God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac Part 4: Warring for the promise

Because you have obeyed My voice, in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 22:18).

Many seem to think that if God says something either prophetically,  or a promise, it's going to happen no matter what. Well over a quarter of a century earlier God had promised Abraham that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3).  Now, all those years later,  the above verse indicates that this might never  have happened had Abraham not obeyed His voice.  It was God speaking of course. And what are we to make of this? Is the God who spoke and stars were flung into space,  is this God unable to do what He says He will do?

These questions are tied up with the question of why we need to pray. If God's will was automatic, why would He tell us to pray  “Will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9, 10).  Is it possible that the will of God is not done because we neither pray as we aught, nor are obedient?  Though clearly there are limitations, the principle seems to be “Without God man cannot, without man God will not.”  And clearly there are limitations, because otherwise He would not have create the World (Genesis 1:1).

So what exactly is the point? Well, it seems that there are many things in the will of God,  that will not happen unless there is intense cooperation with Him with we who are created in His image (Genesis 1:27).  This both gives us great significance, and lays on us great responsibility for bringing the Kingdom to earth.  In particular it teaches us that those who believe that Jesus died for us of us  “should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (1 Corinthians 5:15).

So how does this relate to obedience and contending for our  promises?  Before I say more I need to remind us that this is not about earning our salvation, it's not about being put right with God. As with Abraham we believe God and He reckons it to us for righteousness (Genesis 15:6).  No, it's not about salvation,  it's about bringing the Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven.  

What I am saying, is that we need to war for our promises and our prophetic words.  Jesus teaches us in the parable of the unjust judge that we aught always to pray and not give up (Luke 18:1–8). At the end of this parable He asks “when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” So faith and persistence and not giving up are needed, but so is obedience. In fact Jesus links faith and obedience together as necessary for doing even greater works than He did (John 14:12, 15).

Father, forgive us for just leaving so many of Your promises out there, thinking You'll either fulfill them or not. Thank You for the amazing example of Abraham in his faith,  persistence and obedience. You never ask anything of us Lord that You have not already done and more so. You never intended  that Abraham follow through in sacrificing his son, but You did not spare Your own Son but freely offered Him up for us all (Romans 8:32). In the face of such love Lord, help us  to press into Your promises and never, never never give up, in Jesus Name Amen

God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac: Part 3 enduring trials

I ended Part 1 by asking  “will we trust God in the midst of our own testings?”  Peter tells us “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to test you, as though some strange thing happened to you (1 Pet. 4:12). Jesus tells us “offences must come” (Luke 17:1 NKJV), or in the NIV “things that cause people to stumble.  The last part of this verse reads “but woe to anyone through whom they come.”  Jesus is talking about those who cause “one of the least of these little ones” to stumble (Matthew 18:6). Job in his trials saw everything as coming from God's hand. Actually it was Satan (Job 1:12), but as that verse makes clear God was certainly allowing it.

Sometimes then,  trials and testing are direct from the hand of God, other times not! But certainly He allows them.  In either case we may need to wrestle with the why of these things, and many stumble and fall away at such times. The whole of the book of Job is about Job wrestling with these things. And he  certainly wrestled, but in the end he could appreciate what God did though it all.  Before he had been tried he had  merely heard about God, “but now my eyes see you” (Job 42:5). In other words now he had a significant relationship with God,  and he repents of the accusations he had made against Him in his wrestlings (verse 6).  But even in the midst of his suffering he caught a gimps of what God was doing, in what he allowed. To  paraphrase “He knows what I am going through, and when He has tested me I will come through like gold” (Job 23:10).

Jesus shows us the way in dealing with these things, for “when He suffered, He did not threaten but entrusted Himself to the one who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). If we follows this example then we will both come into a closer relationship with God,  and we will become more like Him. To quote Romans 8:28 again “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” The next verse tells us part of this good, it is that we will become more like Jesus, and we will be fruitful for the Kingdom.

It is important to have this perspective,  and in the midst of the trail we may need to remind ourselves of it over and over. But as important as that is when we are feeling overwhelmed, we also need to reach out to God and press in.  I use 1 Corinthians 10:13 over and over for this “there is no trial or temptation that has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the trial or temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to stand up under it.”  It's worth memorizing!

Father, I thank You for this promise,  and the promise never to leave us,  nor forsake us. And though I may feel overwhelmed at times,  and unable to stand up under it, nevertheless there is grace to endure, and a way of escape, which  we can have when we ask  (James 1:5). For this and many other things,  we give You thanks and praise  in Jesus Name Amen

God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac: Part 2 the parable

God had told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the one he loved as a burnt offering (Genesis 22:2).  God would provide the lamb for the sacrifice as a substitution for Isaac (verse 8). Some have seen this story as God demonstrating  that the then common practice of child sacrifice was not what God required. While there is truth in this (see 3 February),  we need to see this as a parable, a foreshadowing of what God was willing to do for us.

In particular God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Jesus is the  “Lamb of  God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). And He suffered and died in our place,   suffered “for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).

I said last day that this story has puzzled and horrified people.  And   round about this time every year,  the Church celebrates Easter.   The world wants to think of this being about the Easter bunny, it wants to take Christ out of Christmas, and it wants to take the horror out of the Easter story. Either that or to declare God sacrificing His Son as barbaric declaring “I would not give my son for your sins.” There is however, within the mystery of the Trinity (one God three Persons),  a real sense that God is sacrificing Himself. I mean two of the Names of the Child to be born,  the One  we celebrate at Christmas are “the Everlasting Father,” and “Almighty God” (Isaiah 9:6).  I don't pretend to fully understand Trinity, but then if I fully understood God, I would be God, and I am not – Hallelujah!

But coming back to the horror,  and the incredible love that was shown at that first Easter,  Paul writes “I urge  you therefore,  
 brothers and sisters, in view of God's tender mercies, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1). The last phrase in the NJKV says “this is your reasonable service.”  In other words the only reasonable response to all that God has done for us in coming and dying to put us right with God, the only reasonable response is to live sacrificially every day for Him. How very different from the “I, me, mine” of our culture.  Some people say He is asking too much, in asking us to take up our own cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23)   But God never asks of us anything that He Himself has not already done, and done in spades.

In particular, He did not expect Abraham to follow through, but He  “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.” Paul goes on to ask that if He did not spare His own Son  “how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32)? So does God have the right to test us? Does He ask too much? You will have to answer that for yourself!

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to save us, we love Lord because You first loved us.  You tells us “If you love me obey my commandments” (1 John 4:19; John 14:15). So we surrender everything again this morning,  to be the living sacrifices to which You call us, in Your precious Name we pray Amen  

God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac: Part 1 the test

He is to take his only son Isaac, whom he loves, and offer him as a burnt offering on the mountain God will show him. Abraham take Isaac, servants and wood and finishes up on Mount Moriah. He gets the servants to wait at the bottom telling them “the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” Isaac asks “where is the lamb for the burn offering?” Abraham tells him “the Lord will provide the burnt offering.”  At the point of following through,  having built the alter, bound Isaac and is lifting the knife to slay him, the Angel of the Lord stops him, shows him a ram caught in the thicket. Abraham sacrifices the ram in the place of Isaac, and calls the place  “the Lord provides” (Genesis 22:1-15).  

This story has puzzled and horrified people down through the ages. I mean what kind of a god would ask you to do that? And would He ask this of me?  And so the very first thing I need to say is that this was before God's command “Do not murder” (Exodus 20:13).  And God would not,  and does not command such a thing today, since it would contradict His Word. I'm not saying He will not test you, and make no mistake about it, this was a test,  “God tested Abraham” (verse 1).  Well, you might say it was cruel, and God had no right! We might even go further and say that God has no right to test anyone!

I want to temper what I say next by saying that as New Testament believers we know that God works all thing together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Though he did not have this verse, Abraham knew something equivalent. We read  “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac ... of whom it was said, 'in Isaac your seed shall be called,”' concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense” (Hebrews 11:17-19).

The story is told of a father who asked his daughter to give him the fake pearls that she dearly loved. He didn't say why, but simply asked her to trusted him. She wrestled and wrestled with it, for she loved her fake pearls. Finally one day she told herself “I know daddy loves me,  and he must have a reason, so I'm going to trust him.”  She did,  and gave him the pearls, at which point the father gave her a real pearl neckless.

We can hold onto our children too tightly,  trying to control them “for their own good.” The son, in the story of the prodigal son, in asking for his inheritance now,  was essentially wishing his father dead. The father lets him go, and by doing so ultimately wins him back (Luke 11:15-24). We don't know if this was Abraham's problem. But the real question is “will we trust God in the midst of our own testings?”

Father, I don't say I did not wrestle and wrestle with things You either allowed,  or tested me with. But ultimately I surrendered (Romans 12:1). And most of the time afterwords,  as I came to peace,  I wondered why I'd not trust You sooner. Thank You for Romans 8:28, please give us grace to trust You in the difficult times Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Blessed are the peacemakers: Abraham Abimelech and the well

Abimelech had noticed that God was with Abraham,  and asks him “Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.” Abraham agrees to swear,  but  then rebukes Abimelech because his servants had seized a well he had dug. Abimelech denies any knowledge of it,  and Abraham gives him sheep and oxen and set seven ewe lambs aside. Abimelech asks the meaning, Abraham says they are a witness that he had “dug this well.” They make a covenant there and Abraham calls the place Beersheba (Genesis 21:22-31).  

Wells were very valuable and important in the “dry and thirsty land“ in which this story takes place. Wells take a lot of work to dig, and were a source of endless tension  (see Genesis 26:15-22). Abimelech's kindness involved his repaying Abraham's deception with sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and a thousand pieces of silver.  It was generosity, but also fear, for God had threatened to kill him,  if he did not return Sarah to Abraham (20:1-16). And now Abimelech was wanting to make a covenant with Abraham,  with Abraham swearing he would not harm him or his descendants. It was again perhaps largely out of fear,  but peacemakers are blessed no matter what the motive (Matthew 5:9).

Abraham is a peacemaker too.  But in order to live in peace, he needs water, not only for himself but for his household and his animals.  And in order for him to dwell there many days (verse 34), the issues needed to be dealt with.  It's not clear if he believes Abimelech's denial,  and He could of course have demanded his rights, capitalized on Abimelech's fear and threatened him if he was not allowed to keep the well he had dug.  But Abraham goes the second mile (Matthew 5:41), gives him seep and oxen,  and sets seven ewe lambs aside. Puzzled Abimelech asks what the seven ewe lambs  mean. Abraham answers “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well” (verse 30). They swear an oath,  and Abraham calls the place Beersheba. Today Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel.

Barn's notes suggest that this is about the importance of the well to  Abraham, and that he therefore lays more stress on a public witness that he has dug, and is therefore the owner of this well, than on all the rest of the treaty. The Hebrew word  Beersheba means either oath or seven, the place is therefore called the place of the oath or the place of the seven, and giving it this name cements the covenant in history.

Lord, I am reminded that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10), and also that in order for there to be peace, the victim often has to be the better person. This is wisdom too,  for “a person's wisdom yields patience; and it is to one's glory to overlook an offense (Proverbs 19:11). It also needs grace, grace to forgive, and grace to overlook the wrong (Hebrews 12:15).  But it's part of being a peacemaker, and it's part of our witness for You. So give us this grace this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Tough love: Ishmael sent away

As part of God's instructions to send Ishmael and Hagar away, the Lord promised Abraham He would make Ishmael into a great nation “because he is your offspring.”  Abraham sent them away with a skin of water and bread, but he would have known it would not last long. Indeed it did not, and after the water had run out Hagar positioned Ishmael under a shrub and then went  a distance from him not wanting to see him die. She sat down and wept.  And “God heard the voice of the lad,” sent a angel to open her eyes see a well of water before her, and to confirm that God would make him into a great nation. “So God was with the lad,  he dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer.”  Hagar got him an Egyptian wife (Genesis 21:13-21).

God “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). Ishmael was  “a wild man; his hand against every man, and every man’s hand against him” (Genesis 16:2), yet God loved him and made provision for him. The goodness of God is designed to lead men to repentance (Romans 2:14). But it's evident that not all come to repentance,  “for broad is the way that leads to destruction and many find it” (Matthew 7:13). It was hard for Abraham to let Ishmael go, and it must be hard for God to let go too, but love allows others to choose their will over ours (or God's).  Ishmael means “the God who hears,” indeed God “heard the voice of the lad,” and “God was with him”  (verses 17, 20). God loves us on our good days, and He loves us on our bad days, His love is unconditional.  He even answers the prayers of those who reject him!

I thank God I never had to do it, but I know of those who needed to, that is those who needed to throw their child out of their home. We are not talking five year olds,  Ishmael would have been about sixteen (he was 13 in 17:25). I suspect God needed to delay the promise son until Ishmael was this old.  For us, there may come a time when it's  necessary to say “If you want to live in this house, then you will have to live by our rules.”  And if it is necessary, you'll need to follow through, or don't say it.  To do otherwise is to enable bad behaviour, it is to shield them from the consequences of their actions (Galatians 6:7). The consequences of our actions are the very thing God wants to use to bring us to our right mind,  to return us to the Father  (see  31 January, and Luke 15:17).

God promised Abraham he would make Ishmael into a great nation. He would not have been able to do that,  if he was going to die as a consequence of being sent away. Abraham had acted in fear on at least two occasions (see March 24), but now the long awaited promise had been fulfilled,  and this would have caused Abraham's faith to grow and enable him to trust God with his son, even while sending him away.

Father, there will be times when we need to exercise the tough love Abraham and the prodigal's father exhibited. Sometimes this is the only way to win them back (Luke 15:11-24). At such times Lord give us faith, courage and grace in Jesus Name Amen

Two humanities, Isaac born, Ishmael rejected: Persecution

The Lord visited Sarah and she became pregnant and gave birth to a  son Issac meaning laughter. Abraham was a hundred, and Sarah said “God made me laugh.” After the child grew and was weaned,  Sarah saw Ishmael  scoffing, Ishmael was Abraham's son by Sarah's handmaid Hagar.  Sarah  told Abraham “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son.” It displeased Abraham,  but God told him to do it,  and not to be displeased,  for “in Isaac shall your offspring be called” (Genesis 21:1-12).

It had  been twenty five years since God had first promised Abraham a son. They  tried to fulfill the promise by Abraham taking Hagar as wife, and it had gone very wrong. When pregnant Hagar had despised Sarah,  and Sarah had turned on her. Hagar ran away but   God had turned her back. This time He agrees she has to go. Ishmael had obviously taken up his mother's offense. Sarah had laughed at the impossibility of her being pregnant, but now she was laughing with joy, and she had no intention of letting Hagar and Ishmael spoil that.  But in His Sovereignty, God was working out His salvation plan through the mess they had created.

We talked earlier about the two humanities (7 February), the  two condition of mankind, that of Cain (dead in trespasses and sins – Ephesians 2:1) and that of AbeI (righteous by faith – Hebrews 11:4). The  New Testament explains that what is going on here is an allegory of the two humanities.  Isaac is the son of the promise, the son of the faith of Abraham, Ishmael is the son of unbelief the son of the flesh.  The true sons of Abraham “are not children of the bondwoman but of the free” (Galatians 4:30, 31).  The call then of verse 10 is about faith “that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the offspring, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham.” It is of grace as it was of Abraham for “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness”  (Romans 4:16, 3; Ephesians 2:8, 9).

Paul further explains “as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now” (Galatians 4:9; Psalm 83:5,6). We see here not only the beginning of  antisemitism, but also of worldwide persecution of people of faith. Here in the West it is more subtle than the beheadings and the like in other parts of the world, but as I m sure you are aware it is growing. Increasingly the Bible is being declare to be hate speech. Paul tells us “ all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Father, I don't particularly want persecution, but I do desire to live a godly life.  We need courage Lord and grace to be salt and light in an atmosphere that is increasingly hostile to faith, I do.  Living for You Lord in the midst of all this,  is part of taking up our cross and following Jesus.  Let it refine us Lord,  that we  may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom, You tell us,  we shine as lights in the world (Philippians 2:15, 16), in Jesus Name   Amen

Abraham deceives Abimelech: Transformation

Abraham now journeyed to Gerar,  he again instructs Sarah to say she is his sister. She was of course his half sister. Abimelech king of Gerar takes her, and God tells him in a dream he's a dead man. He had not touched her and Abimelech explains to God he had taken her in integrity and innocence. God tells him yes He knows,  but he is to restore her,  and to ask Abraham to pray that he will not die. He does so and gives Abraham sheep,  oxen, servants and silver. He tells Sarah I have given your brother 1000 pieces of silver as a “sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” Abraham prays and God heals Abimelech and his female servants for He had closed their wombs (Genesis 20).

Derek Kidner in his commentary says here “on the brink of Isaac's birth story the very Promise is put in jeopardy, traded away for personal safety.” It's easy to condemn Abraham for his lack of faith. God had only recently shown him how real He is by predicting His judgement of Sodom,  and then doing it (Chapters 18, 19).  But old habits die hard,  and this was at least the second time (12:13). Abraham explained to Abimelech that  when God caused him to wander from his father’s house, he'd told her, “Show me this kindness: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, ‘He is my brother.’” (verse 13).

On thing you can say of the Bible, it is brutally honest with the flaws of its heroes. King David committed adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11). Mark's gospel,  said to reflect Peter's influence,  tells of Peter's betrayal of Jesus (Mark 14:72). In my own life,  after returning on a mission trip where I had seen miraculous healing after healing and had been used to perform some myself (Google Healing Testimonies Global Awakening),  I still lacked faith and courage to pray for the mother of my daughter's friend.  I had intended to pray the Sunday I returned, I didn't,  and she died later that day.

Sometimes we are not even conscious of our dysfunction,  for we may have know nothing different,  and it may all feel so normal.  We  may need others to show us our fault (Galatians 6:1). Transformation is a journey,  it requires both our cooperation and the work of the Holy Spirit. And when we do that, as here with Abraham, He somehow works it all out for us. He promises that when we fully surrender, presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, that  He will  works in us, giving us  the desire and the power to do what pleases him (Romans 12:1, 2; Philippians 2:12, 13).  I'm not yet what I want to be, but thank God I'm not what I once was. And I rest in this, knowing that God who has begun a good work in me will keep right in doing it until the day I meet Him face to face (Philippians 1:6).

Father,  thank You for the transforming power of Your Holy Spirit. You tell me to work out my freedom from the power and the pollution of sin, with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). The spirit is willing, but so often the flesh is weak (Mark 14:38).  Thank You for Your grace,  and the promise to keep on working in me. And I give You thanks and praise in Jesus Name Amen

Bad company corrupts good morals. Lot's drunken incest

Lot was afraid to live in Zoar,  to which he and his daughters had fled. So they lived in a cave in the mountains. Because his daughters were husbandless and childless, they conspired to get their father drunk and to lie with him.  As a result they each had sons, and the  two brothers born became the fathers of Moab and Ammon (Genesis 19:30-38).  Those two nations would cause Israel no end of trouble.

When Abram and Lot separated, Abram had given Lot the choice of going to the left or the right. Lot had “lifted up his eyes” and seen,  and then chosen the fertile valley where Sodom and Gomorrah lay (Genesis 13). We're not told where Lot's wife was from, but she was likely from Sodom. And as we saw yesterday she had “looked back,” meaning she had turned back. It was one thing to take the wife out of Sodom, quite another to take Sodom out of the wife. And of course we are seeing her influence and that of Sodom here,  on her daughters. This may be the very reason Abraham was cautions about choosing a wife for Isaac, the son who was soon to be born (Genesis 24:2-4).

There are a couple of things that come to mind. Firstly from 2 Corinthians  6:14 “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what partnership has light with darkness?”  A yoke was a wooden beam used between a pair of oxen to enable them to pull together.  The main application is to marriage and business partners. The believers priorities need to be first God,  then family, then work. Unbelievers obviously don't have those priorities,  and if we partnership with them,  we will find ourselves being “pulled away” from those priorities. By the way we will love our spouse more if we love God first, for then His love will flow through us to our spouse.  The verse in the heading is related  “Do not be deceived, bad company corrupts good character" (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The second thing is about  balance. Paul writes that we should not “keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world” (1 Corinthians 5:9, 10). The principle is summed up by saying we are to be in the world, but not of the world. Paul goes on to say we should not keep company with believers who are like this – to not even to eat with them  (verse 11).   

We cannot be salt and light to the world if we isolate ourselves, as many have done. We must not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, but if we don't befriend them we will never win them for Christ. We need wisdom. Someone just escaping from alcohol addiction should not go to the bars drinking Pepsi. We need to be strong before we do that. On the other hand there is strength in the fellowship of the recovering.  

Lord Jesus You invite us to take Your yoke upon us (Matthew 11:29, 30). We need to be lead by Your Spirit Lord,  or we'll get this wrong and out of balance. Balance is likely to be messy, but “where there are no oxen the stables are clean” (Proverbs 14:4). Help us to be wise as serpents and as harmless as doves Lord. In Your precious Name Amen

Judgement, warnings ignored: Only Lot and his daughters escape

The two angels now warned Lot that the Lord was going to destroy the city.  He was to take his wife,  two daughters and sons-in-law and flee. The two in-laws think he's joking. Since they hesitate the two men take Lot, his wife and two daughters by the hand and lead them out of the city. They warn “Escape for your life! Do not look behind .... lest you be destroyed.”  After they had entered the city of  Zoar,  the Lord rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah. But Lot's wife looked behind her,  and she became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:12-28).

We often talk about the elephant in the room, meaning the inconvenient truths we are uncomfortable talking about. Well, there is an elephant in the world. We're happy to talk about the love of God, but what about tough love, speaking the truth in love to somebody who doesn't want to hear the truth! And what about the wrath of God? Should we be silent?  Paul could say that he had not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).  


In particular, there are many warnings in Scripture about hell and judgement,  and it's not just Old Testament. Yes God is love, but He is also a consuming fire (1 John 4:16; Hebrews 12:29). The wrath of God is mentioned seventeen times in the New Testament. In John 3:36 we read “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life;  he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Jesus told  that when Holy Spirit would come, He would convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement (John 16:8). Peter asks “If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless and lovers of sin” (1 Peter 4:18)?  Like Lot and his two daughters, true believers are simply those who have fled to God for refuge (Hebrews 6:18).

And Jesus instructs us to remember Lot's wife (Luke 17:32),  and we are to understand by that, that looking behind is not a casual glance to the rear, it is about turning back (verse 31).  Commentators suggest that Lot's wife had become comfortable where she was, and this should be a warning to us. Jesus tells that  “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). If the plowman looked back, it would cause the furrow to not be straight. It's a bit like taking our eyes off the road while driving. Barnes' Notes explain that he who enters the Kingdom “must do it with his whole heart, he that comes still loving the world - still looking with regret on its pleasures, its wealth, and its honours - he has not "wholly" forsaken them .... and  is not fit for the kingdom of God.”

Lord Jesus,  there are many perversions of Your gospel out there, “Come to Jesus and get rich,” 'Come to Jesus and He will solve all your problems.'  It's not that You don't give us a lot of help, but what about “whoever does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33)?  What about “all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 2:12). We must not be lukewarm Lord, we are to take up our cross daily and follow You (Revelation 3:16; Luke 9:23). We need Your Grace, and we're asking for it this morning in Your precious Name Amen


The wickedness of Sodom: The goodness and severity of God part 2

God loves both the wicked as well as those who are righteous with the gift of righteousness from Christ (Philippians 3:9). And He loves us enough to allow us to choose not to respond to His generous offer of salvation (John 3:16). “Behold the goodness and severity of God: severity on those who ultimately reject Him, but goodness toward us if we continue in His goodness (Romans 11:22). The awesome gift and responsibility of free will, is that we get to choose!

The Lord had sent two angels to see “whether they have done altogether according to the outcry” against Sodom  (Genesis 18:21). It was clearly true, for “both old and young, all the people from every quarter,” demanded that the two men (angels) whom Lot had sheltered,  be brought  “out to us that we may know them (carnally).” It would have been same sex rape! When Lot refused, even offering his virgin daughters instead, they accused him of judging them,  and threatened worse to him. The angels pulled Lot into the house and struck their assailants with blindness “so that they became weary trying to find the door” (Genesis 19:1-11).

Describing this the Lord says “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49). It seems when things are going well,  we tend to forget God (i.e. Psalm 107).  This verse from Ezekiel describes our culture very well (see also 2 Timothy 3:1-7).  Verse 49 of the  Ezekiel reference describes how it started, but not how it ended. Verse fifty reads  “And they were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.”  Sodom was destroyed with fire and brimstone  (Genesis 19:24, 25).

It doesn't start with “detestable things.” Paul outlines the slippery slope on the path to destruction.  It starts out by not glorifying God, and not being thankful, and it proceeds from there. At a certain point God gives us over to our sin and rebellion,  to suffer the exponential growth in the consequences and wickedness of it all (Romans 1:21, 24, 26, 28; Galatians 6:7).  It seems to me that, if our culture has not already been given over, we are well on the way. In view of the severity of God (Romans 11:22),  you might wonder why our culture is not  consumed. Two things come to mind. Firstly “far be it for God to destroy the righteous with the wicked” (18:23).  And even in the midst of the greatest of atrocities there are those who, like Lot, are grieved at what is going on (2 Peter 2:7). Secondly, from the parable of the wheat and the weeds (the righteous and the wicked - Matthew 13:24-30), He allows both to grow together until the harvest (judgement), least  “while you're pulling the weeds, you uproot the wheat with them” (verse 29). But how many righteous are needed before He delays judgement (Genesis 18:26-32)?

Lord You'd rather no one perish, but all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). We believers have a responsibility, for if we would humble ourselves, pray, seek Your face, and turn from our wicked ways, then You will hear forgive our sins,  and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14). Forgive us Lord for the many many ways we fail.  We repent and choose to do our part in this awesome promise. Please come and heal our land Father, in Jesus Name Amen 
 



The Bible and sexuality

Before we look at the incident in Sodom, I want to say something of what the Bible says about human sexuality. I had to learn the hard way what I now believe, namely that when God says “no,” it is for our provision and protection. We reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7).  Research has clearly shown that there are many risks to promiscuous lifestyles of any stripe.  Putting aside the cost in broken relationships and the annual multi billion dollar cost of sexually transmitted diseases,  there are many other risks and costs. There are the physical, psychological, mental and emotional tolls including climbing suicide rates, even in the so called accepting nations.

Fatherlessness is another consequence of it all, and the children are the ones that get hurt the most. We  live in the most fatherless generation ever, and children from fatherless homes are at a much higher risk of incarceration,  alcohol and drug abuse, suicide  etc., etc. Furthermore they in turn tend to pass these things onto their children (see Exodus 20:5 NKJV please).

Concerning what was going on in Sodom, up until about sixty years ago homosexual practice was,  by and large,  abhorrent to the general population. Homosexuality was illegal, and there was much violence and other injustice against the gay community. Hate and fear (homophobia) was,  and still is,  real. And I want to say up front that that was,  and is,  abhorrent to me. It is profoundly unChristian,  there is no excuse for it, and I soundly condemn it.

Having said that I want to quote Rick Warren “Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”

God invented sex, it was His idea, and He is not up there asking “What are they doing?” As I say His rules are there for our provision and protection.  And God loves all of us,  no matter what our sexual orientation. Having said that, He hates all sin, and in spite of some serious scripture twisting by some, the Bible make it very clear that sexual immorality of any kind is abhorrent to Him. And yes, hate and homophobia are real, and though they exists,  disagreement is not necessarily either of these things.

I think, largely because of the consequences, the Bible says that any sex outside of one man, one woman in life long committed faithful married relationship is wrong (Galatians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 6:9). You don't have to believe the Bible, you don't have to agree with it's teaching. But please don't make a Biblical no into a yes, please don't try and make it says what it does not say. And there are may ways people do that, it is part of our rationalization, and excuse making. On that day however rationalization and excuses will be  seen for what they truly  are (Romans 1:18-20).

Not saying it's easy, but there is hope for those who want to leave or escape those lifestyles. The Scripture says it clearly “such were some of you” (1 Corinthians 6:11). What perhaps disturbs me most,  is the way former adherents are treated,  that and the move to legislate against the possibility of those with unwanted same sex desires getting help.  And I have to ask does that not itself spring from hate, fear and intolerance, the very things of which we are accused?

Father, what is very clear to me, is that You love everybody, and so should we. Forgive us where we have failed. The tyranny of Political correctness has intimidated many of us into silence.  We see many who trapped by it all and who want to escape, but they are not allowed, and it is denied that it is possible. But with You all things are possible (Mark 19:26).  Help us Lord to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves, help us to know how and when to speak Your truth in love,  in Jesus Name Amen

Leadership, friendship with God, privilege, responsibility, dignity, significance and training

And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing” (Genesis 18:17)?  There are several verses that come to mind:  “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him” (Psalm 25:14);  “Surely the  LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7); and two from the lips of Jesus  “I do only those things I see the Father doing;  You are my friends if you do what I command you (John 5:19; 15:14). Abraham was a friend of God (James 2:23).

While the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,  and the kind of relationship with God being spoken of here requires faith and obedience, these are but the elements that make it work. They are not the imposition and invasion of an arbitrary and cruel power, they are the boundaries in which we find freedom, dignify, significance,  and love and peace,  and all the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23).

Being part of a ministry in which we see people coming out of a lifetime of sin,  indulgence and addiction, we see over and over the desire to be leaders. Somehow we know instinctively that friendship with God, which is what conversion is all about, is a huge privilege and that it  gives us purpose and destiny. The desire to lead and be an influence for the Lord is surely God given. God would not hide from Abraham what He was doing was “since  surely all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him” (verse 19).

It's important to note all the years of training, testing, making mistakes nd lessons learned that Abraham had to go through before the Lord opened up to him in this way.  Likewise in terms of the qualification for leaders,  the Scripture tells that a leader “must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same condemnation as the devil (1 Timothy 3:6). Jesus was thirty before He began His ministry, and without a lifetime of sin, He still had to learn obedience by the things that He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

I don't know where you are in your journey with God, but I have a ways to go before I “do only those things I see the Father doing,” and I have been on this Christian journey for nearly fifty years! Admittedly there have been periods where the learning curves were steeper than others. What comes to mind is a saying that God does not use a person greatly, until He has hurt them deeply. You see if Jesus had to learn obedience by the things that He suffered, can we expect God to take shortcuts with us? Our progress depends on how we respond to the character building that comes through the shaping,  crushing, squeezing trials and difficulties He brings (Romans 5:1- 5; James 1:2). 

 I wanted to immediately be a leader too, but the Lord had other ideas. The question was (is) was I (am I) willing to submit to all that He allows, the good the bad and the ugly?  Will I submit, or will I be offended?  I mean if we are going to take offence, the possibilities are endless! People are not perfect, but then neither am I!
 

Father, I have the sense that the faster and more perfectly we submit to You, to each other (Ephesians 5:21),  and to the circumstances You allow, the faster the track to promotion up the ranks in the Spirit. But we have need of endurance, so that after we have done the will of God, we may receive the promise (Hebrews 10:36). We need Your help Lord, please give us Grace to do our part, and we will give You the glory in Jesus Name Amen

Intercession: Abraham intercedes for Sodom and Gomorrah

The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was great because their sin was very grave, and God shows Abraham what He is about to do.  Abraham draws near and intercedes asking “if there are fifty righteous persons there will you slay the righteous with the wicked, far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (see last day's post).  The Lord agrees for the sake of fifty He would not.  Abraham then successively and agonizingly lowers the numbers asking the same question for forty five, forty, thirty, twenty, ten. Each time the Lord agrees to spare the city if the requested number of righteous can be found.  God then goes His way (Genesis 18:17-33).  

“Abraham came near” (verse 23). While counselling us to cleanse our hands, and purify our hearts James informs us if we “draw near to God,  He  will draw near to you” (James 4:8). The writer to the Hebrews tells to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). We should come boldly, but not  casually, Abraham did not (verses 27-32). Jesus taught us to come in worship and praise,  addressing Him in respect and honour as heavenly Father. The thrust of our intercession should be for  the Kingdom of God to come,  and the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven  (Matthew 6:9, 10).

But God is God and He can do what He wants right? So was Abraham's prayer, and more importantly are ours,  meaningless? Not saying I fully understand this, but the verse  (God speaking) “I searched for someone to stand in the gap ....  so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one” (Ezekiel 22:30) is interesting.  Moses stood before God and interceded for Him not to destroy rebellious and stubborn Israel (Deuteronomy 9:25-29).  Here  God had found a man and He did not destroy them. He is looking for us to do the same!

The thought many have,  that God is just waiting for us to mess up so that He can condemn us,  is wrong.  The above Scripture shows us something of God's dilemma. He is Holy and just,  and must condemn sin, but it is not His heart to do so. And for whatever reason He seems to have restricted most of His intervention on the earth in response to the intercessory prayers of His people. In particular God's will on earth as it is in heaven is far from automatic.

Many of us (all of us) have loved ones who do not know Him, and as God was inviting Abraham to intercede for Lot and for Sodom, so God is inviting us to “stand in the gap” for our loved ones and for our Nation. Regarding family and loved ones, I am very conscious that patterns of sin in families get passed down from generation to generation (Exodus 20:5). And I regularly stand in the gap to reverse this in accordance to verse 6 which promises steadfast love and mercy to the generations that follow those who both love and obey His commandments.

Father,  it is not Your will that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), and on this basis I once again stand in the gap for my family declaring “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”  Forgive us Lord  for our prayerlessness. Bring Your Kingdom to our nation in Jesus Name Amen

Shall not the judge of all the earth do right (Genesis 18:25)?

It's a question Abraham asks in the midst of his intercession for Sodom, on which the Lord would rain fire and brimstone (19:24).  Knowing that “righteous Lot” (2 Peter 2 :7) and his family lived there,  Abraham asks “Will You slay the righteous with the wicked?”  We'll look at Abraham's intercession later. But the title question is a good one, for many feel quite judgemental towards the God of the Old Testament.  

We may not agree exactly on what is right and what is wrong, but being made in the image of God (1:26),  we are moral creatures. We can say “all truth is relative, there is no such thing as right and wrong,”  that is until somebody robs us,  or rapes our daughter! The very fact that we feel judgemental towards the God of the Old Testament indicates something of our inherent moral outrage at things  we think are wrong. “Somebody aught to do something about that!” Of course our judgements tend to be biased, and we  tend to want justice for others,  but mercy for ourselves. This is unrighteous, and Jesus warns  “In the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you”  (Matthew 7:2).  To me this has to be one of the scariest verses in the Bible. It's not that long ago that the Lord convicted me of judging judgemental people, you know those blankety blank judgmental people!

We have already read that God would not judge the sin of the Amorites until it had reached its full measure (Genesis 15:16). But the Lord is not desirous that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Not everyone will repent of course, and God will not always strive with us to woo us, or scare us into the Kingdom (Psalm 103:9).  Here in Genesis we read the Lord saying “I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me” (18:21). Ellicott comments “Before He punishes,  God examines with the same care and personal inspection as the most conscientious earthly judge.”

You might be thinking “nobody's going to tell me what to do!”  We can choose that route, and it is a choice. It's a pride filled choice, for we are but creatures of the Creator.  But we need to understand that there is no fence, and we are here to choose. And having chosen,  we influence others to choose. It works both ways. Concerning this, in the  context writing about the sins of Sodom Paul writes “those who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who do them (Romans 1:32).  We need to consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fall, severity; “but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off” (Romans 11:22).

Lord, Your  thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are our ways Your ways.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are Your ways higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8, 9). You are indeed the Judge of the whole earth, You are also good (Luke 18:19), and You will  judge with righteous judgement. But You are also a God of mercy Lord, and as for me I want mercy,  not justice in Jesus Name Amen

Abraham's hospitality: Angels unaware

In Hebrews 13:2 we read “Do not neglect to entertain strangers, for by doing so, some unawares have entertained angels.” The various  descriptions  of Abraham's visitors - the Lord - three men – they – He - the two angels (Genesis 18:1, 2. 5, 10; 19:1)  is somewhat puzzling. So were they men, were they angels, was this a manifestation of the Trinity?  There are several theophanies  (visible manifestations of  God) in the Scripture. There is one that is  a very clearly the pre-incarnate (before his birth) manifestation of Jesus. Three men were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furness, but four were seen and the fourth was like the Son of God (Daniel 3:25).  It is a mystery, Jesus is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the World (Revelation 3:8).

 I think that the He (upper case H) in this passage (verse 10) is Jesus,  He is Abraham’s  “Lord” (verse 3). The other two were angels (19:1), but was Abraham aware? Some years ago, as a professor in the Faculty club,  a colleague came up to my table and in a loud voice asked me personally if I believe in angels. “Yes,”  I replied, “I'm agnostic (don't know)” he said,  and promptly changed the subject. With no opportunity to talk about it, I could have killed him (not literally). To the others at the table he might as well have asked if I believed in fairies! But angels are real. People I trust tell me they have seen them, wings and all. I've sensed them at times in worship, and have an interesting tale to tell.

I had travelled to Brazil to a conference, and the flight had been delayed sixteen hours.  I arrived at the hotel in time for breakfast, and took the bus to the conference. We came back for lunch.  I needed a nap,  but wanted to go to the 5:00 talk. I decided I knew the way because I had followed in my mind,  the rout the bus had taken. I was wrong!  But I had set out to walk in my sandals,  and after an hour's  I was in trouble.  I was totally lost, my feet were very, very sore, I had no local currency, no phone,  and I did not speak the language. Nobody was about, but after a while I saw this man come out of a building site. “University- dado” I said in an attempt to say University in Portuguese  “Universidade?” he asked. “Si” I replied in Spanish. He did not know, but kindly invited me into his car. We drove round asking people if they knew (he asked), but nobody did. Finally he took me back to the hotel, we got the address and again he kindly drove me to the University. On parting he gave me his business card. I thanked him and he left. When I got back to Canada I wanted to thank him, but in spite of having his card, I could find neither hide not hair of either him or his business.  And I realized an angel had entertained me unawares.

Father, I want to thank You  that You give Your angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways (Psalm 91:11). This was not the first time that I have felt protected in a supernatural way. It seems we all have an angel (Acts 12:15). Help us to so follow You Lord,  that our angels will not be bored. And help us to not neglect hospitality in Jesus Name Amen

Is anything too hard for the Lord? “Sarah your wife shall have a son

(Genesis 18:10, 14).  The Lord appeared again to Abraham (Genesis 18:1), in the form of three “men” (verse 2), two of whom turned out to be angels (19:1) and the Lord (verse 13).  Abraham runs to greet them,  and in the manner of the Bedouin hospitality slays a calf and  prepare an elaborate  meal which he describes as 'morsel of bread.' And He (the Lord) said “Sarah your wife shall have a son.” Sarah,  in the tent listening “laughed within herself  saying, 'After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?'” (verse 12).  The Lord asks why Sarah laughed  saying “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Sarah denies laughing but the Lord says “No, but you did Laugh.” (verses 10-14). The son to be born is called Isaac which means laughter (21:3).

Commentators see all this as the Lord bringing Sarah's faith to the same level as Abraham's, who had also laughed (17:17).   Sarah had laughed “within herself,” but the Lord knew.” We read that nothing is hidden from the Lord, not the thoughts and intents of the heart. And “all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:12, 13).  Bringing Abraham and Sarah to the same level of faith would then mean the son to be born would be nurtured in a household of faith.  The Lord desires us that we raise godly children, and to do so  in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Malachi 2:15; Ephesians 6:4). God created family, and to me this passage stresses the importance of husbands and wives being on the same page,  especially with respect to family.

As mentioned earlier, the Lord intends the marriage relation to be a living parable of Christ's love for the church (Ephesians 5:28-33).  This is no small task in a culture that seems bent on tearing  marriages and families apart.  I have a tome written in 1992 entitled “The War against the Family,” and it has only gotten worse since then. Part of this war of course,  is aimed Biblical passages that instruct about marriage and the family.  Not surprisingly they are controversial to say the least.  I have the sense however, that if we really understood them and how to apply them in our culture, we would run to them. 

 It's not just in marriage of course,  but structure and hierarchies are inevitable. As also mentioned earlier, Sari wore the pants (see March 9). There are two errors that I see,  hierarchies without love, and love without truth or structure. To me the controversial passages are summed up well by Ephesians 5:33 which says “let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife respect her husband.” Of course the husband should  also respect the wife,  and  the wife love the husband.

Father, there have been and likely always will be,  imbalance in these things. Bringing them into balance seems impossible. But “Is anything to hard for the Lord” (Genesis 18:14)?  What You require from us Father is to first give ourselves to You in radical submission (Romans 12:1), and then also to each other (Ephesian 5:21).  When we come to the foot of the cross in this way, then all things are possible.  And we can to all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). Help us Lord and we will give You the glory in Jesus Name Amen

Walking with God: Walk before Me and be blameless .....

I will establish  my convergent with you and your descendants .... I will be their God. (Genesis 17:1, 7, 8). But what does it mean to walk with God? Negatively the Lord asks “Can two walk together unless they be agreed” (Amos 3:3)? Literally if we  go  separate ways,   you don't  journey together. Similarly if your life's journeys are completely different, there will be no togetherness,  no intimate friendship. The Lord complains about backsliding Israel that they are “a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways’ (Psalm 95:10).  But Abraham is known as a friend of God (2 Chronicles 20:7).

In Isaiah  43:1  the Lord says “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.”  Putting this together with verse 8, He is saying “I'm yours,  and you're mine.” It' s like the intimacy of a loving marriage relationship. In fact the Lord created and instituted marriage to be a living parable of His relationship with us (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:31, 32).  In the marriage covenant we promise to have and to hold,  for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, till death us do part.”  Similarly in becoming a believer we covenant with God to walk before Him blameless,  and promise to love Him with all of our heart,  mind,  soul and strength (Mark 12:30). On His  part He promises never to leave us nor forsake us,  and to love us with an everlasting love (Hebrews 13:5; Jeremiah 31:3).  In our relationship with Him,  the for better for worse part, is about working through the difficulties of life, and not giving up.  On His part He promises to forgive us when we confess and forsake our sin (1 John 1:9), and He promises to work everything for our good behind the scenes (Romans 8:28).

That believer's marriage is a parable of Christ and His church (Ephesians 5 again),   is one of several reasons God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). I do not speak in self-righteousness here, I have utterly failed in this area not just once, but twice! Let's face it marriage is hard, but the covenant is there to help us determine to work through the difficulties. It's what the Bible means that this is  like iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17). I have come to believe that marriage is one of God's primary tools to make us like Christ (see Romans 8:29). And I believe this is true even when it fails. I like what Jordon Peterson says about why covenant is necessary, he says “You're trouble and I'm trouble!”

Walking with God, and His being our God,  is not just theory, it's not some kind of theological pablum. I can say quite literally,  that I would not have made it without my relationship with Him. Life is simply too hard. He is the God of all comfort, He is my inspiration, my best friend, He is my God, He is mine and I am His.  

Lord, not only would I not have made it without You, I cannot live the Christian life without Your help. Thank You for the promise that  when I fully and completely surrender,  not only do You work in my very desires to do what pleases You,  You also give me the Grace, the wherewithal,  to do what without You I cannot do. For these and many other things I give You thanks and praise in Jesus Name Amen

Circumcision, the sign of the Covenant:

Twenty four years after the initial promise,  thirteen years after Ishmael was born and when Abram was ninety nine,  the Lord appeared to him once again. He told him “walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you.”  It renewed the promise to make Abram a great nation, and  also “I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”  As a sign of the covenant every male in Abraham's household was to be circumcised in “the flesh of your foreskins.” Anyone not circumcised was to be “cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant” (Genesis 17).

About walking blameless, the Law was not yet given, and as with Noah, it was about being “perfect in his generation” (see 13 February).  We, the people of God,  are to stand out from the crowd in terms of our conduct.  The Lord gave the land forever,  He wouldn't change His mind.  There'd  be two exiles for disobedience however. The first was  seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10),  the second nearly two thousand. At the end of that time the nation would be (re) born in a day (Isaiah 66:8).  The Jew is one of the many proofs of the Bible! Israel, of course, is far from perfect,  as we all are.

God changed Abram's name to Abraham, meaning father of a multitude,  Sari became Sarah, meaning princess. He told Abraham she would bear him a son, and be the mother of nations. Abraham laughed, after all he would be a hundred and Sarah ninety! He said “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” But the Lord said “My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”  Isaac means laughter.

Every male in Abraham's household was circumcised that day. This practice would become very controversial under the New Covenant. At the council at Jerusalem in Acts 15, the apostles decided that circumcision was not to be required of non Jewish Christians.  But the decision was made only after “no small dispute.”  In conformity to the command to walk before God blameless,  Paul tells “circumcision is of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter” (Romans 12:29). The Christian is  “circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,  buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” (Colossians  2:11, 12).

Circumcision and Baptism then are to be outward signs of the  inward realty of  a changed heart.  Putting off the body of sin is about repentance, turning from our old way of life. Buried in baptism is about putting to death the sinful nature. Coming up out of the waters of baptism is about putting on the new nature, about living out of the new heart the Lord gives the believer (Ezekiel 11:19).  

Father, we too are to walk before You blameless as the only reasonable response to Your tender mercies  (Romans 12:2 NJKV). Concerning the new life, growth is it only sign. Too many seek to use salvation as a ticket to sin, God forbid that that should be me.  As in Ezekiel give me a heart to obey, and I will give You the Glory my Lord and my God.

The poison of bitterness: His hand will be against every man

... and every man's hand against him (Genesis 16:12). Abram and Sari had tried to fulfill God's promise of a son, by Abram taking Hagar, Sari's handmaid. When she was pregnant,  she despised Sari,  who then dealt with her harshly. Hagar had fled,  an Angel had met her, telling her to go back, and that she would have a son Ishmael, with the characteristics in this morning's verse (verses 1-12). What is perhaps surprising is that Hagar seems pleased with this.

But perhaps it's not so surprising at all. There's no reason be believe  Hagar stopped despising Sari, nor that Sari treated her any differently when she returned.  Sari had wanted to have children by Hagar (verse 2), in other words she would claim for herself any child that came “by Hagar.” Hagar, of course would nurse Ishmael and  have a huge influence on him.  And what seems to be happening in Hagar being please with Ishmael's predicted character, is Hagar seeing that she could use him to get back at Sari.  Such is the nature of bitterness and resentment. Under the New Covenant we are admonished to look “carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled” (Hebrews 12:15). I'll come back to this in a moment.

I have observed a similar dynamic in waring partners in divorce. Typically both partners place the blame 100% on the other. In the throws of anger and bitterness,  there is an inevitable tendency to try and  get the children on “my side,”  and get them away from, or use them to get back at,  the “evil former partner.” Sari and Hagar's relationship is not marriage of course, but as I say, the dynamic seems to be the same. Concerning divorce,  God hates it, and in the context of the quote we read “and why? He seeks godly offspring” (Malachi 2:15, 16).  And we see here clearly Hagar's attitude being picked up and amplified by Ishmael. As believers, we are admonished to put away all  all bitterness, wrath, anger and evil speaking with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31). But how do you do that when you are overwhelmed?

Coming back to the Hebrews reference, we need to take hold of the Grace God offers to all of us to help in time of need (Hebrew 4:16). This aspect of God's Grace is the wherewithal to do what without Him we cannot do. In order to obtain it, I  start by pouring out my complaint to the Lord (Psalm 142:2). It's to the Lord,  not to others. This can cause dissension, a work of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:29).  I journal, many times writing letters I never send. I go for a walk, I talk to Him ask Him for Grace to receive His Grace. If I'm feeling like the victim, I need to realize that in order to come back to peace, or to bring peace, I need to be the bigger person. And I can ask for Grace to be that. If I don't do this, I will defile myself and the innocents that I love (Hebrews 12:15 again).

Father, I have come to realize that bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Thank You that You have not left us alone to stew in our own juices, but provide Grace to help. Help us to be careful not to fail to obtain it, in Jesus Name Amen

Dealing with anger: He braided a whip of cords

(John 2:15).  We are admonished in two ways to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1). Firstly, as we were discussing yesterday, we need to ask ourselves why we are angry (Genesis 4:6). Here Jesus knew exactly why He was angry. They'd made His Father's house a house of merchandise (John 2:16), a den of thieves (Mark 11:17).  If we don't know why we're angry we will likely  take it out on the  innocent.  Sari did this dealing harshly with Hagar (Genesis 16:6). It was not just! You have probably heard the story of how the husband having got it from the boss takes it out on the wife, she takes it out on the kids who take it out on the dog. But the wrath of man  does not work the righteousness of God (James 1:20).

Many have the feeling Jesus was always nice, “gentle Jesus meek and mild,  wouldn't hurt a fly.” Meek, as in humble,  sure, but mild, really? How about “Woe unto you Scribes pharisees hypocrites” (Matthew 23:13), and how about Him overturning the tables in the Temple here in John 2:15?  Yes orthodox teaching has Jesus as God, but He was also fully human.  And He had all the same human emotions we have, joy, laugher, anger, sorrow etc., etc. He wept (John 11:35)!  

But He knew why He was angry and,  in the second place where we need to be  imitators of God, He knew how to deal with anger, how to process it.  Here Jesus braided a whip from cords.  Perhaps His hands were trembling, and knew He needed to do something that would help Him make sure He was fully in control before He acted. To say that He never felt overwhelmed would make Him less than human, and this is error (1 John 4:2,3). It would take time and concentration to make the whip. When we're angry, we need to do something too, maybe go to the gym and work out, or go for a long walk.  But anger can be useful in that it can give us the courage to address some injustice. It can give us the courage to come out of conflict avoidance. But we do need to understand it,  and we do need to “braid the whip!”

About this,  if we have allowed our anger to get out of control, we may need to tap into the resources of anger management,  available today. But it's much easier if we learn  from the beginning firstly to ask why we are angry,  and then to process it. It would be a lot easier to stop smoking after the first cigarette, than after having smoked for years. Like Jesus we can learn to be angry and sin not.  And we need to obey the command to not let the sun go down on our wrath (Ephesians 4:26). With His help we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).  Maturity is learning self control, learning how to deal with our often overwhelming emotions.

Father,  when our spirits are overwhelmed within us, we need like David to pour out our complaint to You, to declare all our trouble to You,  the God of all comfort (Psalm 142:2, 3; 2 Corinthians 1:3). Self control is part of the fruit of Your Spirit Lord,  and it comes as we learn to walk with You. Help us Lord for we are weak, but You are strong. We love You Father in Jesus Name Amen.  

Conflict avoidance, anger and separation: “Do to her as you please”

Sari was angry and was blaming Abram for it all. Abram had got Hagar,  Sari's maidservant pregnant, when he did Hagar despised her mistress. It was Sari's suggestion and  He could have said no. But now,  in the face of Sari's anger, he tells her to do as she pleases.  He likely knew Sari's would treat her harshly (Genesis 16:1-6). Abram's behaviour is called conflict avoidance.  But how could he have handled it differently? Well, we are to be imitators of God, and  Abram would have know how, in the face of Cain's anger,  the Lord asked Cain “Why are you angry” (4:6)? One of the many books I bought but never read,  is called “Crucial Conversations.”  Abram and Sari needed to have a difficult but necessary conversation.

“Why are you angry Sari?” 'Hagar despises me, she is pregnant and I'm not!' “What happen?” 'You got her pregnant.' “Whose decision was that?” 'Yours!'  “No Sarai, it was ours.  I should, of course have said no. But if you hadn't agreed, you wouldn't have made the suggestion.  But now what are we going to do?” 'I don't know.' “Would it be right to take your anger out on Hagar, she had no choice in the matter (servants do as they're told)?  We need to have a crucial conversation with Hagar and sort this out! Then we need to figure out what needs to change,  how to do things differently so we don't make the same mistakes in the future. But first you need to deal with your anger.”

I was something of a conflict avoider myself. I came by it honestly, it was in my parent's DNA (Exodus 20:5). In figuring it all out I came to understand its destructive nature. It works like this: Firstly I subconsciously copied my parents conflict avoidance. I was trying to be nice (see tomorrow's post). Secondly in doing so, problems were not dealt with, but pushed under the rug. Scripture admonishes us to deal with the “little foxes that spoil the vine” (Song 2:15). In other words deal with the problems while they are small and manageable. Next with more and more conflict avoidance, more and more problems are pushed under the rug. Trying to be nice, we endure.  But there is a monster forming under the rug, and the little foxes grow up, and what seemed like not worth marking a fuss over, is ever larger and larger, and more and more irritating. This,  plus we discover in the other person more and more inappropriate behaviour. For example, passive aggression, suppressed anger, punishing silences and distancing take place. Finally the dam bursts and the monster emerges.  We have endured and endured,  and endured until we can endure no more. If we could not deal with the problems while they were tiny, how can we deal with the monster? Friends fall out and become enemies, anger,  divorce  separation, bitterness and other negative reactions result. The same patterns are then passed on to the next generation. It happen in the story (Genesis 21:10-12)

Father, we are all in need of understanding where our pain comes from and deal with it functionally. We need to figure out what's our responsibility,  and what needs to change. We only likely do this when things go wrong. Help us to have the crucial conversations when they do Lord,  so that with Your help we can, as iron sharpens iron, sharpen and refine each other. And please give us grace and humility to do this well Lord,  in Jesus Name Amen

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Anger, blame and patriarchy: “May the wrong done to me be upon you”

The advantages of being old (not that I admit it), is that you start to see the dysfunctional patterns emerging.  The issues are complex,  the solutions more so. Sari had proposed the solution to childlessness was for Abram to have children by Hagar her maidservant. It had turned sour with Hagar despising Sari,  and now Sari was blaming Abram (Genesis 16:1-5).  We come by blame honestly,  our father Adam showed us the way “It was the woman's fault Lord, and actually it's your fault too, You are the one who gave her to me” - it's a Phil paraphrase of Genesis 3:12. How many times when,  as a peacemaker I was trying to sort out an argument, did I hear “But he/she started it!”  I like the Einstein quote “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking we used when we created them.”  The start of finding a solution here, is to ask “well who is going to stop it?”

It's often very difficult to figure out who started it anyway.  I mean who started the problem in this Genesis  story? Was it Sari for making the suggestion in the first place (verse 2), or was it Abram for failing to take leadership as the head of the home?  You might not like the idea of the patriarchy, the system in which men hold primary power, but if Abram had exercised faith and leadership (he believed God 15:6) saying “No we need to believe God, and wait.” But he said “yes” (verse 2 again). Perhaps he he too was having doubts,  or perhaps he secretly fancied Hagar!  After all he was a man and he was human! You may not like the patriarchy, but the  woman's movement that emerged at the beginning of the last Century was not the first push back against it. Abram ran for the hills (verse 6), so who wore the pants!

One of the many books I need to read in more detail is called “Argument free marriage.”  The thing I remember while flipping through,  is the distinction between a discussion and an argument. An argument is two people against each other, a discussion is two people against a problem.  I don't know if there were problems in the garden before the fall (2:8), but if there were, discussion is how Adam and Eve would have handled them. And when we pray Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,  we are looking to do things this way. In order to get there, we need to come to the place where we obey James 5:16. “Confess your faults to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” And argument is two people confessing the other persons faults.  This is not so healing (British understatement)! Moving from where we are to James 5:16 however, is more than likely going to be a process.  

Father, I first came to the realization of how blind I must be,  by the observation that most people have a whole host of faults, and they don't see them, but I do! I then asked myself the question “Can I be the only person in creation who does not have faults?” I mean I don't see them either! But what's the chance I'm unique,  and without a whole bunch of  faults? Lord search my heart and see if there be any wicked way in me,  and lead me in the paths of life in Jesus Name Amen

God's way, man's ways: “Perhaps I shall obtain children by her”

In shame and agony at having no children, Sari suggests Abram take Sari's handmaid as wife to have children for her. God had promised Abram and Sari a son (12:1), but it had been ten years,  and still no son. So they try to fulfill God's promise for Him (Genesis 16:1-3). Paul tells us “whatever things were written before were written for our learning (Romans 15:4).

It's important that we learn from our mistakes, but we don't have to learn everything the hard way, we can learn from other people’  mistakes.  In Genesis we get raw data to see the big picture, but we need to unpack it.  I've made many mistakes in my life. I didn't always do this, but I have formed the habit of asking myself what was my part in what went wrong, what wasn't I seeing? Was there something I should have done or not done, and what were the consequences of that doing or not doing? Is there someone I need to forgive, is there someone to whom I need to make amends? We can ask these very same questions of Sari and Abram.  We look not to condemn,  but to learn.  

What I see first is Sarai giving into her doubt.  Our enemy Satan   (3:1) likely whispered in her ear “God's never going to give me  children, He's closed my womb. The only way is if Hagar has them for me” (verse 2). Notice that Satan whispers in the first person, me, my, not you, your. He does this so we will think it's our own thoughts, not his.  We must learn to distinguish my voice, his voice, the Shepherd's voice. We do this by following Jesus the Shepherd.   Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 10:27; 8:44). He lied to Sari telling her it would be her child, not Hagar's (verse 2).  Perhaps the start of Sarai's  realization of this, came with Hagar's attitude at her being a mother and Sarai not, she was despised in her eyes. When Sari did eventually have her own child, she would thoroughly disown Ishmael,  and pressure Abram to cast both Hagar and him out (21:11).

Psychology has relatively recently understood that family patterns tend to repeat, and that you need to study the extended family to figure out what is going on. It's difficult, because most families try to hide their dysfunction, and blame the black sheep or the family. As a consequence, the dysfunction continues generation after generation.  The Bible had this insight first,  thousands of years ago (see Exodus 20:5). It also has the solutions (Exodus 20:6). This too needs to be unpacked. The other thing, is that Bible gives us the raw data that enables us to study these things down extended generations.  Some studies have already used Genesis in this way.

Father, Your ways are not our ways, and Your ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9). We don't see the consequence of our sin,  if not dealt with,  can trickle down the generations like ripples on an infinite pond.  Ishmael,  being cast out, operates out of an orphan spirit. “His hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him” (verse 12). And the descendants of Ishmael and Abram's son Isaac are still at war today. This orphan spirit is the spirit of the age Lord, and we flee to You this morning for our selves and our children. Continue to teach us through Your Word Lord,  give us the wisdom and grace we need to stop the rot in Jesus Name Amen

Impatience while waiting (or not waiting) on God

God had promised Abram a son, but Sari was barren (12:1; 11:30). Ten years on, and still without the promised child,  Sari suggests that Abram have a child by her maidservant Hagar. Abram agrees and Hagar conceives! But she now Hagar despises Sarai. Sari blames Abram,  who tells her to do as she pleases. Sari treats her harshly and Hagar flees. An Angel finds Hagar, and tells her God sees her plight, but she's to go back and submit to Sarai.  God will multiply her descendants greatly. She is to call him Ishmael. It means God who hears, “because He has  heard your affliction. He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him” (Genesis 16:1-12).

There are many things going on here. Impatience in waiting on God. Sarai's shame and agony at having no children in that culture, man's  rather than God's solution, unintended consequences of decisions not thought through, Abram's conflict avoidance, Sari's dysfunctional anger and abuse, and perhaps most importantly,  unintended consequences,  and the visiting of the parents sins onto the children.  It's too rich to rush through in a single post, and we'll be dealing with some of these issues in the next few days. So today impatience in waiting in God.  
 

Have you ever had a promise from God, but He seemed to take forever to get round to it.  And did you get impatient with Him? I have,  though most of the time I was reluctant to admit it!  I knew it wasn't true, but it felt like  “my way was hidden from the LORD, and my just claim passed over by my God” (Isaiah 40:27). And I have learnt that if I don't deal with these emotions properly (that is Biblically), I am likely,  like Sari, to take things into my own hands, to make things happen. This is especially true with respect to the promise “What a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7). happen.  Certainly there are times I should go to my brother and show him his  fault. But if I have not dealt with my anger, I'm not likely to go in humility considering myself lest I be tempted (Galatians 6:1). I also need to take the plank  out of my own eye before I can remove the speck from my sister's eye (Matthew 7:5).  

At such times I know I need to come back to the perspective that comes from being still and knowing He is God (Psalm 46:10), and from reading His Word. From Isaiah I need to hear Him ask  again “Have you not known? Have you not understood from the beginning,  He sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and  young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary,  they shall walk and not fall (40:21-31).   

Lord please give me patience, but hurry (I'm kidding)! Thank You for reminding me again this morning,  that there are many consequences of taking things into my own hand.  Continue to teach me to wait in hope on You Lord. I want to soar like the eagle.  And I will give You the glory, in Jesus Name Amen

Covenant and dreams: “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

The Lord had just promised Abram again that he would inherit the land. He then asks Abram to prepare a covenant ritual consisting of cutting a three-year-old heifer, female goat, and ram in two down the middle, and to place each piece opposite the other. And .... “a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him” (Genesis 15:7-12). “When the sun had set a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the River Euphrates'” (verses 17, 18).

Abram would have been familiar with the ancient covenant vassal treaties, that consisted of cutting animals in two, and the two parties to a specified agreement walking between the pieces. The significance was that if the treaty was broken, then the party breaking the agreement would be cut in two as the animals were. Walking though the two halves signified the two parties agreement to the blessings and curses of the covenant. The smoke and the fire are symbolic of the Glory of the Lord, as He appeared on Mount Sinai at the giving of the ten commandments (Exodus 19:18). So then the Lord and only the Lord passes through the pieces assuring Abram of God's unconditional and unbreakable covenant promise.

The dream: Horror and great darkness “Then God said to Abram: 'Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (verses 12-16).

The dream foretells Israel's deep affliction in slavery in Egypt; The giving many of parting gifts, in the aftermath of the 10 plagues of Egypt; The drowning of Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea as they pursued Israel through the waters God had separated (Exodus chapters 1 to 15). It's worth searching “Evidence of Red Sea crossing” on Youtube.

The iniquity of the Amorites: Barn's notes comments “From this simple sentence we have much to learn. First. The Lord foreknows the moral character of people. Second. In His providence he administers the affairs of nations on the principle of moral rectitude (moral righteousness). Third. Nations are spared until their iniquity is full. Fourth. They are then cut off in retributive justice.” The Amorites occupied the country east of the Jordan, from the Arnon to Mount Hermon, under their two kings, Sihon and Og just before the conquest (Numbers 21:21-35).

Father, Your Word tells us that You the Most High God rule in the Kingdom of men, and You give it to who ever You choose (Daniel 4:32). And when we wonder why You don't intervene, it is for two reasons. Firstly the iniquity is not full, You are always giving time for people to repent (2 Peter 3:9). The second thing, is that Your church has not humbled itself, turned from our wicked ways and sought Your Face (2 Chronicles 7:14). Wake up Your Church Lord to do our part in this time of great wickedness in Jesus Name Amen

The righteousness of Faith. “Fear not, I am your shield.

Your reward will be very great (Genesis 15:1). The Lord  was renewing His previous promise to Abram.  There's a note of complaint in Abram's response, saying that he is still childless,   Eliezer of Damascus, not one of his descendants is his heir (12:1-3; 13:7). God assures him his heir will come from his own body. He takes him outside to look at the stars and tells him that if he can count the stars “So shall your descendants be.” Abram believed God,  and He credited it to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:1-6).  

It shouldn't be hard for us in this age of instant this,  and instant that,   to feel something of Abram's impatience. But it is the testing of our faith that that produces endurance and strengthens it (James 1:3). Abram needed assurance, as we all are at times.  He knows what we need, and the invisible God shows Abram another visible illustration of His promise “if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered” (13:16). Nobody can give an exact count of the stars!

Abram believed God and He credited it to him for righteousness. It is justification (sinful man being put right with God) by faith (Romans 5:1).  Salvation by faith is thought by many,  to be a New Testament concept. In fact from this verse,  it is clearly that it originates in the Old Testament. Outside of the Judaeo-Christain religion, all other religions are about man reaching up to God, doing sacrifice,  obeying rules that are thought to please Him,  her,  or them,!. In light of this,  the place of the Law (i.e. Exodus 20:1-17) is somewhat puzzling. But Paul tells us clearly that nobody will be justified by obeying it (Romans 3:20).

Abram is told not to fear. Fear is a natural reaction of fallen mankind to encountering God. In fact Paul speaks of knowing the terror of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:11 NJKV). But when,  by faith,  we believe God, God himself becomes our shield (verse 1). This did not happen to Israel on the mountain where God gave the Law.  They too were terrified. They asked  Moses to speak to God,  and to tell them what He said. “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die” (Exodus 20:19). As with Abram, God was wanting relationship, but Israel chose rules instead. And a huge part of the Old Testament is showing that obeying rules (the Law),  does not work. The Law was given to demonstrate beyond a shadow of doubt,  that the way of faith is the only way to God (Galatians 3:24; John 14:6).

Many have abused this, misunderstanding what it means to be under grace not under Law (Romans 6:14). Just because we are not under the Law doesn't mean we can be lawless, doing exactly what we want. There are sever warnings about continuing in this way (Hebrews 6:26). The New Testament is also full of commands. In particular we are to love God with all our heart, soul,  mind and strength (Mark 12:30).  And “If you love me, you will obey my commands” (John 14:15).

Father, to all who submit to the righteousness that comes from “obedience to the faith” (Romans 16:26), our reward will also be very great (verse 1 again).  You cannot be mocked Lord,  we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). Give us hearts of obedience Lord,  and we will give You the glory in Jesus Name Amen

Mixed motives and strings: Now the king of Sodom

said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods.” Abram replied “I have raised my hand to the LORD, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, nothing that is yours, lest you should say, “I have made Abram rich’ (Genesis 14:21-23). Abram,  in addition to rescuing his nephew Lot, had also delivered the king of Sodom.  Some commentators have seen the king of Sodom's offer as generous.  But actually,  as the spoils of war,  Abram was entitled to everything,  including the persons. Otherwise he would not have been in a position to give Melchizedek “a tithe of all” (verse 20). On top of this, I suspect generosity was out of character (see 13:13).

But Abram had raised his “hand to the LORD, the Possessor of heaven and earth.” The phrase “raised his hand,” is about swearing an oath, as is done in court,  swearing to tell the truth,  the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. He was swearing that if he were successful, he would take absolutely nothing that was not his,  or Lot's. We are left to guess why he did this. Perhaps being a godly man,  he would recognize mixed motives in himself.  Here,  in addition to rescuing Lot, was an opportunity get rich (richer). John D. Rockefeller,  whose net worth at his peek was about 1% of the entire US economy,  was asked how much was enough. He famously answered “just a little bit more.”

In addition to telling us that we don't have because we don't ask (God), James tells us we don't have because we ask with wrong motives, for example out of greed (James 4:3). In any case Abram knew “the  Possessor of heaven and earth, ” had amply provided for, and protected,  him in the past  (13:2).   We can't get close to God without getting to know something of the wickedness and deceitfulness of our own hearts (Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 4:19).   Abram's primary concern was to rescue Lot, and in asking for God's help, he no doubt wanted to make sure his motives were pure. By making his oath, which he knew he would keep, he no doubt settled the matter in his own heart.

Looking at it from the king of Sodom's point of view, it's fallen human nature to want to get one up on others. In particular there are times when gifts are given with strings attached. I mean have you ever been given a gift that seemed like generosity, only to find out later that something was expected of you in return, and the gift was then mentioned in terms of “you owe me?” It's what the saying “beware of Greeks bearing gifts” means! You don't want others to be pulling the strings!  Abram seems to have not wanted the king of Sodom to be able to brag that he had made him rich.   

Lord Jesus, the closer I get to You the more I realize I have mixed motives. In particular, Your Word speaks of the deceitfulness of riches.   Thank You that Your Word is an antidote to any,  and all  of this. It is living and powerful, sharper than any double edged sword, it's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And to You, our hearts are an open book (Hebrews 4:12, 13). So please purify my heart Lord (Acts 15:9),   and I will give You the glory in Your precious and lovely Name Amen

Abram's Tithe: And he (Abram) gave him

(Melchizedek) a tithe of all (Genesis 14:20). This morning's verse follows  Melchizedek's blessing of Abram. It was an ancient custom to give  a tithe (a 10th) part of the products of the land and of the spoils of war to priests and kings. Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe of everything.  Tithing was later instituted into the  Jewish Law (Leviticus 27:30–33). It was mandatory,  but Abram's tithe was voluntary.  Many churches teach Christians need to tithe, to give one tenth of their wages. I mean most of us don't grow crops to give a tenth of that! So is it mandatory for the Christian? Well,  we are not under Law, but under grace (Romans 6:14). But there's more to say.

In an age of demanding rights,  we might well declare “I have a right to do what I want with my own money!” Without wanting to twist the scripture I want to ask with Paul “What do you have that you were not given” (1 Corinthians 4:7)?  You owe Him your very life!  To me,  our willingness to give in an age of greed and covetousness, is a primary indicator of our commitment to Christ.  John asks “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him” (1 John 3:17)?  We may not grow crops, but we can certainly contribute to a hungry world. What I am saying is that we should not restrict our giving to church.

So how much should we give? Paul instructs “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously  (2 Corinthians 9:6). So as much as a tithe?  To me it means more than a tithe, but that's me. Paul continues “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (verse 7).

After an astounding outpouring of gifts towards the building of the first temple David prays "who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You” (1 Chronicles 29:14). The Lord Himself instructs “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse..... test me in this ... and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it”.  While many say “I just can't afford it,” it is the testimony of countless Christians down  through the ages,  that when they have given out of their poverty, the  Lord has indeed blessed them  (2 Corinthians 8:2).

Lord Jesus,  Your Word tells us that  You are not unjust to forget our work and labor of love which we show towards Your  name (Hebrews 6:10). If we give as little as a cup of water in Your name we will not loose our reward (Mark 9:41). As to worrying we will not have enough if we give, You  tells us do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?’ or “What shall we drink?’ But to seek first the kingdom of God and Your  righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto us (Matthew 6:31,33). We choose to believe You this morning Lord,  and we commit to obey in Your precious Name Amen

Melchizedek, king of righteousness, king of peace

(Hebrews 7:2) “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.  And said 'Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth (Genesis 14:18-19).  Many have wondered what exactly Jesus meant  when He told the  Pharisees “You search the Scriptures…and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). Also what Jesus shared with the  disciples on the Emmaus road  when  “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus explained to  “in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke24:27).

In particular what is it in all of the Scriptures that we need to see in  Melchizedek the Priest of the Most High God. A concordance (an alphabetical list of the principal words used in a book) comes in handy here.  We next meet him in Psalm 110. In verse 1 we read “The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'” Through this verse Jesus identifies Himself as both Messiah and Lord (Matthew 22:42-44). Speaking of Jesus then, we read the Lord declared Him to be  “a priest forever,  according to the order of Melchizedek'” (verse 4). It's  a little puzzling, because Jesus could not a Levitical priest, a priest  under the Law,  seeing He is of the tribe of Judah (Hebrews 7:11; Luke 3:23-34; Hebrews 7:14).

So then Jesus is a priest of a different “order,” namely the order of Melchizedek.  This new “order” is given out of a declaration of the Lord. God is God,  and Jesus is who God says He is. He acts accordingly. Likewise,  we are who God says we believer are, namely we're saints, and beloved children of God (Ephesians 1:1; John 1:12). We  need to embrace this in our lives, and live them  out of that identity. It will change us!

But what is new about this Melchizedek order? Well,  sacrifices under the Levitical priesthood could not make anyone perfect, otherwise they would not have needed to be repeated every year (Hebrews 7:11; 10:1). Under this new order, Jesus of course,  is both priest and sacrifice,  and His one time offering perfected forever those who are being saved (Hebrews 10:14).  Secondly, concerning the “forever” part of the new priesthood,  we read that  Melchizedek  (in Jewish thought) was “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually” (Hebrews 11:3).   Melchizedek then is what we call a type of Christ, a picture,  or allegory of some deeper spiritual truth. This does not deny that He  was historical, for Joseph is also a type of Christ!  

Two further insights, firstly Jesus our High priest is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He  was tempted as we are, yet without sin. We can therefore come boldly before the throne of grace, to  obtain mercy and to find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4: 15, 16).  Secondly,   He always lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).  

Lord Jesus,  we thank You this morning that You are our lawyer, our advocate,  and that You intercede before the Father on our behalf,  declaring the price for our sin has already been paid by Your sacrifice (1 Peter 3:18). You perfected forever those of us who are being saved. Thank You! We come boldly this morning, before Your throne to obtain mercy and help,  and to thank and glorify Your precious and Holy Name Amen