2011-04-15
Good Morning Dear Ones,
In previous weeks, I wrote about some of the disappointing actions the people took right after God had expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, clothed in animal skins [GN 3: 21]. No one should lose track of the fact that an animal had been killed and that blood was shed-the basic ingredients for a subtle promise that at some point mankind would be forgiven. Why is this? Because “the life is in the blood” [LV 17: 11] and blood must be poured for there to be forgiveness [HE 9: 22]. While there wasn’t a covenant involved, we know that Adam and Eve’s son, Cain, committed the first murder, that of his brother Abel. The issue between them was God’s acceptance of Abel’s offering of a lamb to Him, one that involved the best first fruits of his labor, as opposed to Cain’s, which was some of his harvest, rejected by God [GN 4: 4-8]. Cain’s jealousy was the motivation for this heinous act, and God punished Cain for it by placing him under a curse sending Cain away from his presence [GN 4: 9-16]. It was to be clear that if someone wrongs another, there will be negative consequences from God. Mankind multiplied, but God wasn’t pleased with the result. That left Him deciding to destroy mankind by a flood to get a fresh start. Only Noah and his family would be saved, along with a male and female of each kind of animal. Hence the story of the flood and God’s rainbow covenant with Noah [GN 6: 18; GN 9: 11-17]. We shouldn’t neglect to pay attention to the genealogy lists in GN 4:17-5:32 and GN 10: 1-32. These not only show the line that will eventually become the royal line of David out of which Christ will come, but they also give us the genesis of the place names and a view of how mankind actually ends up multiplying and covering the earth. Last week, I was led to discuss the erection of the Tower of Babel, another self-centered action taken by sinning mankind which greatly disappointed God [GN 11: 3-4]. God confused the languages as a result, which is why Babel lead to the city name of Babylon, a word derived from Hebrew meaning “mixed up” [GN 11: 9].
But God doesn’t give up easily on his human creation. Beginning in GN 12: 1-3, God makes a covenant with a most unlikely-appearing fellow, a man named Abram, who is born in Ur of the Chaldees [what is modern day SE Iraq or also called Mesopotamia]. The culture of Abram’s birth is Paganism, but somehow God knows the heart of this man. The Lord commands him to leave his family behind and allow Him to lead Abram to an unknown place by a rather indirect route. This is a test of Abram’s willingness to obey [GN 12: 1]. God’s promise to Abram when he was age 65, is GN 12: 2-3, “I will give you many descendants and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse those who curse you. And through you, I will bless all the nations.” The first two elements of the great Abrahamic covenant are thus put in place-descendants and the Promised Land. The third and last element will be given later-a King. Through perfect 20/20 hindsight, we know that God was starting the process of establishing Abram as the father of a new people, the Jewish people, who will put Him [God] at the center of their lives and worship only Him. Up to this point, many gods were being worshipped [Paganism] and all of these belief systems, e.g. Baalism, to come would really be repugnant to God.
But even Abram as far from perfect. His pagan father, Terah, insisted on coming with Abram and his lovely wife, Sarai, even though God had forbidden it. This pushed back the time clock God had set for Himself, and left Abram in Haran [in modern Syria] until Terah’s death at the age of 205 [GN 11: 32]. It was only then, that God led Abram and Sarai to Caanan [which later become Israel, the Promised Land]. There was some sadness between Abram and Serai. She seemed to be permanently barren [unable to bear a child]. But we must realize that God’s timing is perfect and often different than ours. He knows the right time for everything. There was a lesson to be learned, which is that God should be in leadership and not humans. When Abram took matters into his own hands, with Sarai’s approval, by having intercourse with one of Sarai’s maids, Hagar, the latter gave birth to Ishmael, their son of the flesh [GN 16: 4-15]. This led to jealously and hatred between the two women. Some important events must happen before God would give Abram and Sarai their own child, Isaac, the son of the promise [GN 21:1-2]. Yet even before Ishmael’s birth, God appeared to Abram in a vision. It is the events that come out of that vision that would have a great impact on mankind.
The Lord tells Abram not to be afraid and promises to shield him from dangers and give him a great reward in GN 15: 1. Abram questions such a reward, since he has no children at this point. The Lord assures Abram that his prized servant, Eliezer of Damascus, will not inherit his property, but instead his own son will [GN 15: 4]. GN 15: 5-6, “The Lord took him outside and said, ‘Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that.’ Abram put his trust in the Lord and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.” This was the first man to be justified, deemed acceptable in the Lord’s sight. And to think, all Abram needed to do was to believe!
PRAYER: O Lord, the history that the Holy Spirit led me to recite today can never be overlooked for its importance to mankind. We see in it Your desire that we should obey Your commands and that negative consequences follow when we don’t. We see in it Your great desire to see us recognize Your omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. You give us reason to understand Your desire to bless us, and a beginning of Your plan for mankind. Surely, You have shown us some of the benefits of trusting Your promises. While Abram didn’t ever really understand Your cosmic purpose for his life, he was beginning to see the blessings of his own obedience-the immediate purpose of his life. With perfect hindsight, we now know that the cosmic purpose was to establish the Jewish people, a people set apart from all others of their time by their belief in one God [monotheism]. Moreover, there is a further cosmic purpose, which is the establishment of the lineage of the royal line of David, out of which Your own Son would arise in His earthly incarnation. The covenants [two-way promises] that You make with us are of vital importance. They teach us Your will, give us direction for how we should live our lives, and allow us to be motivated to place You at the center of our lives. We value Your word and see the wisdom of keeping our end of the covenant under which we live [ref: the Covenant of Grace]. Over our history, we see Your love and Your promises kept [PS 107: 43; PS 138: 8]. You told us in PS 2: 6-9 and again in IS 53: 1-12 that a King, Who would first be a Suffering Servant would come forth to bear the burden of our sins and to bring us forgiveness. In 2 SAM 7: 12-13, we learn that this Servant will be our Ruler forever. Thank You, and we praise You, Father, for your loving kindness and patience with us. We pledge You our eternal love and loyalty. In the holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: If the Holy Spirit has made you hungry to read what follows where we left off in the story of the Abrahamic covenant, then I have done my job in accordance with His wishes. While most of you know the narrative by heart, there are some very important lessons for us in the context of covenant theology that are found in it. These will be the focus of next week’s devotion. Our God has been unbelievably generous in His guidance and His love seen in the Bible. It’s enough for me to call the Bible His “Love Letter” to His people. We all know the basic outline: God creates mankind. Mankind battles the devil. The devil loses! God wins! J But as each of you knows, there is so much more to this book than that. We want to see how all of this happens, what our place in it is, and how God shows us His eternal faithfulness and love. PS 145: 18-19, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of all who have reverence for him; He hears their cries and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him.” Before covenants began between God and mankind, we had no idea what love is or how to show it. God gives us a great example. PS 94: 16-17, “ When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ Your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought joy to my soul.” Our God wants to bless and care for each of us. 1 PET 5: 6-7, “Humble yourselves, then, under God’s mighty hand, so that He will lift you up in His own good time. Leave all your worries with Him, because He cares for you.” Now how blessed is that! Praise and thanks be to God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15