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.