Happy Summer!
Well, we're finally settled into our new home. We've got a treehouse in the backyard, a couple of gardens started, and we just recently had to turn on our central air--I'd say we're "home" :) Hope you are all enjoying your summer.
My post today is titled Unconditional love: Part 1...I may not have an immediate follow-up post to this one, but it's a subject about which I've been thinking a great deal and I feel as though I could write an entire book on the subject. Actually, there IS a great book on the subject. Anyone know the title? That's right--THE BIBLE!!! Unconditional love is the one and only thing God expects from us. It's what Jesus was sent here for. But it's simultaneously the simplest task we'll ever be given and the hardest thing we'll ever have to do.
Let's think for a second about what unconditional love really is. Ultimately, it's forgiveness. It's loving someone so much that no matter what or how many terrible things they do, we still love them. The more we offer them true unconditional love, the more they become less likely to do or say those terrible things. And it's so rare. Most of us think that we're offering it on a regular basis--to our children, to our neighbors, to our friends, to God--when in fact we're really practicing love with conditions. "I love you, but...", "That's true, but...", "He's a nice guy, but...", "Thanks for giving me what I need, God. Now it's time to ignore you for months on end..." And many of us do love unconditionally some of the time. But often we're offering conditions and even more frequently, we're not used to receiving love unconditionally, leaving it a very difficult task for us to share with others.
And that's why this is such a tough subject. Are we just supposed to let those we love treat us or others badly? Are we supposed to let those we love do wrong? No, of course not. But even in our assumption that someone is doing something wrong, we impose a certain type of judgement upon them that is just not ours to give. This is probably why Jesus spoke in parables and rhetoric. When you tell someone a relevant story or ask them a question that they themselves are to answer, they are forced to look deep inside their hearts and see what is right and true. It's my belief that the best way to love someone unconditionally is to love them and model for them the way we believe is right and true. We can talk until we're blue in the face on this subject, but it doesn't mean a darn thing if we don't practice what we preach. As the saying goes, "Actions speak louder than words."
With our children, we are given opportunities to practice this every day. If they do something naughty, we're supposed to punish them, right? What if instead, we level with them and show them true understanding, "You were feeling angry, so you pushed your sister...I'm sorry you were feeling so hurt...is there a way we can fix this and make your sister feel better?...(and after they repent) Pushing hurts and even though you're angry, you can't push...how about next time you come find me and we'll figure it out together." With our neighbors and co-workers/subordinates, we don't receive as many opportunities to practice this, so it does get a little trickier. People really just want to feel understood; this often gets mistaken for acceptance or approval, so sometimes they're looking for a pat on the back, but what they really need is an open heart to hear their hurts. "It can be really hard to make it places on time when you're having struggles at home and not getting enough sleep. We really need 100% from all our employees...is there a way you could call me before you end up being late and we can figure out a time when you can make this up when you're less distracted?" With God, this should be easy. He ALWAYS loves us unconditionally; the least we could do is return the favor. "God, I'm feeling so frustrated that things aren't going my way right now, but I trust that just as you have in the past, you have some plan for me and will help me find my purpose..."
The single most difficult person to love unconditionally, however, has to be ourselves. It can be hard to know how to love ourselves unconditionally because we often don't receive it from others. Or perhaps it's because we know ourselves to be sinners within our hearts. Whatever the case, the task to love without conditions becomes impossible when it comes to "I." "I was not supposed to do that. There's something wrong with me..." "She said I am a jerk. There's something wrong with me..." But what gets really dangerous about this is not just our self-diminishing thoughts, but our need to self-justify. "Maybe I shouldn't have done that, but I'm a good person, so maybe that wasn't really all that bad..." "She thinks I'm a jerk, but I have friends who like me the way that I am, so maybe being a jerk isn't a bad thing..." These thoughts, of course, are not those of unconditional love, but thoughts of tolerance, acceptance, and approval (which are judgements, which we do not need).
When we stop loving ourselves unconditionally or when someone important in our lives stops loving us unconditionally, we run astray. We start to sin because it momentarily makes us feel a little better. It makes us feel justified or like we are able to get vengeance on those who hurt us. It makes us seek acceptance and approval elsewhere because those are the things we mistake for unconditional love. And very often, when we're very hurt, we find unconditional love in non-traditional places, in the wrong places, and even sometimes in rather unsavory places. When you are not used to receiving unconditional love in sources from which you should be, why wouldn't you be thrilled when you experience that feeling elsewhere? Your mom doesn't play with you enough when you're little, so you play with the neighbor kids who are happy to play with you and teach you bad things (probably because they're also not receiving the kind of love they need). Your spouse doesn't give him/herself to you in mind, body, and spirit any longer, so you turn to a co-worker who's happy to fulfill you in whatever way you need (they, too, are probably feeling unloved). Your parents are unhappy in their marriage so you find love in the arms of your best friend (who probably also feels hurt and not unconditionally loved).
The worst thing about all of those examples is that these are people who need unconditional love more than anyone else and yet become the most harshly judged by their loved ones or by society. Perhaps if we offer our unconditional love to those who need it the most during the times when it's the hardest to give, the people we have a tendency to judge the most harshly will realize their hurts, see their errors, and start returning the favor. The truth is, if we truly love unconditionally it is impossible to sin. If we always look into our hearts for the truth and act with unconditional love, there is no possible outcome that would end with sin. Of course, it will be a long time before our world experiences this--possibly never??--but we will never get there if we don't try.
Remember, I'm not talking about tolerance. I'm not talking about acceptance or approval. I'm talking about honesty, understanding, and unconditional love. I'm talking about recognizing that our own sins are still sins, whether they're "bigger" or "smaller" than our neighbors, sisters, friends, or enemies. If you are looking into your own heart and acting out what others are telling us by their acceptance, approval, and tolerance, you are acting with hurt, spite, anger, fear, and hate. If you are looking into your own heart and recognizing what it is that
God is trying to tell you and acting that out, you are acting with
unconditional love. What Jesus was desperately trying to teach us is that if we cannot treat others and if we cannot treat ourselves with true unconditional love, we will never be able to know God's unconditional love and will not be able to be accepted into his kingdom. This is not a sense of elitism or judgement, but a sense of truth and of love. It is possible to come to understand God's love even when our heart is completely hardened by hate, but it's going to take someone--often the very someone who was creating that hate--offering their love and asking for forgiveness for their judgements before the "offended" can begin to soften theirs.
I'd like to see people back off of their pride a little. I know that I can't even begin to count the number of times when I became fed up with someone and gave up on them (even though they were hurting me). We see these people as being unteachable and so often unlovable. The heart-breaking truth, though, is that when someone sees him/herself as being unlovable, they will often give up on themselves and instead of seeking unconditional love they leave to go seek the humanly next best thing/s--tolerance, acceptance, and approval. Take a moment to think about your own life and the people you've given up on. Those unteachable, unlovable people that were frustrating you and beginning to harden your heart. Think of how many souls you may have saved by not giving up on them, by giving them understanding, compassion, empathy, and unconditional love when it was just so excruciatingly difficult!
Jesus died doing just that. Loving the impossibly hard to love. So many people missed that message back in his day and even more people horribly misconstrue that message today. People think that by giving others "help," we are doing our job in loving one another, but truly that job isn't done unless that help is offered with utter and complete unconditional love. Often when we "help" people, we end up taking the easy way out. It's much easier to throw money at someone in need than to provide them with the skills they need to regain their lives or with emotional support and spiritual guidance.
Can you all do something for me? Take a day, or week, or however long you need to recognize this, and stop and think before you react to another person. Are you treating them with absolute love? Or are you being short with them? Are you being spiteful? Are you tolerating them? If it's not absolute love that you are affording them, stop and think about how you can approach the situation with unconditional love. Now try it. How did they respond? Are they angry? Then it probably wasn't absolute love. Are they relieved and looking understood? Do they seem as though the problem was truly solved (not to say that they "got their way"). Then you probably did something right. Now keep doing it!
Is this hard? Terribly!!! Impossible? Not at all. Will you ever be perfect at it? Or even an expert for that matter? Of course not. But you will quickly notice more peace and harmony in your homes. And when you see that working, it's much easier to spread that to your workplaces, your neighborhoods, schools, churches, hospitals, jails, etc.
All God wants from us is to treat each others, ourselves, and Him with utter and complete unconditional love. Can we not give him that?
May you all give and receive unconditional love today!
Friday, July 5, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit...
Wow! It's been awhile! Mike and I moved to a new house a while back and from the time of our last post until about now, we've been pretty swamped with all things new house. But here we are again, hoping you're still out there anxiously awaiting our next blog post :) Here's a "Sunday" Fresh Take for you:
The Father. The Son. The Holy Spirit. What does this mean? So many of us have spoken these words a million times and never really thought about what it meant. And while it's still a bit beyond my full comprehension at this point, I was recently going through some "inner struggles" that lead me to the explanation I'd like to share today. It probably won't be what you were taught in church/school!
Man was created in God's likeness. Hmm. Well, which likeness of God? The Father? The Son? The Holy Spirit? How about ALL THREE!? As human beings, most of us are able to acknowledge that our being is made up of more than just our physical body. We are a mind, a body, and a spirit (also thoughts, actions, and emotions/condition). Our mind is our decision maker. It drives us to do the things that we do. Our body is the physical vessel that carries out the actions driven by our mind. Our spirit is our essence, the aspect of us that is the most greatly affected by our thoughts and actions.
How does this make us like our Maker? Let's start with the Father. This would be comparable to our mind. This is what we think of as our Creator--he "thought" us into existence and here we are. Onto the Son. This is comparable to our body. The Christ is the physical version sent to us to better understand this. And finally the Holy Spirit. Well, in our likeness, that'd be our spirit, or that part of us that best reflects our condition.
We often forget to look beyond our physical selves. We'll blame our ailments on genetics, diet, and lifestyles; while these are factors, I believe it's only a blip on the map. In order to be whole, we have to examine our whole being. It was our thoughts that drove us to live the lives that we've lived. Our bodies carried out those thoughts. And now our spirits reflect those actions that once started as a thought.
Most of us have been lead to believe that we're not enough. We need to behave better for our parents. We need to do better in school. We need to make more money. We need to be better parents. We need to eat better, exercise better, pray better, present ourselves better...the list goes on. And while we know deep down that none of this has anything to do with how "good" we are and most of us can admit that (of course) this is all nonsense and doesn't matter in the long run, we allow these thoughts--stemming from our minds--to drive our bodies to act out what becomes the condition of our spirits. We become ill, hurt, depressed, lazy, obese, angry...we become broken.
Jesus (the person many acknowledge as God's physical form) lived for what, 30-some years? That's a blip on the map. But what we read about him now should teach us that what he wanted us to know is that this physical aspect of our beings IS nothing but a blip on the map. Our body is nothing but a physical vessel upon which to place blame for/carry out our condition. Our mind and spirit are so powerful and tightly connected that if we truly BELIEVE that we can be healed, we become whole.
The next time you want to place blame for something wrong in your life, stop. Stop yourself and ask, "Am I whole? Have I been having dark thoughts? Did those thoughts drive me to do something less-than-healthy? Did those unhealthy actions leave a mark on my spirit?" You will very quickly find an answer, and it probably isn't what you initially thought.
Let God's will be your driving force. Let God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit lead you through life. Become whole. God resides within us all!
The Father. The Son. The Holy Spirit. What does this mean? So many of us have spoken these words a million times and never really thought about what it meant. And while it's still a bit beyond my full comprehension at this point, I was recently going through some "inner struggles" that lead me to the explanation I'd like to share today. It probably won't be what you were taught in church/school!
Man was created in God's likeness. Hmm. Well, which likeness of God? The Father? The Son? The Holy Spirit? How about ALL THREE!? As human beings, most of us are able to acknowledge that our being is made up of more than just our physical body. We are a mind, a body, and a spirit (also thoughts, actions, and emotions/condition). Our mind is our decision maker. It drives us to do the things that we do. Our body is the physical vessel that carries out the actions driven by our mind. Our spirit is our essence, the aspect of us that is the most greatly affected by our thoughts and actions.
How does this make us like our Maker? Let's start with the Father. This would be comparable to our mind. This is what we think of as our Creator--he "thought" us into existence and here we are. Onto the Son. This is comparable to our body. The Christ is the physical version sent to us to better understand this. And finally the Holy Spirit. Well, in our likeness, that'd be our spirit, or that part of us that best reflects our condition.
We often forget to look beyond our physical selves. We'll blame our ailments on genetics, diet, and lifestyles; while these are factors, I believe it's only a blip on the map. In order to be whole, we have to examine our whole being. It was our thoughts that drove us to live the lives that we've lived. Our bodies carried out those thoughts. And now our spirits reflect those actions that once started as a thought.
Most of us have been lead to believe that we're not enough. We need to behave better for our parents. We need to do better in school. We need to make more money. We need to be better parents. We need to eat better, exercise better, pray better, present ourselves better...the list goes on. And while we know deep down that none of this has anything to do with how "good" we are and most of us can admit that (of course) this is all nonsense and doesn't matter in the long run, we allow these thoughts--stemming from our minds--to drive our bodies to act out what becomes the condition of our spirits. We become ill, hurt, depressed, lazy, obese, angry...we become broken.
Jesus (the person many acknowledge as God's physical form) lived for what, 30-some years? That's a blip on the map. But what we read about him now should teach us that what he wanted us to know is that this physical aspect of our beings IS nothing but a blip on the map. Our body is nothing but a physical vessel upon which to place blame for/carry out our condition. Our mind and spirit are so powerful and tightly connected that if we truly BELIEVE that we can be healed, we become whole.
The next time you want to place blame for something wrong in your life, stop. Stop yourself and ask, "Am I whole? Have I been having dark thoughts? Did those thoughts drive me to do something less-than-healthy? Did those unhealthy actions leave a mark on my spirit?" You will very quickly find an answer, and it probably isn't what you initially thought.
Let God's will be your driving force. Let God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit lead you through life. Become whole. God resides within us all!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Genesis 22-23; Isaac as an offering, Sarah dies
Well, the title of our post tonight pretty much sums up what happens in these chapters, but if you'd like a little more detail, we'll synopsize for you.
God decides to tempt Abraham. He's like, "Hmmm....what's the thing that Abraham loves the most? Ah! His son! I'll ask him to give me his son as a burnt offering to see if he's REALLY my guy!" So God instructs Abraham on what to do and where to go. Abraham and his men get to the mountain and he says, "Hey guys, why don't you just sit this one out. I'm going to take Isaac here and we'll do this burnt offering father-son style." So they get up there and Isaac's like, "Um, Dad? I see wood for fire...but where's the animal for an offering?" And Abraham proceeds to tie up his son to this pile of wood, picks up a knife and finally, the angel of the Lord calls out and says, "Stop! I was just messing with you! Man, you're dedicated!" And as a result of Abraham's God-fearing, God says yet again that he will multiply Abraham as the stars and make him a great nation.
Who among us today would be this faithful? I would like to say or think that we all would, but a sacrifice like he was willing to make is a BIG one, and I bet that many/most of us wouldn't be so noble. But it's something to chew on. We see stories in the bible again and again of people who are willing to choose death over disobeying God--and they're always rewarded for doing so. Just remember this the next time you are faced with a tough moral dilemma; so long as we choose God (even over the people we love the most!), God will take care of us (and ultimately the people we love the most).
Chapter 22 ends by outlining the family of Nahor, Abraham's brother (Haran was his other brother, Lot's father). This is setting the stage for meeting Isaac's future wife, Rebekkah...yup, you guessed it, more inbreeding (evidently this was not frowned upon at the time).
In Chapter 23, Sarah dies. She lived to be 127 years. Abraham asks the sons of Heth (I'm not sure who Heth is) if he can bum some land for a burying place off of them. They're like, "Yeah, take whatever you want." So Abraham says, "I want that land...how much do I owe you, Ephron?" To which Ephron replies, "No, take it, it's yours. You owe us nothing." This goes back and forth a couple of times until finally Abraham says that he insists and they accept. So now Sarah is buried in (as described in the book) "Machpelah before Mamre; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan." So I'm not sure exactly what that means...is Machpelah before Mamre just another way of saying Hebron in Canaan?
Anyway, big stories. Lots of information. If you haven't read the book, do it. It's never too late to start!
God decides to tempt Abraham. He's like, "Hmmm....what's the thing that Abraham loves the most? Ah! His son! I'll ask him to give me his son as a burnt offering to see if he's REALLY my guy!" So God instructs Abraham on what to do and where to go. Abraham and his men get to the mountain and he says, "Hey guys, why don't you just sit this one out. I'm going to take Isaac here and we'll do this burnt offering father-son style." So they get up there and Isaac's like, "Um, Dad? I see wood for fire...but where's the animal for an offering?" And Abraham proceeds to tie up his son to this pile of wood, picks up a knife and finally, the angel of the Lord calls out and says, "Stop! I was just messing with you! Man, you're dedicated!" And as a result of Abraham's God-fearing, God says yet again that he will multiply Abraham as the stars and make him a great nation.
Who among us today would be this faithful? I would like to say or think that we all would, but a sacrifice like he was willing to make is a BIG one, and I bet that many/most of us wouldn't be so noble. But it's something to chew on. We see stories in the bible again and again of people who are willing to choose death over disobeying God--and they're always rewarded for doing so. Just remember this the next time you are faced with a tough moral dilemma; so long as we choose God (even over the people we love the most!), God will take care of us (and ultimately the people we love the most).
Chapter 22 ends by outlining the family of Nahor, Abraham's brother (Haran was his other brother, Lot's father). This is setting the stage for meeting Isaac's future wife, Rebekkah...yup, you guessed it, more inbreeding (evidently this was not frowned upon at the time).
In Chapter 23, Sarah dies. She lived to be 127 years. Abraham asks the sons of Heth (I'm not sure who Heth is) if he can bum some land for a burying place off of them. They're like, "Yeah, take whatever you want." So Abraham says, "I want that land...how much do I owe you, Ephron?" To which Ephron replies, "No, take it, it's yours. You owe us nothing." This goes back and forth a couple of times until finally Abraham says that he insists and they accept. So now Sarah is buried in (as described in the book) "Machpelah before Mamre; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan." So I'm not sure exactly what that means...is Machpelah before Mamre just another way of saying Hebron in Canaan?
Anyway, big stories. Lots of information. If you haven't read the book, do it. It's never too late to start!
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Genesis 20-21: She's my sister...um, wife...
Chapter 20: We've seen this before, but in Egypt. Abraham tells the people in a new place that Sarah is is sister and the ruler takes her...and then finds out it was really his wife and now he is in trouble with God. This time, Abraham and Sarah are traveling and end up in Gerar. Again, Abraham tells them that Sarah is his sister and Sarah says that Abraham is her brother. An unclear amount of time passes and then God comes to Abimelech (the local ruler who took Sarah) in a dream and tells him that he has taken Abraham's wife. Abimelech replies with a "Woah, she said she was his sister and I haven't touched her...how was I supposed to know?" God says, "OK, I'll let you off the hook this time because you haven't touched her, but give her back to Abraham." So, Abimelech pays off Abraham in a very similar fashion as the Pharaoh (animals, silver, servants, etc.) and God lifts the curse he placed on Abimelech's women (he shut their wombs).
Abimilech asks why Abraham lied to him and he responds that it was neither a lie nor truth. He is actually a half brother to Sarah, so she is both his wife and sister. Therefore it was not a lie. Abraham continues that he did not want someone to kill him for his wife.
Now this all seems a little strange to me, and it seems that Abraham and Sarah have a pretty good con going on. Go into a new town, have say Sarah is his sister, have her get taken, have God get mad and curse the people, get Sarah back, and finally get lots of stuff as a pay off for the misunderstanding. Whatever the case, Abimelech then tells Abraham and Sarah to pick a place in his lands and take it.
Chapter 21: Sarah has Isaac as promised. He is circumcised, grows, and is weaned. Abraham throws a feast for Isaac and Hagar's (remember, she had Abraham's kid earlier?) son started mocking Issac. Sarah is torqued off by this and tells Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael packing so that Issac will be the sole heir. Woefully, Abraham sends the two off into the wilderness with just a loaf of bread and a jug of water. God tells him not to worry as Ishmael will be a father of his own nation as well.
Naturally, things do not go well for Hagar with a son and only some bread and water in the wilderness. When the water is gone, she gives up on life, and throws her son under some shrubs to cry and die where she doesn't have to see it. She prays to God and then is answered by finding a well with which to give him water. This is all very confusing, because as best we can tell from prior evidence, Ishmael would have been in his mid-late teens at this point. Was he really that old when Hagar left him under a shrub? Or are the stories somewhat out of order? Anyway, the well was in a place called Beersheba...although it may not have been called that when this story actually takes place because we would hear about the well at Beersheba being named later in the chapter.
Back to Abraham...Now Abimelech comes up to Abraham and basically tells him, "I know you are a man of God, I know you will be of great power, so let's make a deal....I've always been good to you, so you should promise that you will never turn on me or my sons or my son's sons." Abraham proceeds to say that he hasn't always been good to him as his men had taken a well away from Abraham. Abimelech denies knowing anything about it and claims innocence of the incident. So Abraham gets 7 ewes and tells Abimelech that they will be witness to the fact that the well in question was in fact dug by Abraham and that it is his well. Abimelech says OK and all is fine and dandy. They name the place Beersheba (is this the same well that Hagar was saved at?), Abraham plants a grove of trees and decides to go traveling with his family some more....hopefully not to tell more people she is his sister (which will be kind of hard now that they have a kid together).
...more to come....
Abimilech asks why Abraham lied to him and he responds that it was neither a lie nor truth. He is actually a half brother to Sarah, so she is both his wife and sister. Therefore it was not a lie. Abraham continues that he did not want someone to kill him for his wife.
Now this all seems a little strange to me, and it seems that Abraham and Sarah have a pretty good con going on. Go into a new town, have say Sarah is his sister, have her get taken, have God get mad and curse the people, get Sarah back, and finally get lots of stuff as a pay off for the misunderstanding. Whatever the case, Abimelech then tells Abraham and Sarah to pick a place in his lands and take it.
Chapter 21: Sarah has Isaac as promised. He is circumcised, grows, and is weaned. Abraham throws a feast for Isaac and Hagar's (remember, she had Abraham's kid earlier?) son started mocking Issac. Sarah is torqued off by this and tells Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael packing so that Issac will be the sole heir. Woefully, Abraham sends the two off into the wilderness with just a loaf of bread and a jug of water. God tells him not to worry as Ishmael will be a father of his own nation as well.
Naturally, things do not go well for Hagar with a son and only some bread and water in the wilderness. When the water is gone, she gives up on life, and throws her son under some shrubs to cry and die where she doesn't have to see it. She prays to God and then is answered by finding a well with which to give him water. This is all very confusing, because as best we can tell from prior evidence, Ishmael would have been in his mid-late teens at this point. Was he really that old when Hagar left him under a shrub? Or are the stories somewhat out of order? Anyway, the well was in a place called Beersheba...although it may not have been called that when this story actually takes place because we would hear about the well at Beersheba being named later in the chapter.
Back to Abraham...Now Abimelech comes up to Abraham and basically tells him, "I know you are a man of God, I know you will be of great power, so let's make a deal....I've always been good to you, so you should promise that you will never turn on me or my sons or my son's sons." Abraham proceeds to say that he hasn't always been good to him as his men had taken a well away from Abraham. Abimelech denies knowing anything about it and claims innocence of the incident. So Abraham gets 7 ewes and tells Abimelech that they will be witness to the fact that the well in question was in fact dug by Abraham and that it is his well. Abimelech says OK and all is fine and dandy. They name the place Beersheba (is this the same well that Hagar was saved at?), Abraham plants a grove of trees and decides to go traveling with his family some more....hopefully not to tell more people she is his sister (which will be kind of hard now that they have a kid together).
...more to come....
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Genesis 15-19; Wowza!
Chapters 15-19 cover a whole lot of story!
Chapter 15:
God reminds Abram that he will become the father of a great nation. Abram has a nightmare that God explains to mean that Abram's seed will spend 400 years serving a foreign land. His land would be "from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates."
Chapter 16:
Sarai is barren and is a little concerned that she will not be able to give Abram this so-called "seed" about whom God keeps reminding him. Sooooo....she sends Abram over to her maid, Hagar, so that she would conceive and have a child for Abram. But when Hagar gets pregnant, she comes to despise Sarai for this and flees into the wilderness. An angel comes to Hagar and told her she should go back to Sarai, bare a son and call him Ishmael, and he'll be a wild dude (sounds like a bit of a rogue, maybe).
Chapter 17:
This is the covenant (promise/agreement) between God and Abram. God changes his name to Abraham. God says he will make Abraham a great nation and he will be given the land of Canaan (remember Canann? Ham's son...cursed to serve the families of Shem and Japheth? Abraham came out of Shem's lineage.) God asks Abraham to circumcise all of the men among him, family and servants alike, as a token of this covenant. Any man who is uncircumcised will be cut off from his people, as he will have broken God's covenant. Sarai's name is now changed to Sarah. And God says he will bless her with a son and she will be the mother of a great nation. This son's name will be Isaac. God also says that he will make Ishmael fruitful--twelve princes shall he beget--and make him a great nation. Then Abraham goes and circumcises all of the men of his house that very day.
Chapter 18:
Now three "men" show up at Abraham's tent door one day. It would seem that these "men" are two angels and God (or three angels and God was also there?). Abraham has Sarah prepare a big meal for them. As she's preparing it, she hears them telling Abraham that she will bare him a son. She laughs at this and God's like, "Why is Sarah laughing? Am I not God? Can I not do anything?" Sarah denied that she laughed, but God said, "Naw...pretty sure you laughed!"
Then the men/angels looked out toward Sodom (where Lot is currently residing with his families). God says, "Sodom and Gommorah are pure evil. I'm going to destroy them." Abraham feels a little uneasy about this because Lot is there. He says, "Are you going to destroy the righteous with the wicked?" Then Abraham proceeds to pester God in groups of 10..."if there are 50 righteous men, will you destroy it?" "No. Not for 50." "If there are 40 righteous men will you destroy it?" "No. Not for 40." And so on down the line all the way to 10. God says he will not destroy Sodom if there are 10 good men there.
Chapter 19:
The two angels that had visited Abraham went to go fetch Lot. Lot tells them to spend the night at his place for safety's sake. The say that they'll just spend the night in the street, but Lot insists that they stay with him, so they come into his home. Before they go to bed, the men of Sodom start calling for Lot, "Where are the men that came to visit you? Send them out that we may "know" them." I suppose I can't be certain what this actually means, but typically in the bible when someone wants to "know" someone else, it is implying a sexual relationship. So Lot goes out to the men and says, "I have a couple of virgin daughters you can have for your purpose (?!), but please leave these men (angels) alone." The men get upset that this foreigner is judging them, so now they go after Lot. The angels grab Lot and pull him inside and "smite" the men outside with blindness so that they cannot find the door.
The angels tell Lot that he'd better take his family and leave and not look back. Lot warns his sons-in-laws and married daughters, but is only ignored. So he leaves with his two virgin daughters and his wife, but uh-oh! His wife looks back right as God is sending down fire and brimstone upon the cities! The angels said not to look back! Now she turns into a pillar of salt. So Lot and his two daughters are safe and in hiding out in the mountains in a cave. His daughters commune; they are concerned that their father is old and there are no men around to...uh, "know" them. They then devise a plan to get Lot pass-out drunk, sleep with him!!!!, and bare children so that he might have a seed. Aaaand that's exactly what they do. Their children will become the Moabites and then Ammonites (we've read about these peoples before).
Really. Why people insist on not reading the bible is beside me! These stories are chock full of more television drama material that even the best writers in Hollywood could come up with! Albeit, it's a little unsettling, and as you're reading it you may just do a double take or let out a "WHAT?!" But really, interesting stuff.
More next week.
Chapter 15:
God reminds Abram that he will become the father of a great nation. Abram has a nightmare that God explains to mean that Abram's seed will spend 400 years serving a foreign land. His land would be "from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates."
Chapter 16:
Sarai is barren and is a little concerned that she will not be able to give Abram this so-called "seed" about whom God keeps reminding him. Sooooo....she sends Abram over to her maid, Hagar, so that she would conceive and have a child for Abram. But when Hagar gets pregnant, she comes to despise Sarai for this and flees into the wilderness. An angel comes to Hagar and told her she should go back to Sarai, bare a son and call him Ishmael, and he'll be a wild dude (sounds like a bit of a rogue, maybe).
Chapter 17:
This is the covenant (promise/agreement) between God and Abram. God changes his name to Abraham. God says he will make Abraham a great nation and he will be given the land of Canaan (remember Canann? Ham's son...cursed to serve the families of Shem and Japheth? Abraham came out of Shem's lineage.) God asks Abraham to circumcise all of the men among him, family and servants alike, as a token of this covenant. Any man who is uncircumcised will be cut off from his people, as he will have broken God's covenant. Sarai's name is now changed to Sarah. And God says he will bless her with a son and she will be the mother of a great nation. This son's name will be Isaac. God also says that he will make Ishmael fruitful--twelve princes shall he beget--and make him a great nation. Then Abraham goes and circumcises all of the men of his house that very day.
Chapter 18:
Now three "men" show up at Abraham's tent door one day. It would seem that these "men" are two angels and God (or three angels and God was also there?). Abraham has Sarah prepare a big meal for them. As she's preparing it, she hears them telling Abraham that she will bare him a son. She laughs at this and God's like, "Why is Sarah laughing? Am I not God? Can I not do anything?" Sarah denied that she laughed, but God said, "Naw...pretty sure you laughed!"
Then the men/angels looked out toward Sodom (where Lot is currently residing with his families). God says, "Sodom and Gommorah are pure evil. I'm going to destroy them." Abraham feels a little uneasy about this because Lot is there. He says, "Are you going to destroy the righteous with the wicked?" Then Abraham proceeds to pester God in groups of 10..."if there are 50 righteous men, will you destroy it?" "No. Not for 50." "If there are 40 righteous men will you destroy it?" "No. Not for 40." And so on down the line all the way to 10. God says he will not destroy Sodom if there are 10 good men there.
Chapter 19:
The two angels that had visited Abraham went to go fetch Lot. Lot tells them to spend the night at his place for safety's sake. The say that they'll just spend the night in the street, but Lot insists that they stay with him, so they come into his home. Before they go to bed, the men of Sodom start calling for Lot, "Where are the men that came to visit you? Send them out that we may "know" them." I suppose I can't be certain what this actually means, but typically in the bible when someone wants to "know" someone else, it is implying a sexual relationship. So Lot goes out to the men and says, "I have a couple of virgin daughters you can have for your purpose (?!), but please leave these men (angels) alone." The men get upset that this foreigner is judging them, so now they go after Lot. The angels grab Lot and pull him inside and "smite" the men outside with blindness so that they cannot find the door.
The angels tell Lot that he'd better take his family and leave and not look back. Lot warns his sons-in-laws and married daughters, but is only ignored. So he leaves with his two virgin daughters and his wife, but uh-oh! His wife looks back right as God is sending down fire and brimstone upon the cities! The angels said not to look back! Now she turns into a pillar of salt. So Lot and his two daughters are safe and in hiding out in the mountains in a cave. His daughters commune; they are concerned that their father is old and there are no men around to...uh, "know" them. They then devise a plan to get Lot pass-out drunk, sleep with him!!!!, and bare children so that he might have a seed. Aaaand that's exactly what they do. Their children will become the Moabites and then Ammonites (we've read about these peoples before).
Really. Why people insist on not reading the bible is beside me! These stories are chock full of more television drama material that even the best writers in Hollywood could come up with! Albeit, it's a little unsettling, and as you're reading it you may just do a double take or let out a "WHAT?!" But really, interesting stuff.
More next week.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Genesis 13-14: Lot leaves, gets saved
Abram, after departing Egypt, goes back to where the altar had been set up. At this point, he is very wealthy. As is his nephew Lot... Therefore, they weren't able to peacefully co-exist in the same land because there weren't enough resources for them and their people to sustain themselves. A feud occurs between the herdsmen of the two men and then Abram says, "We can't both stay here. You go your way, I'll go the other way." So Lot decides that the land by the river Jordan was pretty fertile looking and moves that way...which happens to be in Sodom (a place of exceedingly sinful men). It is now that God tells Abram to look around and see all that surrounds him, for it shall all be his. Then Abram builds another altar in Hebron.
Now, while this is happening a war is breaking out between an alliance of 4 area kings and an alliance of 5 area kings (the king of Sodom was among these). Why does this matter? because Lot is in Sodom and Sodom is overrun...therefore Lot is taken. Abram is notably upset by this and gathers his men to go and save Lot. They run down Lot's captors and smite them by nightfall, getting back Lot and all of his goods (and his women, by the way). Upon returning Lot, the king of Sodom rushes out to meet Abram, thanking him for helping his kingdom. He offers to give Abram all of the goods he has gotten back for the kingdom of Sodom, but Abram will have none of it. Clearly, Abram does not want to be considered a champion of Sodom's cause. Helping Sodom was only a by-product of helping Lot.
More to come....the destruction of Sodom was foreshadowed in chapter 13 10: "...the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah..." Sodom and Gomorrah hasn't been smitten yet, but we are told about it so I'm guessing it will be happening pretty soon.
Now, while this is happening a war is breaking out between an alliance of 4 area kings and an alliance of 5 area kings (the king of Sodom was among these). Why does this matter? because Lot is in Sodom and Sodom is overrun...therefore Lot is taken. Abram is notably upset by this and gathers his men to go and save Lot. They run down Lot's captors and smite them by nightfall, getting back Lot and all of his goods (and his women, by the way). Upon returning Lot, the king of Sodom rushes out to meet Abram, thanking him for helping his kingdom. He offers to give Abram all of the goods he has gotten back for the kingdom of Sodom, but Abram will have none of it. Clearly, Abram does not want to be considered a champion of Sodom's cause. Helping Sodom was only a by-product of helping Lot.
More to come....the destruction of Sodom was foreshadowed in chapter 13 10: "...the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah..." Sodom and Gomorrah hasn't been smitten yet, but we are told about it so I'm guessing it will be happening pretty soon.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Genesis 11-12: Post flood world and the appearance of Abram
Brief synopsis tonight as the story is pretty straightforward setting up back story for what is to come:
Chapter 11:
We are told of a post flood world where all of the people speak one language. The people realize that with their one language, all can communicate to build and do great things. What do they decide to do with this revelation? Build a tower to reach to God. God sees that man will be capable of anything he puts his mind to and then decides to mix their languages and scatter them about, presumably in an attempt to keep them from trying to be like God. The place was therefore named Babel as it was where the people's languages were mixed up. This story has modern connotations all over it. With our never ending and always improving technology, society is not only beginning to try to reach past God, but is also trying to get through life without God through very unnatural means. Perhaps this story can serve as a warning. as we work toward a global society, capable of achieving anything, where everything is electronic in one wireless "cloud," aren't we just a major crash away from once again becoming babbling idiots?
I digress....the rest of this chapter is a lot of begetting ultimately leading us to Abram. *noteworthy point: people are living shorter and shorter lifespans through these generations*
Now Abram had two brothers. One brother, Haran died, leaving his son Lot without a father. After Haran's death in the city of Ur, Tehrah (Abram's father) took Abram, Lot and Abram's barren wife Sarai and left Ur to move to Caanan. On the way to Caanan, they stopped in the city of Haran where Terah died.
Chapter 12:
God tells Abram to leave and to go to a land God would show him and make him the start of a great nation. Abram says OK and takes Sarai, Lot, all of their stuff and all of the "souls" they gathered and went into Canaan. Abram went through Canaan and continued on until God said STOP!....This is the place. Abram pitched a tent and then built an altar unto the Lord. Then Abram started going further South and a famine started. Abram took his crew and decided to go to Egypt...which is when things get quite interesting.
Abram tells Sarai, "you are quite hot, and they will kill me to take you if they know you are my wife....let's just say you are my sister." This works and all of the Pharaoh's princes hoot and holler at the hotness of Sarai and take her to Pharaoh. Pharaoh decides that he like's her and takes her into his house and gives Abram lots of animals and servants in return....until bad things start happening to Pharaoh and he realizes it is punishment for taking another man's wife. he gets mad at Abram for lying to him and then kicks his butt to the curb.
More to come....
Chapter 11:
We are told of a post flood world where all of the people speak one language. The people realize that with their one language, all can communicate to build and do great things. What do they decide to do with this revelation? Build a tower to reach to God. God sees that man will be capable of anything he puts his mind to and then decides to mix their languages and scatter them about, presumably in an attempt to keep them from trying to be like God. The place was therefore named Babel as it was where the people's languages were mixed up. This story has modern connotations all over it. With our never ending and always improving technology, society is not only beginning to try to reach past God, but is also trying to get through life without God through very unnatural means. Perhaps this story can serve as a warning. as we work toward a global society, capable of achieving anything, where everything is electronic in one wireless "cloud," aren't we just a major crash away from once again becoming babbling idiots?
I digress....the rest of this chapter is a lot of begetting ultimately leading us to Abram. *noteworthy point: people are living shorter and shorter lifespans through these generations*
Now Abram had two brothers. One brother, Haran died, leaving his son Lot without a father. After Haran's death in the city of Ur, Tehrah (Abram's father) took Abram, Lot and Abram's barren wife Sarai and left Ur to move to Caanan. On the way to Caanan, they stopped in the city of Haran where Terah died.
Chapter 12:
God tells Abram to leave and to go to a land God would show him and make him the start of a great nation. Abram says OK and takes Sarai, Lot, all of their stuff and all of the "souls" they gathered and went into Canaan. Abram went through Canaan and continued on until God said STOP!....This is the place. Abram pitched a tent and then built an altar unto the Lord. Then Abram started going further South and a famine started. Abram took his crew and decided to go to Egypt...which is when things get quite interesting.
Abram tells Sarai, "you are quite hot, and they will kill me to take you if they know you are my wife....let's just say you are my sister." This works and all of the Pharaoh's princes hoot and holler at the hotness of Sarai and take her to Pharaoh. Pharaoh decides that he like's her and takes her into his house and gives Abram lots of animals and servants in return....until bad things start happening to Pharaoh and he realizes it is punishment for taking another man's wife. he gets mad at Abram for lying to him and then kicks his butt to the curb.
More to come....
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