Genesis 16-17

Dear RTB’ers,

Early on I suggested that I try to get my e-mail posts out by 8:00 AM, or 9:00 AM at the latest. Obviously I have not held myself firmly to that schedule, but I do try to post early. Today, however, the newborn child across the driveway created my delay. So, you early risers, I hope you’ve already read our two chapters and reflected on God’s work with His people!

A few words here and there can help our understanding. At the beginning of Gen. 17:4, the NASB has three words (God speaking), “As for Me…”. [NOTE: The ESV has “Behold…”.] Then at the beginning of Gen. 17:9, God says, “As for you…”; at the beginning of Gen. 17:15, He says “As for Sarai…”; and at the beginning of Gen. 17:20, He says, “As for Ishmael…”. These few words structure Genesis 17 for us. “As for me…” covers God’s covenant commitment to Abraham and his offspring in Gen. 17:4-8. Then “As for you…” introduces Abraham’s part of this covenant relationship through circumcision (Gen. 17:9-14, 23-27). “As for Sarai…” introduces the promise of Isaac’s birth (Gen. 17:15-19), and “As for Ishmael…” gives us God’s plan for Ishmael (Gen. 17:20-21).

There are a couple of items in today’s reading that will come up a number of times in our readings over the next few years. The first is the “angel of the LORD” appearing to Hagar (Gen. 16:7-13). Scholars debate who this “angel” is. Most simply say that this angel is indeed a heavenly angel come to earth as God’s messenger, delivering God’s words. Others argue that this angel is Jesus “pre-incarnate” coming to earth and foreshadowing His own incarnation thousands of years later. I like the “heavenly angel come to earth” argument, but I’m no theologian!

The second item is circumcision. That’ll stay with us throughout the Old Testament. See especially the incident told in Genesis 34. Then circumcision becomes a major New Testament issue – did believing Gentiles need to be circumcised? We’ll deal with that item when we read Acts.

Blessings!

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See also: January 6 (2023) / Genesis 17-20

Genesis 15

Dear RTB’ers,

Today, a short reading, not as much action, mostly a conversation between the Lord and Abraham. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram… (v. 18a). This is now the second covenant between God and His people. The first was with Noah (God speaking): “Behold, I establish My covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish My covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:9-11) God confirmed this covenant with a rainbow. (Genesis 9:12-13) As I understand it, God’s covenant in today’s reading with Abram was the “Promised Land”, from Egypt to the Euphrates River (v. 18b). He confirmed this covenant by passing between the sacrificial offerings (v. 17).

God had also made a promise to Abram regarding his descendants: “… your very own son shall be your heir … Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them … So shall your offspring be.” (vv. 4b-5) This is the second time that God had made a promise to Abraham: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3) The Bible does not refer to God’s promise of offspring to Abram specifically as a covenant. There is a large body of literature on “covenant theology”. A Wikipedia item suggested scholars claiming between one and twelve covenants. Another online source cited seven covenants. I like five as the number: Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and the New Covenant in Jesus. https://bibleproject.com/articles/covenants-the-backbone-bible/ Also, it’s easy to break the Abraham covenant into three pieces – his offspring, the land, and circumcision. Again, we leave it to Bible scholars to argue these points.

So, today we see a promise of offspring to Abraham and a Promised Land covenant. We will see the beginning of the fulfillment of the former of these in chapter 21, but we’ll have to wait until we read the book of Joshua to see the settling of the Promised Land.

Blessings!

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See also: January 5 (2023) / Genesis 12-16

Genesis 13:5-14:24

Dear RTB’ers,

There’s a lot going on in today’s reading. We met Lot yesterday, Abram’s nephew. Now today in Genesis 13 we see the beginnings of a dispute between Abram and Lot, who were both quite wealthy. The issue was pasture and water for their herds and flocks – there was not enough for all their animals together. This dispute was settled quickly when Abram offered Lot the choice to go east or west, with Abram going the opposite direction. At this time they were living near Bethel, which is about ten miles north of Jerusalem, west of the Jordan River. Lot chose east, the Jordan valley, with Sodom and Gomorrah likely further east, on the other side of the Jordan River. Abram then moved west and south to Hebron (where he built another altar), which is some 20-30 miles south of Jerusalem. [NOTE: My distance measurements are often given relative to Jerusalem.]

As we move to Genesis 14 we see Lot now living in Sodom (v. 14:12b – more on that item a few chapters down the road – and war between two groups of “kings”, as the Bible notes, four kings against five (v. 14:9b). The geographic details are difficult, but what is worth noting is that the victory is won in the “Valley of Siddim” (v. 14:10), a region far south of Jerusalem, possibly the southern end of what is now the Dead Sea today. The Sodom and Gomorrah kings and their allies are defeated and Lot is captured by the victorious kings. Surprisingly (to me), Lot is taken far north, even as far as Damascus, more than 100 miles north of Jerusalem. Now Abram joins the battle to bring back Lot and others who were taken captive. Abram’s group is victorious and Lot and his fellow Sodomites are rescued.

As Abram returns he is blessed by Melchizedek, king of Salem (v. 14:18a). [NOTE: “Salem” is a shortened form of Jerusalem.] I’m sure that dozens of theological dissertations have been written on this meeting between Abram and Melchizedek, especially Melchizedek bringing “bread and wine” (v. 14:18) and Abram giving Melchizedek “a tenth of everything” (v. 14:20b). For us, however, I suggest that you move forward to the New Testament and read Hebrews 6:20-7:28 and begin your own dissertation!

Blessings!

Genesis 11:10-13:4

Dear RTB’ers,

Today we meet Abram, whose name is later changed to Abraham. Immediately we encounter confusions – confusions, at least, in our own way of thinking. My first confusion comes with Abram’s brother, Nahor, marrying his brother Haran’s daughter, Milcah. That is, Nahor married his niece. Strange to us, but that’s how it was back then. My second confusion was why Terah uprooted his family, taking one son and leaving the other behind with his other relatives and moving to a strange country. With Canaan as a destination, he stopped and settled at Haran and died there. What prompts these sorts of movements, away from home and family? Strange. Finally, we have Abram moving on, but this time it’s because the LORD called him. That I can understand.

Sadly, when God calls us, confusions don’t end. When I saw what we were reading today, my first thought was, “Oh yeah, this is the story where Abram lies to Pharoah.” That was confusing in itself. But then, Abram being a brother to Sarai saved him, while being a husband to Sarai would have had him killed. Strange! First, how did Abram know that, to contrive that lie? And second, how does that make sense? The brother Abram lives and the husband Abram would have died. Strange? So Abram gets exposed in his lie and leaves Egypt richer than when he came! Very strange!

What’s not strange is Abram’s faith. When he arrives at Shechem, he builds an altar (Genesis 12:7). Then he moves on to Bethel and builds another altar (Genesis 12:8). Then when he returns from Egypt, he settles at that second location, Bethel. Both times when he came to Bethel, Abram … called on the name of the LORD. (Genesis 12:8b, 13:4b) Abram knew God personally and (presumably) called on Him regularly. He is presented to us as a model of faith. (Hebrews 11:8-10)

God spoke to Adam and Eve. He spoke to Noah. And now he speaks to Abram. But He’s not through speaking. All through the Old Testament and continuing into the New Testament, God is speaking to His chosen people. And He is still speaking today. Are we listening?

Blessings!

Genesis 10:1-11:9

Dear RTB’ers,

The whole of chapter 10 might be just a bunch of foreign names to some of you, but it’s surprising how many of these names show up later in the Bible. My own short list (surely forgetting some that show up later): Gomer, Magog, Tubal, Meshech, Tarshish, Kittim, Cush, Egypt, Put, Canaan, Havilah, Sheba, Nimrod, Babel, Shinar, Assyria, Nineveh, Rehoboth, the Philistines, Sidon, Heth, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, Sidon, Gerar, Gaza, Sodom, Gomorrah, Eber, Elam, Asshur, Lud, Aram, Uz, Peleg, Sheba, Ophir, and Havilah. I am only mentioning familiarity. For a few of these I know their Biblical location or their context; others are in there somewhere! Bottom line – the more you read the Bible, the more these connections become alive!

A couple of other items. Notice that Sodom and Gomorrah are descended from Ham, who saw his father’s nakedness (Genesis 9:22). Also, one of Seth’s descendants is Eber (Genesis 10:21, 24, 25), from whom arises the name “Hebrew”. Among Eber’s descendants we find Abram (Genesis 11:14-17, 22-32) – and that story goes on to this day!

My Study Bible in chapter 10 devotes more space to notes than to the Biblical text, in many cases identifying these names with geographical locations in the ancient world. I’ll try to take a photo of these pages from that Bible and post it later.

Finally, one other item. Chronologically, it seems that the first nine verses of chapter 11 actually come before the names in chapter 10. At the beginning of chapter 11 they are one people and one language until God looks down and confuses their language.

Blessings!

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See also: January 4 (2023) / Genesis 10-11

Genesis 8:20-9:29

Dear RTB’ers,

A few days ago we read that Noah was to bring animals on board two-by-two (Genesis 6:19-20). Then the next day we saw a modification of that original arrangement: “You shall take with you seven pairs of every clean animal, a male and his female; and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and his female.” (Genesis 7:2) Today we see why Noah had to bring more of the clean animals: Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took some of every kind of clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (Genesis 8:20) We will learn later in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 how the Lord distinguishes between clean and unclean animals, but it seems that Noah already had a clear distinction between the two in this sacrifice to the LORD. Only clean animals get eaten or sacrificed.

I appreciated Sharon’s comments on Genesis 6 a couple of days ago. She pointed out the evil in mankind, but also gave us the BUT GOD verses. Today we see evil again: (the LORD speaking) “…for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” (Genesis 8:21b) Although we do not see a clear BUT GOD verse, we do see God’s mercy: “…and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.” (Genesis 8:22)

I was struck by Genesis 9:4 (again, God speaking), “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” It was not the content that struck me so much as the forward connection, where God clarifies that relationship between blood and life:

If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, “No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.”

Leviticus 17:10-12 (See also Lev. 17:14.)

We also go forward from this passage to the New Testament, to Jesus speaking at the Last Supper:

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.”

Luke 22:19-20 (See also Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24, and John 6:53-58.)

This cup, poured out, My blood. Jesus’ life was in His blood. And He gave it for us.

Blessings!

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See also: January 3 (2023) / Genesis 7-9

Genesis 7:1-8:19

Dear RTB’ers,

Noah, the ark and the flood, continued. Reading the story of Noah and the ark and the flood makes me want to go up north to visit the Ark Encounter in Williamston, KY, where these entrepreneurs have built an ark to the dimensions given by God to Noah – 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high, including rooms in a completely finished interior (Genesis 6:14b). But short of visiting this Ark Encounter, I’m putting myself into the story as one of Noah’s sons. I am not simply cruising like so many of us have done over the past few years. I’m more like one of the mechanics on a cruise ship or any one of the employees on the ship. On the Ark I’m busy every day tending to the animals. We had brought food on board for us and the animals (Genesis 6:21) and the animals need to be fed every day. Then, the fun part, their stalls need to be cleaned. I grew up on a farm with cows, pigs, chickens and other animals. The word “muck” lives in the farm vernacular as both a noun and a verb. I’ll leave it to your imagination to muck the stalls with me and pitch the muck overboard. That will be a full day’s work, every day! And we’re on board this Ark for 375 days! I’ll be looking forward to tomorrow’s reading when we finally get back to our normal pre-flood lives!

Blessings!

Genesis 6

Dear RTB’ers,

Noah, the ark and the flood. The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (v. 5) This verse, from thousands of years ago, sadly, rings true today. We would like to believe that we are somewhat set apart from this global “condemnation”, that every intention of the thoughts of his heart does not apply to us, that although we are fallen, we know that we are still seeking the Lord. We would like to think that we are among those who walk with God (v. 9b), as did Noah. But even as I imagine all that for myself, I realize that I am grading on a curve. Yeah, I may not be among the most despicable men on the face of the earth, but I know that I am corrupt in the eyes of a holy God. But because I live on this side of the Cross and Resurrection, I also know that my many shortcomings are forgiven, that I have been redeemed. Maybe not “every intention”, but way too many!

Carol and I were having a discussion recently about how much God knows of the future (and how far into the future), how much He knows of our future behaviors. Verse 6 seems to counter that notion: And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. Verse 7b then repeats that refrain: …for I am sorry that I have made them. Did God really not anticipate man’s corruption? Had he not anticipated Adam and Eve disobeying Him? How much does He know of our futures? Does He know where I will be at this time next year? Is it already marked how many years I will spend in this life? Questions for the more theologically-minded!!

Blessings!

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See also: January 2 (2023) / Genesis 4-6

Genesis 4-5

Dear RTB’ers,

We had a good discussion at our RTB gathering this morning on Genesis 4, the Cain and Abel story. Here’s an item I’d like to highlight. Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. (v. 4) I’m sure I’ve seen this before, that Abel’s offering from the flock was (1) a first-born lamb and (2) a fatling. That is, Abel offered the first and the best. Going forward into Exodus we will see that Israel was freed from slavery in Egypt when God brought on the tenth plague, the death of the first-born male from every Egyptian, both human and animal. After that Passover night and the crossing of the Red Sea, God said to Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.” (Exodus 13:2) From early in creation (Abel’s offering) God has His people setting apart the first-born. No such mention is made of Cain’s offering, only that it was “…an offering of the fruit of the ground.” (v. 3b) Later the writer of Hebrews says this about Abel’s offering: By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, … and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. (Hebrews 11:4) It takes faith to offer up a “first-born” of anything, when you don’t know whether or not there will be a “second-born” or a “third-born” or…!

Blessings!