It does me!  I really do get a thrill out of reading that last sentence: "God saw the people of Israel--and God knew."  It wasn't that God had forgotten the people.  It wasn't that He had turned His back on them or that He had forgotten His promises or that He had failed to see.  God had seen it all along, knew that this time of slavery was necessary as part of forming a nation out of an unruly people.  But man.   God saw and God knew.  It's almost like: ok, here we go.  It's gonna get started.  What a weight those words carry!  You can almost "feel it coming" for Egypt.  Egypt was to see the Might and the Glory of God before all was said and done.  God would be known as GOD, and none other.  You know how on movies and tv shows (and sometimes real life, sadly) you see a fight coming, and people get a little excited, and some fool has the brilliance to say, "Ah, yeah, this is gonna be good"?  It's like that moment here.  You know something's coming, you know that God's about to move.  All you want to do is hunker down to watch, as you think, "This is gonna be good."

Tomorrow's Reading: Exodus 4:1-31

Genesis 50:15-Exodus 2:10

I think it's appropriate that Genesis ends with Joseph's death and the oath made to carry his bones to the Promised Land.  Joseph, he was a far-seeing guy.  His passing is an excellent transition from the time when he held preeminence and established a place within Egypt to the time when no one really remembered him or what he did for Egypt (or maybe, didn't care) and how the Egyptians then turned on the Israelites.  Out of fear, out of jealousy, they enslaved a nation living within their borders.  And God, looking out for His people and His promises, raises up this guy: Moses.  Moses, who was born and lived when he shouldn't have.  Who was put into a reed basic and sent down the Nile (apparently among any of the seven cataracts that dotted the Nile, thankfully).  Who is raised to straddle the line between Egyptian and Hebrew and will eventually lead his people out of slavery and towards the Promised Land.  And Joseph saw it coming.  He saw it well enough that he made the descendants of Israel swear they would carry his bones out of Egypt and into the Promised Land to be buried.  They took that oath seriously enough that they embalmed him and entombed him for later recovery.  Dates for the Exodus vary, but it is believed that something like 400 years existed between the end of Genesis and Exodus (though I am still fact checking.  I'll update the post if I find I'm mistaken).  For 400 years (at least), the Israelites remembered that promise and kept true to it and to Joseph.  That's amazing.  If only they had kept true to their promises to God!  The story of Israel may have been something else entirely.

Tomorrow's Reading: Exodus 2:11-3:22 (Exodus, yeah, baby!)

Genesis 49:1-50:14

The blessings of Jacob are more like prophecies of his sons' fates.  He tells them, from the outset, that he is going to let them know what is to come in the future.  Here's the break-down

• Reuben, because he defiled his father's bed by sleeping with one of his father's concubines, loses his place as the firstborn and the preeminence that should have gone with it.  Interesting, that instead it goes to Judah, from whom the future kings of Israel come as well as the Christ.  Could that possibly have come from Reuben if he hadn't been unstable, impatient, and lustful?
• Simeon and Levi are condemned for their actions at Shechem.  Here is Jacob's prophecy that I've mentioned before: he says they will be scattered among Israel.  In Joshua, we will see that come to pass. Simeon is given no land to inherit and Levi, because the service the Levites performed for Moses before the Golden Calf at Sinai, are granted towns throughout Israel to uphold the priesthood.
• Judah, then, certainly not the eldest, is given the preeminence of the eldest.  Jacob says that his father's sons shall bow before him, and all of Israel does when they bend their knees to their kings, as well as someday, The King.  He says the scepter and the rod shall not depart, and in Christ it never shall.
• Zebulun, though not actually on the sea, apparently does in fact profit from sea trade during Israel's occupancy of the Land.
• Issachar because of its occupancy of a fertile plain is often raided by armies and is subject to them, as Jacob says that they choose to rest in a good resting place and yet are forced laborers.
• Dan, whose name is a play on "judge", is to be a judge and mediator amongst his brothers.  Yet Jacob predicts he will be wily and treacherous, like a snake in the grass.  It is among the Danites we will eventually see the first practices of idolatry.
• Gad was among the two and a half tribes that settled on the east of the Jordan River.  Because of it, it was often subject to raiders.  The price of not actually entering into the Promised Land and experiencing fellowship with the brother tribes, I guess.
• The tribe of Asher eventually settles in rich farm land and are very productive.
• Naphtali settles in the mountains.  Cross-reference the story of Deborah and how the Naphatalite warriors descend from the hills on Sisero.  (Cool story.)
• For Joseph and his sons, they get a lot of praise.  If you read through Judges, many of the heros there are actually from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.  Here you can see Jacob's favoritism for Joseph in the rich blessings bestowed on him.
• The prophecy about Benjamin proves too true; they are brutal.  Have you read the last three chapters of Judges?  Yeah.

Shortly after Jacob "blesses" his sons (because how many of those are actually blessings rather than foretellings?), he "goes to be with his fathers. "  Joseph, particularly, is broken by his father's passing, having only been recently reunited with him.  This is the only time Joseph leaves Egypt again: to return his father's body to be buried with Isaac, Abraham, and Sarah (and we can assume likely Rebekah).  However, we see that that is not Joseph's last connection to the land of his father's sojourning.

Genesis 47:13-48:22

Here is the passage that I referred to earlier about how Joseph acquired all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, essentially making all of Egypt vassals to Pharaoh.  But you also have a little incident that foreshadows things to come.  Joseph takes his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, to his father and Jacob claims the boys as his own.  Basically, he is taking the boys into his inheritance at the same level as Reuben and Simeon.  Rather, they take Joseph's place.  You never hear of the tribe of Joseph or of Josephites as you do Danites, Levites, or Benjaminites.  You could say that one of the boys takes Joseph's place and the other takes Simeon's place, as his tribe is left out of the inheritance.  We'll learn more about that in the next chapter, but his sins at Shechem come back to haunt him.  So, though Jacob had twelve sons, and twelve tribes came from Israel, two of those tribes for much of the Bible actually belong to Joseph through his sons of Ephraim and Manasseh. You will see this a lot in the books of Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges... wherever the tribes are spoken about in depth, especially as relates to land allotments, censuses, etc.  And why do we always say "Ephraim and Manasseh" when Manasseh is actually the elder?  This passage explains.  Jacob blessed Eprhaim over his older brother Manasseh, just as Jacob the younger brother had been chosen over the elder Esau, just as Isaac had been chosen rather than his older brother Ishmael.  (Do you wonder if possibly Abraham was the younger brother has well?  Though he is mentioned first which usually, unless explained otherwise as in here, it means the first is the eldest.)  This perpetuates the favoring of the younger son over the older, "more logical" son. 

Tomorrow!  The blessing's of Israel's sons.  Very interesting stuff.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 49:1-50:14

Genesis 46:1-47:12

It's been a long day.  I was up at 5:00 am, took myself and my baby girl to Omaha, enjoyed a day of running around the Big O with friends, and then coming back home.  I have read the passage for today, and there's some really good stuff in it.  All about Israel and his family, who's in it, and how they went down to Egypt and how Joseph persuaded Pharaoh to give his family the land of Goshen, the best of the pasture land, and how they even won the right to care for Pharaoh's flocks.  But if I'm honest, I'm a little nauseated from lack of sleep.  So, I am going to bed.  But I hope you've read Genesis 46 and 47.  It's a very poignant reunion between Joseph and Jacob, even describing how Joseph wept on Jacob's shoulder for a good while.  You can tell how much Joseph missed his father.


Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 47:13-48:22 (We're almost done with Genesis.)

Genesis 45:1-28

The more I listen to people talk, the more I realize that forgiveness is a touchy subject among Christians.  We all know we're supposed to do it, but it's not always at the top of people's list as part of the Christian walk.  When you talk to people about how they can improve their walk, how often do they say, "Pray, read the Bible, go to church"?  Now, how often do you hear people say, "I should forgive this person who hurt me"?

Once during Bible study I listened to a woman describe how difficult it is for her to forgive some things that have happened in her past, and then she said very matter-of-factly that she didn't believe she had to.  I remember being a little shocked by that statement.  My first response was, "But we're commanded to!"  And indeed we are.  We are commanded to forgive, and not only that, but warned that if we refuse to, forgiveness towards our own persons could be in jeopardy.  It's something I've done a lot of thinking on: we know we are commanded to forgive, and yet we all know how hard it can be, especially if the offense is grievous.  How do you juxtapose those?  (And this is not to say that I have never had some pretty difficult, even damaging, experiences in my life to forgive.  I have.  But I also know I haven't had to forgive something horrific happen as some of the people I have listened to speak on this topic.)

We've been set an amazing example in Christ's very forgiveness of us, and His forgiveness of the people who crucified them, even as He was still on the cross.  It could be very easy for us to say, "Yeah, well, Christ was also God.  That's easy for Him."  Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.  Christ was also fully human.  He's not our only example, though.  Joseph forgave his brothers.  His brothers who stripped him, through him in a hole, ignored his pleas and cries, and sold him into slavery, leaving him to his fate.  This... is pretty bad.  This, I would think, would be difficult to forgive.  They completely altered the course of his life.  Granted, God did what Joseph said He did: He took what the brothers meant for evil and made it for good.  Maybe you could say that his cushy new life made it easy to forgive.  But I think that misses the mark.  Joseph demonstrated wisdom, openness, and character throughout his trials.  By the time he met up with his brothers he had not only been a lowly slave, bought and sold on a caravan, but a prisoner in a pit.  Have you seen Egyptian pits/prisons?  Dark and dank doesn't cover it, my friends.  Would prosperity really erase longs years of toil and hardship?  I don't know that they do.  Observation of people suggests that they don't.

Joseph could have taken vengeance.  He could have thrown his brothers in prison and forgotten about them.  He had servants at his disposal: it wouldn't have been hard for him to send some to Canaan in search of his father to provide for the family left over.  Instead, Joseph weeps over his brothers.  He forgives them, pulls them close.  He not only provides food, but gives them a new home in the good land of Goshen in Egypt.  He more than forgives, he loves and lets go.

I'm not saying forgiveness will ever be easy.  I'm not saying that when something horrific happens, we should be able to immediately forgive like a robot.  I'm just saying, I don't know that we should ever feel like we're "off the hook" or that we don't have to.  God asks us to be like Him, to reflect Him to others.  Being willing to forgive in a world that doesn't see forgiveness as a viable response is a shining example of God's goodness and glory.  We can do all things through Him who strengthens us.  Don't you think He'd help us to forgive, too?

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 46:1-47:12

Genesis 44:1-34

I never really understood this passage.  Why was Joseph doing this?  Why not come out and tell them who he is?  So, I referred to my trusty Bible Knowledge Commentary, and found this interesting thought: that Joseph was testing his brothers to see if their concern for themselves would at last be set aside in favor of concern for another.  Did it work?  I think so: Judah's pleas to remain in Benjamin's stead are pretty selfless.  He seems only concerned for Benjamin's welfare, especially in respect to Jacob's welfare.  He knew his father might just give up and die in his grief, to lose this last shred of connection to his beloved wife Rachel.  Rather than resent Jacob's attachment to Benjamin, Judah desires to protect it, even to the point of taking Benjamin's punishment.  Judah has proven that he, at least, has matured into a man.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 45:1-28

Genesis 43:1-34

It struck me for the first time today that Joseph was taking care of his family when he sent back their money.  I had always wondered if he had meant to intimidate them or get them in trouble.  Nothing of the sort.  Imagine, if your family had come to buy food because they had so little at home.  Would you charge them full price?  Would you charge them at all?  Joseph didn't.  And in fact, he told a little misdirection (was it really a lie) in telling them that God had put the money in their sacks: do we not credit God for every blessing we receive?  Would it be so far-fetched to say that God moved Joseph to return the money in their sacks, when they could not return it or try to pay again, in order to provide for Israel and his sons?  I think not.  And Joseph did indeed receive their money; he simply put it back.  I have to admit, if I was in Joseph's shoes (and refusing to reveal my identity), I would likely have done the same thing.  No way was my family going to pay!

A side note: Notice Israel instructed his sons to take the choicest fruits of the land... during a famine.  Things are incredibly lean, so much so that to eat they went all the way down to Egypt to buy grain.  So these things must have been very precious indeed to send along to an unknown man.  But then, this man was holding one of his sons and Israel was sending him another.  So, really, what was the most precious?

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 44:1-34

Genesis 41:41-41:38

Do you ever wonder why Joseph was so harsh with his brothers?  Why did he insist on calling them spies?  Why throw them in jail?  Was it petty revenge?  Was there a master plan?  I always thought it rather incongruent with the character God instilled in him during his hardships, his eventual forgiveness and generosity, his recognition that there was a master plan behind even his brothers' evil plottings that brought blessing a more in line with what we have seen of Joseph in his recent life.  I was reading these passages and I wondered, maybe he really did have a plan.  Joseph was a master planner.  He was the one who implemented the storage system and even the prices and eventually caused the entirety of Egypt to surrender their lands to Pharaoh and work as vassals.  Pretty savvy from a governmental, economical viewpoint.  Perhaps Joseph looked at his brothers, and what he knew of their characters from several years before, thought that he needed them to truly have deference and even fear for the Egyptian officials so that they would not deal duplicitously.  After all, he needed to contrive a way to bring his brother down to visit him.  What if he had revealed himself to them, they took the grain, and ran back to Canaan and didn't return so that they didn't have to reveal to Jacob that Joseph still lived?  It's all speculation.  I may never know until I get to Heaven what Joseph was thinking.  But I wondered.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 43:1-34

Genesis 41:1-40

How many times have you (or I) wished the Lord would just be clear about what He's going to do?  Have you ever, as I have, said, "If I just knew what God was doing, this would be so much easier!"  But a new thought struck me tonight.  God did tell Pharoah as well as Pharaoh's cupbearer and Pharaoh's baker what was coming, and specifically Pharaoh what God was setting into motion.  However, they didn't have the ability to understand, or to interpret.  They had to rely on Joseph for that as God had gifted Joseph with the ability to interpret dreams.  You can extrapolate a few more principles from this: Joseph knew God, Pharaoh and his men didn't.  Joseph grew up in a household that new the One True God, as He had spoken to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  At one point in his youth, even, Jacob his father commanded Joseph's family to set aside all of their household gods and to purify themselves; from then on, they would be following the Almighty.  Pharaoh was an Egyptian with a myriad of gods and may not have known or been able to recognize the true god until presented with Him through Joseph, who gave all glory and credit where it was due.  Until they met Joseph, these men didn't know God and therefore could not understand what He was trying to tell them.

This tells me a few things.  First, how important it is that I know my God!  Prayer, petition, study, worship, fellowship, the tools God has given me to know Him and to grow in Him are my best tools if I want to know where God is going, or where He would have me go.  The times in my life when I have been the most devoted were inevitably also the times when I was most focused, and even if I didn't know each little step along the way, I see now how I was following a very definite path because I was following Him.  Second, I need to be listening.  Again, prayer and study, worship, petition.  I need to be available and willing to listen; Joseph told Pharaoh that it would be God who would interpret, Joseph was only listening.  If I want to know what God would tell me, I need to be listening and sitting at His feet, ready to hear.  It does no good if I'm off somewhere else, dinking around, and wishing God would speak.  I need to be more like Joseph.  (I told you he was cool; God, though, is cooler.)

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 41:41-42:38

Genesis 39:1-40:23

Joseph proved himself to be a trustworthy man, not just once but again and again.  Whether Joseph was a young man with this much character before he was sold or not is up to interpretation.  Either way, his trials as a slave in no way diminished the man God was molding him to be.  In coming into Potiphar's household, Potiphar was savvy enough to realize that the hand of the Lord was upon Joseph, and he entrusted Joseph with his entire estate.  It says that everything prospered, and that Potiphar did not worry.  Not only did God bless Joseph, but he proved to be worthy of the blessing by being a good administrator.  Not only this, but Joseph proved he could be trusted with Potiphar's own wife, refusing and even fleeing from her enticements.  A pity Potiphar's wife could not be trusted so far.  Even after his imprisonment, the Lord was with Joseph: the keeper in the prison trusted Joseph with administrative duties once again.  And here again, his jailer trusted Joseph: he didn't worry about anything under Joseph's care.

That is a huge thing to say about someone, don't you think?  Even today, in the corporate world, in our jobs, how much oversight are we given to make sure we are doing a good job?  How many people experience job reviews and have checks in the system to show that they are being productive and working hard?  Today's byword in business is productivity.  How many feel that their bosses and their bosses' bosses really trust them to get their work done, be responsible with company capital and resources?  How well I remember inventory time at the bookstore and when the regional managers came in to poke their noses through everything and then disappear for another six months!  As little as they were present, I would have hoped they'd trust us more than they did...  As hard as I worked, I would have liked to think I proved my own worthiness.  Joseph, though, was certainly trusted and counted worthy.  His overseers were never concerned in the slightest over his dealings.  What is more, in the end, Joseph would be the vessel that God would work through: both for Israel and his family, for the future generations, and for the rest of the "known world" at that time in providing for Egypt.  Joseph had proved that God could entrust him with that, as well.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 41:1-40

Genesis 38:1-30

This is an odd little story in the genealogy of the Christ: Judah has sons by a Canaanite woman, two of whom are married to Tamar, and die before having children.  Judah should have given Tamar Shelah as a husband by whom to have children, but he refused, fearing Shelah might die as well.  Eventually, Tamar tricks her father-in-law in to sleeping with her in order to have children (twins, one of whom is an ancestor of Jesus).  There are two things here I find interesting:

1. Judah seems to believe that Tamar is the source of his sons' deaths, rather than their own wickedness.  Because he is afraid to give Shelah to her in fear of the boy's life, it seems to him she is the common denominator in the elders' demise.  But the Bible says specifically that both of these men were wicked in God's sight and He put them to death.  It was not Tamar, who likely had no choice in the marriages in the first place, but the men's own character that did them in.  Judah failed to see this in his own children.  Why?  I don't know: maybe the love of a parent, maybe Judah himself was lacking.  I can't say that I could judge.
2. Judah tells Tamar that she is more righteous than he.  He recognized that his sin against her was pretty bad!  They had both lied: Judah pretending he'd give Tamar to Shelah when he had no intention of doing so; she, pretending to be a cult prostitute to bring Judah in.  Both had committed adultery, or rather fornication since both were widowed.  Tamar was quite wise in taking his signet and his cord, because they were the salvation of her when he sent to have her condemned for adultery without finding out her story.  

And from these two, Jesus is descended.  It's been remarked upon many times that the women in Christ's genealogy, mentioned in Matthew, all have disreputable reputations (Mary, though she was righteous, was not perceived to be righteous as she was with child before she was legally married).  Again, I think it's just another example of how God uses bad or strange situations, often by people's own sin, to do his own good work.  After this, Tamar gives birth to her twins and they are her life and mainstay.  She is never married again, though Judah cares for her and treats her with respect.  A happy end for Tamar?  Probably, as she was cared for and had children to raise up, which was important to the women of that day.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 39:1-40:23

Genesis 37:1-36

I am so disappointed: I didn't get to work on my blog yesterday.  I did do my reading, so I didn't miss that, but I did miss my blog posting.  (I will be so glad when I can have the internet whenever I want and sit down to it when I have an opportunity!)  Now, I will only be able to say I've posted almost every day.  I'm sad.

Yesterday, we read about Joseph.  Joseph have these crazy dreams whose meanings are pretty specific: that Joseph, the youngest of his brothers except for Benjamin, would take precedence and importance over his brothers, that in fact his father and his wives even would bow down to him!  This, coupled with Jacob's favoritism for the first born of the wife he loved and has now lost, has made Joseph incredibly unpopular with the brothers.  No one at that time could really see far enough to realize that Joseph's dreams were prophetic.  It seems Joseph had a rather prideful nature before his brothers (though very obedient to his father) and everyone thought he was posturing.  I don't think the Bible records it, but it has always made me wonder if any of them, once on their way to Egypt to live under Joseph's protection, remembered these dreams.  What would their reaction have been?

Regardless, it is the impetus for a long chain of events that God would use to protect His chosen people.  In fact, to create His chosen people into a nation.  Because of their spleen and envy, Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery.  Reuben demonstrates his incompetence as the eldest in his inability to rule his brothers to save him.  In fact, Reuben's going behind their backs to rescue Joseph rather suggests that he was afraid or intimidated by his brothers all together.  But as Joseph says, what they meant for evil, God meant for good.

I love the story of Joseph!  His fortitude and grace under difficult circumstances is a perfect example of how the Lord took someone rather weak and fopsy to become an amazing example of faith!  If God could do it with Joseph, surely he can do it with me!

Today's Reading: Genesis 38:1-30

Genesis 36:1-43

The legacy of Esau.  You'll notice a simple sentence among all the begats and fathers-of: Esau is Edom.  The Edomites were a people/nation in their own right along the borders of ancient Israel.  Technically, they were family the Israelites, both descendants of Abraham (see, nations did come from Abraham: Ishmaelites, Israelites, Edomites...).  However, they don't always live up to the family.  Someday, in the distant future, Israel will be overrun.  And the Edomites mock them and heckle the survivors, and they get called on the carpet about it.  Check out Obadiah; it's all there.  Go ahead, as this blog will not come to Obadiah for another year, almost to the day.

That Esau's descendants, that the Edomites, should be included in the narrative is significant: Genesis was likely written as the same time as the other five books of the Bible, for the nation of Israel as it's becoming a nation after leaving Egypt.  This would be a significant reminder of who they are and who their neighbors are, and even more significant because Israel often didn't get along with Edom. The rivalry between Jacob and Esau lived on among their offspring.

What sort of legacy are you leaving?  What sort of consequences do your actions have for your children and even your children's children?  Do you ever think about that?  I have to admit, I don't always do.  But the decisions I make now have a significant impact on my future and my children's future.  I need to be more mindful of that.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 37:1-36

Genesis 35:1-29

Why do you think God re-renamed Jacob?  Wasn't once enough?  After all, when Jacob wrestled with God before his meeting with Esau, God renamed him Israel then?  Perhaps Jacob didn't live up to the name change, or perhaps it didn't really "stick": Jacob still went by Jacob.  Or, perhaps it was a confirmation of God's blessings and plans after a harrowing experience.  After all, it is just before God moves Jacob to Bethel that Levi and Simeon massacred Shechem, his father Hamor, and his father's city.  He feared the Canaanites' response.  God stepped in, advised him to move to Bethel, and as Jacob and his family traveled, a fear of God fell on the cities so that they wouldn't go near Jacob.  Remember, God changed Abraham's name when he made it clear that He was blessing Abram/Abraham, and that He was giving Abraham a new purpose.  It seems the same is happening here: Jacob at last tells his family to put away their household gods and hold to the one and only True God, whom he had previously acknowledged had blessed him and cared for him.  Now it was time for the whole family to live like it.  And, God blesses Jacob, passes on the blessings and promises given to his forefathers, and renames him: Israel.  And it is from Israel that the nation of Israel and the Israelites take their name: it all goes back to Jacob.

Sadly, at this time Rachel dies.  This sets up a very important precedent: Joseph and Benjamin are Rachel's only children, and now she is gone.  They are all Jacob has of his beloved wife, whom he loved (unlike Leah or his concubines).  This means all kinds of favoritism fall upon these two, and jealousy then lays in wait for them from their brothers.  This is a complete set-up, foreshadowing, for things to come: Joseph being sold into slavery; Joseph using Benjamin as a bargaining chip with his brothers while in Egypt.  Yeah, it's all coming.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 36 (not actually about Joseph, though)

Genesis 33:1-34:31

Jacob spent a great deal of time worrying over his reception with Esau, only to be greeted as a brother!  Esau runs to greet Jacob, kisses him, weeps upon his neck, embraces him: this is not the greeting of someone still angry.  I even checked out some commentaries to see if there were nuances in their greetings to one another: was it possible that in the discussion about the gifts that there was some Middle Eastern style bargaining that I, an everyday reader, would miss?  But there doesn't appear to be.

Notice, though, that Isaac's blessing on Esau has come to fruition: Esau has thrown off his brother's yoke.  He has enough to keep him happy and indeed seems quite happy.  He no longer bears any ill-will towards Jacob and is free from that yoke.  In fact, Jacob is the one who is humbling himself before Esau, fearing Esau's retaliation.

Poor Dinah.  She truly is a victim in all this mess: first demeaned by another man's raped, and then robbed of any opportunity to marry by her brothers' revenge.  A woman who has already known a man, albeit unwillingly, would find it very difficult to find a husband.  No matter how this matter played out, Dinah would have been the loser.

If one ever thinks that their actions today do not have long term consequences, this story would definitely set things straight.  For Dinah, she was "ruined" in the eyes of all, and no longer marriageable.  The most she could hope for would be to live in one of her brothers' families and act as nursemaid to nieces and nephews.  Simeon and Levi would also eventually feel the results of their actions.  They had acted not only deceitfully, but cowardly, coming against the men when they were waylaid by a condition set by Jacob's sons.  They did so without their father's knowledge or consent.  Jacob's words at the end of the chapter might sound weak, but it all plays out in the blessings Jacob lays on his sons at the end of his life: Simeon and Levi are both left out of the inheritance in the land.  After the Exodus and the wilderness wanderings, you see this come to fruition: Simeon is given no portion of the Promised Land.  Rather, the tribe is absorbed into others and ceases to be an entity as such at that time; likewise, Levi is not give a portion of land but instead is given towns as part of their priestly duties.  Often in the history of Israel, the two tribes spoken of to replace Simeon and Levi are Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph's sons by an Egyptian.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 35:1-29

Genesis 32:1-32

I wonder if Jacob was expecting the answer he received to his prayers.

Here, Jacob is fleeing from one danger into another: he has escaped Laban with his family and his fortune.  Now he goes to meet the brother who would have killed him if he'd stayed home.  Obviously, Jacob is very concerned about meeting Esau, even after 20-some years.  And so he sends up a prayer to the Almighty, whose blessing he is already under, to spare him from danger.  After this his sends peace offerings to his brother in the form of some price gifts in animals, and then awaits for the next day to go to meet him.

During the night, someone comes and attacks him, wrestling him throughout the entire night.  This would have been quite a match!  I know students who wrestle, and I doubt they would have been excited about such a long bout.  I think they would have a much better understanding of what it would really mean to wrestle so long with an adversary than I would.

Still, this is God's answer to Jacob's prayer: Jacob had asked for deliverance and God had wrestled with him, pushing his hip permanently out of socket and crippling him.

But then, what did he do after that?  He renamed Jacob.  Names were a big deal back then, as I'm sure you've heard.  Jacob literally meant heal-grasper, and it was a euphemism for "liar" or "cheater" or someone of that nature.  Here, God changes Jacob's name to Israel: he strives with God.  From this Israel comes the nation of Israel, and it is from Jacob/Israel, father of the nation that they take their name.

If you were Jacob, how do you think this would have answered your prayer?  Would it reassure you that God met you face to face, wrestled with you, and told you that you had prevailed over your enemies (did that include Esau)?  Would you feel completely lost?  Would you be saying in your heart, "Yeah, thanks!  My brother wants to kill me and now I can barely walk!"  No way Jacob will be able to outrun Esau now.  Maybe that is so that Jacob can see how God will take care of him.

Some consider this to be the final break between the old, swindling, lying Jacob and the older, wiser, humbler man.  A name change does seem to reflect his character change.  But still, I somehow don't think that was exactly the answer to prayer Jacob expected.  Perhaps we should be similarly prepared for answers to our prayers: who know what the Lord might do to answer?  What life-changing things might He send our way?

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 33:1-34:31

Genesis 31:22-55

You know, Jacob almost has a Jephthah moment on his hands.  Don't know how Jephthah is?  Check out Judges 11.  He made a very rash vow, just as Jacob did to Laban.  What if he'd had to carry it out?

Here, Laban is in hot pursuit of Jacob after discovering Jacob's taken flight.  He catches Jacob, but not before God appears to him in a dream, warning him not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.  Here you have to wonder: wouldn't the purpose of this warning be to turn Laban away from meeting up with Jacob?  How else could he have avoided saying anything, anything at all?  Because what could he say that would be neither good nor bad?  And to top this, then Laban admits to what God said, and in the same breath demands his household gods back!  First, we know Laban can well recognize the work of God's hands by the fact that he readily acknowledged it when Rebekah was taken away to marry Isaac.  He again acknowledges it when he acknowledges that God has blessed Jacob, and through Jacob, Laban himself.  He has seen God in a dream, and yet he still wants his household gods.  Did he not, by then, recognize that God is God?  Or did he want them for their monetary value, as Rachel must have when she stole them?

Jacob makes a pretty rash move at this point: he vows to kill anything/anyone that has Laban's household gods.  That would mean Jacob should have executed his beloved Rachel, as she was the one who stole them!  It just so happens, however, that Rachel is not only beautiful, but clever: she sits on them and fakes her period.  (Come on, we all know men avoid that subject as much as they possibly can!)  If she had been found out, Jacob would have had to execute what he loved to fulfill his rash vow.  Devastating.  Granted, Jacob seems to be uninformed of Rachel's actions and acted out of his innocence.  But, still...

His example, as well as Jephthah's, will hopefully be ample illustration of what will happen (or can happen) should one make a rash vow.  If you're promising to do something,  be sure you're willing and able to back it up: and that it wouldn't in the end horrify you.  Imagine Jacob's feeling's on slaying Rachel.  What Jephtheh thought when we upheld his vow.

Tomorrow's Reading (as I'm falling asleep as I type at this late hour...): Genesis 32:1-32

Genesis 30:25-31:21

What do you think?  Is Jacob honest?  Was his dealing with Laban honest?  At first, I wasn't sure.

Here, Jacob asks permission to return to his family, but Laban convinces him to stay by agreeing to wages for Jacob, so that Jacob might provide for his own family.  The wages at first don't seem like very much: the spotted or speckled sheep (which are a recessive gene, apparently) from amongst the herd.  Laban promptly tries to cheat Jacob by removing any of the flock that have the recessive gene (so that supposedly the herd could not produce any more, or many more, speckled or spotted sheep).

Now then, this is what Jacob does: he peels the bark from sticks and lays them out before the sheep when they mated so that they would produce speckled and spotted sheep for his wages.  He also mates the stronger of the sheep before his sticks so that his sheep would be stronger than Laban's.  Was this honest?  God certainly blessed Jacob by multiplying the number of speckled sheep born, and Jacob's proved to be stronger than Laban's because he used selective breeding.  What it honest of him to do so?  Would God have blessed dishonest practices?  I don't think so.  Looking at God's character throughout the Bible (which does not change), God does not condone dishonesty.  However, Jacob is the heir of God's blessings: would God have prospered Jacob just for those reasons?  I think God did bless Jacob because he was to inherit the blessings, but not despite dishonesty.  Laban tried to cheat Jacob of his wages, but Jacob was ensuring that he would in fact have wages.  Is that dishonest?  I don't really think so.

The most underhanded thing Jacob did was to leave without even telling Laban.  But again, Laban had become suspicious of Jacob because of the reports from his own sons (who were jealous of Jacob's prosperity).  Would you tell your employer who acted more like to throttle you than listen to you if you were to do something they didn't particularly like?

I don't think Jacob's behavior was completely on the up-and-up: he could have been upfront with Laban about leaving.  He could have bred the stronger sheep equally among the two groups; his breeding practices were not equitable.  But he was looking after his interests since Laban made it clear that not only would he not look out for Jacob, but he would cheat him: repeatedly.  And I do think God blessed Jacob to prepare for the things to come; I cannot pretend to understand the significance of the sticks or even Jacob's report later that God blessed them (for indeed, He did; at least Jacob recognized it).  My brain is too fried from a busy day and the late, late hour.

Side note: This rather makes you wonder what kind of father Laban was if he was so willing to swindle the only man that was providing for his two daughters?  Did he simply assume, or trust, they were getting additional income somewhere to purchase what they could not gain from the flock?  I just wonder.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 31:22-55

Genesis 29:14-30:24

Okay, I admit: I spent the majority of this morning's reading thanking the Lord that I didn't have to share my husband with another woman!  I cannot imagine being Leah: knowing that you are being given to a man who wanted your sister, than your husband getting your sister, and being neglected, maybe even resented, for your sister.  I kind of know how this feels: growing up my sister and I could probably have reflected Rachel and Leah, to a lesser extent.  I am older, she is younger; she was far more attractive, I was definitely less so.  I don't know how many times I would notice a good-looking guy to only notice a moment later that he was checking my sister out and completely oblivious to my existence.  Now imagine that happening every day.  With your husband.

Anyone else think the child-bearing race rather resembled the Arms Race?  Leah has four, Rachel none.  So, Rachel gives Jacob her maidservant to have children by (isn't sharing him with Leah enough?).  Leah stops having children, so she gives Jacob her maidservant.  (Seriously, isn't sharing him with Rachel MORE than enough?!)  By the time they're done, there are thirteen children, four wives, and one worn-out guy!  Their time with their husband is so precious, or perhaps to Rachel not so much, that they're willing to barter it for mandrakes!  Perhaps Rachel isn't worried, as she knows Jacob would rather be with her, but Leah is so excited that she goes out to meet him as he comes in from the field.

God uses all this baby-getting to His own purposes, whatever the purposes of these women were.  From the twelve boys come the twelve tribes of Israel.  (Well, sort of.  But that's a completely different topic for another passage.)  God has promised Abraham that from him would come a mighty nation.  Same promise went to Isaac, and then Jacob.  Jacob is the first to see the real proliferation.  At the end, Jacob will be able to look further down the road and bless his sons with things to come.  I think that might have been an eerie moment from the brother, who by then were already getting on in years themselves.  But again, we see God working things according to His plan, despite others' schemes or motivations.

Again that question comes to mind: would you rather work with God or have Him work despite you?

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 30:25-31:21

Genesis 27:41-29:13

I've read commentaries or heard people riff that the episode in chapter 28, where Esau marries and Ishmaelite because he finally figures out how much his parents hate his Hittite wives, is a prime example of why Esau was passed over for God's blessing: he just didn't get it.  Call him a knucklehead.  Call him clod-headed.  He despised his birthright, he was temporal (willing to give away his birthright for food); he didn't have the things of the future in mind.  But, really, was Jacob any better?  Jacob lied.  He stole.  He tricked his father into giving a blessing that wasn't his.  So why did God choose Jacob over Esau?

Romans talks about God's sovereign choice in choosing Jacob over Esau.  The point of the passage, boiled down in Stacey-speech, is that God will choose whom He will choose.  God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy: none of us deserve it or merit it, but God chooses to give it anyway.  God showed a definite pattern of choosing one over the other to give the Promises to: Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau.  God did not give the promises to all the children of Abraham's flesh, nor all the children of Isaac's.  And He never really explains why, only that He has.  He is God after all (and we are not).

But reading the rest of chapter 28, I wonder if this is the real difference between Jacob and Esau: Jacob met God, and recognized it.  He erected an altar to commemorate the vision and the promise God had given him.  Would Esau have?  And even later, as we will read yet, when Jacob wrestles with God until morning, he is truly changed by the encounter (and not just physically).  How would Esau have reacted?  Would he have erected altars?  Would have responded so easily?  You'll see a difference in Jacob from this time forward.  The swindler will eventually be swindled, but I think his cheating days are done.  (This bares for a further reading to verify, but I can't at this moment remember an instance where Jacob himself cheated Laban, though Rachel did.)  Would Esau have been truly been clod-headed?  We really don't know; we never find out.

What about you?  What about me?  Are we clod-headed when we meet with the Lord?  Do we go in prayer and then never really listen and never really meet our Savior, our God?  Do we go through life, missing all the things God is trying to communicate to us because we are too anchored in the here and now?  I don't want to be like Esau.  Well, neither like Jacob as he is when he leaves his family's home.  But I would like to be able to listen to God and to hear Him.  I would like meet Him in my everyday life, and hear His voice when He speaks.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 29:14-30:24

Genesis 27:1-40

Confession: today I had a hard time doing my reading.  So many other things came up, that I didn't sit down and make it a priority.  To be honest, if I didn't have this blog, I might not have done.  So I'm glad I did.  As a side note, though, I will likely be publishing late at night for sometime.  It's easier to get the internet, everyone is in bed asleep, and it's easier to sit down and write.  Perhaps until we move out (likely in September) and get our own internet hooked up, I'll be publishing late at night.

Again, here is a familiar story: Jacob steals Esau's blessing.  It's a story you hear so many times you think you might not be able to understand or garner anything new from it.  But I did today.  I kept thinking over and over about Rebekah's relationship with her son, Esau.  How bad must it have been between them that she would be willing to steal away his blessing from him?  Granted, many have commented on the fact that she knew before he was born that Jacob would be the greater son, and therefore she would assume he should have the blessing, not Esau.  Very likely, this was her way of ensuring that Jacob would indeed be greatest.  Instead of seeing how the Lord might work through Jacob to make him great even without the blessing, or if the Lord would contrive another way for Jacob to be blessed, Rebekah took matters into her own hands.

Which is "well and good" (good?) if you were to account for the fact that this is for her favored son, Jacob.  It would likely make even more sense if Esau was not that close a relative.  But he's her son.  Wouldn't she want good and blessings for Esau as well?  I try to imagine what my feelings towards my child would be that I would be willing to actively swindle her, and I can't: I can only imagine that distaste and a lack of concern for her well-being would be there.  Would that be true of Rebekah?  And what would that be like?  Had they become so distant because he spent all of his time out in the fields, that her kinship for him was diminished?  Were his wives so distasteful and bitter towards Isaac and Rebekah that she would gladly cheat Esau to spite his wives?  What was the cause for the breach and did she not feel the slightest pang for Esau?  Surely she heard him weeping when he found his blessing was gone!  How did she feel?  Again, I can't imagine cheating my daughter in such a manner, for having a disregard for her future.  I can't at this time put myself in Rebekah's shoes.

The truth is, that all of this works to God's purpose.  Or, we should say, God uses this to work to His purpose, though God would not have condoned Rebekah's behavior or Jacob's falsehood. Still, because of Jacob's actions, we see the heat of Esau's anger and reaction.  We also see Jacob travel to Laban and work for his wives, whose children become the progenitors of Israel.  God may not have condoned the situation, but He certainly used it!

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 27:41-29:13

Genesis 26:1-35

You've heard the saying, "Like father, like son"?  Well, maybe the saying got started here.  It seems Abraham didn't warn Isaac of the pitfalls of calling your wife your sister, or perhaps Isaac ignored them.  An interesting thing I learned from the Bible Knowledge Commentary on this passage is the use of the word "laughing", as in when Isaac was laughing with Rebekah.  Yes, the ESV notes that the Hebrew suggests an intimate relationship, and other translations use the word "caressing".  What is interesting about this particular word in the Hebrew is that it references two other words used prior in relationship to Isaac: first, his name, which means laughter; and second, the mocking of Ishmael at Isaac's weaning.  Here, the writer of Genesis (Moses) is making a play on words regarding this incident with Isaac.  The BKC discusses how this play may actually be pointing up Isaac's lack of faith in calling Rebekah his sister.  The incident comes just after God directs Isaac to this land, tells him to dwell there, and that this land will eventually belong to Isaac's descendants.  This would suggest, you might think, that God will take care of Isaac as He intends for Isaac to dwell there and for his descendants to have possession of the land.  However, Isaac fears for his life on account of Rebekah's comeliness, and rather than trust God and have faith, Isaac pulls a trick out of his father's hat.  As time will tell, though, that Abimelech means no harm to Isaac, rather he is more intimidated by Isaac's wealth and might, and rather than attack the "bigger dog", Abimelech has the soundness of mind to recognize that Isaac is blessed and seeks a treaty with him.  (Also sounds a bit like Father and Son there, doesn't it?)

I admit, it kind of points up my own lack of faith.  There have been times when I know God has led me into something, things haven't gone well, and I begin to doubt and wonder (and sometimes mutter) about what God is doing and if I'm hearing things right.  Scripture is before us; it tells us of God's wonderful plan and the things that He has already accomplish.  But shouldn't it also serve as an example and a reassurance to us?  If God took care of Isaac, then wouldn't He take care of me as well, who has been adopted into His family and given the status of a child, and heir?  What an embarrassment if my adventures in living by faith went down for all of history with a note of mockery, or a note that suggests I've made a mockery of my faith in my behavior. 

I know I might sound as if I have very high expectations.  Or maybe I sound the exact opposite: like a total failure.  But these are the things I'm learning, and now I have to learn how to put them into action.  I think it might take time: an overnight change would be wonderful, but it doesn't often happen.  However, I am assured of this: that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  So I can do it, with His help.  It is my prayer that what i learn will become more and more evident in my life, even to those who tend to nay-say me.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 27:1-40

Genesis 25:1-34

Growing up, I thought my mom loved my sister more than me.  Even now, there are some days that old fear resurfaces and I think she's more proud of my sister, more in tune with my sister, simply likes my sister more than she does me.  Mom has reassured me again and again how much she cares, but sometimes it's hard to banish an old insecurity.  (And face it, my sister is pretty cool, even amazing.  Who wouldn't like her?)  So, my heart gives a little twinge when I read about the favoritism between Isaac and Rebekah over their children.

This passage sets up a lot of the background on heartaches to come.  We see God reveal to Rebekah that her younger son will be greater than her firstborn.  That's pretty significant: it was the firstborn that received the greatest share, if not all, of the inheritance.  It was the firstborn who received the birthright and the blessing, who was favored and esteemed.  And we find out that God intends for that right to go to Jacob, the younger, the heel-grasper, the deceiver.  Already we see that Esau "despises" his birthright in that he is willing to sell it for some stew!  He holds it in such low esteem, and his stomach in such high esteem, that he practically gives away his inheritance.  His logic is completely illogical!  "What does it matter to me if I have this birthright since I'm going to die?"  But, then, he eats the stew, which revives him, and goes on his merry way.  Can't you just hear Cornelia Bryant (Anne's House of Dreams, L.M. Montgomery): isn't that just like a man?  Maybe not, but it does seem foolish.

These are things that are coming to a head: Rebekah's preference for her younger son; Rebekah's knowledge that Jacob will be the greater of the brothers; Esau being willing to give away his birthright; the brothers' contention with one another that began in the womb.  How will it all end?  Let's find out!

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 26:1-35

Genesis 24:1-67

You know, when you know the Bible stories pretty well, it would be easy to skip or skim over them.  I find that the temptation sometimes with stories I've read and reread and reread.  But I'm glad I'm making myself read over them, because there is still something new and fresh to be seen, noticed, or learned.  Case in point, these are things I've thought about before when reading this passage:

• What a man of faith Abraham's servant is!  He goes before the Lord, makes a specific request, fully confident that the Lord will provide.  How often are we specific in our requests to the Lord?  How often do we make generalities because we really don't believe the Lord will provide or are not sure we could keep ourselves from doubt if that specific request is denied in God's good will and understanding?  But Abraham's servant had full confidence in God and made his request specific, and the Lord answered it specifically!
• How much courage and faith did Rebekah have to simply up and go the very next day with a man she did not know to a husband she had never met?  Oftentimes at that time there were many (if not all) arranged marriages and I'm not sure how much say a young woman had in marriage anyway, as it was between the bridegroom and her father.  Still, they gave her the option and she chose to go.
• I love the fact that Isaac saw them coming from a distance and went to meet them.  I find that one of the most romantic passages in the Bible: Isaac sees them and goes to meet his bride.  Rebekah sees him coming and dismounts and prepares herself for his arrival.  I try to imagine their first meeting, there in the field, perhaps even a little awkward and a little excited and try to imagine what they said.  Don't burst in the romance bubble for me: because we do know that Isaac loved Rebekah, and Rebekah, for the most part, seems to have loved Isaac back.  If only their favoritism amongst their children hadn't created family problems.

Things I thought about today, though:

• Laban: what's up with that dude?  He's a bit of a scheister we see later on in his dealings with Jacob.  At this time, though, he seems almost admirable.  I can't decide: he immediately goes out to greet Abraham's servant after hearing his sister's report and welcomes him into the house.  I have to admit, I had always thought this good hospitality before.  But this time I noticed that it included a note that Laban noticed the gold on his sister's arms and in her nose.  Was it monetarily motivated, then?  Did he see those things and think there was more to be had?  Or did he recognize that God was at work and his motives were pure of heart?  He and his father both certainly acknowledged that it was the Lord's doing that brought Abraham's servant to them?  I do not want to hastily judge Laban, but it would certainly be a very sad thing to be so obedient to the Lord's will here, and then so greedy and duplicitous later as he was to Jacob, his own nephew.
• What an amazing example Abraham must have set for his household to have not only such a faithful servant but a servant whose own faith in the Lord was so strong.  As the head of his household, Abraham would have set the tone for everyone else. I do not doubt that Abraham's own walk of faith influenced his servant's walk of faith, especially in this matter.  This is an excellent example and admonition to my husband and I: that we will set the tone for our home before our children.  If we love and respect and care about the Lord and God's people, our children will be more likely to do so.  If we consider church important, hold the Scriptures in high esteem, and make ministry a part of daily life, so then, hopefully, will our children.  We have little eyes watching us; we have a responsibility to them to live rightly, love the Lord, and be a good example.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 25:1-34

Genesis 23:1-20

And so ends the life of Sarah.  I don't say that to be flippant, at all.  Consider, Sarah led a long and incredible life.  She follows her husband as he leaves their hometown and go wandering.  She sees quite a bit of the world for that time, leaving the Chaldeans and going down to Egypt and then up into the lands of the Philistines and Hittites.  She is taken as the wife of a pharaoh and a king.  She has a child at a very advanced age.  She is beautiful, resourceful, and faithful.  Granted, not every moment is shining (her entire relationship with Hagar, for example).  But her husband loves her, as is seen by the fact that he does go in an mourn her. 

The part where Abraham barters for the cave at Mamre is interesting, isn't it?  From what I understand this is very typical for eastern cultures: always to show a great deal of respect, and even flattery, as you state what you want, listen to terms, and comply, etc.  It's a very different type of bargaining than you often seen used in America: use what you can against them to make them see things your way.  Maybe I've watched too much The Apprentice.  Or not enough.  I really don't like that show( or Survivor or anything that cutthroat for that matter).

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 24:1-67

Genesis 21:22-22:24

I can't imagine sacrificing Eliza.  My girl is six months old at this time, babbling and cooking, yanking her hair, and even as I write this, she sits on the floor beside me playing and grinning at me.  The thought of God asking me to sacrifice my child horrifies and strickens me.  Having to give her up to an accident or illness scares me, but to take her by my own hand?  I don't think I could seriously contemplate it.

What struck me in this passage is that when Isaac asks his father where the lamb is, Abraham replies that God will provide the lamb.  Before, I had always thought Abraham had told a white lie to reassure Isaac on their journey.  Perhaps I was reading the story through the doubts I would likely have been having.  But for the first time today, I realized that even at that early stage, Abraham firmly believed that God would provide the lamb.  We also know from Hebrews 11 that Abraham, when the time came and no lamb was provided, he believed that God would resurrect Isaac.  Abraham knew and believed that God promises came through Isaac and that God would fulfill his promises.  This has been reiterated to Abraham again and again before Isaac was born and in his infancy: the fact that Hagar's son Ishmael would not receive the blessings or inheritance, that Sarah provided him with a son in their old age.  The past several years have all worked to convince Abraham of God's goodness and faithfulness, and though it was sorely put to the test, he believed and trusted that God would take care of everything: and He did.  Just before the killing stroke, God provided the lamb.

I need more of this kind of faith in my life.  When things are taken away, or threatened to be taken away, I begin to doubt my purpose, what I think God is doing, and wondering if I am just floundering around.  What if I had missed some cosmic sign from God that this is what He wanted?  Or didn't want?  I hope I am doing better as more and more trials or u-turns come my way, but I know that the Lord is working on growing my faith.  May I live up to the challenge: I want to be a devoted follower, to be Christ-like, not claiming to be Christ-like.  I'm not perfect, but Lord, I desire to give You honor.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 23:1-20

Genesis 20:1-21:21

So much in this passage!  I think I will have to cover it bullet-style just to get my thoughts down

• First, the passage on Abimelech and Sarah makes you want to rethink beauty and age.  Sarah was in her nineties when Abimelech took her for his wife (thankfully, he didn't go near her).  Often, you might think how beautiful she must have been at close in her nineties to still attract attention.  But, back then they lived much longer (Abraham had children with a second wife after Sarah died) and may have aged slower.  The last part I don't know.  But still, she was old enough to be considered past child-bearing age.  But here, Abimelech desired her for his wife.  (We know, of course, that this is not the first time this happened, but you sure hope Abraham has learned his lesson by now!)
• Hagar.  I said before that God showed love for Hagar.  Sarah wants to send Hagar away, which would basically mean that Hagar would have to "live on the streets", as no man would have her once she had a child by another man (and was not a widow).  God in fact tells Abraham to go ahead and do it, which may seem harsh.  Previously, Hagar had named the Lord "You are a God of seeing" because He saw her in her distress from Sarah's mistreatment.  And He sees her here again when He provides Hagar a spring with which to sustain herself and Ishmael.  They live in the wilderness and provide for themselves, and from Ishmael come the Middle Eastern tribes.
• The birth of Isaac.  You know, a lot of people have written about the birth of Isaac and I don't know that I can say anything original.  But isn't it a good reminder of God's faithfulness?  And his name is so appropriate because of the joy he brought his parents.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 21:22-22:24

Genesis 19:1-38

What a sad passage.  The only good reported here is the mercy of God, which is good and great indeed!  Still, it is a good thing that our God is god and not like a man like the Greek gods: He might have truly lost his patience with Lot!  Here, He sends angels to Lot to rescue him from Sodom, and he dithers.  They tell him, "Get out now!" and he lingers.  They have to forcibly remove him from the city!  And then when they tell him to run for the hills, he hesitates again!  He asks for a dispensation to escape to a nearby town, Zoar.  And they almost have to propel him to go.

I think many of us wonder why Lot even remained in Sodom so long.  It's clear that he knew what kind of people live there.  When he saw the angels coming in the appearance of men, he is the one who hastened to them and insisted they come to his house.  He went outside to meet the rabble and try to steer them from their intentions.  He very likely knew that they would come and make such a request.  Why did he stay until their destruction?  Why not head out and find a better place?

Are we that different?

How much of our culture in America today would be pleasing to the Lord?  How much of it do we mimic?  It's a question we often ask ourselves: how much does the Church look like the rest of the world?  (How much of the Church prides itself on looking just like the world?)  But you don't see any of us packing up and moving out of the country, going to look for someplace different, better.  So why do we ask Lot to?

Perhaps Lot thought he could make a difference.  His seat by the city gate suggests he had become an elder, or at the very least a person of influence, there.  We don't know that he gained that position with that motive, but I know that many Christians do seek out political seats with the intention of "making a difference", being a light, etc.  What we have to be careful about is not to fall in to the pitfall that Lot did: beginning to be changed by the surrounding culture.  What was his alternative to the men of Sodom rather than handing over his guests?  Allowing those men to ravage his own daughters.  His wife couldn't keep from looking back at the place where she had lived.  His daughters, later, when it became apparent their father would not find them their own husbands found their own way to bear children.  Lot did not resemble his relative Abraham so much as he did the town he had been living in.  Can we say the opposite for ourselves?  Can I say the opposite for myself?  Do I look more like Christ my Savior or do I look more like the rest of America who does not are about Jesus?

One other thing I thought about while I was reading this: why is it in the Bible?  I cannot pretend I know what God was thinking when He had this recorded, but there are some interesting points to extrapolate when it is fitted with the rest of Scripture.  Jump to the Book of Ruth.  Ruth is a Moabitess, a descendant of Lot and his eldest daughter.  Ruth marries Boaz and they have a son: Obed.  Obed has a son: Jesse.  Jesse has a son: David.  Lot and his daughter are the distant ancestors of one of Israel's greatest kings.  Skip further ahead to the book of Matthew.  Who is listed in the genealogy of Christ?  Ruth.  The Moabitess.  Yes, Jesus is descended from Abraham and Sarah.  But also Lot and his unnamed daughter.  Is this an endorsement on the girl's behavior?  Definitely not (just read Leviticus and you'll get the idea!)  However, it is a very good example of Romans 8:28: how God works everything to the good for those who love Him.  God used what seems like a very sordid situation, and what may have well been a horror and a shame to Lot when he realized what happened several months later, to bring about something good: the Savior of the World.  Further proof He can do the same for us as well.  Something bad happens, we trust in the Lord; He'll work it out for good, even if it isn't easy.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 20:1-21:21

Genesis 18:1-33

Do you ever get a little jealous of the people in the Old Testament?  I do.  I read about how Abraham is sitting at the tent-flap beneath the Oaks of Mamre, looks up, and there is God standing before him.  God.  Of the universe.  Almighty.  Holy.  Majestic.  Standing right in front of him.  Man.  What was that like?  In fact, the Bible says that three men were standing in front of him; some interpret this as the Holy Trinity, others God and two angels, which would make sense since two angels went on to Sodom and Gomorrah after Abraham's little bargaining plea for Lot.  Either way, the Alpha and Omega is standing at your door, and He's come for tea.  How amazing is that?

What would I do if Almighty God stood before my door?  I can just see it: I'm sitting on the living room floor making faces at Eliza as she chews on the various accoutrements I have set before her, and the doorbell rings.  I go to answer it.  Instead of a salesman, instead of the mailman.  It's God.  Would my hospitality set in like Abraham and I immediately offer to brew Him some coffee and make some cookies?  Or would I be paralyzed and awestruck that God Himself is standing on my doorstep?  What would He have to say to me?  God did three things while He visited with Abraham: He ate, He reminded Abraham of the promise of a son, and He let Abraham know what was in store for Sodom and Gomorrah.  What would God be there to say to me?  I can't imagine it.  But I can imagine standing there wishing Nick was at home because His coffee is better, and thinking that maybe I should have whipped up some scones instead of cookies.  And I'd be thinking of all the things I should have gotten done that day and didn't, and all the things I shouldn't have done but did.  And I'd be wondering when and if God would mention them.  Would I be fool enough to try to think of excuses?

Sometimes we wish God spoke to us today as He did to these Old Testament saints.  Abraham saw and spoke with God.  So did Moses.  Elijah was taken up in a fiery chariot before he could die, and Elishah walked with God's spirit.  David was God's anointed.  Samuel His prophet and priest.  Jeremiah received great words of prophecy, as did Isaiah and Ezekiel and Obadiah and Jonah and Amos and Haggai.  Jacob wrestled with Him.  We so often want something that tangible that they experienced.  We sometimes, I often forget that we have received something else.  Hebrews 11 talks about it, and it's finished in the next chapter: that all these had great faith and looked towards something they never saw, Christ.  We, though, may not have seen Christ, but we know Him.  We have the opportunity to walk daily with Him when we surrender to Him as Lord and Savior.  He is with us always, even when we take it for granted.  I wonder if they would willingly have given up these "tangible" experiences of God to know a little of what we do: God's saving work.  Would they, then, be a little jealous of us?

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 19:1-38