"Go."

September 26, 2022 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Genesis 12:1-20

The Call of Abram
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.”
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.
Abram and Sarai in Egypt
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.
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.

Today we begin Genesis Part 2, which consists of chapters 12-36 and will recount the history of the patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Genesis chapters 1-11 is a prologue of sorts, not just to the rest of the Book of Genesis, but also to the entire Bible. It begins with Creation and ends with the Tower of Babel, recounting humanity’s slide into dark rebellion. Genesis Part 2 begins to recount God’s plan to rescue humanity and restore Eden. And it begins with the calling of one man—Abram—with one word—“Go.”

Were there other men whom the Lord called and commanded to leave their homes and families who refused to go? Were there others with whom the Lord wanted to make a covenant, if only they would obey? Were there other hypothetical Abrahams? If so, then certainly part of Abraham’s greatness—just like the Virgin Mary’s, millennia later— was his unique willingness to say, “Yes.”

You have no idea what hinges on your obedience today.

Abraham said “Yes,” and history changed forever.

P.S. As we will see, the stories of the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—are primarily concerned with their education about family; family is what God will use to pass on the covenant, so it’s important that Abraham and the others learn how to make family work. (It doesn’t come naturally!) So, in this strange story about Sarah and Pharaoh, Abraham is learning that a “wife” is not the same thing as a “sister”, and that he must trust the Lord to provide.

The Stars in the Sky

December 06, 2021 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Today’s Reading: Genesis 22:15-18

15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the sea- shore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

The Lord promises to Abraham that by his descendants all the nations of the earth shall obtain blessing.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus, centuries and centuries later, comes from the line of Abraham. The Lord is always at work!
Be encouraged today—the headlines don’t tell the whole story.

Family is How We Fight

December 03, 2021 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Genesis 12:1-3

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 Lord’s plan to save all of creation begins with one man’s family.

Despairing about the state of the world?
Worried about the future?
FAMILY IS HOW WE FIGHT.
Strong families are needed to raise strong children. The next gen- eration is our hope. Remember, God’s entire plan depended on one man’s family. From Abraham’s family comes Jesus, so many centuries later, but at just the right time.

Questions for Reflection:

What can you do this weekend to build up the next generation?

How can you teach the next generation to build their lives on Christ?

Why Did Abraham Remarry and Father More Sons?

February 18, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

A good principle: everything is in the Bible for a reason. The problem is that it’s not always clear what the reason is!

After Sarah dies, Abraham remarries and fathers a bunch more sons. Why? And, why does the Bible tell us?

I thought this was a good a guess as any:

“Whether he intends it or not, Abraham’s marriage to Keturah and the sons he produces with her alters the constellation of nations in the region. In addition to the Mesopotamians from whom he came, the Egyptians from whom he escaped, and the Canaanites among whom he lives, Abraham now fathers a host of nations that are closer kin to the children of the covenant….The descendants of these sons become the nomadic peoples of the Arabian Peninsula and the region east of the Jordan. Many of them crop up in later stories, both for good and for ill. Perhaps most important are the Midianites, who figure prominently in the life of Israel. It will be Midianites who rescue Joseph from the pit where his murderous brothers had placed him and sell him into Egypt (37:28); it will be a priest of Midian, Reuel, who takes in the fugitives Moses, escaped from Egypt, and gives him his daughter as a wife (Exodus 2:16ff); it will be the same Midianite, now called Jethro, who tells Moses to establish a law for his emancipated nation of slaves (Exodus 18:1 ff.)… [I]t looks as if Abraham, in his last act, has made the world a little more hospitable for the future of the covenant, blurring somewhat the distinctions between kin and stranger, friend and foe.”
—Leon Kass

Abraham has secured a great wife for his son in Rebekah, and then his final acts are about making the world a bit less hostile to his descendants. Truly he is a great patriarch.

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 24:1-25:18

The Terror and the Awe and the Horror of the Greatest Story in the Bible

February 17, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

[“The Sacrifice of Isaac”. Caravaggio. 1603. Uffizi.]

The binding of Isaac is the greatest and most terrible story in the Bible. The terror and the awe and the horror of Abraham’s slow journey up the mountain are unlike anything else in scripture, or out of it.

It resists easy interpretation and neat categorization; it is a mystery in the deepest sense of the word. The only way to make sense of it is to connect it with Jesus on the Cross. Remember what he cries out? “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

— Paul the Apostle [Romans 8:32]

I’ve included the entire story below.

Find a quiet place today. And slowly read it.

“The Sacrifice of Isaac”. Rembrandt. 1635. Hermitage Museum.

22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

P.S. One quick note on Genesis 23: the cave that Abraham purchases through his shrewd bargaining as a burial place for Sarah will be the Children of Israel’s sole legal foothold to the Promised Land during their long centuries of slavery in Egypt. Abraham is a great man, not only because of his faith but also because of his far-sighted shrewdness as the patriarch of a people.

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 22:1-23:20

How to Make Peace With Your Neighbors

February 14, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

The Lord promised Abraham that through him all the peoples of the earth with be blessed. When Abraham lives into the Covenant, that’s exactly what happens.

Abraham has a dispute over water and property rights (specifically over a well, which can make the difference between life and death in the arid Middle East) with Abimelech, who has shows up to talk to Abraham with his military commander. You’d think the episode might end in bloodshed, but instead Abraham responds with generosity and grace and he and Abimelech make peace with one another.

The people of God are meant to be peacemakers wherever they go. How can you be a peacemaker today?

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 21:1-34

What A Wife Is Not

February 13, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Remember, the key to understanding Genesis 12-36 is to see it as the education of the patriarchs about the way to make family work.

Here we go again.

The Abraham story began with Abraham passing off his wife as his sister when they sojourned in Egypt. A lot has happened since then, and Abraham and Sarah have grown old and very wealthy. But still, Abraham hasn’t learned his lesson: a “wife” is not the same thing as a “sister” or a “mistress” or a “concubine”; a wife is a partner in the raising and the shaping of the next generation.

And so, here Abraham tries the same trick with Abimelech, and just as before, the Lord intervenes.

What happens next is important. As we’ll see in tomorrow’s reading, Sarah finally becomes pregnant with the child of the covenant—Isaac—but only after Abraham finally learns his lesson.

“Only when Abraham acknowledges that a wife is something absolutely other than a sister does Sarah become pregnant; and only then is she a wife in the full sense”.
—Leon Kass

For the covenant to be passed down, both husbands and wives, fathers and mothers will be necessary. As we’ll continue to see, this lesson is not one the children of Abraham learn easily!

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 20:1-18

This Is What the Abraham Story is About

February 11, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Because it is immediately followed by the dramatic dialogue between the Lord and Abraham about the destruction of Sodom, it’s easy to overlook the Lord’s introductory comments as the episode begins:

“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” [Genesis 18:17-19]

Did you catch that?

“For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just.”

The whole story is about family. It’s about the founding of a family and what it will take to pass on the covenant generation to generation.

Or, to put it another way: family is how we fight.

How can you build for the next generation today?

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 18:16-33

[Every weekday I write a brief commentary on that day’s reading in the Munger Bible Reading Plan. Join us and read along!]

What If You Rub Shoulders With An Angel Today?

February 10, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

When strangers visit Abraham, he runs (not walks) to welcome them into his house. His hospitality is extraordinary and instructive:

One of the characteristics of the people of God will be their lavish hospitality to outsiders.

How can you show hospitality and kindness toward a stranger today?

And as the writer of Hebrews puts it (reflecting on this story of Abraham), you never know with whom you might come in contact:

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” [Hebrews 13:2]

P.S. Did you catch how the Lord appears to Abraham? “The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby.” (Genesis 18:1-2). It’s ONE LORD, but THREE PERSONS. Interesting….

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 18:1-15

[Every weekday I write a brief commentary on that day’s reading in the Munger Bible Reading Plan. Join us and read along!]

The Meaning of Circumcision

February 07, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Let me say it again: the story of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) in Genesis 12-36 is a story of their education and formation into what family life will need to be like if the covenant will need to be passed down generation to generation. An important part of that covenant is circumcision, but what does it really mean?

I found this comment from Leon Kass to be helpful:

“Male circumcision was, of course, a custom already widely practiced in the ancient world. In pagan societies, circumcision, performed at the time of puberty, was part of a male rite of passage (it may also have served symbolically as an act of human sacrifice to the gods). A mark on his maleness, circumcision was a sign not only of the youth’s new sexual potency but also of his initiation into the male role and male society (putting an end to his primary attachment to his mother and the household, to the society of women and children). But in the new way of ancient Israel, the special obligation of the covenant gives the practice of circumcision a new and nearly opposite meaning. An initiation rite of passage of young males into adult masculinity is transformed into a paternal duty regarding the male newborn. Israel’s covenant with God begins by transforming the meaning of male sexuality and manliness altogether.

I find that really interesting: the Lord is teaching Abraham and his descendants that true masculinity is not a conquering masculinity but a masculinity that is dedicated to something greater than itself, namely toward others.

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 17:10-27

The Egyptian Woman

February 06, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

The key to understanding Genesis 12-36 is to see it as a story about the education of the patriarchs as patriarchs, that is as the founders of a family that will be able to successfully pass on the covenant, generation to generation.

Or, to put it more succinctly:

Genesis 12-36 is about what it takes to make family work.

In Egypt, Abraham gives his wife to Pharaoh. But, the Lord rescues her and Pharaoh sends them on their way. The lesson for Abraham: a wife is not the same thing as a sister.

Now, it’s as if the roles are reversed: Sarah gives Abraham her Egyptian slave Hagar. The Lord permits Abraham and Sarah to make a mess of things, but then steps in and blesses Hagar’s son with Abraham, Ishmael.

Abraham will subsequently learn that a wife is not the same thing as a concubine.

In each episode, Abraham is learning what the Lord requires of him to be the founding patriarch of a people.

For us, I think the lesson is clear: you can’t have God’s ends apart from God’s means. Trusting in God’s promises means trusting that God will bring them about without your having to force them to happen.

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 16:1-16

You "Cut" A Covenant

February 05, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

In the Ancient Near East, when two parties made an agreement the weaker party would cut animals in half and walk through the halves, in essence saying: “May this be done to me if I don’t uphold my side of the covenant.” Ancient Hebrew reflects this understanding because in Hebrew you don’t “make” a covenant, you “cut” a covenant.

What’s amazing about the covenant the Lord makes with Abraham in Genesis 15 is that only the Lord passes between the animals, not Abraham.

CHRISTIAN READER, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!

The Lord says to Abraham, I will uphold both my side and your side of the covenant, even if it takes my life.

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW.

(Jesus was crucified.)

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son….”

P.S. Note that 15:16 implies that the Canaanites won’t be kicked out of the land until they deserve it; that time finally comes when Joshua leads the Israelites to conquer Canaan, several hundred years later.

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 15:1-21

How to Delay The Blessings God Has Planned For You

February 04, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

This is what the Lord said to Abraham in his initial command:

“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” [Genesis 12:1]

Here’s what happens next:

“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.” [Genesis 12:4]

I think it’s possible that Abram wasn’t willing to completely break from his father’s household, which is why he brought his orphaned nephew along with him. But, Lot isn’t the heir the Lord has in mind, and it’s no surprise that they eventually have to part. No doubt the parting was painful, but it opens the door for Abram’s own son to (eventually!) be born.

The surest way to delay God’s blessings for your life is to be only partially obedient to God’s command. God’s purposes will be realized no matter what; the problem with partial obedience is that it hurts us by delaying what God wants to give us.

P.S. Lest you think that I’m being too hard on Abraham here, let me make up for it by pointing out that Abraham’s greatness is shown in the episode that immediately follows his parting with Lot. 1. Abraham initially avoids entanglement in this war of the kings; 2. But when Lot is in danger, Abraham risks his own life to rescue him; 3. Abraham devises a cunning plan whereby his inferior force routs a superior one; 4. Abraham blesses Melchizedek, proving that those who bless Abraham will be blessed; 5. Abraham refuses the spoils of war offered to him from the King of Sodom; 6. but he graciously speaks up for his fighting men and allows them to be rewarded. Not a bad business!

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 13:1-14:24

Were There Other Hypothetical Abrahams?

February 03, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

[Scroll down to the end for some bonus content about “That Hideous Strength” from Friday’s post, including a complete answer to my trivia question.]

You have no idea what hinges on your obedience today. Abraham said “Yes,” and history changed forever.

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 12:1-20

Bonus Content: “That Hideous Strength

On Friday, I wrote about Babel and entitled my post “That Hideous Strength.” I asked you to identify the source of that title.

No one actually got the answer right (or at least not completely). Yes, it is the title of the 3rd novel in C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy, but none of you actually explained why Lewis gave his novel that title or why I used it in the title of my post. So, let me tell you:

I re-read the Space Trilogy last year and was struck by the epigraph on the title page of That Hideous Strength. Here’s what it says:

“The shadow of that hyddeous strength
Sax myle and more it is of length”
Sir David Lindsay: from Ane Dialogue [describing the Tower of Babel]

Sir David Lindsay was a poet of the late Renaissance, who wrote Ane Dialogue in 1555 (which explains the strange spelling). Lewis, remember, was an expert on English Renaissance literature; when he wrote his novel about the dangers of technological powers joined with spiritual evil, he used the striking phrase “that hyddeous strength” as his title. I think the description of Babel is terrifying: an evil tower so high that it’s very shadow is six miles long.

So, there ya go.