Genesis 12:10-20
In Genesis 12:1-9, Abraham seems pretty much perfect. Suddenly we find him putting his wife in danger to save his own hide. The opening of the chapter presents him as a model of faithfulness. Now he is an anxious man who has forgotten the promise of God.
The encounter described is between a vagabond with nothing but a promise behind him, and a powerful empire, the head of which can act without answering to anyone. In the middle of this is the action of the Lord.
We have here a first appearance of a recurring theme in the story of Israel: survival of a powerless minority. Part of the way to make any sense of this is to realize how the story will be received by its first readership: tiny Israel in the midst of powerful nations and forces. For them this story is an encouragement. It even mocks the great power of Egypt in that the Egyptians right up to the emperor look beyond all the women of their own empire and find attractive the mother of Israel, who, in addition, is ageing.
There is still the moral question. I mean, Abraham really looks bad here. While I don’t think we’ll find any justifying reason for Abraham’s conduct, we might consider this:
Abraham was told that all families were to be blessed through him. There could also be curse through him (12:3). Maybe we are not supposed to gloss over the unsavory nature of Abraham’s action, but to see that this unfaithfulness to God does bring a curse – but not on Abraham (verse 17). It points to the hard reality that innocent people suffer when God is not trusted.
It also shows – whether right by our morality or not – that Abraham is protected.
Reading the text this way foreshadows a dynamic of life in Christ. When we are in Christ our destiny with God in heaven is assured. But we still foul up and people get hurt, sometimes badly. But our journeying with God and our role to be a blessing to others is not taken away. Our place is still assured. Is that fair? Of course not. But because of grace and not because of any goodness of ours, God’s purposes will prevail. He will choose to use for that whom he chooses. It’s about his choices and his purposes; it’s not about us.
It makes me feel really humble. Salvation is once for all, but repentance is a daily necessity.
Prayer:
Father, your Son said for his followers daily to take up their cross and follow him. Each day may a little more of my sinful, rebellious, untrusting nature be crucified, that more and more, day by day, I may be more like Jesus. Amen.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
To Be an Altar in Canaan
Genesis 12:1-9
“What will God do next?” I asked. Humanity is now spread out and in a state of not-hearing – not hearing either God or one another. In the midst of this God calls one family, and one man in particular. This is the new way. Yes, God has addressed individuals before, but not with the purpose of forming a whole nation through whom he will work, with the rest of humanity in mind. It may well be we get to see some of the intended dynamic of this working through the particular toward the larger scene in these few verses.
First we should acknowledge with appreciation the nature of Abram’s response. It is pointed out that for ancient people to leave home and break ties with ancestors was unthinkable. But the response here is a new listening and doing in relationship to the Lord.
And then amongst the Canaanites Abram sets up altars to his God. There is no sign of preaching here, just openly acknowledging the one who had called him and brought him this far. The Christian community will be called in time to do something more in the midst of their surrounding culture, but what happens here may be viewed as the foundation without which further witness will be fruitless: That is to let your life be a matter of worship, i.e. listen and respond to God and acknowledge him as the author of your journey.
Prayer:
Should the world around me get to fit too comfortably, Lord, it is surely a sign I am not listening and following you and the journey you call me to. Make me faithful to the Way, who is the Christ. Amen.
“What will God do next?” I asked. Humanity is now spread out and in a state of not-hearing – not hearing either God or one another. In the midst of this God calls one family, and one man in particular. This is the new way. Yes, God has addressed individuals before, but not with the purpose of forming a whole nation through whom he will work, with the rest of humanity in mind. It may well be we get to see some of the intended dynamic of this working through the particular toward the larger scene in these few verses.
First we should acknowledge with appreciation the nature of Abram’s response. It is pointed out that for ancient people to leave home and break ties with ancestors was unthinkable. But the response here is a new listening and doing in relationship to the Lord.
And then amongst the Canaanites Abram sets up altars to his God. There is no sign of preaching here, just openly acknowledging the one who had called him and brought him this far. The Christian community will be called in time to do something more in the midst of their surrounding culture, but what happens here may be viewed as the foundation without which further witness will be fruitless: That is to let your life be a matter of worship, i.e. listen and respond to God and acknowledge him as the author of your journey.
Prayer:
Should the world around me get to fit too comfortably, Lord, it is surely a sign I am not listening and following you and the journey you call me to. Make me faithful to the Way, who is the Christ. Amen.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Expecting
Genesis 11:10-32
The human map is continued here from chapter 10. But where before there was a sense of expansion, now there is a movement through one family line, ending with the family of Terah, one of whose children is Abram.
It is noted after all this ‘begetting’ (as an older version says) that Sarai is “barren.” The narrator adds “she had no children” maybe to underline that this was not a new condition. It’s also not foreign to the language to add something that says the same thing a different way (e.g. ‘I was silent and did not speak’). At any rate we get the point. It is especially ironic – and meaningful for what God is doing – that we are a point that is full of expectancy. We have come to a sort of impasse, both in this family line and in the story of humans. The chasm between God and humanity has widened. Now God has dispersed humans in a confusion of language and there is no evident word of grace in the description of that. What is God going to do now? If this were a TV series this episode would be the season-ender. But we should have learned enough about God’s ways by now to know that the degree of apparent hopelessness just increases the anticipation. Sarah and her family, along with all humanity – at any time - , can indeed be expectant and expecting, even in her/our barrenness. Maybe especially so.
Prayer:
Lord, at this time I think of ____________, who I know to be in need of hope right now, and some practical sign of hope. Enter __________’s heart, and show me some way to be the means of hope in you, some way I will really act on. Through Christ. Amen.
The human map is continued here from chapter 10. But where before there was a sense of expansion, now there is a movement through one family line, ending with the family of Terah, one of whose children is Abram.
It is noted after all this ‘begetting’ (as an older version says) that Sarai is “barren.” The narrator adds “she had no children” maybe to underline that this was not a new condition. It’s also not foreign to the language to add something that says the same thing a different way (e.g. ‘I was silent and did not speak’). At any rate we get the point. It is especially ironic – and meaningful for what God is doing – that we are a point that is full of expectancy. We have come to a sort of impasse, both in this family line and in the story of humans. The chasm between God and humanity has widened. Now God has dispersed humans in a confusion of language and there is no evident word of grace in the description of that. What is God going to do now? If this were a TV series this episode would be the season-ender. But we should have learned enough about God’s ways by now to know that the degree of apparent hopelessness just increases the anticipation. Sarah and her family, along with all humanity – at any time - , can indeed be expectant and expecting, even in her/our barrenness. Maybe especially so.
Prayer:
Lord, at this time I think of ____________, who I know to be in need of hope right now, and some practical sign of hope. Enter __________’s heart, and show me some way to be the means of hope in you, some way I will really act on. Through Christ. Amen.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Babel 4
Genesis 11:1-9
We have seen stages along the way that have separated humankind farther and farther from God. God responds to these chasm-widening events with judgment, but also follows that judgment with a way through. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, Cain was sent away, there was a flood. In each case there was as way beyond the catastrophe and a new way to go forth into the earth. Now humankind is dispersed into the earth, but with no evident word of grace to accompany the dispersion.
I’ll reflect on the rest of chapter 11 tomorrow. Then we’re at the end of the “primeval” history, which describes God’s dealing with all humanity. He still will deal with all humanity, of course, but chapter 12 will begin the story of God working through a specific people (and further on in the Bible through a specific individual, the one the Apostle Paul called the new Adam).
The word of grace, not evident here, is coming in a new and powerful way.
Prayer:
God, help me trust in you and your purposes even when you seem absent. In Christ. Amen.
We have seen stages along the way that have separated humankind farther and farther from God. God responds to these chasm-widening events with judgment, but also follows that judgment with a way through. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, Cain was sent away, there was a flood. In each case there was as way beyond the catastrophe and a new way to go forth into the earth. Now humankind is dispersed into the earth, but with no evident word of grace to accompany the dispersion.
I’ll reflect on the rest of chapter 11 tomorrow. Then we’re at the end of the “primeval” history, which describes God’s dealing with all humanity. He still will deal with all humanity, of course, but chapter 12 will begin the story of God working through a specific people (and further on in the Bible through a specific individual, the one the Apostle Paul called the new Adam).
The word of grace, not evident here, is coming in a new and powerful way.
Prayer:
God, help me trust in you and your purposes even when you seem absent. In Christ. Amen.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Babel 3
Genesis 11:1-9
This passage is often read along with Acts 2 at Pentecost, celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit to the waiting church. The gift of tongues there wasn’t the inspired utterance that we read of elsewhere, but the ability people were given to understand one another even though they were speaking different languages (Acts 2:5-11).
God said, “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other” (Genesis 11:7). I understand this in the same way I do another, even more difficult passage, Isaiah 6, where we find the Lord telling Isaiah to go and tell the people, “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving” (Isaiah 6:9). The only sense I have ever made of that is that in order for the people to get the message they will have to experience the full consequences of their disobedience. God, in a sense, abandons them to their own nature, but does not forget them.
Here, humanity uses the gift of language only to build a monument as a physical graph of their own human-based aspirations. The basic sin we have seen all along comes to a climax here: They have stopped listening to God and are only listening to one another, so God confuses their language so they can’t do that. They will have to learn to depend on him again, listen to him again, in order to be able to communicate with one another. The end result will be even better because they will listen to one another from out of cultural diversity. This sets up a beautiful vision of what humanity could be if we would truly place God first.
Prayer:
Lord, will I really be listening to people today? Will I get what’s in someone’s heart, or just hear what I find useful? Let your Spirit come upon me as I encounter people, so their language will be mine, and ours will be yours. Through Christ. Amen.
This passage is often read along with Acts 2 at Pentecost, celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit to the waiting church. The gift of tongues there wasn’t the inspired utterance that we read of elsewhere, but the ability people were given to understand one another even though they were speaking different languages (Acts 2:5-11).
God said, “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other” (Genesis 11:7). I understand this in the same way I do another, even more difficult passage, Isaiah 6, where we find the Lord telling Isaiah to go and tell the people, “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving” (Isaiah 6:9). The only sense I have ever made of that is that in order for the people to get the message they will have to experience the full consequences of their disobedience. God, in a sense, abandons them to their own nature, but does not forget them.
Here, humanity uses the gift of language only to build a monument as a physical graph of their own human-based aspirations. The basic sin we have seen all along comes to a climax here: They have stopped listening to God and are only listening to one another, so God confuses their language so they can’t do that. They will have to learn to depend on him again, listen to him again, in order to be able to communicate with one another. The end result will be even better because they will listen to one another from out of cultural diversity. This sets up a beautiful vision of what humanity could be if we would truly place God first.
Prayer:
Lord, will I really be listening to people today? Will I get what’s in someone’s heart, or just hear what I find useful? Let your Spirit come upon me as I encounter people, so their language will be mine, and ours will be yours. Through Christ. Amen.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Babel 2
Genesis 11:1-9
Most scholarly commentary on this passage actually sees humour in the coming down of God and his heavenly host to inspect this work of humans. God doesn’t really have to come down to see anything, but this is an expression of the puniness of human aspiration to attain to divinity. The direction of the building may be vertical, but the spirit is horizontal; it’s a monument to humanity and as such it gets heavenly derision.
I asked in the previous post if the scattering is simply preventive punishment against such future folly (it can't be a matter of any threat to God), or whether it is instead – or also – a way God worked through human circumstances in fulfillment of his own command reiterated at the beginning of chapter 9 for the people to spread out and multiply. This line of thought comes from an elegant expression of the “it’s both” scenario by Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann, who goes on to talk about the nature of true unity of people under God, to the effect that it’s not about conformity but a unity of Spirit within diversity – a much needed message for the world and, frankly, for the church, in which too much the sense people outside the church get is that people already in the church are more concerned about people adapting their way of things than getting to know and follow their God. This is doubly tragic because I know that this is not what church people intend to convey, because at heart they really do just desire for people to know God. This isn’t just about the ‘old’ ways. Newer ways can very quickly become idols. It’s the opposite of human consumables in that what’s inside is always good. It’s the container that has a shelf life.
Two more entries on this passage at a pivotal point in the Biblical story:
Wednesday: About language.
Thursday: As a prelude to Abraham and the story of Israel.
Prayer:
God, I can never come close to the reality of you on my own. We can’t even do that together. It is only because you have truly come down to us that we can know you, love you, and share life together as your image on earth. We welcome your Spirit in whom we find true unity, expressed in a multitude of ways. In Christ. Amen.
Most scholarly commentary on this passage actually sees humour in the coming down of God and his heavenly host to inspect this work of humans. God doesn’t really have to come down to see anything, but this is an expression of the puniness of human aspiration to attain to divinity. The direction of the building may be vertical, but the spirit is horizontal; it’s a monument to humanity and as such it gets heavenly derision.
I asked in the previous post if the scattering is simply preventive punishment against such future folly (it can't be a matter of any threat to God), or whether it is instead – or also – a way God worked through human circumstances in fulfillment of his own command reiterated at the beginning of chapter 9 for the people to spread out and multiply. This line of thought comes from an elegant expression of the “it’s both” scenario by Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann, who goes on to talk about the nature of true unity of people under God, to the effect that it’s not about conformity but a unity of Spirit within diversity – a much needed message for the world and, frankly, for the church, in which too much the sense people outside the church get is that people already in the church are more concerned about people adapting their way of things than getting to know and follow their God. This is doubly tragic because I know that this is not what church people intend to convey, because at heart they really do just desire for people to know God. This isn’t just about the ‘old’ ways. Newer ways can very quickly become idols. It’s the opposite of human consumables in that what’s inside is always good. It’s the container that has a shelf life.
Two more entries on this passage at a pivotal point in the Biblical story:
Wednesday: About language.
Thursday: As a prelude to Abraham and the story of Israel.
Prayer:
God, I can never come close to the reality of you on my own. We can’t even do that together. It is only because you have truly come down to us that we can know you, love you, and share life together as your image on earth. We welcome your Spirit in whom we find true unity, expressed in a multitude of ways. In Christ. Amen.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Babel 1
Genesis 11:1-9
Been mulling over this passage more than with anything for a while, and I may linger here for a while yet. I’ve preached on this probably a half dozen times but I’m looking at this in new ways. So far, every time humanity has messed up, God has pronounced some judgment on it, but there has been a way through. This seems different. Is the scattering here simply on judgment on human temerity? Is it, in a more positive sense, God’s way of further fulfilling his will for humanity to go forth and be fruitful? Is it both? This is the end of what the scholars call the “primeval history” section of Genesis, with the beginning of the story of Israel about to begin in Chapter 12. What’s the significance of that? Stay tuned. I think we'll spend a few days at this transition point.
Prayer:
God your Word is both mystery and truth. Thank you for the marvelous ways in which you have shared yourself and your will with your creatures. Give us a special measure of discernment as we enter into this part of your Word. Direct us through your Word to the living of our personal lives and the shaping of our life as your church for our place and time. In Christ. Amen.
Been mulling over this passage more than with anything for a while, and I may linger here for a while yet. I’ve preached on this probably a half dozen times but I’m looking at this in new ways. So far, every time humanity has messed up, God has pronounced some judgment on it, but there has been a way through. This seems different. Is the scattering here simply on judgment on human temerity? Is it, in a more positive sense, God’s way of further fulfilling his will for humanity to go forth and be fruitful? Is it both? This is the end of what the scholars call the “primeval history” section of Genesis, with the beginning of the story of Israel about to begin in Chapter 12. What’s the significance of that? Stay tuned. I think we'll spend a few days at this transition point.
Prayer:
God your Word is both mystery and truth. Thank you for the marvelous ways in which you have shared yourself and your will with your creatures. Give us a special measure of discernment as we enter into this part of your Word. Direct us through your Word to the living of our personal lives and the shaping of our life as your church for our place and time. In Christ. Amen.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
A Dynamic Map
Genesis 10
In an echo of a command earlier in Genesis (Genesis 1:28), God had told Noah and his sons, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). Once again God’s Word has creative effectiveness. Chapter 10 sets out a kind of verbal map of the ensuing world. With God’s continuing sovereignty of nations, we should understand this description not as any set ethnic delineation. On the contrary, this table of nations foreshadows the world of interconnectivity that the nation of Israel would be called to bless. Although this chapter doesn’t make for obviously exciting reading, it is very impressive for the vision of an interconnected, dynamically-related world from and under the Lord. The peoples who repopulated the world after the flood would do well to treat one another with respect, along with the father (yesterday’s post) who set them in relation with one another in the world.
Prayer:
God, please send a wake up call from heaven to those nations stirring dangerously in their illusion of individual destiny. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
In an echo of a command earlier in Genesis (Genesis 1:28), God had told Noah and his sons, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). Once again God’s Word has creative effectiveness. Chapter 10 sets out a kind of verbal map of the ensuing world. With God’s continuing sovereignty of nations, we should understand this description not as any set ethnic delineation. On the contrary, this table of nations foreshadows the world of interconnectivity that the nation of Israel would be called to bless. Although this chapter doesn’t make for obviously exciting reading, it is very impressive for the vision of an interconnected, dynamically-related world from and under the Lord. The peoples who repopulated the world after the flood would do well to treat one another with respect, along with the father (yesterday’s post) who set them in relation with one another in the world.
Prayer:
God, please send a wake up call from heaven to those nations stirring dangerously in their illusion of individual destiny. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Respectful
Genesis 9:18-29
I get a real looking-forward/looking-backward feel to this passage. As it turns out, Canaan would be a people known for false gods and related immorality (like temple prostitution). On the surface of things, the vehemence of the judgment here seems harsh. Most of us would see maybe some impropriety here. But there is the suggestion that the attitude of Ham, father of Canaan, was such that this transgression was something more than an oops. I guess we’ll never know exactly.
What’s probably most key here is that it is Shem’s (name leading to the term “Semite”) God who is blessed (verse 26). What we’re to see, I think, isn’t an ethnic bias but a theological one. Canaan would come to represent ways of people who would have only a god whose ‘worship’ would suit their own inclinations – a projection of themselves, in other words.
Our God is with us, but we would never forget the power of his being with us rests on how greater and “other” than us he truly is: a father-God to be feared in his might and authority, but a dad in his love. The sons and daughters who fully respect this God (note the totally respectful actions of verse 23) will be blessed (verse 27). But those who don’t treat him with utmost respect, well, consider Ham.
Prayer:
Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven on high
With wisdom, power and love,
Our God is an awesome God!
- Rich Mullens
I get a real looking-forward/looking-backward feel to this passage. As it turns out, Canaan would be a people known for false gods and related immorality (like temple prostitution). On the surface of things, the vehemence of the judgment here seems harsh. Most of us would see maybe some impropriety here. But there is the suggestion that the attitude of Ham, father of Canaan, was such that this transgression was something more than an oops. I guess we’ll never know exactly.
What’s probably most key here is that it is Shem’s (name leading to the term “Semite”) God who is blessed (verse 26). What we’re to see, I think, isn’t an ethnic bias but a theological one. Canaan would come to represent ways of people who would have only a god whose ‘worship’ would suit their own inclinations – a projection of themselves, in other words.
Our God is with us, but we would never forget the power of his being with us rests on how greater and “other” than us he truly is: a father-God to be feared in his might and authority, but a dad in his love. The sons and daughters who fully respect this God (note the totally respectful actions of verse 23) will be blessed (verse 27). But those who don’t treat him with utmost respect, well, consider Ham.
Prayer:
Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven on high
With wisdom, power and love,
Our God is an awesome God!
- Rich Mullens
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Unchanging But Not Unmoved
Genesis 9:1-17
With his fresh resolve toward his creation, the Lord renews and strengthens the responsibility given humanity in the beginning. Along with that, he will consider every individual life with his/her blood of immense value to him. Even more, God hangs up his bow in the sky as a declaration that he is not at war with his creatures. On the contrary, he is unalterably committed to their well-being. As he remembered Noah, he will remember his covenant and those who are to benefit from it. To be remembered is to be honoured. As Red Saucer has pointed out, to re-member can be thought of as putting together. There’s nothing worse than being forgotten. In the midst of our troubles we view ourselves as forgotten: by others and by God. God remembers and makes a difference. He’ll pull things together. He is not unmoved by the flow of our lives or that of the world. God remembers. God remembers.
Prayer:
God, you know I’m always forgetting. I’m distracted and put off by many things. You are steady and unchanging, but now unmoved. Thanks for remembering each one of us today. Through Christ. Amen.
With his fresh resolve toward his creation, the Lord renews and strengthens the responsibility given humanity in the beginning. Along with that, he will consider every individual life with his/her blood of immense value to him. Even more, God hangs up his bow in the sky as a declaration that he is not at war with his creatures. On the contrary, he is unalterably committed to their well-being. As he remembered Noah, he will remember his covenant and those who are to benefit from it. To be remembered is to be honoured. As Red Saucer has pointed out, to re-member can be thought of as putting together. There’s nothing worse than being forgotten. In the midst of our troubles we view ourselves as forgotten: by others and by God. God remembers and makes a difference. He’ll pull things together. He is not unmoved by the flow of our lives or that of the world. God remembers. God remembers.
Prayer:
God, you know I’m always forgetting. I’m distracted and put off by many things. You are steady and unchanging, but now unmoved. Thanks for remembering each one of us today. Through Christ. Amen.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Flooded Heart
Genesis 8:15-22
The flood changed nothing in the heart of humans. What is revealed is an even stronger commitment on the part of the Lord toward his creation. He knows that human persons and human community cannot save themselves. This intensifies his compassion. His commitment to humanity is costly. How costly? Who can measure the flood of compassion in the heart of God? We get a pretty good picture of that centuries later.
Prayer:
God, thank you for sticking with us. I think I’m persistent? I think I can stick out the tough stuff? There is nothing like your commitment to your creation. There is nothing you desire more than for any one of us just to turn to you in returning love and trust. I now renew my declaration of reliance on you. Through Christ. Amen.
The flood changed nothing in the heart of humans. What is revealed is an even stronger commitment on the part of the Lord toward his creation. He knows that human persons and human community cannot save themselves. This intensifies his compassion. His commitment to humanity is costly. How costly? Who can measure the flood of compassion in the heart of God? We get a pretty good picture of that centuries later.
Prayer:
God, thank you for sticking with us. I think I’m persistent? I think I can stick out the tough stuff? There is nothing like your commitment to your creation. There is nothing you desire more than for any one of us just to turn to you in returning love and trust. I now renew my declaration of reliance on you. Through Christ. Amen.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Remembering
Genesis 8:1-14
God “remembered” and new action kicks in. He carries through. It doesn’t mean he forgot anything.
Olive trees don’t grow at high elevation, so when the dove came back with the olive twig, “Noah knew that the water had receded.” And yes, this is the origin of the dove and olive branch as a sign of desired peace.
We sometimes say we’re going to “remember” someone in prayer, maybe recognizing that prayer is not a futile last resort, but part of our active faithful life. Maybe these days we should all put the remembering and the olive branch together and pray for the self-isolated regime in North Korea, and for wisdom for all those dealing with them.
Making a note to keep this "remembering" in mind for Remembrance Day.
Prayer:
God, you have shown you want to be at peace with us, and for us to be at peace with one another – not just the absence of conflict, but peace in which we truly and actively remember one another, and seek the best. For Christ’s sake. Amen.
God “remembered” and new action kicks in. He carries through. It doesn’t mean he forgot anything.
Olive trees don’t grow at high elevation, so when the dove came back with the olive twig, “Noah knew that the water had receded.” And yes, this is the origin of the dove and olive branch as a sign of desired peace.
We sometimes say we’re going to “remember” someone in prayer, maybe recognizing that prayer is not a futile last resort, but part of our active faithful life. Maybe these days we should all put the remembering and the olive branch together and pray for the self-isolated regime in North Korea, and for wisdom for all those dealing with them.
Making a note to keep this "remembering" in mind for Remembrance Day.
Prayer:
God, you have shown you want to be at peace with us, and for us to be at peace with one another – not just the absence of conflict, but peace in which we truly and actively remember one another, and seek the best. For Christ’s sake. Amen.
Friday, October 06, 2006
100% Chance of Precipitation
Genesis 7
It is significant that only just before his final entry into the ark did Noah learn of God’s plan to destroy mankind by a flood. Noah completed the entire structure without knowing God’s intentions. That was to test Noah. Build a huge ship on dry land. R-i-g-h-t. (Part of Bill Cosby’s genius is in knowing great material to start with.)
The other main thing that strikes me out of the vastness of this story is the nature of the inundation – and that’s exactly what is described. If you started out with me in this reading through Genesis, you may remember that the “expanse” or firmament that God called “sky” was viewed in the cosmology of the time of writing as a thin layer holding back the waters filling the universe. So when God decided to destroy life all he had to do was open the gates to that watery chaos, and that’s what came in.
One other thing I should probably address: Whatever historical memory lies behind this whole story, it cannot now be recovered. If we concern ourselves with authenticating the history we’re going to take off on a detour from which we may never find our way back. Historical accuracy is not the issue here. As with Genesis 1, the God who deals with us could well have done things exactly and literally as described. Or it could be that the inspiration given to the writer caused him to draw on whatever traditions and stories that were around that would help him convey the truth God was giving him. To put it another way, finding the ark on Mount Ararat adds nothing to our understanding or the truth of the narrative. Not finding it proves nothing either.
The essential points are these:
Prayer:
Lord, there are mysteries you hold in your heart that are just too great for us. You plant in us inquiring minds, and may it be our joy to learn more of you and your ways all the time. But most of all, give us that trust that Noah had, to listen and follow you, knowing the results you have in mind will be the best for us. Through Christ. Amen.
It is significant that only just before his final entry into the ark did Noah learn of God’s plan to destroy mankind by a flood. Noah completed the entire structure without knowing God’s intentions. That was to test Noah. Build a huge ship on dry land. R-i-g-h-t. (Part of Bill Cosby’s genius is in knowing great material to start with.)
The other main thing that strikes me out of the vastness of this story is the nature of the inundation – and that’s exactly what is described. If you started out with me in this reading through Genesis, you may remember that the “expanse” or firmament that God called “sky” was viewed in the cosmology of the time of writing as a thin layer holding back the waters filling the universe. So when God decided to destroy life all he had to do was open the gates to that watery chaos, and that’s what came in.
One other thing I should probably address: Whatever historical memory lies behind this whole story, it cannot now be recovered. If we concern ourselves with authenticating the history we’re going to take off on a detour from which we may never find our way back. Historical accuracy is not the issue here. As with Genesis 1, the God who deals with us could well have done things exactly and literally as described. Or it could be that the inspiration given to the writer caused him to draw on whatever traditions and stories that were around that would help him convey the truth God was giving him. To put it another way, finding the ark on Mount Ararat adds nothing to our understanding or the truth of the narrative. Not finding it proves nothing either.
The essential points are these:
- God was intensely grieved at a creation that had cut off relations with him.
- He showed he is a God who desires to cleanse and renew. That’s our great hope.
Prayer:
Lord, there are mysteries you hold in your heart that are just too great for us. You plant in us inquiring minds, and may it be our joy to learn more of you and your ways all the time. But most of all, give us that trust that Noah had, to listen and follow you, knowing the results you have in mind will be the best for us. Through Christ. Amen.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
PFD
Genesis 6:9-22
We now get a note that introduces a counter-melody. Noah’s character and trust moves against the flow of sin and deterioration from chapter 3 on. Something new is at work here. Noah accepts his being as a creature who answers in trust to God’s Word to him (6:9, 22).
Sometimes just when we think things can’t get worse, well, you just don’t say that, right? But God has an answer for our cynicism. Just when it seems things can’t get worse, God will provide a way. When things seem at their worst, there is still the possibility of faith. It is in many ways a dismal world, but that’s not the whole picture, and certainly not what God intends for us. We get to choose between dismal or a boat. We could be like the early church, which thought of itself as a ship.
Prayer:
God, you could be like one of those space movie alien empires that decides life on earth is a blight on the universe and to be terminated. And you will one day end the world as we know it. But not just to destroy. I guess not even you can do what is against your own character. Let me join wholeheartedly with your grace-full alternative. In Him. Amen.
We now get a note that introduces a counter-melody. Noah’s character and trust moves against the flow of sin and deterioration from chapter 3 on. Something new is at work here. Noah accepts his being as a creature who answers in trust to God’s Word to him (6:9, 22).
Sometimes just when we think things can’t get worse, well, you just don’t say that, right? But God has an answer for our cynicism. Just when it seems things can’t get worse, God will provide a way. When things seem at their worst, there is still the possibility of faith. It is in many ways a dismal world, but that’s not the whole picture, and certainly not what God intends for us. We get to choose between dismal or a boat. We could be like the early church, which thought of itself as a ship.
Prayer:
God, you could be like one of those space movie alien empires that decides life on earth is a blight on the universe and to be terminated. And you will one day end the world as we know it. But not just to destroy. I guess not even you can do what is against your own character. Let me join wholeheartedly with your grace-full alternative. In Him. Amen.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
God Grief
Genesis 6:5-8
It seems that in 6:5-8 the narrator is stepping into the story to say, “Here’s where we’re at; it’s real and it’s not pretty.” What’s more, God has revealed to him something astounding: a glimpse into the divine heart and mind. We have been getting a description of the growth of sin and the deterioration of the created order God intended. Now we get God’s response. It is utter grief. It is well to remember that whatever suffering is sustained in creation is multiplied in the heart of God.
It has been pointed out that the word “wipe” here can also be translated “wash,” so it may be that God in deciding to destroy life already has Noah in mind as a way through total, irreversible destruction. So it’s not like God just has this fit of anger and trashes the place and then later will say, “OK now where was I?” No, his purpose is salvation. Washing away with water will come up again in the Bible.
Prayer:
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
Let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:7-10 (NIV)
It seems that in 6:5-8 the narrator is stepping into the story to say, “Here’s where we’re at; it’s real and it’s not pretty.” What’s more, God has revealed to him something astounding: a glimpse into the divine heart and mind. We have been getting a description of the growth of sin and the deterioration of the created order God intended. Now we get God’s response. It is utter grief. It is well to remember that whatever suffering is sustained in creation is multiplied in the heart of God.
It has been pointed out that the word “wipe” here can also be translated “wash,” so it may be that God in deciding to destroy life already has Noah in mind as a way through total, irreversible destruction. So it’s not like God just has this fit of anger and trashes the place and then later will say, “OK now where was I?” No, his purpose is salvation. Washing away with water will come up again in the Bible.
Prayer:
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
Let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:7-10 (NIV)
Monday, October 02, 2006
Not So Super, Man
Genesis 6:1-4
There was and continues to be a fascination with characters who combine super-human and human traits. They inhabit a realm in a view of the cosmos that is half-way between heaven and earth. The Bible’s initial vision of things does not allow for that (there will be only one who has such a place). Recent world memory knows of an attempt to establish a super-race. It was horrible.
This little section represents the overlapping of boundaries that God has set. The order of creation is fractured. It is an extension of the breaking of the direct conversation and relationship between God and humanity that we saw in Chapter 3, with humanity aspiring to knowledge, power and control that it can’t handle on its own.
At this point in the Bible story, the intended order of creation has been thoroughly shattered. God’s intent for his broken creation is now the big question. What will he do?
Prayer:
Lord, we know you are not a defensive God. How unlike humans you are! You are not offended for your own sake that we abuse the position of trust you give us in your creation. You are hurt because you know we are hurting ourselves. No parent wants to see his kids wrecking a good thing. Let us instead be part of your solution, in Christ. Amen.
There was and continues to be a fascination with characters who combine super-human and human traits. They inhabit a realm in a view of the cosmos that is half-way between heaven and earth. The Bible’s initial vision of things does not allow for that (there will be only one who has such a place). Recent world memory knows of an attempt to establish a super-race. It was horrible.
This little section represents the overlapping of boundaries that God has set. The order of creation is fractured. It is an extension of the breaking of the direct conversation and relationship between God and humanity that we saw in Chapter 3, with humanity aspiring to knowledge, power and control that it can’t handle on its own.
At this point in the Bible story, the intended order of creation has been thoroughly shattered. God’s intent for his broken creation is now the big question. What will he do?
Prayer:
Lord, we know you are not a defensive God. How unlike humans you are! You are not offended for your own sake that we abuse the position of trust you give us in your creation. You are hurt because you know we are hurting ourselves. No parent wants to see his kids wrecking a good thing. Let us instead be part of your solution, in Christ. Amen.
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