It's the end of our first week of reading through the bible.
Today we are reading: Genesis 16-18:15; Matthew 6:1-24; Psalm 7:1-17; Proverbs 2:1-5
Genesis 16-18:15
Hagar and Ishmael
1-5 Sarah gets impatient about the promise. She starts to doubt Gods power, and doubt Gods ability to use her. Sometimes we can be very critical of ourselves in a situation where we think God should be doing more- and we can focus on our own inadequacies rather then Gods power. The point is that we need to stop looking to ourselves and look to God. Sarah comes up with a damaging suggestion to her husband out of her doubts- have Abraham marry and sleep with their Egyptian slave named Hagar; to help God along in the process. A good lesson for us: God doesn't need our help. The best stuff we can do for Him is pray through what He would have us do, because if His Spirit is not behind us and our plans are not from Him, we will just make a mess with our "help".
Abraham agrees to what Sarah says. Here would have been a good time to say "NO". But either for the sake of harmony in his marriage (kind of dumb to think sleeping with someone else will bring harmony to your relationship) or because he had the same doubts as Sarah- he goes along with it. Hagar does get pregnant and resents Sarah who then gets angry at Abraham and blames it all on him.
6 Abraham tries to appease his wife by giving her the decision to make again. Sarah mistreats Hagar and she flees.
7-11 God talks to Hagar through an angel "where have you come from, and where are you going?”
Good question to ask ourselves in life. Are we running away like Hagar answers?
God wants her to go back and face her situation and trust Him. He says He will bless her with so many offspring that they will be too numerous to count.
God affirms that he sees her misery. Sometimes we feel alone and feel that we just need someone to talk to - or we don't want to talk to anyone because we feel so alone that we don't want to let anyone else in or hear anyones take or have help.
In either case God does see what we are going through and cares.
In verse 12 I have an initial adverse reaction to the idea that God gives her a son that will be against everyone and everyone against him and him living in hostility towards all his brothers. That would be a big discouragement to me. I'm wondering though if Hagar was comforted at the thought of having a strong willed son. She was a slave who felt marginalized. Maybe she felt weak inside. She flees when she is mistreated. We do not see her as a fighter but the opposite. Her son will have a spitfire personality. We see that she is actually comforted by those words and responds “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (vs 13) She is happy that she sees God and He sees her.
Perhaps it is a grace God also gave her to prepare her for what she would have to deal with in terms of her son, that she was given warning before he was born. I'm wondering if some moms who end up with difficult children would be encouraged rather then discouraged if they knew in advance that this is how they will be. Perhaps it will help her not to blame herself (as moms tend to do about their children when they turn out a way that makes the moms sad).
Genesis 17:1-8 seems like a starting over of sorts. They botched things, now God is appearing to him when Ishmael is 13 (viewed as manhood in Jewish custom). Abraham is given a new name.
God says “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
Abram falls facedown before God. God makes some promises to Him that he has already given him:
1) Father of many nations 2) very fruitful 3) Kings will come before you.
4) His covenant will be everlasting, between him and then generations after him.
5) The promise of the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession.
6) He will be their God
9-14
The sign of the covenant that they are to keep is circumcision. Not a fun procedure and doesn't seem like something I would think of as a symbol of the covenant~ but God is different and does things we don't expect. God makes a point of saying it is a sign of the covenant, that it is "in your flesh" and that it is to be taken very seriously, right down to slaves or people they buy. "Anyone who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
The flesh part makes me think of Jesus. He made his covenant have to do with the flesh. God came in the flesh in the form of Jesus.
15-16 God blesses Sarah too and gives her a new name. I've been using the names Abraham and Sarah the whole way but it is only at this point in chapter 17 that Abram and Sarai become Abraham and Sarah. Sarah is told she will have the promised child and that kings will come from her.
17-22 Abraham does something here that Sarah also does later on - He laughed at Gods promise. It says he fell facedown saying “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” Now it is hard to know if his laugh was one of joy or disbelief or maybe a combo of both, but he does mention his 13 year old, wanting him to live under Gods blessing. God reassures him that he will bless Ishmael and make him into a great nation, but that he is making his covenant with Isaac not Ishmael. Sarah is given a due date.... by the same time next year she will have her child.
When God is done talking it says "God went up from him." Reminding me of God coming "down" to look at the tower of babel scenario. Again, a reminder that although he is everywhere- sin has changed that relationship since the garden of Eden after the fall. He used to walk among them, now he "comes down" or "goes up".... yet when Jesus comes He is named "Immanuel" which means "God with us". We see even here, that there is hope through Sarah with the King of Kings coming through her line, and all nations of the earth blessed through them.
23-27 Abraham doesn't wait. Not a fun job but the best times to act on what God tells you is right after He tells you. It's hard to take courage into your own hands, but when you come from talking with God you are in the best frame of mind to do what He is asking you to do.
Genesis 18
It's interesting that God appears to Abraham in a significant place, beside the tree we see him at when he first gets to the land and settles- even before his detour into Egypt. God comes to Him as three men. Angels? Symbolic of the Trinity?
His response is to bow to the ground, which Abraham does last time God spoke to Him.
3-5 He wants these three men to stay while He tends to their needs. They came at noonday in the heat. He wants to get them water, wash their feet (more symbolicness?) and refresh them with something to eat while they rest under the tree.
They accept the offer.
6-8 He gets everyone in his household to help him out in putting together a decent meal. He selects the best calf (symbolic?), and finest flour to bake bread with. They hurry to prepare it and Abraham is doing a fair amount of running around he is not just bossing around the household but he is engaged in making this meal great. He sets it before his guests and they eat while he stands nearby.
9-15 These men ask about Sarah and she listens in as she is in a nearby tent and they reiterate the promise that she will be with child when they return at that time next year.
God had already passed on this message to Abraham, but it seems God is giving Sarah a chance to hear it for herself instead of simply through her husband.
This is where Sarah laughs, but this time it says the LORD (Capitals ~ it is God speaking) who confronts Sarah about her laugh, asking why she did it and saying "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" God says He will do as He promised.
Sarah gets afraid and denies laughing - but lying to God is pointless. He responds back “Yes, you did laugh.”
I like how God knows Sarahs thoughts and her heart and he hears everything she says and knows what each laugh she does means. He knows us each so well... Every subtlety. A laugh can have so many different meanings from: "I don't believe you!", to "that is funny!" to "that is absurd!" He addresses her doubt in Gods power.
We see that Sarah does struggle with fears and even tries to cover them up. She gets embarrassed. We also see that God makes promises and uses people who are very much human with warts & all. They make mistakes and try and cover them up. God reminds me of a firm parent calling Sarah out when she says she didn't laugh "Yes, you did."
I like that when God confronts us there is really no way of escaping His truth. We may at first try and justify or figure a way to rationalize, but God is firm and responds to our attempts to deny reality.
Matthew 6:1-24
1-4 Be a secretive "do-gooder". Be sincere and let God reward you, don't seek attention from people. Give without your name attached.
Prayer
5-8 Don't pray for show either. Do it alone without people seeing it. It is between you and God. Also- it's not about being long winded. It's about being real.
16-18 Fast also with this same principal in mind. Keep it private, not for show.
9-13 Jesus shows us how to pray.
Recognize God for who He is. Start with that.
Recognize what He is doing here and now.
Realize He has His way over everything.
Ask Him for what you need.
Ask for forgiveness- keeping in mind the way you forgive others as how God will forgive you.
Ask God for help in areas of temptation, and ask for deliverance.
14-15 God does not give grace to the graceless. He wants us to be forgiving if we expect forgiveness.
Treasures in Heaven
19-21
Where you sow your seed is where your heart will be. Where you invest your time and money is what you love. Is your energy and resources spent for God and eternal purposes, or will all your work and time be wasted and die when you die? Have a Kingdom perspective!
22-23 What you look at matters. We often put emphasis on what we "DO"... but not what we look at. God says what our eyes see matters. Not just not seeing bad things like watching bad tv shows, full of violence and sex- but also do we look at things that are great or that show us the needs of others? Do we take time to see the hurts of others?
24 You need to make a choice between God and money. God may give you money but in order to serve God you need to make sure you are good without running after the dollars. Do you trust Him to provide for your needs?
Psalm 7:1-17
I'm not sure what a shiggaion is, but David sings it to God about Cush, a Benjamite.
1-2 He is realizing how much danger he is in without God.
3-5 He wants to be held accountable if he has harmed anyone and take responsibility for his own actions.
6-9 He is waiting on God to judge. He is looking forward to God dealing with things justly. He has confidence because he knows he is doing what he is supposed to - so God judging things is a comfort. He knows the God he serves is a "righteous God
who probes minds and hearts."
10-13 God is powerful, relentless, deadly and the protector of David. As scary as His enemies can seem- God is a much greater force to reckon with.
14-16 When you do wrong you will reap what you sow.
17 He gives thanks to & praises God for his righteousness and being MOST High.
Proverbs 2:1-5
Accept, store up, turn to, apply, call & cry out for and look for wisdom.
They are found in His commands & and His Word which are understanding and insight.
4-5 We are told that when it comes to Gods wisdom, if we "search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God."
Fearing God and the Knowledge of God comes from digging deep and searching - YEARNING - for Gods word.
If you are reading this blog, that applies to you! :)
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