A Countdown of Compassion.

Genesis 18:26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 

God had come to show Abraham what He was going to do, and why.  Abraham was very aware personally of the great righteousness and compassion of God.  He was also very aware of his own limitations to judge others.  He really cared about the people around him.  On the one hand he was convinced of the holiness of God; on the other he was sure of His justice and mercy.  This passage proceeds with this "countdown" to see how low the number could go.  When not even ten could be found, Abraham realized the extent of the wickedness of these twin cities and was confident God knew what He was doing. Of course, this was more than a history less; it was a lesson in faith in the character of God and plan of God.  May we be willing to engage God in what He is doing and why and learn to trust Him more.

Detours on the Path

 

Genesis 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” 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.

A lot has happened in this biblical family since yesterday's post.  God called Abram to move away from the rest of the clan, receiving God's promise to make his line a great people. But Sarai had remained barren. Abram had tried various ideas to get a son, including taking Sarai's handmaiden to mother a son. It was successful, but God said: "This is a detour from My path; next year Sarai will have the son of promise." Interestingly, God gives Abram and Sarai new names, and a sign of His covenantal promise: circumcision, which is to include and cover their whole household, before this promised son is born. God allows detours, despite the dangers and disasters along the path, but He still has His perfect plan.

Is This a Dead End Street?

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

We are still caught up in these seemingly endless genealogies after the flood, when we come to what seems like dead ends: Sarai was barren and Terah died. Many of us know at least part of the rest of the story, but for Abram and Sarai it must have seemed hopeless.  At this time of year, you might already be feeling that way, but God has a different perspective and plan. Your "new year's resolutions may have already tanked or what you had hoped to see change has gotten worse. Do not lose heart. It's not a dead end.

What's in a Name?

 Genesis 10:21 To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan. 26 Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. 

Often we come upon these lists of genealogies and think "oh no..." It's not just the pronunciation (the list above is not as bad as many), but also what we are to do with them?  In the list above we have the immediate descendants of Shem, whom we talked about yesterday.  He was the one blessed by Noah after the flood and his descendants became whom we call the Semitic peoples (as in antisemitism). They include the Jews. Since we are so busy stumbling over the pronunciation, we can easily miss what happens in verse 26 and following: Joktan had a LOT of sons. They became a lot of nations with a lot of languages, all going back to this blessed man, Shem. We'll see more of Shem tomorrow, but for today, remember this: there is a lot of hope in these names.

Let the Blessings Flow...

Genesis 9:24 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.”
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.”

We saw yesterday the lasting impact - good or evil - one can have on those who come after him. Such is the case here.  After the ride of his life on the ark, Noah found himself in a shameful situation. This was brought about by his son Ham, father of Canaan.  But we cannot blame our ancestors for everything: Ham's failure led later to the fall of the land of Canaan to Israel, the descendants of Shem, but Japheth also would be blessed by the overflow of God's blessings on Shem.  May we leave behind blessings for those who follow (and not curses).

Lasting Influence

 

Genesis 5:25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah,

When it comes down to it, when the day comes that we die, we hope to have left some sort of positive lasting influence. Methuselah is the longest living recorded person in scripture, and his first named son Lamech is an important link in salvation history, as his first named son is Noah.  If we do the math, we find that Methuselah was 369 when Noah was born, thus he had 600 years of influence in Noah's life. He also had a lot of years of influence over his other children, grandchildren, and on down the line. Looking at the conditions in Noah's world, was the influence of Methuselah mostly good or evil? Let's make this the year that we live to have a lasting influence for good and for God.

Let's Start This Way...

Genesis 4:26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

After the first two chapters of Genesis things really went south, with the Fall of Man and family infighting that followed.  Despite the exile from the Garden and constant "looking-over-the-shoulder" feeling of distrust between one another, we find here a ray of hope for man: people began to call upon the name of the Lord. Of course, that does not mean every hurt was healed or every thought was submitted to God's perfect will, but it was a starting point - the kind of starting point we all need: to admit we need God's help and are willing to seek Him.  May we all start with that same heart this year.