Category: Genesis

Issac's Blessing – part 1 (Gen 27:2-4)

Gen 27:2-4 (NKJV)

2 Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. 4 And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”

I’m interested in the phrase “... that my soul may bless you…”

I’ve always heard there is power in our words, but this phrase indicates that its more than spiritual. The source of this blessing is his own mind, will, and emotions. The word for soul is “nepes” which means “creature, heart – the inner self, the essence of life including thinking, feeling, willing and desirin, that animate part of a person existing until the state of death.”

So is it possible to “will” something into existence? Let’s talk.

Esau: Unable to Repent (Gen 25:29-34)

Gen 25:29-34 (NKJV)

29 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
31 But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
32 And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”
33 Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.”
So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Esau sells his birthright for a bowl of bean soup.

In my western mindset, I’m not sure we understand the significance of this transaction. One of the commentaries I read said: “… that is the rights and privileges of the first-born, which were very important, the chief being that they were the family priest (Ex 4:22) and had a double portion of the inheritance (Deut 21:17).”

Doesn’t this sound exactly like American culture today? How many men, fathers, and brothers have sold their birth-right for something so insignificant and temporary as a bowl of bean soup?  How many men are not stepping into their role as the priest of their families?  How many families are not living in the richness of a double blessing from their Heavenly Father?

How do we get our birthright back?

Check out what the writer of Hebrews wrote:

Heb 12:16-17 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

Hang on a minute… Esau was unable to repent even though he “… sought it diligently with tears.”

Is there a place we can get to in life – regardless of how broken we are – where we cannot repent, even if we want to?

What is the ramification of that?

Talk to me…

Sacrificing Issac

Gen 22:1-19

God commands Abraham to sacrifice Issac.

This is what “TESTING” looks like.  God asks us to do the inconceivable or the improbable or the impossible and we obey, one step at a time – TRUSTING that He knows what He has asked and that it will be taken care of by His hand.  Abraham attitude is this: ” I  know WHAT God has asked me to do.  I don’t know WHERE or HOW He’s asked me to do it, but I will be ready, immediately.”

Abraham didn’t hesitate in obeying. v3 says he rose early in the morning.  Contrast that to Lot leaving Sodom (Gen 19:15-17) to save his own life!  “Save your own skin and your family” vs. “Kill your only son” – which would make more sense in hesitating?

1. God reveals what we need to know, WHEN we need to know it.  “He is seldom early, but never late.”  I have heard many times.  I know this was certainly the case when we adopted our kids from Russia.  There were so many delays and frustrations both during the adoption process and certainly after the adoptions.  Had God revealed everything to us at the beginning, I’m not sure we would have obeyed as we did.  It’s been HARD.  It’s taken its toll on my biological kids and our family in general with 2 of the 3 kids we adopted having RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder).  But, looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing because where I am spiritually with the Lord, where Dawn is with the Lord and where we are as a married couple is far more than I could have ever hoped or imagined.  Would I do it again?  Tough call.

2. God provides what we need to have, WHEN we need to have it (the ram).  This is the second time this theme has come up recently.  The recent post I did on Hagar had the the theme of God’s provision – at the right time – when Hagar found the well (or God created the well – however you want to read it).  This is important – especially in potentially crazy economic times – to remember that He will provide what we need, when we need it.  My problem is that one word… “WHEN”, usually my definition and his definition are not the same – in fact – they rarely are.

It’s all about His timing, His will, His call on my life.  I only have to have the same attitude as Abraham.

“I don’t know WHERE or HOW He’s asked me to do it, but I will be ready, immediately.”

Hagar – God opened her eyes

Gen 21:16-21

Hagar cried out (perhaps to the Lord, but it is not stated in the text) and wept.  But v17 says that God heard the voice of the lad.  The scripture never records what Ishmael said or prayed.

v17 – the angel of God – is this just “an” angel?

v19 – “Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water.”  OK this is the interesting part to me.  This is 1 of 2 things.

One:  There was a well of water present, but God hid it from Hagar and kept her from being able to see it…

“God opened her eyes…” all the cross references (Gen 3:7, Num 22:31, 2 Kin 6:17, Luke 24:31) all refer to an understanding or to a spiritual eye-opening.  Adam and Eve knew they were naked; Balaam saw the Angel of the Lord; Elisha’s servant saw the spiritual army; the people realized it was the resurrected Christ.

How many times am I so focused on the physical situation around me or that I am in that I do not see the spiritual help/aide/comfort/resolution right in front of me?  Hagar had been wandering with her son, and I’m sure they were searching for water (because v15 said the water in the skin was used up).  The longer they looked, the more thirsty they became, the harder (I imagine) they looked, until they were exhausted and gave up.

What a great application!  God moves in us and for us when we get beyond our own strength and abilities.  When we get to the end of me.  Building 429 has a great song out right now called “At the End of Me” that are very appropriate to this passage.  (Building429 “At the end of me” lyrics)

I was the one to call the shots
Dream-eyed dreams, heart and soul
Answered only to myself
Never giving up control
Until the one day that brought me to my knees
And I would never be the same

Chorus:
Once upon a time the story goes
I laid it all down and let it go
To lose it all
To lose it all
Took a step of faith and said goodbye
And everything I had I left behind
To find true life
When all I longed for I found finally
At the end of me

And now the gone is wasted days
The selfish soul, the emptiness
Love had dimly been replaced
That old life is laid to rest
And now the new me is stronger day by day
I will never be the same

Chorus

Bridge:
And like an answer to a prayer
Jesus you were there
Calling me to live to die to give to gain
And I’ll never be the same

Chorus

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnxwCE3bCQk]

OR Two:  There was no well of water there at all and God miraculously created one.

The second application could be around the miracle provision of God when we are in need and when we recognize that we are in need.  Too often, we don’t even realize how needy we are.

Additionally:

What is the significance of Ishmael taking a wife from Egypt – where Hagar came from – and  not from the land of his father?

Symbolism:

angel of the Lord – who is it?

well of water / Holy Spirit

dehydration / spiritually dry

weeping & near-death / brokenness

Debating with God

Gen 18:22-33 (NKJV)

22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26 So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
27 Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: 28 Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”
So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”
29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?”
So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”
30 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”
32 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”
And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” 33 So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

What is the purpose of this debate?  Why did God include this deliberation between Abraham and Himself?  Do I really believe Abraham changed God’s mind?  No, I don’t.   I believe God already knew there were no righteous men in Sodom, even before the “others” went there.  That would imply that God went down this rabbit trail with Abraham for Abraham’s benefit.  Why?

A.  God’s Character

It’s possible God wanted to reveal a part of His own character to Abraham.  Abraham knew his nephew was in the city, and either knew or hoped that he could count Lot as one righteous man.  Perhaps with as many herdsmen and servants Lot had, that there would be a few more he could add.  God may have wanted Abraham to know that His love for mankind superceded His wrath against the cities.

verse 19 tells that God knows Abraham is going to be telling the coming generations about Himself and therefore he wants to clear up any questions about both sides of his justice and his mercy.

B. Abraham’s understanding

It’s entirely possible that God wanted Abraham to know that he could approach God and speak to Him, plead his case to Him, argue with Him, and disagree with Him as long as it was done in earnest humility.  v23 says “… Abraham came near and said…”

James 4:8 “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”

Ps 73:28 “But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God.  That I may declare all Your works.”

Abraham was living out these passages as he walked and talked with the Lord en route to Sodom.  Again, v19 discusses how Abraham would “… declare all of [His] works…” to his children and their children and impact generations.

C. My and your benefit

So why is it recorded?  For you and me.  Everything God wanted to teach and show Abraham, God wants to teach and show me and you.  God wants me to know that His love for me and for mankind supercedes his need for vengance and wrath.  God wants me to know that He is accessible and open and approachable.  God wants me to know I can speak with him about anything at all.

His Love for Me

The two angels have revealed to Lot that they are about to destroy Sodom. They have blinded all the men of the city who wanted to rape them, so Lot knows they are the Lord’s angels and the real deal. The angels have have specifically told Lot and his family to leave immediately.

Gen 19:16 “And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.”

He lingered? Get out of here! That’s what the angels kept telling Lot and his family, yet the LORD being merciful (I love that), physically had to drag them away from Sodom.

Isn’t it good to know that we have a God who will drag us out of our own crap that we can’t seem to break away from? It could look like a myriad of things. Sometimes that might look like an angel taking you by the hand and dragging you. Sometimes that might look brokenness from being at the rock-bottom.

Sometimes we don’t understand His mercy and why He’s got us where He does, or why He’s taken us into this place our out of that place.

I don’t have to understand it, I only have to trust His love for me.

Wait for Him

Genesis 15

After Abram’s meeting and interaction with Melchizedek, Abram has a vision and meeting with God, through a vision.  In this vision and interaction with the Lord, Abram is promised that “… one who will come from  your own body will be your heir.” (Gen 15:4)  In fact, the Lord then tells Abram to go outside and count the stars – if he’s able – because that’s how many descendents Abram will have.

I mention this to set the time of day of this vision.  It is clearly nighttime, otherwise Abram would not have seen any stars.  Keep that in mind.

Abram, in a sense, asks for some “proof” – “… how shall I know…?” (v8) and the Lord gives him some instructions to gather some animals and bring them to him.  So Abram does.  He cuts them in two and placed them opposite of each other.  Then he waits on the Lord.  Verse 11 says that Abram waited so long, he had chase away vultures who were trying to come eat the dead carcasses.  Verse 12 begins to discuss what happens as the sun begins to set.

Gen 15:17: And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.

OK.  Abram has been up all night (remember, he counted the stars), thru the morning, the afternoon, the evening and into the night again before the Lord showed up and passed through the sacrifice and made covenant with Abram.

I, for one, am very impatient with the Lord.  In my “everything gets wrapped up in a 30 minute episode” world, I expect that I will pray it, and God will do it, and then I’ll move on to the next thing.

Sometimes God’s timing isn’t my timing.  Sometimes following His directions can be a little confusing.  I can imagine while Abram is chasing off the vultures, he’s thinking “Uh… Hello… Lord…. remember me?  Down here!  It’s me Abram…. I got the animals you asked for.  What do you want me to do next?”  ….. (silence) …. (crickets chriping) … (more silence) ….

I know I feel that way sometimes.  “OK God.  I’ve done X-Y-Z as you asked me to.  Now what?”… “Hello!”… “Are you there?”….” Did I do something wrong?”…  This is where the enemy likes to start throwing in the seeds of doubt.  This is where he says I didn’t hear God right, or I missed God, or I’m out of God’s will.  Sound familiar?

The pictures of the vultures is a GREAT visual here!  I don’t believe for a minute that it is coincidence that it’s in the bible.  Moses didn’t need any “filler” when he penned it.  There is a spiritual truth to that physical episode.  Isn’t the enemy just like those pesky vultures?  How often does the enemy come and try to steal, destroy and eat away at that which God has told us, or promised us, or instructed us to do!  Just like Abram, we have  to drive them off! (v11)

But, in His timing, God DOES come and he DOES deliver and he DOES promise and he DOES bless.  Thank you God!

Teach me Dad to wait for you in quiet confidence and in complete belief and faith.

The Tent and The Altar

Gen 12-13

So Abram sets out after his call and God meets with him personally to assure him of his calling.  How cool is that?  After that meeting, Abram builds an altar to the Lord. (v7)

Then Abram goes to Egypt and deceives Pharoah about who Sarai is.  We all know the story.  One of the commentaries I read made an interesting point about this:

What a shame that believing Abraham should be rebuked by an unbelieving king. Until he knew the truth about Sarah, Pharaoh “bestowed favors” upon Abraham, but once God stepped in and exposed the lie, Pharaoh had to ask them to leave. What a poor testimony the Christian is when he or she mingles with the world and compromises. Someone has said, “Faith is living without scheming.” Abraham and all his descendants have needed to learn that lesson! Lot lived with the world and lost his testimony (19:12–14); and Peter sat by the enemy fire and denied his Lord.

Wiersbe, W. W. (1993). Wiersbe’s expository outlines on the Old Testament (Ge 12:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Then after that debacle, Abram goes back to the place where he built the first altar. (Gen 13:1-4)

1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

I totally relate to this.  How many men have longed to go back to Hunt, or to the place of their Quest where – perhaps for the first time – they really met face to face with God?  Man, I long to be there… in His presence… in that place.  That’s one of the reasons I love to serve on Quests.  From that same commentary:

Abraham could not have confessed his sin and remained in Egypt! No, he had to get back to the place of the tent and the altar, back to the place where he could call upon the Lord and receive blessing. This is a good principle for Christians to follow: go nowhere in this world where you must leave your testimony behind. Any place where we cannot build the altar and pitch the tent is out of bounds.

Great thought to live by…  “Any place we cannot build the altar and pitch the tent is out of bounds.”  In his commentary, Wiersby describes the tent as the pilgrim, the person who trusts God a day at a time and is always ready to move.  He describes the altar as the worshiper who brings a sacrifice and offers it to God.

Restated,  “…any place we cannot worship and offer God our sacrifice and be ready to move in complete trust of Him is no place for the Christ follower.”

Building and pitching…

Abram's Call

Gen 12
Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.

The New King James Version. 1982 (Ge 12:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

God calls Abram away from all that is familiar…. his family, his father’s house, his geographical surroundings and the normalcy of his traditions and his land.  EVERYTHING he grew up knowing, counting on, understanding, relying on… God called him away from it.

Why?  Could God have blessed Abram and made him a great nation where he was physically located? Of course.  Its apparent that Abram was quite successful in this place.  He was also on some sort of terms with God – he could hear Him.  I know people who claim to be Christians all their lives that strive to hear God and question if they ever do or ever did.  So clearly, the spiritual environment Abram was in wasn’t all bad.

So why?  Why did God call Abram out from everything he knew, everyone he knew and loved and who loved him?

There are likely several reasons that could be articulated, but for me the one that is most applicable to me today is that God wanted to get Abram to a place of utter and complete dependence upon God and God alone.  In places were there would be difficulties, it would be too easy to run back to what is “known” and “comfortable”… God called Abram into a place where the blessing would benefit not only his family for generations, but the entire world for all eternity.

God’s cool like that.  I can look back over my life and see times where I had no where to go but to my knees.  Those are the character defining events of my life.

Enoch's Obituary

Genesis 5 is the genealogy of Adam. The first interesting thing to me is that Cain and Abel are not listed, even though they were the first born.   I guess it’s because Abel was murdered and Cain ran off, even though he had sons and daughters.  So Adam’s lineage begins with Seth.  The pattern of the next 20 or so verses is the same.

“FATHER” lived “X” years and begot “SON”. After “SON”, “FATHER” lived “Y” years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of “FATHER” were “X+Y” and he died.

Adam begot Seth. (v3-5)
Seth begot Enosh. (v6-8)
Enosh begot Cainan. (v9-11)
Cainan begot Mahalalel. (v12-14)
Mahalalel begot Jared. (v15-17)
Jared begot Encoh. (v18-20)

Then something changes. Enoch’s “obituary” reads different.

Genesis 5:21-24 (NKJV)
21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

987 Years after God created Adam, he took Enoch and Enoch did not die, because Enoch walked with God and pleased him.

Hebrews 11:5 speaks of Enoch:
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

He took him well short of his natural life span for those days.  Adam lived 930 years; Seth lived 815 years; Enosh lived 905 years; Cainan lived 910 years; Mahalalel lived 895 years; Jared lived 962 years; Jared was taken at 365 years.

I bring it up because Enoch’s son, Methuselah, was old enough to see his ancestors living to be very old men and to see his dad taken by God – because he walked with God – and yet Methuselah’s life reads exactly the same as his anscestors. He begat Lamech, had sons and daugthers and died after 969 years.

How quickly a generation forgets the godliness and impact of the preceding ones. This is all the Scripture records about Methuselah.

Or maybe, how lasting an impact the previous generations have on our children, thus the more we have give our children to Him and parent them as He leads us.  I don’t know.

For me, today, I want to be more like Enoch.  I want my impact to go beyond the next generation of my children, but to impact my children’s children’s children for the Lord, and not away from Him.

What does it look like to “walk with God” like Enoch did?  What was the result of those men in the Scriptures who did?  This would be an interesting word study.