Episode 271 "Sarai get a new name and a crazy promise" - Genesis. 17:15-27

​​​​Gen. 17:15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

Gen. 17:22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

This part begins with God changing another name. He had just changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and now he has changed Sarai’s name to Sarah. The difference is that the author explains the meaning of Abram and Abraham but does not explain the difference between Sarai and Sarah. Sarai means “Princess.” It’s possible that there is no significant difference in the meaning of the name change. Rather, the LORD changes it to signify her part in the covenant as the one who would bear the promised seed. It would be Sarah’s son who would inherit the covenant given to Abraham and not the son Ishmael born to Hagar. The LORD’s message to Abraham regarding Sarah echoes the promise the LORD had made to Abraham. It emphasizes that Sarah is the one through whom kings and nations would come and, more importantly, the descendants who would inherit the Abrahamic Covenant.

Verse 17 gives us Abraham’s response. He fell on his face and laughed. What a natural and appropriate response to being told that you would be able to beget a child at 100 years old and your wife would bear that child at ninety years of age. His thoughts, best summarized as “Is this really possible?” might make us wonder if he’s doubting the LORD. The LORD does not challenge him. So, I believe this is just a reasonable pondering in his mind of “How could this be?” Then, Abraham responds to God, suggesting that Ishmael fits the bill just fine with him.

It’s at this point that the LORD corrects him and tells him that he will have a son by Sarah, and they will name him Isaac. The meaning of this name is not given directly in the text. However, a word study reveals that this name may be associated with laughter. Since Abraham laughs at the thought of this child in their old age, and Sarah later laughs when she hears that she will have a son in her old age, the name may serve as a reminder of their response to the LORD’s providence in bringing about this miracle in their old age.

In verse 20, the LORD reveals that he will also bless Ishmael and bring nations through him. But Isaac is the son of the promise and will inherit the covenant God made with Abraham. We must see God’s mercy toward Hagar and Ishmael in these Scriptures.

Verses 22-27 can be summarized in one word, “Obedience.” Despite the illogical possibility of Abraham and Sarah having children at such an old age, Abraham responds to the LORD’s revelation by obeying the LORD and having every male in his household circumcised according to the LORD’s requirement for their participation in the covenant.

It seems to me the most evident lesson we can learn is to obey the LORD even when what we are doing may seem contrary to what we want to do or think. Maybe that is giving something to a homeless person. We think, Oh . . .they’ll just sell it to buy drugs or alcohol.” The LORD may not speak audibly to us or communicate through a dream. Yet, there may be a sense that we need to do something good, yet one part of us resists. If we know it’s not in conflict with God’s word, we’re free to step out on faith and act. We may laugh and wonder to ourselves if it’s worth it. But we can trust the LORD can use it however he wants.

Episode 270 - "The Sign of the Abrahamic Covenant" - Genesis 17:9-14

Gen. 17:9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Picking up where we left off as God is confirming the covenant promise he made to Abram, now renamed Abraham, the LORD is now giving the sign of the covenant. I’ve already made the point that when the LORD first revealed this covenant to Abram, the LORD took full responsibility for making this covenant viable. The LORD alone passed through the sacrificed animal pieces, making what is understood as an unconditional covenant.

Now, the sign of the covenant is given to Abraham. The sign is male circumcision. The sign is not only for male biological descendants of Abraham. It is for every male who identifies with Abraham and partake of the covenant blessings.

If you're like me, you may be wondering, “Why circumcision?” I cannot say I have found a historical and scholarly answer to that question. So, I will give you an answer that is more of a guess than a rock-solid, authoritative answer. The key to my response is in the word “sign.” It’s a sign of the covenant. Signs are concise messages to those who see them. What better constant reminder/message to every male Hebrew than circumcision? This is a sign that cannot be missed.

Furthermore, it’s a sign that could remind these men about the promised “seed.” We’ve already discussed how “the seed of the woman” has been an ongoing theme since the fall of humanity. Each male descendant should be reminded to walk righteously before the LORD, knowing he may be used to bring about that seed. Finally (and this is a bit of an interpretive stretch), there is a common analogy in the Scriptures that equates the “flesh” with acting according to one’s own desires and not according to the word of God. Is it possible the LORD intended this sign, a removal of flesh, to be a reminder that to receive blessings from the LORD, we need our flesh/fleshly desires removed and trust in God? Whether that has any connection with the sign of circumcision or not, I cannot be sure. I don’t know where that could be defended in Scripture. Yet, the principle is true. Check out Romans 8, where Paul tells Christians they must put to death the deeds of the flesh and walk by means of the Holy Spirit.

The failure of any male to receive this sign is cut off from the people. He is not to receive support or any of the blessings given to the covenant people. This is an important detail that will become important as the greater narrative moves on.

So, how is this important or even relevant to Christians today? We read in Acts 15 that circumcision was not to be imposed upon Gentiles who became Christians. This covenant does not apply to us. Why? The answer lies in that we are under the “New Covenant.” The sacrifice/blood of the New Covenant is that of Christ’s when he died on the cross. We are also given a sign for that covenant. It is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the sign of our covenant is not a visible sign. It’s the third person of the Trinity who provokes us, encourages us to do what is right and good and to convict us when we don’t.

This story of the Abrahamic Covenant should remind us that our God is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. His covenants testify to his holiness, righteousness, justice, love, and so much more. We receive blessings when we follow the Holy Spirit's leading.

Episode 269 - "Promises, promises" - Genesis 17:1-8

Gen. 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Since Adam and Eve disobeyed the LORD in Genesis 3, we have been anticipating “the seed of the woman” who would crush the head of the serpent and restore things to the way the LORD intended in the beginning. The narrative has led us to Abram and Sarai. The LORD has promised to make Abram a “great nation.” We even read how the LORD initiated a covenant promise as an unconditional promise. This meant that the LORD was taking full responsibility for bringing about the fulfillment of this promise. We also read about how Abram and Sarai did things that risked disqualifying them from bringing the promised seed.

This passage opens with “When Abram was ninety-nine years old . . .” (Gen. 17:1). Stop there and think about this for a minute. The LORD has made this promise to Abram for many years, and now he is ninety-nine, but he still has not had a single child by Sarai. Too late, right? It would seem an impossible thing for a couple so old to have a child.

It’s at this time the LORD speaks to Abram again and says, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between you and me, and may multiply you greatly.” (Gen 17:1b-2) The LORD is telling Abram, first of all, that there is nothing he cannot do. He is “God Almighty.” In light of that, he instructs Abram to trust him by living according to his instructions. He then reaffirms his promise to give Abram innumerable descendants.

Abram is not jaded. He is in awe of the LORD and worships him. The LORD then revealed to him that the LORD was changing his name from Abram, meaning exalted father, to Abraham. The Hebrew term for Abraham is a word play on a word meaning “Father of nations.” The explanation for this change of identity is explained by the LORD telling him, “for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” (Gen. 17:5) He continues in verse six to unpack that promise even more.

In verse seven, the LORD promised to establish his covenant not just with Abraham but with every generation of his descendants after him as an everlasting covenant. This everlasting covenant promise includes the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession for Abraham’s descendants. One would have to completely ignore history and the news to know that Abraham’s descendants of promise (Israelites) have not yet realized that promise. So, what gives? Has the LORD failed? Has he reneged on his promise?

Let me keep this as simple as I know how. Those within the Christian faith vary in how they interpret the fulfillment of this covenant promise. Personally, I’m going to take this at face value and say that I believe the LORD will ultimately fulfill this promise in a literal way. In other words, I believe the LORD still has a plan for the Jews. Other people who love Jesus as much as I may have a different understanding of how this has been or will be fulfilled. Regardless of where people fall on this spectrum of interpretation, God is Almighty. He is not powerless to fulfill his promises precisely as he intends. He certainly is not constrained or dependent upon any specific human interpretation of his word. He is able and faithful to fulfill his promises, as we will see as we continue this study.

This brings us to the last part of verse eight. The LORD states, “And I will be their God.” (Gen. 17:8c). As one continues through the Old Testament books and time passes, one will witness a recurring pattern of the Israelites abandoning the LORD as their God. When they do so, they lose possession of the land. The lesson we should learn from this ourselves is that if we expect to experience promised blessings from the LORD, he must be our God.

Episode 268 - "The LORD is a God who hears and sees" - Genesis 16:7-15

Gen. 16:7 The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the LORD said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant

and shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael,

because the LORD has listened to your affliction.

12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man,

his hand against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

Gen. 16:13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

Gen. 16:15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

We pick up where we left off in the story about Abram, Sarai, and Sarai’s Egyptian servant Hagar. If you recall, Sarai and Abram made a mess of a situation when they decided to help God fulfill his promise to give Abram innumerable descendants. Sarai had the idea that since she’d not been able to conceive, Abram should have sexual relations with Hagar and have a child through her. Even though Sarai came up with the idea and told Abram he should do this, Sarai became accusative to the LORD and to Abram when Hagar conceived and “looked with contempt” upon Sarai. Sarai treated her harshly, and Hagar ran away.

In verse 7, we pick up the story where Hagar is on the run and “the angel of the LORD found her by a spring.” (v. 7). Many people have suggested this angel of the LORD is actually a Christophany, an appearance by Jesus long before he becomes incarnate in Bethlehem. That may be what is happening. But I suspect that is an overreaching interpretation. There’s no reason this should be a Christophany. Whatever the correct interpretation, this being is a messenger of the LORD who comes with a specific revelation to Hagar along with the LORD’s compassion.

I love it when the LORD, or an agent from the LORD, asks questions. The LORD is omniscient. He knows everything. It stands to reason that the LORD asks questions to people for their benefit and not for his own. The angel asked Hagar where she had come from and where she was going. Notice that her response only answered the first part of the question. Hagar explains that she is running from Sarai, but it would appear that she has no idea where she is to go. As a side note to this story, I wonder how often we are prone to want to run from something but have no clue where we are going.

The angel instructs her where to go. The angel told her to return to Sarai and submit to her. I believe the intent here is for Hagar not to show contempt to Sarai but to cooperate with her. Is this instruction from the LORD cruel or unjust? I don’t think so. I believe the LORD intends for her to receive his blessings through her connection with Abram and Sarai.

The angel revealed to her the LORD’s promise that she would have many descendants and that the child she had recently conceived would be a son whom she would name Ishmael. This name means “God hears.” The angel explains, “the LORD has listened to your affliction.” (v. 11) I believe this is an essential point that we should learn from this story. Even though Hagar has been a victim of sorts and has run away, the LORD has never been away from her or uncaring concerning her problems. Instead, the LORD would bring some benefit to her through these circumstances. We see the Apostle Paul state this outrightly in Romans 8, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Not all things that happen to us are good. It wasn’t God’s desire for Abram and Sarai to devise their own plan. Yet, God can and does use the events that unfold from humanity’s independent efforts to bring about good things.

The angel’s statement that her son Ishmael would be a wild donkey of a man was not an insult. It was just a prophetic statement that Ishmael would be a very independent person who would find conflict. This information would be of interest to the Israelites as they would conquer the land of Canaan after their bondage in Egypt.

Hagar’s response to this revelation about Ishmael is seen in verse 13. She confesses the LORD is “a God of seeing.” (v. 13) Hagar is not a pawn in a cruel cosmic game. The LORD hears her and sees her. She recognizes that God is looking after her. This is the second important truth that is revealed concerning the LORD. How might we look differently upon the events in our lives if we believed the LORD listened to our afflictions and looked after us? What an encouraging thought.

Episode 267 - "Sarai 'helps' God" - Genesis 16:1-6

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

Let’s cover this story of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar over the course of a few episodes. We’ll observe how the problem or conflict created by Abram and Sarai’s actions, apart from God’s promise to them, complicate things. While this story is about a specific situation with specific people to a particular audience, we can glean a principle that is valuable to us today.

This story begins with another reminder that Abram and his wife Sarai still have no children despite the LORD's promise that Abram’s descendants would be innumerable. The reader is next told that Sarai had a female Egyptian servant named Hagar. In all likelihood, Hagar was given as a servant to Sarai when Abram and Sarai traveled to Egypt, and the pharaoh took Sarai into his house to marry her. This detail should interest the intended audience of Israelites who had been in servitude to the Egyptians. The Egyptians were descendants of Ham through his son Mizraim. (See Gen. 10:6) Of course, Ham was the one who dishonored his father, Noah. Abram had risked compromising the LORD’s plan for him by telling the Egyptians that Sarai was his sister and allowing the Egyptian Pharaoh to take her into his house. Now, Abram is the one lying with an Egyptian.

As tragic stories unfold, sometimes the details seem a bit humorous. In this case, the humor is in how Sarai asserts fault in everyone in the story except for Sarai, who instigated this train wreck of a plan to give Abram a descendant. First, it is the LORD’s fault for preventing Sarai from having children. She told Abram to have sexual relations with Hagar in order to have children by her. The story seems to echo the Adam and Eve story, where Abram, like Adam, did not appear to question the wisdom of this opportunity. He just did it. When Hagar conceived, we’re told that “she looked with contempt upon her mistress” (v. 4). Sarai, understandably, could not deal with that but blamed Abram and treated Hagar harshly.

While I’m tempted just to shake my head and chuckle at this mess, I find myself more inclined to empathize with the pain each individual must have felt at some point. If we stop and think about it, Sarai must have been pained over her inability to have a child. The LORD’s promise of many descendants to her husband must have added fuel to that fire when it wasn’t happening, and her biological clock was ticking or perhaps had “tocked.” Abram likely shared that pain to some degree and mostly empathized with his wife’s concern. The LORD’s delay or perceived failure in giving them a child as they were getting older led to his pondering how that promise might be fulfilled. So, when Sarai came up with the plan, he just went along with it. Hagar was a servant to Sarai, a second-class citizen. When she was able to have a child by Abram, it seems to have evoked her pride because she finally had one thing over her mistress. But this backfired on her. It wasn’t her fault in the first place because she was at the mercy of Sarai and Abram’s will.

What it comes down to is that Abram and Sarai decided to help the LORD by devising their own plan to bring about God’s promised descendant. They are successful in producing a descendant of Abram. But was this the promised seed to Abram? Is this the “seed of the woman” who will crush the head of the serpent? We’ll see how this plays out in our next episode.

The theological principle coming to light already is that when God makes a promise, our attempts to make it happen through our own devices will likely create a bigger mess for ourselves. As Abram and Sarai will learn, we need to trust the LORD and wait on him. God can and will bring about every single promise he has made.

Episode 266 "Abrahamic Covenant" - Genesis 15:7-21

Gen. 15:7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Gen. 15:12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Gen. 15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Genesis 15 describes the “Abrahamic Covenant.” In our last episode, we read about the LORD’s promise to Abram to give him innumerable descendants. Abram was aging and had not yet had one offspring, yet he believed God. God assessed Abram’s trust as righteous. This is an important fact to remember as we read and interpret the rest of chapter 15. A second important thing to remember is that this book is being written for the Israelites who had come out of Egypt.

Genesis 15:7 reads, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” Why is this important? It’s important for the Israelites to understand that the LORD who brought them out of the land of Egypt, had brought their ancestor Abram out of a land of people who did not worship the LORD. If he planned to give the land to Abram and his descendants, then it makes sense that he is now going to give it to them.

These Israelites might wonder, “How can we know for certain that the LORD intends to give it to us?” The response might be something like, “It’s funny you should ask that because Abram had the same question, (See Genesis 15:8) The LORD responded to Abram by establishing a covenant with him, which included some animal sacrifices. Notice the sacrifices were cut in two, and the halves were laid opposite each other. Then, verse 11 offers a strange comment that birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. What is the point of that? Well, these birds are unclean animals because they feast upon the dead. This is perhaps a picture of conflict with the unclean people of the nations dwelling in the land, and as Abram drove away the unclean birds, the Israelites will need to drive away the people that God deems unclean.

After the animals were cut in two and laid out, the LORD caused Abram to fall into a sleep and an ominous state of darkness and dread. The LORD revealed to him more details about his descendants and the land. The LORD told him that his descendants would be oppressed in a foreign land for 400 years, and afterward, the LORD would judge that nation and deliver Abram’s descendants back to the land he was giving them.

Certainly, the Israelites should see God’s providence in bringing all of this about as he had told Abram. It should cause them to trust in the LORD as their ancestor Abram did. They should also notice that God judges sin. He is patient and not looking to bring quick judgment upon the slightest infraction. (See verse 16)

Verses 17-21 reveal the LORD’s enactment of the covenant. Here’s where the story gets interesting. Typically, in a covenant agreement like this, both parties of the covenant walk between the divided parts of the sacrificial animals. The parties mutually agree their part of the agreement will be fulfilled and their failure to do their part should bring a curse upon themselves to be like these animals. Yet in this covenant agreement, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch pass through alone. The LORD does not require anything of Abram to bring about this covenant. Bible scholars understand that the LORD is making an unconditional covenant with Abram. The LORD accepts full responsibility for providing descendants to Abram and land for them to dwell in.

Scholars like to pose questions about whether God can curse himself. I think the point here is that the LORD is giving Abram and his descendants the strongest possible sign that he can be trusted to fulfill what he says he will do. That’s the lesson I think we can take from this account. While I cannot take this text and read myself into it as a recipient of this specific promise, I can rightly accept that this God has made promises that are to all who trust him. We can be confident that he will fulfill them.

Episode 265 - "God's promise to Abram" - Genesis 15:1-6

Gen. 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

If there are sections of Scripture that are more significant or important than others, Genesis 15, I believe, would have to be included in that list. The reason is that the New Testament authors cite this to support their argument for the nature of faith and imputed righteousness.

In our last episode, the LORD had given Abram victory over the kings that had taken Lot and his possessions. Melchizedek, the king of Salem, blessed Abram, and Abram gave a tithe to him. The LORD was ready to take Abram to the next step in his plan to make Abram a great nation. This is just my personal observation and not necessarily a theological point of the text. But I think the LORD often works like this within our lives. People often want God to “zap” them and fix all their struggles and problems right away. Perhaps the LORD does not do that because he wants us to learn to trust him always. Notice how this section opens.

The LORD spoke to Abram in a vision. He told him not to fear. His promise to Abram that could allay his fear was, “I am your shield” (Gen. 15:1). God is telling Abram that He will protect Abram from harm. God had already demonstrated his protection of Abram when he led Abram out of his home country to the land of Canaan, down into Egypt, where Abram attempted to protect himself at the risk of forfeiting God’s promise to make him a great nation by allowing his wife Sarai to be taken into Pharoah’s household. God demonstrates his patience and care for Abram by reassuring him that he is always with Abram, will protect him, and will reward him greatly.

Abram and Sarai weren’t getting any younger, and in verses 2-3, Abram effectively recalls God’s promise to make his name great and to make him a great nation. Abram is rightly expecting Sarai to have children. But the LORD had not yet given them a child. We don’t know who Eliezer of Damascus is to Abram other than he is not his own child. It seems as though Abram is seeking clarity from God. In other words, he’s saying, “Since you haven’t given us any children, is this one going to be my heir?”

The LORD’s response leaves no question as to his plan. Abram will have a biological child. It will not be someone who is adopted or has some other legal status as a potential heir. But he doesn’t leave it there. The LORD had Abram look into the sky and told him that his descendants would be numerous like the stars in the sky.

We just witnessed the limits of Abram’s understanding and faith in the LORD when he reminded the LORD that He had not given him one child. But in the LORD’s fantastic revelation concerning the number of descendants he would provide Abram, Abram believed and trusted him. The LORD assessed Abram’s trust as righteousness. We saw this same thing with Noah, didn’t we? Noah trusted the LORD. He responded rightly to the LORD’s revelation and was obedient to the LORD’s revelation.

It is inappropriate to read this and think that the LORD is making the same promise to us. We cannot assume that if we just trust the LORD, he will make us wealthy. Yet, it is appropriate and proper to understand that this passage reveals that the LORD is trustworthy. He does make promises to us that seem so impossible. The promise of the resurrection and eternal life, for example, is not something we can prove through scientific observation. Stories like this reveal that God cares for his people. He protects them. He provides for them. He wants what is best for them. He is trustworthy, and we need to respond to God’s revelation by believing him and receiving the righteousness counted toward us in Christ.

Episode 264 - Abram delivers Lot and is blessed by Melchizedek - Genesis 14

Gen. 14:1 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2 these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). 4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.

Gen. 14:8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. 11 So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. 12 They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.

Gen. 14:13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.

Gen. 14:17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

Possessor of heaven and earth;

20 and blessed be God Most High,

who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

One of my priorities in this blog and podcast is not to get caught up in some of the arguments between scholars concerning the historicity of events and other nitpicky details. Rather, I want to focus on what I believe is the most important point for the inclusion of a given story and how it contributes to the greater story. Suffice to say that some scholars like to critique this story because they haven’t found archeological data or ancient writings that identify some of these kings and people groups. Therefore, in their minds, it’s fictional. They forget that other like-minded scholars have eaten proverbial humble pie as archeological discoveries have often proved other critics wrong. It is fair enough to say that we don’t know who all these kings and kingdoms were and if they are also known by other names.

That said, we understand this story to tell us about kingdoms uniting to battle other kingdoms. Sodom and Gomorrah were conquered, and Lot’s family and possessions were taken as spoils of war. I think it’s safe to say that if Lot and his family had not been affected, Abram would not have bothered to intercede.

We learned in the previous chapter that the men of Sodom and Gomorrah were wicked and that Lot had settled near there. One might expect Abram to have an attitude of “Lot made his bed, and now he can lie in it.” But he doesn’t. He went out and defeated those who had conquered them and returned the people and possessions to Sodom and Gomorrah. I take this as God working through Abram to show mercy and compassion to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. They did nothing to deserve justice in this matter. Yes. God even shows mercy and compassion to the wicked sometimes. Why? I think the only reason is so they may repent and turn to the LORD.

However, the second part of this story reveals two kings who approach Abram. One is the king of Sodom, and the other is called Melchizedek, King of Salem. Notice the contrast between these two. We already know what the men of Sodom are like. But we’ve heard nothing about Melchizedek. Melchizedek brings bread and wine to Abram and blesses him in the name of the God most high. Abram, in return, gives him a tenth of the spoils. Why did he do that? Hadn’t Abram already done enough good by liberating people? The answer is that Abram is acting according to God’s promise to him. Abram recognizes that God gave him the victory and is blessing the one who blessed him.

The king of Sodom makes no such acknowledgment and offers nothing but a deal. He does not recognize God’s grace and mercy to him and his people. Abram is wise in recognizing this king’s motives and wants nothing from him because he doesn’t honor the LORD.

All good things come from the LORD. We need to be sensitive to God’s acts of compassion and mercy to us each day and respond in worship as did Melchizedek and Abram.

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Episode 263 - "Abram resolves conflict with faith" Genesis 13

Gen. 13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.

Gen. 13:2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the LORD. 5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

Gen. 13:8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD.

Gen. 13:14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.

We have another sub-story concerning Abram that I think is worth saying a few words about a lot of words. This story brings Lot into focus along with Abram. As we learned earlier in Genesis, Lot’s father died, and his grandfather took responsibility for him until he died. Then, Lot continued with Abram. What we are told first is that Abram “was very rich” (Gen. 13:2) and Lot “had flocks and herds and tents” (Gen. 13:5). While we don’t know how wealthy Abram was when he left his home to follow the LORD, we learned in our last episode that at least some of Abram’s wealth came from the Pharoah of Egypt when Pharoah took Sarai into his house. The most crucial point in the context for the setting of this story is that the LORD blessed them both to the extent that they needed to spread out (Gen. 13:6). When herds and flocks grow in numbers, they need a lot of land to graze. Otherwise, they will destroy the grazing fields by overgrazing them.

Abram noticed the tension among the herdsmen in the competition for grazing land. Perhaps they even had a problem keeping the herds and flocks from mixing, and there were arguments over what livestock belonged to whom. It would seem that Abram had the right to make any decision he wanted to settle the conflict. He could have told Lot where to go and remain. Instead, he gave Lot the privilege of choosing where he would like to live and feed his livestock.

Look at verses 10-13 and notice how Lot responds to Abram’s offer. “Lot lifted up his eyes . . .” and chose what looked best to him. He chose the area that looked greener and better watered. From a human perspective, he chose the best land for himself. This creates some tension of its own at different levels. The author tells us that this is before Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God and that the men of Sodom, where Lot would make his home, were “wicked, great sinners against the LORD” (Gen. 13:13). The text also tells us that Abram made his home in Canaan. While we recognize there will likely be conflict between Abram and Ham’s descendants, we also understand that this is the place to where the LORD had led him and has now brought him back to after his time in Egypt seeking relief from the famine.

Now look at verse 14 and the following. The LORD told Abram to lift up his eyes and look in every direction. Lot is pictured as lifting up his eyes to choose what appears desirable to him. Abram, in contrast, obeys the LORD by lifting up his eyes to see what the LORD is giving him. What Lot does is similar to what Eve did in the garden. Instead of listening to the LORD, she judged that she wanted what looked good in her own judgment, regardless of what the LORD had commanded. Abram is trusting the LORD.

The picture of Abram’s faith in the LORD versus Lot’s actions according to his own senses and reason are further cemented when we’re told that Lot made his home among the cities (recall that Cain built a city) and Abram settled where the LORD led him and worshipped the LORD. (Gen. 13:12)

What a tremendous lesson we get from Abram. How I need to consider his approach to resolving conflict. I need to let things go and not hold on to what I think I deserve or defend my self-perceived rights. I need to trust that the LORD will provide what is good, necessary, and right for me. He already has. But will I remember it the next time and trust him?

Episode 262 - "Abram's Bad Idea" - Genesis 12:10-20

Gen. 12:10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

Gen. 12:17 But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

We’ve come to this point in the Genesis story where the focus is primarily on two characters: God and Abram. I would contend that the Bible as a whole is a story about God, and Genesis just gives us some early but essential information about who the God of the Bible is and what he is like. This is important for the reason that there are many views about things like the age of the earth, the flood story, and so forth. Even among Christians, disagreements exist on how these stories are to be rightly interpreted. I will be the first to assert that my treatment of these stories may not be entirely accurate concerning historical facts of the events. I’ve read other views with compelling evidence supporting interpretations that are different from mine. The critical point is that regardless of nuances and variations of how we understand, the theological message remains the same among these views. The point of the Creation narrative is the eternal nature of God, the power of God, and the goodness of God. The account of the Fall of Man and later the flood narrative is that disobedience to God brings death and judgment. Yet, God is still merciful, and humanity's actions do not limit God. He will accomplish what he wants. The last point seems evident in our text for this week. Let’s break this down.

In verse 10, it is said that there was a famine in the land. This established the cause for Abram’s movement to Egypt. This is purely conjecture. But I find it interesting to consider that the original audience of this writing is the Israelites who came out of bondage in Egypt. The cause of their presence in Egypt was a famine that led to Jacob sending his sons to Egypt to acquire grain. But we’ll get to that later. Does the mention of this famine that leads Abram to Egypt and gets him into trouble evoke the thought in these peoples’ minds: Note to self, stay out of Egypt? I don’t know. It’s just a thought.

The real story is Abram’s fear of the Egyptians, believing they will kill him to acquire his wife, Sarai. Is it just me, or are you wondering, “Why didn’t he have this fear of entering into the land of Canaan?” Perhaps the more obvious question is, “After God had safely delivered him to Canaan and made a promise to Abram that he would make his name great, why is he now afraid?” It would seem that his faith is waning. Before I come down too hard on Abram, I find myself reflecting on how easily and even quickly my faith is suspect within a short time after the Lord has made himself evident in the life of my family. All of a sudden, Abram looks very human, doesn’t he? I would like to think I would not try the scheme he did. Yet, I can identify with the struggle between trusting in the Lord and trusting my own plans.

What happens next is significant on two levels. First, God’s promise to make Abram a great nation is in jeopardy. How can this happen if his wife has been married to the Pharoah of Egypt? If she should conceive, it would not be by Abram.

The second thing that happens is that the Pharoah of Egypt “blesses” Abram by giving him many things in “exchange,” as it were for Sarai. Despite Abram’s poor decision in this faithless effort to spare his own life, God uses it to provide wealth for Abram. Again, I suspect there’s a sense in which this is understood as a foreshadowing of the wealth the Israelites would later receive from the Egyptians as they finally left Egypt after the tenth plague. This is likely pushing the interpretation too far. But I can’t help but notice the parallels.

We are not told how Pharoah came to understand Abram’s true relationship with Sarai. We are just told, “the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.” (Another parallel with the Exodus account. The LORD afflicts Pharoah and all Egypt with plagues for improper treatment of a Hebrew(s).)

If Abram responded to Pharoah’s question of why he did this, it’s not recorded for us. Pharoah just sends Sarai back to Abram and instructs his staff to send them away. It concludes that he went away with his wife “and all that he had.” That sounds like Pharaoh didn’t revoke his gifts. He just wanted Abram and whoever was with him to leave Egypt.

What we see in the full story is that God was not going to let Abram, in his moment of weakness in his faith, compromise what God had promised he would do for Abram. He protected Abram and Sarai. God is in control, and neither Abram nor Pharoah would nullify God’s promise and plan. This is a good lesson for us. If we believe the God of the Bible is good and has made promises available to us that are for our good, we can trust that he will fulfill them.

Another lesson is that the LORD often blesses people he loves even when we do not always act in faith. Reflecting on my own life, I believe this has been true for myself. Why would God do this? I believe it’s to teach us his love for us. He will give us what we need to show us that unconditional love he has for us. In turn, when we observe that, the result should be growth in our faith and trust in the LORD.

Episode 261 - "Abram obeys the LORD" - Genesis 12:4-9

Gen. 12:4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. 9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

The first three verses of chapter twelve give us the LORD’s call to Abram to leave his home and extended family and go to a place the LORD would show him. This command of the LORD reveals how the LORD would bless him by making him a great nation and that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him. As you may remember, Abram and his wife Sarai were unable to have any children. So, from a human perspective, this has the appearance of a shallow and impossible promise.

But as we pick up the story in verse four, “Abram went, as the LORD had told him” (Gen. 12:4). Abram was like Noah in this regard. The LORD spoke to them, and they obeyed his word, even though the LORD’s message to each of them seemed crazy or, at least, contrary to human reason.

We are told that Abram took Lot, his nephew, with him and his wife Sarai. Lot’s dad had died, and Noah’s dad, Terah, had taken responsibility for him. Then, Terah died, and Lot became the responsibility of his uncle Abram. The reader is set up to wonder if perhaps Lot will become the child to Abram through whom this “great nation” will come since Sarai was barren. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran, and Sarai was not much younger. As the life expectancy decreased, the child-bearing years decreased as well and Abram and Sarai were getting beyond that point.

It is at the end of verse five when we learn the direction that the LORD is taking Abram and his family. They had been from (modern day) southern Iraq near the Persian Gulf to Haran in the northwest, up into Syria near or just across the border with Turkey and down into “the land of Canann.” That’s where Terah was originally headed when he left Ur in the south and then settled in Haran in northwest modern day Iraq. Scholars discuss and debate when Abram first received this call from the LORD. Was he still in Ur, and his father was on board? If the chronology of these events has been reordered, it’s probably not that important. What is most important is the LORD’s revelation specifically to Abram and that Abram responded in obedience to the LORD. I would suggest that if we learn nothing else from Abram, we must learn to respond positively to the LORD’s commands regardless of whether it seems a bit crazy or not.

What follows is that Abram came into the land of Canaan. Remember that it was Canaan, the son of Ham, who Noah cursed because of Ham’s sin. In fact, Noah would say that Canaan’s descendants would serve Shem’s descendants. Verse six states that the Canaanites were in the land, and the LORD says in verse seven that he is going to give that same land to Abram’s offspring. (v. 7) What offspring? Is the LORD being cruel? As if to strongly affirm this promise, the LORD didn’t just speak to Abram; he appeared to him. Abram responded by building an altar to the LORD in that place. Instead of complaining or doubting, he worshipped the LORD right there. He understood that it was a holy and sacred event. I think this is a beautiful thing we see here. How often do we sense that God has done something special for us? Do we make an intentional effort to identify it and worship in response? What a wonderful lesson for us!

I find it interesting that Abram didn’t remain there. I take this as the LORD had more to show him. Abram moved on and stopped in between two towns near each other, Bethel (means House of El - El was the name by which God was known from Adam down to Abram) and Ai. Abram built another altar and called upon the name of the LORD. What this is saying is that Abram is proclaiming the identity and greatness of the LORD in the land of Canaan. He is essentially beginning to fulfill the LORD’s promise that he will be a blessing to the families of the earth. Abram is worshipping by testifying to the LORD to people who need to know about him.

What a great lesson we can learn from this by first, obeying the LORD’s commands, secondly, responding to the LORD’s work in our life by commemorating it and acknowledging God’s work in thankfulness, and finally, by testifying to others the greatness of the LORD.

May we learn and follow in Abram’s example.

Episode 260 - The Call of Abram - Genesis 12:1-3

Gen. 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And 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. 3 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.”

The recent genealogy we’ve covered has led us to Abram, and now the focus is solely on him. This is evidenced by God speaking to Abram and giving him specific instructions. We know that his father, Terah, was originally going toward Canaan but settled in Haran. Then, Terah died. The LORD’s command to Abram begins with the instruction that he is not to stay in Haran. The LORD’s promise to “make you a great nation” must have been hard for Abram since his wife Sarai was barren. How could he be the father of a great nation with no children?

The LORD continued to make some strong claims. Abram needed to decide whether he would risk the security of his family and his land for a promise of something much better. All Abram had to do was leave his extended family and go. The LORD promised:

1. To show Abram where to go

2. To make him a great nation

3. To bless him and make his name great SO THAT you will be a blessing.

4. The LORD will bless others who bless Abram

5. The LORD will curse those who dishonor Abram

6. In Abram, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

How many people throughout time have emigrated with nothing but a vain hope that something will be better when they arrive at their intended destination? It’s the classic “the grass is always greener on the other side” philosophy. Sometimes it works out for people. But often, it’s a bust.

The text has a message for us supported by the greater context in which it’s set. The message is, “But this is different. This is not vain hope. This is the word of the LORD. He is faithful to fulfill his promises.” This story is among my favorites in all of Scripture: it helps us understand the nature of faith. Faith is not based upon wishful thinking. Faith is based upon following what the LORD reveals.

We understand that this promise in Genesis 12:1-3 is to Abram, and we cannot read ourselves into the story and claim that the LORD will make me a great nation. However, I think we can observe what this reveals about the LORD’s desire for those who will obey him. At the very least, we can trust that if we follow the LORD by trusting Jesus, the LORD will bless us. That does not mean he will give us endless wealth. It means he will give us everything we need so that we can emulate his grace by being a blessing to others.

One final note on verse 3, which says, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Really? Is that true? I think the answer to that is found in John 3:16. It is a descendant of Abram, Jesus, who is the Son that God gave to the world so that they could have eternal life. God provides that blessing to the world. It just needs to be received.

Episode 259 - The Descendants of Shem - Genesis 11:10-32

Our last episode was the story of the dispersion of the nations, commonly called the Tower of Babel. God confused the languages of the rebellious population so that they would spread out and “fill the earth” as he had commanded them. We now return to walk through the rest of chapter eleven, which is another genealogical record. I’m going to read it this time. While genealogical records may not give us outright profound theological truths, I do believe there are things we can observe and learn that help us appreciate the greater narrative that is unfolding and our ongoing expectation of the “seed of the woman” who will crush the head of the serpent.

Gen. 11:10 These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:12 When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. 13 And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. 15 And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. 17 And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. 19 And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. 21 And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. 23 And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. 25 And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah’s Descendants

Gen. 11:27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Gen. 11:31 Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

What we have here is a genealogy from Shem. Who was Shem? He was one of Noah’s three sons and the one who Noah specifically blessed for honoring Noah and covering Noah’s nakedness. If you recall, Ham saw his father’s nakedness and told his brothers. Noah pronounced a curse upon his descendants through Canaan. If we get nothing else out of this, we should at least think to ourselves, “Ah! Yes! It makes sense that the promised “seed” would come through the son who does the right thing.” We should expect it to be a descendant of Shem. The narrative is leading us in this direction.

An interesting fact about this genealogical record is that it matches the form of the genealogical record between Seth and Noah. As you may recall, Abel brought an acceptable sacrifice to the LORD, but his brother Cain’s sacrifice was rejected. Instead of making it right, Cain murdered his brother Abel. God gave Adam and Eve Seth to be the righteous line through whom the promised seed would come. In each record, there are ten generations listed, with the tenth generation listing three sons. Beginning with Seth, the tenth generation listed is Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Here, in chapter eleven, the record starts with Shem and ends with Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Scholars like to debate whether these genealogical records are historically accurate or if some generations were left out to get this match. I think it’s best to take these at face value. Whether both these records are precise in detail or descendants selectively chosen or excluded to arrive at this parallel form, the vital point that is being communicated is that God is sovereignly working to effect his plan. This is an important truth for us today. Some people might give ascent to the idea of a god or gods. But often, they are deists. The god or gods they believe may be out there certainly don’t care about the events that unfold from day to day. They are simply the force or cause that brought about life. That view and the God of the Bible are incompatible. The God of the Bible, as we are witnessing throughout this book, cares deeply about people and people following his words and will. God is active throughout the Bible and is active today.

Another observation from this record is the ever-decreasing lifespan of each generation. This reveals that God’s prophetic promise in Genesis 6:3 that mankind will only live 120 years is coming true. That was neither a promise that everyone would live as long as 120 years or that some could not live longer. It was a declaration of a new standard at a time when people had been living for hundreds of years. This record helps us see that God’s word is coming to fulfillment with each generation.

In verses 26-27, Terah is the ninth generation from Shem, and he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. We are quickly informed that Haran was the father of Lot. Then, we are told that Haran died “in the presence of his father Terah” in his homeland. This indicates that Haran was relatively young. It should also make the reader wonder, “What happened to Lot?”

Before we find that out, we’re told that Abram took a wife named Sarai, and Nahor took a wife named Milcah. Milcah, the author continues, was Haran's daughter. Wait a minute! Isn’t that Lot’s dad? Nahor married his niece? Yep. Therefore, Lot has two sisters, Milcah and Iscah. But Sarai was barren. This last detail is another crisis. The reader who’s not read or heard this story might write off Abram and Sarai as descendants through whom the promised seed would come in light of this fact.

In verse 31, Terah took Abram, Sarai, and Lot from present-day southern Iraq toward present-day Israel. There are reasons why some argue that Terah took the rest of the family as well. But, as we’ll soon see, the narrative shifts to these three individuals. Why Terah leads them in this direction is not revealed. We only know that he planned to go to the land of Canaan. That should build some suspense for the reader since descendants of Shem were moving toward the land of Canaan’s descendants, where there would surely be conflict. For another unknown reason, they stopped in Haran and settled there, where Terah would later die.

The primary function of this section is to carry the story from Noah and his son Shem down to Abram, Sarai, and Lot. As mentioned earlier, this story lends itself to our seeing that God is active and purposely carries out what he says he will do. I hope you find this truth as encouraging and hope-giving as I do.

Episode 258 - The Dispersion of Nations - Genesis 11:1-9

Gen. 11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Here we are at another familiar story from the Old Testament: the Tower of Babel. The funny thing about Bible stories is that it’s not uncommon for people to give the stories a title that really misrepresents what the story is about. This story is really not about a tower.

So what is it about? Well, remember that at the beginning of time and after the flood, God commanded people to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. In short, have babies and spread out. This command helps set the context for what happens in this story. It’s also helpful to remember that we’ve already witnessed that humanity still has a sin problem.

The story begins with Noah’s descendants still sharing a common language, and they migrate to a place where there are natural resources on which to survive. The name Shinar means “between two rivers.” These are likely the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and would mean they settled in the area that is part of modern-day Iraq. Certainly, the rivers would have supported whatever agriculture they were doing and even hunting since animals would have also needed water. But we read that they recognize they have the resources to make bricks and build structures. (v.3)

In verse 4, we learn about the intentions and collective spirit of the people. “Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” They have lofty dreams of building a city with a magnificent tower. As a child I was taught that they believed they could reach God by building a tower “with its top in the heavens.” I don’t think that’s the point because first of all, they don’t say that’s their purpose and secondly, they express their purpose immediately afterward, “let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (v4b) What’s wrong with this?

Let’s begin with the expression, “let us make a name for ourselves.” From the opening verses of Genesis names have been important, haven’t they? When God created things, he named them. He gave them their identity. Then, when he created humanity in his image, he gave Adam the responsibility of naming the animals. Adam also named Eve. It seems to me this expression, “let us make a name for ourselves,” reveals a sense of pride that is indirectly saying, “We don’t need God.”

The second part, “lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth,” is a bit more obvious. God had made it clear that he wanted the people to fill the earth. But what appears to be the entire population of the earth seems to join together in saying, “No! We’re not going to do that.” The conflict of this story is not the tower. The conflict is the hubris of the people to defy God collectively.

I love verse 5. “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.” I’m not sure. But I suspect we’re supposed to laugh because the LORD had to come down to see it. They think they’re building something grand. But it’s like God needs a magnifying glass to see it. Then, he qualifies this project as something built by “children of man.” Is there a hint of “Isn’t that cute” embodied in that statement? Perhaps I’m reading too much into that. But if it’s not somewhat sarcastically humorous, it should probably cause a bit of tension in the reader. In this case, we should feel like we’re among the conspirators when someone says, “Uh oh. Here comes the LORD.”

Verse 6 gives us the LORD’s quick and precise assessment of their actions and the implications of it. The bottom line is that if he let this defiance go unchecked, nothing would stop them from that mindset of doing what they wanted to do and not following the LORD.

Verses 7 and following give us the LORD’s solution to stop their current act of defiance and, in turn, lead them to obey the LORD’s command to fill the earth. He confused their language so they could not communicate and cooperate to collectively continue their disobedience.

This story does serve to provide details about how the people listed in the table of nations from the last chapter got to where they are and how they came to develop different languages. However, we should not miss the theological principle that mankind may defy the LORD, but even with a concerted and collective effort, we cannot thwart God’s ultimate plans. He will accomplish it.

Episode 256 - "Moving on from the ark" - Genesis 9:18-28

Gen. 9:18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.

Gen. 9:20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

“Cursed be Canaan;

a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

Gen. 9:26 He also said,

“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem;

and let Canaan be his servant.

27 May God enlarge Japheth,

and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,

and let Canaan be his servant.”

Gen. 9:28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

As a side note to this week's blog and podcast, I’d like to offer the following commentary with regard to science and the Bible. There are people who hold that science is the only, or perhaps most, authoritative process and source of knowledge. Some of these people view the Bible and other documents viewed as sacred by people of other religions as a collection of fantastic stories that have little or no relevance to people today. The flood narrative is one story for which there is all sorts of criticism and debate, even among people who hold the Bible and the Hebrew Scriptures as sacred.

One problem with this approach and perspective of knowing is that it cannot be scientifically proven that the scientific process is the only or most authoritative means of gaining knowledge and understanding. Looking at the history of science and human reason, science has a terrible “batting average.” What I mean is that scientific efforts often produce errant conclusions. Over time, better methods of observation and new developments help improve the process, and we know more, and we know better. But we don’t know perfectly. Science is a good and valuable tool for us when used with humility and objectively.

The Bible is a document of documents. Within the Bible, there are many forms of literature. There is history, narrative (story - fictional and non-fictional), poetry, wisdom literature, and more. Each form of literature has certain rules that help us understand what is important to receive from that literature. The fundamental distinction between the Bible and books one might have on their bookshelf is that the literature within it is ultimately from a supernatural or divine source (God) that communicates a divine message and knowledge to humanity. To suggest that it has a supernatural aspect is beyond the scope of science to make an accurate judgment because it’s outside the scope of science. As with science, however, we must interpret and use the Scriptures with humility. The Bible has many things that have been proven to be historically accurate. Therefore, one should not readily dismiss things in the Bible that appear to us as incredible, and one should not readily accept as undeniable truth something asserted through science. The flood narrative and the related details are a good example of that.

My whole point in saying this is to encourage you not to get distracted by arguments about the flood, the age of the earth, and so forth. This story and the rest of the Bible tell us about God, humanity, and the trajectory of this grand story from Genesis through Revelation. So, how do we apply this to our text for this week?

First, it would appear that we all are descendants of Noah and his sons. If we take verses 18-19 at face value and understand the phrase “from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed,” it literally means the whole earth, and it’s not hyperbole from an ancient perspective. Does it mean we ignore the Bible if our understanding is limited or incorrect in some way? No. The reason is that this text affirms that Noah and his descendants were ultimately fulfilling the LORD’s commands to be fruitful and fill the earth AND that the LORD was faithful to make that possible.

The next section about Noah becoming drunk and naked reminds us of the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they “saw that they were naked” and sought to cover themselves. Sin should bring shame. I would suggest that Ham’s offense against his father is that he brought his father’s nakedness to the attention of his brothers. He wasn’t ashamed by it. Perhaps he was even mocking his father’s condition by looking at him and bringing it to his brothers’ attention. Shem and Japheth honored their father by covering his nakedness.

This story prepares the reader for what happens later with their descendants. Abram (Abraham) is a descendant of “righteous” Shem. He becomes the patriarch of the Israelites. And we’ll see the conflicts with his descendants and descendants of Ham. More generally, we should observe that the problem caused by Adam and Eve’s disobedience is still with Noah and his sons. God didn’t wipe out the sin problem with the flood. Therefore, at this point, we’re still looking for God’s solution to our sin problem.

So, how is this story relevant to us? For one, we could ask ourselves if our perspective about the attitudes and actions of others evokes a sense of shame within us. Do we entertain ourselves by it as did Ham or, as people who desire to follow the LORD’s ways, do we show grace and mercy to others that Shem and Japheth demonstrated to their father? Lessons like this are much more valuable and edifying than arguments over details about a global flood versus a local flood.

Episode 255 - God's covenant with all living things - Genesis 9:8-17

Gen. 9:8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 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. 11 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.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Many Bible scholars hold that the first covenant God made was with Adam. In Genesis 2:15-17 the LORD commanded the man to take care of the garden and enjoy it. However, the one prohibitive command to not eat from the one tree was the stipulation to continue receiving these blessings the LORD had provided. Disobedience would lead to certain death. The only problem with understanding this instruction as a covenant is that nowhere is it called a covenant. It has characteristics of a covenant. So, it may be a covenant. However, I cannot imagine why the LORD didn’t call it a covenant or why Moses didn’t explain that it was a covenant. Whether it is or isn’t, the covenant that God makes with Noah and all living creatures is the first time it’s recorded in the Bible that what God is promising is, in fact, a covenant.

A covenant is commonly defined in our language today as a solemn promise that may be conditional or unconditional. Some covenants offer promises to the recipients if they keep their part of the deal. That’s a conditional covenant. On other occasions, God makes an absolute covenant promise regardless of how the people respond. If God’s words to Adam in Genesis 2 constitute a covenant, then the covenant is conditioned upon Adam’s obedience to God’s command. What God promises Noah and his sons in this text, however, is an unconditional covenant. This fact alone is a significant thing to consider in our study today because it provides important truth about the character of the LORD.

First, notice that God included Noah’s sons in his audience. He didn’t just speak to Noah. I don’t recall the LORD including Noah’s sons in his message concerning the flood and the building of the ark. It was upon Noah to share God’s message and for Noah’s sons to follow him by faith. One can only imagine what that must have been like for Noah’s sons. “God’s going to do what?” “Water is going to come down from the heavens?” “You’re going to build a large boat and we are going to live on it with a bunch of animals?” I would think they believed their dad was a bit crazy. However, concerning this covenant promise, they each hear the same message. It seems to me that God is drawing them into a closer relationship, wanting to mitigate any fears that the God who brought about the flood might do it all again each time it started raining. It’s God’s way of helping them understand that he will not get angry and resort to annihilation at the drop of a hat. There are people today who live under this kind of fear that God is just looking for an excuse to smack them down. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

What’s more, is that God explained to Noah and his sons that this covenant promise extends to all living creatures. It reveals that God values animals to the extent that he makes an unconditional covenant promise to the animals and birds as well as to all humanity. What’s the promise? “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.” (Gen 9:11)

The text continues to explain that God’s sign of this covenant is the rainbow. I love rainbows. Whenever it rains, and the sun comes out, I often run or look outside to see if there’s a rainbow. They’re beautiful! It’s something visible that many people can see from different locations. Think about it. God made a sign for his covenant that he knew would bring joy and pleasure to look at and could be viewed by many at once. What a gift and encouraging message from the LORD. All these generations later, we get to enjoy its beauty and rest in its promise.

But the sign of the covenant is not just for us. Notice in verse 16 that God also sees it and remembers the “everlasting covenant” he has made with all living beings. I like to think about that. God doesn’t forget anything. I don’t think he has to be reminded that he made this covenant. When God “remembers” something, it’s that his promise is before him, and he acts in accordance with that promise. It’s like he’s saying, “When I see the rainbow, I will fulfill the promise I made in accordance with that sign. You can rely on it.” It communicates that God is trustworthy.

The rainbow is just one little sign of the LORD’s care for all living things, of his peace, beauty, and trustworthiness. Reflect on that this week.

Episdoe 254 - "Humanity is made in the image of God" - Genesis 9:1-7 - part 2

Gen. 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

Gen. 9:6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man,

by man shall his blood be shed,

for God made man in his own image.

Gen. 9:7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

Last week, I focused primarily on the first three verses of chapter 9 and the LORD's curious and perhaps disturbing proclamation regarding the relationship between humanity and animals. What should be obvious to all readers is that through the flood, God has not reset things back to the perfect condition in which he created the earth. He’s already made it clear that the evil tendencies of humanity will continue. Yet, he still blessed Noah and his sons and gave them the same command that he’d given Adam. In other words, life is going to continue for some time, and it will not be easy or perfect. In fact, one of the sources of sustenance for humanity would be meat. There is somewhat of a paradox in that proclamation because God had created the animals and pronounced them “good.” When God made Adam and gave him responsibility for naming the animals, we get a picture of harmony between beast and man. However, after the flood, that relationship significantly changed. As we continue looking at this narrative, perhaps we can better understand what God is doing in light of what else is revealed.

After we read in verse three, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything,” God provided a severe qualification for this provision that required they not eat the flesh with its blood. (v. 4) If I understand this correctly, the idea is that a living being’s life force is in the blood. If someone was going to kill an animal for meat, the blood must be drained from the flesh. It would be hung up, and the blood allowed to drip into the ground. The picture is that of the people respecting the animal's life and God’s provision enough to give the life force back to God.

So, as we are trying to piece together an explanation of why God is allowing this, it would make the most sense to understand this allowance or provision as a gracious act of provision for humanity. Indeed, this is not the ideal from what we know about God’s creation in Genesis 1. But absolutely nothing else is ideal anymore. The sin of people has had a devastating effect upon every aspect of life and has led God to bring this great act of judgment upon a great rebellion, and now this “reboot” of sorts is not a new creation with perfect people. God already knows that. But we haven’t yet encountered the seed of the woman that will crush the head of the serpent. Things are still messed up. Yet, the LORD is not treating Noah and his sons with contempt but mercy. He blessed them. So, he offers this proclamation as a means of mercy, grace, and provision for survival in the still-broken world.

As I suggested last week, I even suspect the LORD understood or intended this act of gaining food by the killing of an animal to remind them that it was man’s sin that brought this about. By requiring the blood to be drained would be a reminder of the cost for that person to eat the meat. It’s an act of acknowledgment that this provision came from the LORD and the life force was being given back to God.

Verses 5-6, then make a subsequent qualification. While animal life is permitted to be taken, one cannot take the life of a person except in the case where that person has taken the life of another person. Later, when the Law was given, there were stipulations that allowed capital punishment. However, the primary point of our text is the distinction between animal and human lives. Humans are made in the image of God. In other words, there is a God-designed value of human beings that distinguishes them from animals.

This section concludes with a repetition of God’s blessing upon Noah and his family to reproduce and fill the earth.

This text is not about the justification for a barbeque. This text reveals that God wants us to understand his value for us. This section begins and ends with God blessing Noah and his sons. There is a strong emphasis on the value of humanity because they are made in God’s image. If we really believed that all humanity was highly valued by God, as explained in this section, how would this world look? I think it would be radically different.

Episode 253 - "Eat what?" - Genesis 9:1-7

Gen. 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

Gen. 9:6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. Gen. 9:7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

It’s not uncommon to read something in the Scriptures, especially what Christians call the Old Testament, that confuses us and even gives cause for offense. This latter case happens when either the LORD or people do or say things that are contrary to the values and ideas of our own culture and era. There are examples of people who, since the time of Christ, and the completion of the New Testament Scriptures that people have been offended by what they read in the Old Testament. They have suggested that the God of the Old Testament is evil and, therefore, the Old Testament should be ignored. There are many problems with this notion that the Church has addressed and deemed this idea as heresy. Chiefly, Jesus himself frequently directed people to the Hebrew Scriptures to help people understand that they prophesied about him and that he is the fulfillment of those Scriptures. Likewise, the apostles interpreted the same Old Testament Scriptures to explain that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah. In short, all the Scriptures of our Bible are to be highly revered by Christians as special revelation from God to humanity. So, in all likelihood, when we are offended by something in the Scriptures, it is not because what is there is wrong. It’s due to our limited comprehension of what it is about and its significance in God’s plan and for our ultimate good.

I would never want to communicate the notion that my interpretations of the Scriptures are perfect. I read the Scriptures, use the tools I’ve been trained to use in consulting the original languages, consult scholars for their help in understanding difficult passages, and make a decision as to where I either land or lean in interpreting the passage. To quote many who’ve come before me, “Let’s major on the major and minor on the minor.” The most important things in the Scriptures are things that are mostly emphasized and made clear. So, with this in mind, what’s happening with Noah and his family after they come off the ark?

The first thing we notice is something that has been emphasized before. God blessed the people and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. (9:1)” This is what God did with Adam and Eve. Here’s an important truth of the Scriptures that is becoming very clear. God wants his people, his image bearers, to receive his blessing and enjoy the life He has given them and to have children who may also enjoy his blessing of life and provision.

Here comes one of those confusing and offensive parts. In verses 2-3, God told Noah and his family, “The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.”

What we are reading here is the first recorded instance of God permitting humanity to eat meat. Certainly, this would be most offensive to vegans who avoid eating animal products out of conscience. What are we to do with this? Why would God appear to be so concerned about animals that he would protect the species on the ark and then, once they were through the flood, permit the people to eat meat?

It seems to me this goes back to the creation account. God made the plants and the animals and then made humanity. Humans alone were specified as being made in the image of God. God even gave them the responsibility to name the animals, which shows the authority God had given Adam over the animals. In other words, according to the first chapters of the Bible, there is a distinction between animals and humanity. This is different from the view that mankind is another species of animal. When the first people disobeyed God’s command and listened to the voice of a serpent, the paradigm was upended. The people’s attempt to cover their own guilt and shame was inadequate to God. Instead, only His provision could suffice to cover their guilt. He did this by providing coverings of animal skin. Death was/is the consequence of sin. The animal sacrifice by God was a type of substitutionary atonement for their sin. This is the principle that bears itself out in God sending His Son to die on the cross. His blood was shed. He was, as John the Baptist declared, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)”

Is it possible that God intended for us to take offense at the idea of animal sacrifice and eating meat? This allowance by God for people to eat meat was certainly not God’s ideal. Otherwise, it would have been allowed and even commanded by God in the beginning. This appears to be an allowance by the LORD in order for people to survive. Noah and his family did not land in the Garden of Eden. There’s no indication or reason to assume there was an abundant supply of vegetables waiting for Noah and his family when they got off the ark. Is it possible that, as offensive as it might be to Noah and his family to eat the flesh of an animal, they were to recognize this offensive thing as a means of God’s mercy to them? The offense then serves to remind them (and us) of the consequences of sin. The effect should be that it causes us to become offended concerning our rebellious ways and not take offense at God.

I will continue this thought and reflection upon this passage in our next episode. My encouragement to you is to pray, “Lord, help me be offended by my own sin and not your word or your grace to mankind.”

Episode 252 - "Noah built an altar" - Genesis 8:20-22

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

Sometimes, the Scriptures can raise as many questions as it answers. One of the reasons this happens is due to the vast historical, geographical, and cultural distance that exists between us and those of the ancient world of the Bible. The very idea of animal sacrifices, for example, is offensive to our 21st-century, western sensibilities. That’s true even for those of us who believe the Bible and trust in the God of the Bible. Another reason is that there were many things that happened that the Bible doesn’t tell us about. We are left to make inferences and speculate how people got from “point A to point B” in terms of their worship and ways of life. I’m certain that both of these factors are in play in this section we’re reading today.

In these few verses, we might ask ourselves, “Why did Noah build an altar and sacrifice animals on it?” “Why did this please God? Didn’t God instruct Noah to take the animals on the ark to preserve them?” “How did Noah know what animals were ‘clean’?” And more.

Let’s examine this. First, unless I’m mistaken, the only specific acts of sacrifice in worship recorded in the Scriptures up to now are those of Cain and Abel. Abel brought an animal sacrifice, and Cain brought a sacrifice of food. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice but rejected Cain’s. It’s not uncommon for people to infer that God accepted Abel’s sacrifice because it was an animal sacrifice and rejected Cain’s because it was a food offering. But the text doesn’t tell us that. Instead, it suggests that the reason for God accepting Abel’s sacrifice was because it was the best of what he had. Conversely, Cain brought “some” of his produce, suggesting that it wasn’t the best. In other words, the difference between the sacrifices was not about what was offered as it was how it was offered. Abel’s attitude about the LORD was of gratitude and awe of God, and Cain’s wasn’t. This is confirmed when God approaches Cain to correct him and Cain refuses to listen to the LORD.

It seems that this is what we are witnessing in Noah’s sacrifice. God has fulfilled his promise and delivered them safely through this flood, and Noah is expressing his thankfulness and awe of what God has done.

How did Noah know which animals were ‘clean’? We don’t. What we do know is that this story was written by Moses long after the flood and after God had given the Law to Israel that designates what animals were clean or unclean. What this account does is confirm to Israel that the God who has delivered them out of bondage in Egypt has revealed Himself previously to their ancestors. This God who has just given them the Law has not just come up with a new, arbitrary set of rules. God had revealed this before. It was just not important enough to document exactly when that happened. What is revealed is that God had seven pairs of the clean animals and birds on the ark versus the one pair of all the other animals. Noah didn’t seem to question this. Perhaps Noah understood the “extra” animals were God’s provision for such a sacrifice. Perhaps Noah even recognized this as a sign that God really would get them through this ordeal.

This sacrifice pleased the LORD, and, in response, he made a threefold promise “in his heart.” How would Noah or, later on, Moses know what God had said in his heart? Again, we don’t know. However, if we apply one of our common principles of interpretation, examining the context, we discover in the next chapter that God reveals his resolve to Noah through a covenant promise. (See Genesis 9:11-17) What God promised to Noah and all humanity in this covenant is consistent with what he resolved “in his heart.”

The first part of this threefold resolution of God is interesting. He had just judged the earth by water because of the evil of humanity in the world. God resolves to “never curse the ground again because of man.” The interesting part is the reason he gives for this resolution. He explains, “for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Wow! There’s a statement we should not jump past too quickly. We so often want to assume the best in people. But God doesn’t. What this means is not that God has abandoned his value of humanity. If that were true, he would not have bothered to spare Noah and his sons and their wives. While Noah is declared righteous, God hasn’t overlooked that he is not perfect, and neither are his sons and daughters-in-law. The sin problem will continue and God is acknowledging that. Yet, God had a plan and “the seed” was still to come at that point. God would still execute his plan despite humanity’s tendency to do what is “evil.”

The last question I’ll raise for this section and attempt to address is, “Does the apocalyptic prophecy in Revelation contradict the LORD’s resolution here in Genesis? I believe the answer to that is “no.” Revelation speaks of a final judgment for the very same cause that brought the judgment by flood. Yet, the final judgment is a fiery destruction of the earth and the creation of a new heaven and new earth. Those whom the LORD deems righteous will be delivered eternally to an eternal life on the new earth where sin will be eradicated because “the seed” will have made that possible. The point then of this promise is that Noah and all people who live after him are not to live in fear every time it rains or every time there’s a drought. The LORD will sustain his creation and life within the earth until he has fulfilled all that he’s promised, despite the ongoing problem of humanity’s evil tendencies.

This text affirms God’s right to judge evil. It reveals his desire to offer life and provision revealing his patience, love for his living creatures, and resolve to fulfill every promise he makes. This is a God that is worthy of our thankfulness and awe and to whom we should direct our best worship.

Episode 251 - "God remembered Noah . . . " Genesis 8:1-19

Gen. 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

Gen. 8:6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

Gen. 8:13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

While I have selected a larger-than-normal segment of Scripture for this episode, my primary focus is the important principle in verse 1, “But God remembered . . .” Everything that follows the first verse in this section is the result of God’s remembrance of Noah, his family, and all the animals on the ark. They are delivered from God’s judgment upon the earth by the flood.

This may seem obvious to some people, but I think it’s worth noting that God hasn’t forgotten about them. For people who will have lived on this floating zoo for over a year when it’s all said and done, there would certainly be a temptation to think that God has forgotten about them. The form of the Hebrew word that is translated as “remembered” is probably best understood as “calling to mind.” Think of it like this. You have a number of things you have on your to-do list or people that you know and love with whom you haven’t communicated in a while. You haven’t forgotten about them. But there comes a point when addressing a certain need or contacting a certain person becomes your single priority. You focus on and prioritize that action or person. This is what is described in Genesis 8:1. God is prioritizing the deliverance of the people and the animals on the ark for the purpose of them exiting the ark back to dry land where God will bless them and charge them to be fruitful and multiply. If you get nothing else out of this text, I hope you will understand and value that God’s remembering of Noah is associated with God’s good intent, protection, and purpose for Noah. This is a repeated theme or principle throughout the Scriptures that has relevance for us.

What follows is the beginning of God’s action from his good intent for Noah and all living things on the ark. The rain stopped, and God sent a “wind” over the earth to dry it up. Does this sound familiar? Go back and read Genesis 1:2. It is the same Hebrew word that is translated “spirit” in Genesis 1:2 that is translated “wind” here in Genesis 8:1. I believe this is intentional and is likely the Holy Spirit that is working to prepare the earth for the “reboot” that is about to happen. It’s communicating to the reader that God still has the good intent and purpose for creatures that he had in the beginning. What an encouragement!

Noah responded to what God did. God stopped the rain, and the waters started to abate. Noah didn’t cower inside the ark in fear that God wasn’t done. Noah trusted the Lord and sent out the birds, anticipating that dry land would appear and vegetation would begin to grow again. In a sense, what Noah is doing is “remembering” the Lord. Noah has trusted the Lord and knows that God is faithful to his word. Noah is calling to mind God’s character.

It’s in verse 15 that the LORD speaks again. God commanded that every living thing on the ark leave the ark and go out onto the earth, and “be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” (v. 17) The same command God gave when he first created living things at the beginning of time. Already, there is an expectation within this command that they will be able to fulfill it. They will not have to fear that they will need to retreat to the ark the next time it rains. In God’s command is the expected promise that he will make it possible to fulfill that command.

I think there are many people who live life anticipating that God is just waiting for an opportunity to smack them down. This is not only contrary to what the Scriptures reveal about God, it’s also unfortunate because they are missing out on the blessings that come through God’s remembering us. He calls us to mind. He is concerned for us and desires the life and deliverance that comes through his provision and our responseful obedience to his commands.