Genesis 18

Genesis 18

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

A Son Promised to Abraham and Sarah

18 The Lord appeared to Abraham^[a] by the oaks^[b] of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. ² He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. ³ He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. ⁴ Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵ Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” ⁶ And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures^[c] of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” ⁷ Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. ⁸ Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹ They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰ Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” ¹³ The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵ But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”

Judgment Pronounced on Sodom

¹⁶ Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way. ¹⁷ The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, ¹⁸ seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?^{[d] 19} No, for I have chosen^[e] him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; so that the Lord may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” ²⁰ Then the Lord said, “How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! ²¹ I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.”
²² So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.^{[f] 23} Then Abraham came near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” ²⁶ And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” ²⁷ Abraham answered, “Let me take it upon myself 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.” ²⁹ Again he spoke to him, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” ³⁰ Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” ³¹ He said, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” ³² Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” ³³ And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

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First thing that I noticed was that Sarah laughed.  She catches a lot of flak for this as an example of her disbelief.  Last chapter Abraham laughed when an heir was promised and held up Ishmael for blessing instead.  Just something I noticed.

Then we get to Abraham's famous dialogue with God about Sodom.  Clearly Abraham knows what kind of a place Sodom is if he is trying to bargain God down to saving an entire city over 10 righteous people.  Is Abraham just trying to save Lot and his family?  Is he opposed to the righteous dying because of the wickedness of others? Whatever his reasons, Abraham is incredibly bold in petitioning for the population.  

This is really Abraham taking his first steps into his calling.  The Lord told him that he would be a blessing to all nations and Abraham's initial efforts are around intercession.  Standing in the gap.  Praying for mercy and blessing for others.  Before the messiah arrives, before the Israelite nation, before Joseph and the famine, before all of that, Abraham asks a holy God to have mercy on a wicked city for the sake of a few righteous.  The first steps of our callings are always immersed in prayer, often in intercession for others.  We will see Gideon, Jacob, Nehemiah, Jesus, Paul and countless others who start off praying before entering into the public eye.  Let that be true of us as well.

Genesis 17

Genesis 17

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Sign of the Covenant

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty;^[a] walk before me, and be blameless. ² And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” ³ Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ⁴ “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.⁵ No longer shall your name be Abram,^[b] but your name shall be Abraham;^[c] for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. ⁷ I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring^[d] after you. ⁸ And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.”

⁹ God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.¹² Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. ¹³ Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
¹⁵ God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live in your sight!” ¹⁹ God said, “No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac.^[e] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.” ²² And when he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
²³ Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the slaves 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 his son Ishmael 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, slaves born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

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There are a number of different elements to explore in this passage:  the covenant, circumcision as a physical sign, God naming and renaming people.  God has the ability to do whatever He wants, including changing identities.  So why, then, would He limit himself to being the God of just one nation?  Why not have this interaction with thousands of different individuals who would themselves become nations?

That's an interesting thing about stories: we don't hear every perspective.  We don't hear God's reasoning or efforts with others.  We don't even hear about interactions with Abraham's father.  This narrative picks up when Abram says yes and that's what we have to follow and learn from.  Abram said yes and became Abraham.  Abraham laughs at God's insistence that he and Sarah will have a son. He laughs.  He is faithful and obeys even though he has a hard time fully believing.  But I guess when God gives you a new name, the invitation is to live it out. 

Genesis 16

Genesis 16

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Birth of Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, ² and Sarai said to Abram, “You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. ⁴ He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” ⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Your slave-girl is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.

⁷ The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ And he said, “Hagar, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” ⁹ The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.” ¹⁰ The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your offspring that they cannot be counted for multitude.” ¹¹ And the angel of theLord said to her,

“Now you have conceived and shall bear a son;
    you shall call him Ishmael,^[a]
    for the Lord has given heed to your affliction.
¹² He shall be a wild ass of a man,
with his hand against everyone,
    and everyone’s hand against him;
and he shall live at odds with all his kin.”

¹³ So she named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are El-roi”;^[b] for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?”^[c] 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;^[d] it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him^[e] Ishmael.

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What do you do when God has promised you something that has not happened yet and looks increasingly impossible?  Well, it seems like you either wait or you take matters into your own hands.  The latter is the "God helps those who help themselves" approach.  Simply put, it doesn't work.  Like, not even a little.  Yes, Abram gets a son out of the interaction.  However...this is also the birth of Islam and the generations and generations of rivalry and violence between Islam and Judaism.  Think of the quagmire that is the middle east.  It all traces back to Abram and Sarai trying to help God hurry up.

Genesis 15

Genesis 15

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

God’s Covenant with Abram

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” ² But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”^[a] 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” ⁴ But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” ⁵ He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ⁶ And he believed theLord; and the Lord^[b] reckoned it to him as righteousness.

⁷ Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” ⁸ But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” ⁹ He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. ¹¹ And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
¹² As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. ¹³ Then the Lord^[c] said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; ¹⁴ but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶ And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
¹⁷ When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

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Believing the impossible.  Not knowing how or when or where, but believing that what God said is true and living with that certainty.  This is faith.  For Abram it was believing that God would grant him an heir, a child of his own.  Even though he was old.  Even though they had no homeland.  Even though they had been trying for decades with no success.  Abram believed God.  He believed that in only a few generations his descendants would possess the very country that he was now visiting.

Belief is not just mental assent.  It is not simply saying that something is a good theory.  There is an active component to belief.  I schedule meetings...lots of meetings...for tomorrow because I believe tomorrow will come.  I see the temperature is around zero so I dress appropriately.  God tells me that He loves me and will provide...and I wonder if He really means it this time.  How we act reveals what we truly believe.  If my lifestyle choices and patterns display that I am a loner, how can I say I believe in the value of community?

Abram believed God's wild promises.  He acted on them and God honored his faith.  I want to be more like that.

Genesis 14

So Abram is becoming rich and God is affirming his call and his destiny.  What could go wrong?

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Genesis 14

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Lot’s Captivity and Rescue

14 In the days of King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim, ² these kings made war with King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³ All these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea).^{[a] 4} Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶ and the Horites in the hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the edge of the wilderness; ⁷ then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and subdued all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar. ⁸ Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ with King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar, four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. ¹¹ So the enemy took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way; ¹² they also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³ Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks^[b] of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner; these were allies of Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his nephew Lot with his goods, and the women and the people.

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

¹⁷ After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). ¹⁸ And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.^{[c] 19} He blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,^[d]
    maker of heaven and earth;
²⁰ and blessed be God Most High,^[e]
    who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything. ²¹ Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” ²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the Lord, God Most High,^[f] maker of heaven and earth, ²³ that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, so that you might not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their share.”

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So I guess we need to add great general to Abram's resume.  "The battle of the Nine Kings" sounds very Tolkein-esque.  The king of Sodom is on the losing side; Sodom is looted; Lot is captured; Abram rides to the rescue.  The Melchizedek character is fascinating to me and another example of a story that could have been expanded.  This man is a king of a non-Jewish city but also a priest of the one, true God.  How does that come to happen?  Abram gives a tithe to the king and they have communion together?  How much symbolism and foreshadowing can a single interaction have?

Then the king of Sodom offers a gift which seems reasonable since Abram just won the day.  Abram says no, claiming that he does not want to leave even the slightest doubt about who made him rich.

I am torn by this.  Working in the non-profit sector, I ask for money a lot.  A lot.  Always.  Is Abram able to say "no" because he is already rich and can afford to stand on his principles?  Or does he actually know that God will bless him and so he does not need to accept money from people who do not believe?  Is there some money that is not okay to accept or is it all value-neutral and able to be utilized for good purposes?

Abram gives his reasoning for saying "no:"  "So that you might not say 'I have made Abram rich.'"  This act is a form of witness for Abram.  The king of Sodom would be tempted to discount Abram's success as luck and his generosity instead of acknowledging that God's hand was at work.  How often do we take money or stuff because we "need it," instead of saying "no" and allowing that to be a witnessing opportunity.  This can only happen if we trust God and believe that He is the God of Abundance instead of living under the shroud of scarcity.

Genesis 13

Genesis 13

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Abram and Lot Separate

13 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.

² Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ He journeyed on by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,⁴ to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of theLord. ⁵ Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, ⁶ so that the land could not support both of them living together; for their possessions were so great that they could not live together, ⁷ and there was strife between the herders of Abram’s livestock and the herders of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land.

⁸ Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herders and my herders; for we are kindred. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”¹⁰ Lot looked about him, and saw that the plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar; this was before the Lord had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward; thus they separated from each other. ¹² Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the Plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now the people of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Raise your eyes now, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; ¹⁵ for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring^[a] forever. ¹⁶ I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. ¹⁷ Rise up, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ So Abram moved his tent, and came and settled by the oaks^[b] of Mamre, which are at Hebron; and there he built an altar to the Lord

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I sometimes wonder what prompts God to give His promises at that certain time.  This is an unexceptional interaction.  The two flocks cannot coexist without conflict and so Abram and Lot go different directions.  At that point God reiterates His promise about land and descendants.  Was Abram feeling abandoned with his only kin leaving?  Was he feeling like he got the worse end of the deal?  Was he questioning where to go next?  Or did God simply wish to reassure him that this was part of the plan?

I want specific promises.  I know that there are general promises that God has for me like "I will never leave you or forsake you" or "All things work together for good to those God has called, according to His purpose."  

Genesis 12

Now we begin really focusing in on Abram and his family.  Last chapter his father decided to settle down instead of moving on to Canaan.  Now the call comes to Abram.

Genesis 12

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Call of Abram

12 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 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 the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”^[a]

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 Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak^[b] of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring^[c] I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved on 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 invoked the name of the Lord. ⁹ And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know well 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, so that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.” ¹⁴ When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ When the officials 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 and female slaves, 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 be gone.” ²⁰ And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had.

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Faith vs. Fear.  This is one of the central conflicts in scripture.  Do we listen to the call of God and act accordingly or do we listen to the voices of the world and try to grab as much power as possible?  Abram seems to be alternating between both in this chapter. 

• Faith:  God tells Abram to start walking towards an unknown destination for an unknown length of time.  There is no scouting ahead.  There are no contacts to meet or job prospects waiting for him.  Just simply go.  And he does.  And the rest of scripture turns on that decision.
• Fear: Abram and Sarai are headed to Egypt.  Abram is afraid he will be killed and God's hand will not be enough to protect him.  So he hides his relationship with his wife.  He may have been right about pharoah's reaction, but he did not trust that God would take care of him.

The promise that God makes to Abram is remarkable.  "Through you every nation of the world will be blessed."  Just remarkable.

Genesis 11

Genesis 11

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. ² And as they migrated from the east,^[a] they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” ⁵ The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. ⁶ And theLord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ⁹ Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused^[b] the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Descendants of Shem

¹⁰ These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; ¹¹ and Shem lived after the birth of Arpachshad five hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹² When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah; ¹³ and Arpachshad lived after the birth of Shelah four hundred three years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber; ¹⁵ and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber four hundred three years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg; ¹⁷ and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg four hundred thirty years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reu; ¹⁹ and Peleg lived after the birth of Reu two hundred nine years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰ When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug; ²¹ and Reu lived after the birth of Serug two hundred seven years, and had other sons and daughters.

²² When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor; ²³ and Serug lived after the birth of Nahor two hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴ When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah; ²⁵ and Nahor lived after the birth of Terah one hundred nineteen years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁶ When Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Descendants of Terah

²⁷ Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. ²⁸ Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹ Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out 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 two hundred five years; and Terah died in Haran.

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What to do with the Tower of Babel?  At first glance it really paints God in a negative light.  Humanity is beginning to develop and mature.  They come together in a real city and begin to grow in their achievements.  God sees this and to keep humanity from doing "anything that they propose" He confuses their languages and scatters them across the planet.  Was God threatened by man?  Was He feeling insecure?  Could the created become greater than the creator?

The answers to these questions is clearly "No." But that's where our mind goes.  How could God get in the way of our success and achievements?  Why would He possibly hinder us from success?

I know we are only 11 chapters in, but lets remember to look at some context.  

• First, we just concluded with God's clean-up of unbridled humanity.  The very earth was corrupted by the evil of men, united and pursuing their whims and desires.  Those who don't learn from history...
• Second, the call to Noah and his descendants was to fill the world...which inherently means dispersing.  At the beginning of this chapter, the reasoning for building a city was to prevent themselves from being scattered.  This was their strategy for corporate disobedience.

And for the record, I am completely convinced that God is not as concerned with our achievements as we are.  We tend to look at our accomplishments as what determine our value and make us loveable.  God sees us as inherently valuable and our accomplishments are simply a natural result of how magnificently we were created.

One...no, two...no, three quick final points.  First:  God created diversity.  He gave people different languages and sent them to different lands that had different climates, resources and seasons.  There was no way that different cultures would not arise.  The differences between our cultures can be embraced instead of rejected.  There is a lot more that could be said on that, but I said I would be quick.

Second:  When humanity unites, anything is possible.  Due to our differences, uniting takes a lot more work, but the potential for world-level change is real.  That is the wonder that is born into every one of us.  When We truly come together "nothing that they propose to do will be impossible to them."  

Third:  Abram's father, Terah, gathered his family and set out for Canaan but stopped short and settled in Haran.  Could the call to Abram first have gone to his father?  Was Terah invited to be the father of many nations but settled with short-term comfort instead?  How many big, world-changing invitations have been set aside throughout history because someone settled?

Genesis 10

Genesis 10

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Nations Descended from Noah

10 These are the descendants of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; children were born to them after the flood.

² The descendants of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³ The descendants of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴ The descendants of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.^[a] 5 From these the coastland peoples spread. These are the descendants of Japheth^[b] in their lands, with their own language, by their families, in their nations.
⁶ The descendants of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. ⁷ The descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. ⁸ Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to become a mighty warrior. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰ The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar. ¹¹ From that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and ¹² Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. ¹³ Egypt became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹⁴ Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, from which the Philistines come.^[c]
15 Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, ¹⁶ and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, ¹⁷ the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, ¹⁸ the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. ¹⁹ And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon, in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ²⁰ These are the descendants of Ham, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
²¹ To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born.²² The descendants of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. ²³ The descendants of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ²⁴ Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. ²⁵ To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg,^[d] for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶ Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸ Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the descendants of Joktan. ³⁰ The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar, the hill country of the east. ³¹ These are the descendants of Shem, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
³² These are the families of Noah’s sons, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

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I don't know if I have much profound to say here.  I am sure there are some "aha" moments lurking if I were to do some research on the different people groups.  Nimrod has quite the impressive resume: Babel, Nineveh, the fist great warrior.  Although anyone named Egypt has a great legacy also.  Interesting that these two are both descendants of Ham who was cursed last chapter.  The Assyrians and Egyptians become dominant world powers who both persecute Israel later on.  How crazy would it be to have an entire world in front of you, ready to be explored and settled?