Abraham

Cold Comfort and Eternal Perspective

Rachel. The wife Jacob loved. Just to hear it hurts. Nevermind actually BEING Leah, the first wife — the one without the ‘sparkle’ in her eyes. She lived her life in Rachel’s shadow. When Jacob was afraid of his brother Esau coming to exact revenge, he lined up the concubines and their children first, then Leah with her children, Jacob was in the last wave with Rachel. An inspiring picture of male headship at it best.

Back in Genesis 35 we read about Rachel dying after giving birth to Benjamin, and she was buried there in the desert. Meanwhile at the very end of Genesis, Jacob asks to be buried in the family tomb with Abraham & Sarah, Rebekah & Isaac… and Leah. Her body is already there waiting for him. After a lifetime of faithfulness to a man who didn’t love her. Who probably raised her sister’s children when Rachel passed away. She would be the one Jacob asked to be buried next to. He would grow to love her.

And more than that, God had a plan for Leah. She was the mother of Levi. The man whose priestly tribe would produce Moses, the one who would receive the next Divine Covenant from the LORD. She was also the mother of Judah. A wild man whose tribe would produce King David, the one who would receive the next Divine Covenant after Moses. And of course, Jesus Himself, the bringer of the New Covenant would come from the line of David the king, from the line of Judah the lion, from the line of Leah, the loved of God.

It can be cold comfort to know that we have treasures in Heaven or that God is using our suffering for some greater good, but we need to keep an eternal perspective. Even if we are here for more than 100 years, Heaven is eternal. When we’ve been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.

Genesis 47:28-50:26 | 018/365

Abandoned by God?

A Wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to. This famous line by Gandalf the Grey introduces us to the character and sets a tone for how we see him, and how he sees himself. It is no secret that J.R.R. Tolkien was a Christian and close friend of C.S. Lewis. And we can see reflections of Christian thoughts about good and evil and temptation and the darkness inside of us strewn throughout Middle Earth.

This line in particular is one that always stuck me as true of God. In particular His providential plans. Nothing happens before it’s time. God told Abraham the land of Canaan would be his… in 400 years. Because the Canaanites had not yet become lost to their own wickedness. God tells David a King will come from His line whose Kingdom will last forever. Again, it would be about 400 years before Jesus would be born to fulfill that promise. We see such things over and over again throughout the Bible.

Today’s story is no different, even if the timeline is substantially shorter. Joseph uses his God-given gift of dream interpretation to help out fellow prisoners who were from Pharaoh’s house. Joseph asks the cup-bearer to plead his case to Pharaoh on his behalf, that Joseph might be released to go home to his family. The cup-bearer agreed, then promptly forgot.

But God had other plans for Joseph. Some time later Pharaoh had a dream that he wanted interpreted. NOW the cup-bearer remembers Joseph and tells Pharaoh. Upon correctly interpreting Pharaoh’s dream and warning him about an impending famine, Joseph is hastily foisted into command of all of Egypt under only Pharaoh himself. This position would benefit not only Jospeh, but also his family in a powerful way. But for now we’ll stick that in our pocket, ’cause we’ll come back to it later.

This point is this: I don’t know why you are going through what you are going through. I don’t know why it’s hard for you right now. But, just as Hagar said, the Lord is “El Roi”, the God who sees you. You have not been abandoned, there is something coming. Because the Lord is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.

Genesis 35:38-39, 40:1-41:57 | 015/365

What Does God Feel Like?

God appears to Jacob in a dream and confirms His covenant with Abraham. Gods words are positive and encouraging, yet Jacob was afraid. Understanding the awesome power of the one true God. And after this encounter with the Lord, he erects a monument to God, and to mark a place of worship.

There are times when God feels far and there are times when God feels near. We should make note of those times when God is near. When He shows Himself to us in powerful ways. Because those monuments, those markers, will remind us of God’s faithfulness in the times of trial, suffering, and reproof.

And remember that even when we don’t “feel” it, He is still Emmanuel, God with us.

Genesis 28:6-30:24 | 010/365

Hard Things are Harder, but They’re Better

This is a little piece of wisdom from my wife. She always laughs at it, but I’ve always thought it was profound in it’s obvious simplicity. I think this is what we see in God’s method of bringing his covenant with Abraham to fulfillment. Sarah had trouble conceiving, but Hagar had no such issues. Even elderly Abraham had 6 children with the woman he married after Sarah’s death.

In the same way, Isaac marries Rebekah, who also has fertility issues, they pray to God and she does eventually have twins. Jacob and Esau. But Ishmael, Abraham’s eldest son had no issues producing heirs. 12 boys, not to mention however many girls may also have been born to him.

And then Jacob, the one who would become the namesake for the entire nation of Israel, was called “deceiver” at his birth (and engaged in plenty of shenanigans throughout his life). God seems to enjoy subverting expectations, taking the hard road, and achieving the improbable.

When God says, “Trust me”, He really means it. I’ve witnessed it personally in my life. Several times. There is nothing He cannot do, yield yourself to Him and watch His plan work itself out.

Genesis 25:1-11; 1 Chronicles 1:28-31, 34 | 008/365

Adding Value to Your Life and the Lives of Others

Abraham is worried about who his son, Isaac, will choose to marry. And so he sends out his oldest servant to find his a wife — not among the Canaanites in the foreign land they inhabited, but from among his own people, Israel. The servant arrives and sets 3 criteria when he prays to find a woman who says, “Yes (kindness) have a drink (service) and I will water your camels too (thoughtfulness).”

This is a woman who exemplifies the love of God. She had drawn the water for herself and her family, it’s not like she was hoping to bump into someone to give it to. Now she gave her water to this foreign visitor, and not only that, she had to make at a minimum two more trips to the well. One or more for the camels, and one or more for her original purposes. She fulfilled not only the request of the stranger, but saw — and met — an unspoken need as well.

We should strive to be like Rebekah. Adding value to the lives of others through kindness, and observation, and service. And we should surround ourselves with Rebekahs who will do the same. In that way we can carry and support each other as we seek to emulate Christ.

Have a blessed Sunday. See you at church.

Genesis 21:8-24:67 | 007/365

Don’t Do God’s Job

God made two promises to Abraham. The first, that his descendants would out number the stars in the sky. The second, that he would be given the land of the Canaanites to possess. Abraham and Sarah wanted a son so badly they could almost taste it. So when God promised them that they would get a son, they took things into their own hands to see how they could “help“ God achieve this goal. Their attempt to aid God led to problems in their marriage, problems in their household, and strife between the descendants of Ishmael and the descendants of Isaac. No such attempt was made to prematurely take the land of Canaan by Abraham and Sarah.

If we believe God is leading us into something that we already want, the temptation is significant to try and “make it happen”, but this is more likely to mess things up than bring them into fruition. If we want to see God work, we should let God work. We don’t step in and say “thanks God, I’ll take it from here”. In 1 Corinthians 4:7 Paul says, “What do you have that you did not receive?”, he recognizes that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father (James 1:7, paraphrased).

Don’t do God’s job. You’ll be bad at it.

Genesis 15-17 | 005/365

I Don’t Deserve This

Some will read this and assume unmerited blessing, some will read this and assume unmerited cursing. Solomon tells us that both come from the Lord (Ecc 7:14), so we should seek to learn in every circumstance.

In the case of Abram and Sarai the Lord has chosen out two to bless and make a covenant with despite any qualifications of which to speak. If fact when Abram is called the only things we know about him are that he is married to a barren woman and that he is the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of Noah (Note: Noah only missed Abram’s birth by 2 years… people lived a LONG time back then). Given that God’s call on Noah was to be a “great nation” it would seem that the only qualification Abram and Sarai had was their LACK of qualification. In fact, shortly after God’ promise to Abram he tries to sell his wife into the Egyptian Pharoah’s haram to save his own skin!

In the same way, God has a call on YOUR life. Not because of WHO you are, but because of WHOSE you are. Trust Him and follow him whether you are in a time of prosperity or a time of refining. Both are a blessing and both are shaping you into who God wants you to be so you can fulfil the call He has placed on your life.

But remember! Pride comes before the fall. God pulled no punches in frustrating the plans of the people of Babel who thought more highly of themselves than they ought.

Go with God, learning in all humbleness and submission.

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