Reuben had sex with his step-mother because he was lashing out against his dad. It was not a relationship of desire, but of anger... it was like rape. It was an act of anger against his father for preferring Joseph over him, for preferring Joseph's family over his. He had sex with the closest person to Joseph's family because of hate. When his dad discovered Reuben's act of terror, Reuben entered into a life of regret, looking for any opportunity to make it up to his dad.
His first opportunity came when the brothers planned the killing of Joseph. Reuben had hoped to rescue Joseph and bring him safely back to his father, however, his plan was foiled when the brothers sold Joseph into slavery. Rather than becoming the hero, Reuben lost his opportunity and got himself into a deeper snare than ever with his father.
Reuben's last chance came as he led his brothers to Egypt in order to get food for the family. They had already been once to Egypt - the experience was terrifying - the ruler of the country played nasty mind games with them, and one of their brothers was imprisoned unjustly by the same ruler. In order for them to go back to Egypt; in order for them to get food to survive, they had to go back to that same ruler with one stipulation - they had to bring Benjamin.
Benjamin replaced Joseph as Dad's favorite son. He was not allowed to go with the brothers to Egypt in the past because their father so feared that something would happen to him. Dad had already lost Joseph to a wild animal (so he thought) and would not allow the only remaining member of the family he loved the most to leave him and go on a dangerous journey. But if he did not go to Egypt and face the cruel man who had the food, the entire family would die of starvation.
As the leader of the brothers Reuben made a pitiful argument for going, "Kill my sons if we do not bring Benjamin back alive!"
It was his last act of leadership. His father flat out refused him. With that final attempt to talk to his father, Reuben was broken beyond repair. His younger brother Judah took over as the leader of the brothers, convincing their father that he must let go of Benjamin. It was also Judah who would convince the cruel leader to reveal his real identity - Joseph.
But that's another story.
Reuben's life relationship with his father came to a sad end. On his father Jacob's deathbed, Jacob gave blessings to his sons. He began with Reuben because he was his oldest, but there was no blessing for Joseph, only a tragic reminder of the one event Reuben tried so hard to put behind him, "But you are as unruly as the waves of the sea, and you will be first no longer. For you slept with one of my wives; you dishonored me in my own bed."
And that is the end of the story for Reuben and his father.
No lesson. Tragic ending.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Did Reuben Regret Having Sex with His Step Mother?
The highest value in Genesis is a father's / husbands attention or blessing.
Put yourself in Reuben's shoes for a minute.
1- Your dad betrayed you.
2- You get angry and get even by shaming him, hoping to keep it secret.
3- Dad finds out and although you know you hurt him deeply, he says nothing - he will never forget and you know it.
4- Dad use to be the wrongdoer, now you are.
Here's another way of putting it:
1- Every boy in the family has 5 dad points just for being his son.
2- You and 9 of your brothers think you have 10 dad points because you are the oldest.
3- In one day you discover that youngest brother has 10 dad points and you have only 5 dad points.
4- You act out of impulse and out of anger and get caught.
6- You now have 1 dad point.
7- For the rest of your life you will seek to gain back any dad points.
Does this play out in Reuben's behavior? Absolutely.
Joseph was the younger brother that was any family's nightmare. Against all that was fair, he got the best of dad's attention and he flaunted it. He was dad's favorite and he bragged about his coat dad gave him, told everybody how his dreams put him above every body else, and if any body did anything wrong, he told dad about it. Everybody in the family hated him. In fact, they hated him so much they wanted to kill him.
The opportunity came when Joseph visited his brothers miles away from home. The brothers decided to kill him then and there, but Reuben (as the leader of the brothers) decided it would be better to put him in a pit and let nature kill him and thus they would not be guilty of murder. The brothers agreed. In reality Reuben was planning on coming back later and rescuing Joseph so that he could bring him back to his father. In his mind he would be the hero who saved dad's most precious possession. Dad would forgive him for sleeping with step mom, and give him back some dad points.
However, the brothers sell Joseph into slavery when Reuben was not around. When he learned that his plan was foiled his response is very telling, "the boy is gone, what can I do now?" Not only did he lose his opportunity to gain back some dad points, he stood to lose any dad point left because as the oldest brother to some degree he was the responsible for the brother's well being.
There are some things in life you cannot take back no matter how hard you try. Reuben should have dealt with his father's betrayal in better ways. After having sex with his step mother and after hurting his dad, he would have given anything to get back what he had and live with 5 dad points.
Lesson - Lashing out in anger and frustration can make things worse for you - even to the point that you will wish you could return to where you are now. You say that you don't care? You will. Learn to deal with an unfair situation without doing something you regret the rest of your life. If you are angry or frustrated, think of the long term consequences of your actions.
Some examples of lashing out:
-hitting somebody
-having an affair
-quitting work
-getting involved in road rage
-leaving home
-getting drunk
-getting high
-stealing
-smashing a wall
Be angry, but...
-don't sin
-don't feed it, and nurse it and let it hang around forever
-don't let the devil step in and take it to new levels
(Based on Ephesians 4:26-27)
It's o.k. to be angry. You will face betrayals and some unfair things in life. It's o.k. to be angry. Just be careful with what you do with that anger.
Put yourself in Reuben's shoes for a minute.
1- Your dad betrayed you.
2- You get angry and get even by shaming him, hoping to keep it secret.
3- Dad finds out and although you know you hurt him deeply, he says nothing - he will never forget and you know it.
4- Dad use to be the wrongdoer, now you are.
Here's another way of putting it:
1- Every boy in the family has 5 dad points just for being his son.
2- You and 9 of your brothers think you have 10 dad points because you are the oldest.
3- In one day you discover that youngest brother has 10 dad points and you have only 5 dad points.
4- You act out of impulse and out of anger and get caught.
6- You now have 1 dad point.
7- For the rest of your life you will seek to gain back any dad points.
Does this play out in Reuben's behavior? Absolutely.
Joseph was the younger brother that was any family's nightmare. Against all that was fair, he got the best of dad's attention and he flaunted it. He was dad's favorite and he bragged about his coat dad gave him, told everybody how his dreams put him above every body else, and if any body did anything wrong, he told dad about it. Everybody in the family hated him. In fact, they hated him so much they wanted to kill him.
The opportunity came when Joseph visited his brothers miles away from home. The brothers decided to kill him then and there, but Reuben (as the leader of the brothers) decided it would be better to put him in a pit and let nature kill him and thus they would not be guilty of murder. The brothers agreed. In reality Reuben was planning on coming back later and rescuing Joseph so that he could bring him back to his father. In his mind he would be the hero who saved dad's most precious possession. Dad would forgive him for sleeping with step mom, and give him back some dad points.
However, the brothers sell Joseph into slavery when Reuben was not around. When he learned that his plan was foiled his response is very telling, "the boy is gone, what can I do now?" Not only did he lose his opportunity to gain back some dad points, he stood to lose any dad point left because as the oldest brother to some degree he was the responsible for the brother's well being.
There are some things in life you cannot take back no matter how hard you try. Reuben should have dealt with his father's betrayal in better ways. After having sex with his step mother and after hurting his dad, he would have given anything to get back what he had and live with 5 dad points.
Lesson - Lashing out in anger and frustration can make things worse for you - even to the point that you will wish you could return to where you are now. You say that you don't care? You will. Learn to deal with an unfair situation without doing something you regret the rest of your life. If you are angry or frustrated, think of the long term consequences of your actions.
Some examples of lashing out:
-hitting somebody
-having an affair
-quitting work
-getting involved in road rage
-leaving home
-getting drunk
-getting high
-stealing
-smashing a wall
Be angry, but...
-don't sin
-don't feed it, and nurse it and let it hang around forever
-don't let the devil step in and take it to new levels
(Based on Ephesians 4:26-27)
It's o.k. to be angry. You will face betrayals and some unfair things in life. It's o.k. to be angry. Just be careful with what you do with that anger.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Why Did Reuben Have Sex with His Step-Mother?
In Genesis 35:22, Reuben had intercourse with his father's concubine Bilhah (Rachel's slave that gave birth to two of Jacob's sons). Jacob heard about it, but remained silent about the affair. The text passes over the event like it was a minor offense, but at Jacob's deathbed, the event was brought up with a vengeance. Even though Jacob said nothing during all his years, his deathbed words, and the behavior of Reuben after the affair, suggest that Jacob held on to a deep anger that was never reconciled or brought up until he was ready to die. Even at his death bed, Jacob did not forgive his son for what he did.
As mentioned, the text only briefly mentions the affair as if it were a minor infraction. However, for Reuben it was not minor.
THE AFFAIR
I believe that Reuben had no sexual drive he was satisfying with his step-mother. I believe he acted in a moment of vengeance and anger attacking his own father.
Let me clarify. When King David ran from his own son Absalom, Absalom took 10 of David's concubines (live in girlfriends) and had sex with all of them publicly so that all of Israel could see that he was dishonoring his father David. It was not an act of lust, but an act of sedition and dominance. It was an act designed to disgrace David and thus let all Israel know that Absalom had no intent on ever renewing relationship with his father. Reuben's act was very similar to this.
In their era, raping, murder, and pillaging were aggressive acts of war that sometimes spilled out into normal life. Reuben's sex with his step mom was an aggressive act of dominance over his father.
Reuben was Jacob's first born of 12 sons and at least one daughter from 2 wives and 2 concubines. As the oldest he was the leader of the siblings, the expected heir of most of dad's wealth, the one who would get a special blessing from the father, and the boy who according to culture should get most of dad's attention, love and respect. Politically speaking, he was to be the head of the clan when his father died.
Shortly before the sexual escapade, Reuben's father Jacob (the father of the 12 sons) faced a life and death situation. Fearing that he would lose all, Jacob divided up the families according to importance. The servants and slaves were placed in the front of the line in case there was a battle and people were to be killed. The concubines and their families were next. But when it came time for the 2 wives and their families to be lined up, Reuben discovered for the first time that he was not his father's favorite. His mother and her sons were placed next before Aunt Rachel and her son, Joseph, who was the youngest of all the children. The fact that Rachel and her children were last, showed everybody that the youngest child Joseph and his mother Rachel were his dad's favorites.
Because Joseph was the youngest (this was before his younger brother Benjamin was born), the brothers expected to see Joseph and his mom to be the least in importance. But to see Joseph and his mom set apart as the most important was an insult to all the brothers - most of all to Reuben.
Fortunately, the entire family passed through the life and death situation without violence. But unfortunately for Reuben, the damage was done. Rachel (Joseph's mother and Jacob's favorite wife) died after giving birth to the 12th son Benjamin; and Reuben who was still angry about his dad's choice of favorites, went into Rachel's servant's (his dad's concubine and mother of some of his half-brothers) tent and had sex with her. Like a warrior, Reuben felt like he was getting vengeance by acting on an impulse and lashing out in anger because he believed he was betrayed.
Vengeance seems to work in the movies, but in real life it turns the tables in unexpected ways. Rather than remaining the victim, Reuben had to live the rest of his life with regret, knowing that he hurt and insulted his father deeply. He would live with that regret, compounded with the fact that his father would not talk about it, or deal with it. He would live his entire life with regret, trying with every opportunity to get back some of his father's respect; only to lose over and over again... but then that's another story.
There is a great moral in all this. If you get angry, don't let impulse direct you...you may regret it the rest of your life.
As mentioned, the text only briefly mentions the affair as if it were a minor infraction. However, for Reuben it was not minor.
THE AFFAIR
I believe that Reuben had no sexual drive he was satisfying with his step-mother. I believe he acted in a moment of vengeance and anger attacking his own father.
Let me clarify. When King David ran from his own son Absalom, Absalom took 10 of David's concubines (live in girlfriends) and had sex with all of them publicly so that all of Israel could see that he was dishonoring his father David. It was not an act of lust, but an act of sedition and dominance. It was an act designed to disgrace David and thus let all Israel know that Absalom had no intent on ever renewing relationship with his father. Reuben's act was very similar to this.
In their era, raping, murder, and pillaging were aggressive acts of war that sometimes spilled out into normal life. Reuben's sex with his step mom was an aggressive act of dominance over his father.
Reuben was Jacob's first born of 12 sons and at least one daughter from 2 wives and 2 concubines. As the oldest he was the leader of the siblings, the expected heir of most of dad's wealth, the one who would get a special blessing from the father, and the boy who according to culture should get most of dad's attention, love and respect. Politically speaking, he was to be the head of the clan when his father died.
Shortly before the sexual escapade, Reuben's father Jacob (the father of the 12 sons) faced a life and death situation. Fearing that he would lose all, Jacob divided up the families according to importance. The servants and slaves were placed in the front of the line in case there was a battle and people were to be killed. The concubines and their families were next. But when it came time for the 2 wives and their families to be lined up, Reuben discovered for the first time that he was not his father's favorite. His mother and her sons were placed next before Aunt Rachel and her son, Joseph, who was the youngest of all the children. The fact that Rachel and her children were last, showed everybody that the youngest child Joseph and his mother Rachel were his dad's favorites.
Because Joseph was the youngest (this was before his younger brother Benjamin was born), the brothers expected to see Joseph and his mom to be the least in importance. But to see Joseph and his mom set apart as the most important was an insult to all the brothers - most of all to Reuben.
Fortunately, the entire family passed through the life and death situation without violence. But unfortunately for Reuben, the damage was done. Rachel (Joseph's mother and Jacob's favorite wife) died after giving birth to the 12th son Benjamin; and Reuben who was still angry about his dad's choice of favorites, went into Rachel's servant's (his dad's concubine and mother of some of his half-brothers) tent and had sex with her. Like a warrior, Reuben felt like he was getting vengeance by acting on an impulse and lashing out in anger because he believed he was betrayed.
Vengeance seems to work in the movies, but in real life it turns the tables in unexpected ways. Rather than remaining the victim, Reuben had to live the rest of his life with regret, knowing that he hurt and insulted his father deeply. He would live with that regret, compounded with the fact that his father would not talk about it, or deal with it. He would live his entire life with regret, trying with every opportunity to get back some of his father's respect; only to lose over and over again... but then that's another story.
There is a great moral in all this. If you get angry, don't let impulse direct you...you may regret it the rest of your life.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Themes in Genesis: Values
Values in the time of Genesis were much different than ours.
1. The most important goals were for survival:
a. Fruit of the belly - having lots of children - Tamar even goes so far as to pose as a prostitute to get a child. And she was considered righteous in what she did.
b. Fruit of the ground - having lots of crops
2. The second most important goal was that of getting attention, that is, rising to the top. Here are some examples:
a. People fought for God's attention and blessings - Cain killed his brother because he got more attention from God, Jacob wrestled with an angel for it
b. People wanted dad's attention and blessing - 10 of Joseph's brothers sought to kill Joseph because he got most of dad's attention, and Jacob stole his dad's blessing
c. Wives wanted their husband's attention, competing and fighting for it.
These themes are seen over and over and over in Genesis. All other values and morals were secondary to the needs of survival and getting attention.
3. Another important value in Genesis is the need to stay in the family. Because Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were nomads, they prefered to stay within the family for marriages and close relationships. They wandered from place to place, so outsiders were not trusted.
1. The most important goals were for survival:
a. Fruit of the belly - having lots of children - Tamar even goes so far as to pose as a prostitute to get a child. And she was considered righteous in what she did.
b. Fruit of the ground - having lots of crops
2. The second most important goal was that of getting attention, that is, rising to the top. Here are some examples:
a. People fought for God's attention and blessings - Cain killed his brother because he got more attention from God, Jacob wrestled with an angel for it
b. People wanted dad's attention and blessing - 10 of Joseph's brothers sought to kill Joseph because he got most of dad's attention, and Jacob stole his dad's blessing
c. Wives wanted their husband's attention, competing and fighting for it.
These themes are seen over and over and over in Genesis. All other values and morals were secondary to the needs of survival and getting attention.
3. Another important value in Genesis is the need to stay in the family. Because Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were nomads, they prefered to stay within the family for marriages and close relationships. They wandered from place to place, so outsiders were not trusted.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Was Adam with Eve During the Temptation?
The Verdict is out. Was Adam with Eve during the temptation?
Clue One: The serpent spoke only to the woman. Why?
Clue Two: Adam was not mentioned until after Eve ate from the fruit.
Clue Three: When Eve ate, she gave to her husband who was with her. Was he with her during or only after the temptation?
Think this through.
If Adam was with her, why was he so quite?
Clue One: The serpent spoke only to the woman. Why?
Clue Two: Adam was not mentioned until after Eve ate from the fruit.
Clue Three: When Eve ate, she gave to her husband who was with her. Was he with her during or only after the temptation?
Think this through.
If Adam was with her, why was he so quite?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Themes in Genesis: Competition - Cain and Abel
Genesis is loaded with people who compete for attention. Sons want the attention of their father and wives want the attention of their husbands. The first competition for attention in Genesis is not about husband or father attention, but a competition over God's attention. Even though the focus of attention is different, it is the same dynamic in every case.
As the competition between Cain and Abel were the first of all of Genesis' competitions, it served as the prototype for all the others.
In the case of Adam and Cain, they both bring offerings to God. Cain brought from his harvest and Abel brought from "the best" of his flock. What's the difference? Those two words "the best."
Cain got jealous because his brother's sacrifice was the one God liked the best. This made him angry and in this anger he killed his brother to get rid of the competition and to fulfill his need to act on his anger.
Even though jealousy and competition for attention was repeated throughout the book of Genesis, there was only one time that any solution for it was mentioned. When God spoke to Cain He said, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
Sin was like a lion that waits to pounce on its victim.
Genesis offered the solution to jealousy and competition in Genesis, and He offered it to Cain while he was feeling his jealous anger and before he had killed his brother. He never again tells anybody in Genesis, but time and time again Cain's jealous rage will be repeated in with Sarah, Isaac, Reuben, and Joseph's brothers. None of them controlled their jealousy. Sin pounced on each of them.
As the competition between Cain and Abel were the first of all of Genesis' competitions, it served as the prototype for all the others.
In the case of Adam and Cain, they both bring offerings to God. Cain brought from his harvest and Abel brought from "the best" of his flock. What's the difference? Those two words "the best."
Cain got jealous because his brother's sacrifice was the one God liked the best. This made him angry and in this anger he killed his brother to get rid of the competition and to fulfill his need to act on his anger.
Even though jealousy and competition for attention was repeated throughout the book of Genesis, there was only one time that any solution for it was mentioned. When God spoke to Cain He said, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
Sin was like a lion that waits to pounce on its victim.
Genesis offered the solution to jealousy and competition in Genesis, and He offered it to Cain while he was feeling his jealous anger and before he had killed his brother. He never again tells anybody in Genesis, but time and time again Cain's jealous rage will be repeated in with Sarah, Isaac, Reuben, and Joseph's brothers. None of them controlled their jealousy. Sin pounced on each of them.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Why Did God Send a Flood?
God sent a flood on the earth to destroy just about everything...why? Genesis 6 tells us it was because of several reasons.
First of all there was wickedness. Unfortunately this is a generic term that does not help us to understand what God hated. The same is true when Genesis says that the world was corrupt. Without context these words mean only what each person reads into the words corrupt and wicked.
The context does, however, shed some light on the sinfulness of humanity. For one, Genesis 6:12 tells us that people corrupted themselves. They did not simply passively fall into corruption, but actively participated in it.
Secondly, the contextual stage is set in the early verses of chapter 6 when the sons of God took wives from the daughters of men. The meaning of this passage was discussed elsewhere, but for the purpose of this section, it seems to say nothing to us today unless we somehow relate this verse to Christians marrying non-Christians (this is a stretch and does not find support from a literal reading of the text).
This brings us to the next sin - every imagination of the human heart was only evil. Once again we find a generic term that leaves us wondering what thoughts were thought. However, it is clear that the passage and the passages following the flood suggest that the thoughts of the human heart are no different today than they were then.
These verses and words that describe the condition of humanity that God hated leave us wondering what exactly did push God into such anger. However, in verses 11 and 13 gets more specific and tells us that God destroyed the earth because people were violent.
I must emphasize, the flood did not change anything about that violence. People would still be violent after the flood. In fact, after the flood God simply resigned himself to the fact that we would not change.
Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done." (Genesis 8:21)
The rest of Genesis shows us what kind of thoughts and the type of violence that humanity is capable of. In other stories in the book of Genesis we find brothers plotting against and killing brothers, rape, incest, taking revenge by killing the men of a city, taking innocent people prisoners, kings fighting against kings, raping of strangers (IE: Sodom wanting to rape the angels), killing in self-defense, forced slavery, mistreatment of slaves, blaming others, and so on, and so on.
Humanity never did change. God just resigned himself to the fact that our thinking is evil and our actions are violent. We never changed. We are still violent. Our thoughts still justify violence. Whether it is on a national level, a group level, or an individual level... we are and will always be violent. Furthermore, we usually do not see the evil of our own violence and we will usually justify it.
First of all there was wickedness. Unfortunately this is a generic term that does not help us to understand what God hated. The same is true when Genesis says that the world was corrupt. Without context these words mean only what each person reads into the words corrupt and wicked.
The context does, however, shed some light on the sinfulness of humanity. For one, Genesis 6:12 tells us that people corrupted themselves. They did not simply passively fall into corruption, but actively participated in it.
Secondly, the contextual stage is set in the early verses of chapter 6 when the sons of God took wives from the daughters of men. The meaning of this passage was discussed elsewhere, but for the purpose of this section, it seems to say nothing to us today unless we somehow relate this verse to Christians marrying non-Christians (this is a stretch and does not find support from a literal reading of the text).
This brings us to the next sin - every imagination of the human heart was only evil. Once again we find a generic term that leaves us wondering what thoughts were thought. However, it is clear that the passage and the passages following the flood suggest that the thoughts of the human heart are no different today than they were then.
These verses and words that describe the condition of humanity that God hated leave us wondering what exactly did push God into such anger. However, in verses 11 and 13 gets more specific and tells us that God destroyed the earth because people were violent.
I must emphasize, the flood did not change anything about that violence. People would still be violent after the flood. In fact, after the flood God simply resigned himself to the fact that we would not change.
Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done." (Genesis 8:21)
The rest of Genesis shows us what kind of thoughts and the type of violence that humanity is capable of. In other stories in the book of Genesis we find brothers plotting against and killing brothers, rape, incest, taking revenge by killing the men of a city, taking innocent people prisoners, kings fighting against kings, raping of strangers (IE: Sodom wanting to rape the angels), killing in self-defense, forced slavery, mistreatment of slaves, blaming others, and so on, and so on.
Humanity never did change. God just resigned himself to the fact that our thinking is evil and our actions are violent. We never changed. We are still violent. Our thoughts still justify violence. Whether it is on a national level, a group level, or an individual level... we are and will always be violent. Furthermore, we usually do not see the evil of our own violence and we will usually justify it.
Themes in Genesis: The Importance for a Woman to Give Birth
As I touched upon in an earlier article, having children was the highest of values in Genesis. It was the most important of all values and as such, in order to get children much of what we hold to be near and dear was pushed aside.
After Lot left Sodom and lost his wife because she loved Sodom, he was left alone with his two daughters. They had nobody else to marry so they chose to get their dad drunk and sleep with him in order to have children by him. The end result was two nations were born - Moab and the Ammonites. I have often wondered if this wasn't a story told in Israel to belittle their two neighboring nations - sons and daughters of incest.
Sarah was barren so she let Abraham sleep with her servant Hagar. Through Hagar, Sarah had hoped to raise a child, but it seems that once a child was born that child bonded more to the true mother as it was in this case.
When Rachel saw that her sister had 4 sons (they shared the same husband) and she had none, so she gave her servant to her husband because she hoped to be able to even the score with her sister even though they were her servant's children and not hers. It worked so well, that her sister Leah realizing the kids weren't being popped out anymore, gave her servant to their common husband. By the end, the husband Jacob was sleeping with four women, giving a grand total of 12 sons and unknown amounts of daughters.
Jacob's 4th born son Judah had 3 sons. The oldest died (God killed him because he was evil) leaving his wife to the next brother to carry out an important Israelite tradition - to have a child with the widow so that the child can be raised as the son of the dead husband, thus carrying on the name of the dead husband. But the 2nd son was not a good brother and spilled his seed on the ground so that she could not become pregnant. For some reason, he didn't care to continue his brother's name. God got upset with his behavior and killed him.
By the way this passage has been used by misinformed preachers to preach against masturbation, but this is having to do with the duty of carrying on the dead brother's name, not... you know....
Judah began to believe that his sons' deaths were all due to one common denominator - the "black widow" Tamar. So he made her a deal, "Wait until my youngest son is older and you can have a child by him." But Judah had no intention on doing this. Tamar saw through his scheme when the boy was older and she had no offer to have sex with him, so she took matters into her own hands (literally).
Without Judah knowing, Tamar put a veil on and posed as a prostitute, snagging Judah into her bed. It worked and she got pregnant by Judah, who had no idea the prostitute he hired was his daughter-in-law. Eventually when he was told she was pregnant through prostition he wanted to have her killed, but when he found out that he was the father, he commended her for her righteousness.
Why? Because she did it to have a child in the name of her dead husband by a close kin. Having children was more important than avoiding incest.
After Lot left Sodom and lost his wife because she loved Sodom, he was left alone with his two daughters. They had nobody else to marry so they chose to get their dad drunk and sleep with him in order to have children by him. The end result was two nations were born - Moab and the Ammonites. I have often wondered if this wasn't a story told in Israel to belittle their two neighboring nations - sons and daughters of incest.
Sarah was barren so she let Abraham sleep with her servant Hagar. Through Hagar, Sarah had hoped to raise a child, but it seems that once a child was born that child bonded more to the true mother as it was in this case.
When Rachel saw that her sister had 4 sons (they shared the same husband) and she had none, so she gave her servant to her husband because she hoped to be able to even the score with her sister even though they were her servant's children and not hers. It worked so well, that her sister Leah realizing the kids weren't being popped out anymore, gave her servant to their common husband. By the end, the husband Jacob was sleeping with four women, giving a grand total of 12 sons and unknown amounts of daughters.
Jacob's 4th born son Judah had 3 sons. The oldest died (God killed him because he was evil) leaving his wife to the next brother to carry out an important Israelite tradition - to have a child with the widow so that the child can be raised as the son of the dead husband, thus carrying on the name of the dead husband. But the 2nd son was not a good brother and spilled his seed on the ground so that she could not become pregnant. For some reason, he didn't care to continue his brother's name. God got upset with his behavior and killed him.
By the way this passage has been used by misinformed preachers to preach against masturbation, but this is having to do with the duty of carrying on the dead brother's name, not... you know....
Judah began to believe that his sons' deaths were all due to one common denominator - the "black widow" Tamar. So he made her a deal, "Wait until my youngest son is older and you can have a child by him." But Judah had no intention on doing this. Tamar saw through his scheme when the boy was older and she had no offer to have sex with him, so she took matters into her own hands (literally).
Without Judah knowing, Tamar put a veil on and posed as a prostitute, snagging Judah into her bed. It worked and she got pregnant by Judah, who had no idea the prostitute he hired was his daughter-in-law. Eventually when he was told she was pregnant through prostition he wanted to have her killed, but when he found out that he was the father, he commended her for her righteousness.
Why? Because she did it to have a child in the name of her dead husband by a close kin. Having children was more important than avoiding incest.
Who Were the Sons of God in Genesis?
Genesis 6 talks about the sons of God marrying the daughters of man, the result = giants on the earth. Here are the best options:
1 - Sons of God = the line of Seth (Adam and Eve's 3rd born)
Daughters of man = the line of Cain
This troubles me because it is forced. It does not make good sense. Adam and Eve were human and the results of all their offspring would be normal human beings. To say that the line of Cain mixing with the line of Seth creates giants is impossible to us in the world as we know it, unless the word giant is redefined to mean tall people.
Indeed there are groups of people who are taller than other groups. As one of my students left Viet Nam in a boat, the rumors on the Vietnamese boats spread that the U.S. was a land of giants. Some people returned for fear of the giants. Point is - generally we are a taller people and rumors and I mean rumors make us into giants.
Problem is: The giants of Genesis seem much bigger and making them the sons of Seth and daughters of Cain sounds forced by people who just don't know what else to do with the passage.
2 - The second explanation goes like this: the Sons of God are angels and the daughters of men are humans. This comes from a few scrolls found in Jesus' time that never made the bible. Jesus' brother Jude quotes a lenghty piece from the book of Enoch creating a stir among sholars who question weather or not Jude believed he was quoting from God's word or weather he was quoting a regular book that he did not consider God's word.
The sons of God in Enoch and in another book (Jubilees) are special angels called watchers who were responsible to take care of certain divisions of the world. These watchers lusted after the human women and longed to have sex with them, so they came down to the earth and mated with women. The end result were giants who created havoc for the world of normal humans.
The watchers also did other evils on the earth. They taught men the arts of war and the taught women the arts of make up - how horrid. The results as I mentioned were giants that just about destroyed the world.
Problem with this: Angels only have sexual contact with humans in the world of mythology.
1 - Sons of God = the line of Seth (Adam and Eve's 3rd born)
Daughters of man = the line of Cain
This troubles me because it is forced. It does not make good sense. Adam and Eve were human and the results of all their offspring would be normal human beings. To say that the line of Cain mixing with the line of Seth creates giants is impossible to us in the world as we know it, unless the word giant is redefined to mean tall people.
Indeed there are groups of people who are taller than other groups. As one of my students left Viet Nam in a boat, the rumors on the Vietnamese boats spread that the U.S. was a land of giants. Some people returned for fear of the giants. Point is - generally we are a taller people and rumors and I mean rumors make us into giants.
Problem is: The giants of Genesis seem much bigger and making them the sons of Seth and daughters of Cain sounds forced by people who just don't know what else to do with the passage.
2 - The second explanation goes like this: the Sons of God are angels and the daughters of men are humans. This comes from a few scrolls found in Jesus' time that never made the bible. Jesus' brother Jude quotes a lenghty piece from the book of Enoch creating a stir among sholars who question weather or not Jude believed he was quoting from God's word or weather he was quoting a regular book that he did not consider God's word.
The sons of God in Enoch and in another book (Jubilees) are special angels called watchers who were responsible to take care of certain divisions of the world. These watchers lusted after the human women and longed to have sex with them, so they came down to the earth and mated with women. The end result were giants who created havoc for the world of normal humans.
The watchers also did other evils on the earth. They taught men the arts of war and the taught women the arts of make up - how horrid. The results as I mentioned were giants that just about destroyed the world.
Problem with this: Angels only have sexual contact with humans in the world of mythology.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Did Enoch Walk with God or Angels?
And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters (Genesis 5:22).
The word "God" in this verse is Elohim which is a word that is plural, so his name is plural.. Elohim can be translated either "God" or "angels." In Psalm 8:5 the word it is translated "the angels," that is, God made humans a little lower than the elohim.
All English translations interpret Genesis 5:22 "Enoch walked with God." But one ancient translator - one of the writers of a book called "The Book of Enoch," translated the passage as follows: "Enoch walked with the angels." The writer of Enoch uses this translation to suggest that Enoch walked with angels and was shown great things in heaven and on earth, which he wrote about.
None of the authors of the Book of Enoch were really Enoch himself (there were 5 authors in one book), but all claimed to be Enoch. This actually was a common practice in Bible days. People wrote books in the name of famous Bible celebraties like Abraham, the Twelve Patriarchs, Adam and Eve, and Enoch. None of these were really written by the name of the book.
The interesting thing is: The Book of Jude quotes from the Book of Enoch.
Check it out - google "the Ethiopian Book of Enoch."
The word "God" in this verse is Elohim which is a word that is plural, so his name is plural.. Elohim can be translated either "God" or "angels." In Psalm 8:5 the word it is translated "the angels," that is, God made humans a little lower than the elohim.
All English translations interpret Genesis 5:22 "Enoch walked with God." But one ancient translator - one of the writers of a book called "The Book of Enoch," translated the passage as follows: "Enoch walked with the angels." The writer of Enoch uses this translation to suggest that Enoch walked with angels and was shown great things in heaven and on earth, which he wrote about.
None of the authors of the Book of Enoch were really Enoch himself (there were 5 authors in one book), but all claimed to be Enoch. This actually was a common practice in Bible days. People wrote books in the name of famous Bible celebraties like Abraham, the Twelve Patriarchs, Adam and Eve, and Enoch. None of these were really written by the name of the book.
The interesting thing is: The Book of Jude quotes from the Book of Enoch.
Check it out - google "the Ethiopian Book of Enoch."
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Tower of Babel and Abraham
The Tower of Babel is the story that precedes the call of Abraham with some genealogy in between. The stories are connected.
The people of Babel want to build a tower for three purposes:
1. To reach heaven
2. To avoid scattering (God had given the commandment for all of humanity to spread out and populate the earth)
3. To make a name for themselves
Although their attempt is foiled, with Abraham:
1. Heaven reaches down
2. God tells Abraham to go out into the world
3. God promises Abraham that He will make Abraham's name great
These two stories placed close together in Genesis for this reason - to show us the difference between human goals and achievements and God's.
The people of Babel want to build a tower for three purposes:
1. To reach heaven
2. To avoid scattering (God had given the commandment for all of humanity to spread out and populate the earth)
3. To make a name for themselves
Although their attempt is foiled, with Abraham:
1. Heaven reaches down
2. God tells Abraham to go out into the world
3. God promises Abraham that He will make Abraham's name great
These two stories placed close together in Genesis for this reason - to show us the difference between human goals and achievements and God's.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Themes in Genesis: Deception
There was lot of deception in Genesis.
1. The serpent deceived Eve.
2. Abraham deceived Pharoah and the King of Gerar by claiming Sarah was his sister. Although this was true he puposely concealed the fact that Sarah was also his wife. How many times do we do conceal in what we reveal?
3. Abraham and Sarah sent a servant to get Isaac's wife - unusual, unless there was something about Isaac that would have hindered him from getting his own. The servant goes with a lot of gifts, money and great stories (true ones) about the power, wealth and prestige Isaac's wife would marry into. I cannot be sure, but I believe that this was trickery to get Rebecca to marry a man sight unseen she would never have accepted had she met the guy.
4. They have two sons of which the second one is a trickster. He deceives dad pretending to be his brother and thus steals a blessing from his father who cannot see and who does not have the smarts to put 2 and 2 together when he knew that he heard Jacob's voice but when he smelled and felt him he concluded it was Esau.
5. Jacob's mother Rebeccah put Jacob up to this last trick. When Jacob moved to live with his mother's brother, he cheated Jacob regularly.
a. Jacob worked 7 years for Leban in order to marry his daughter Rachel. On wedding night however, Leban put his older daughter Leah in the place of Rachel. Like his mother, Jacob was surprised with a spouse he did not expect - for the rest of his life.
b. Leban changed Jacob's wages over and over.
c. Jacob did everything he could to get the upper hand.
6. Rachel stole her father's idol and hid it under her seat. When asked to get up she said she was having her period and couldn't.
7. Tamar tricked her father-in-law Judah into believing she was an unknown prostitute when in fact she was only trying to get a child in the name of her dead husband.
8. Two brothers led a village into believing that the family would settle down with the village for economic and marrigage reasons if they were circumcised. Instead the brothers slaughtered all the men who were unable to defend themselves in their weakened state.
9. All the brothers tricked their dad into believing that Joseph was dead, when in fact they sold him into slavery.
10. Joseph tricked his brothers into believing he was a mean old ruler telling them that they were spies and imprisoning one of them until his other brother came to Egypt.
11. Joseph set them up again with a stolen cup placed in Benjamin's sack of food. He set them up for purposes to be explored later.
There was a lot of trickery, dishonesty and bad stuff going on in Genesis.
1. The serpent deceived Eve.
2. Abraham deceived Pharoah and the King of Gerar by claiming Sarah was his sister. Although this was true he puposely concealed the fact that Sarah was also his wife. How many times do we do conceal in what we reveal?
3. Abraham and Sarah sent a servant to get Isaac's wife - unusual, unless there was something about Isaac that would have hindered him from getting his own. The servant goes with a lot of gifts, money and great stories (true ones) about the power, wealth and prestige Isaac's wife would marry into. I cannot be sure, but I believe that this was trickery to get Rebecca to marry a man sight unseen she would never have accepted had she met the guy.
4. They have two sons of which the second one is a trickster. He deceives dad pretending to be his brother and thus steals a blessing from his father who cannot see and who does not have the smarts to put 2 and 2 together when he knew that he heard Jacob's voice but when he smelled and felt him he concluded it was Esau.
5. Jacob's mother Rebeccah put Jacob up to this last trick. When Jacob moved to live with his mother's brother, he cheated Jacob regularly.
a. Jacob worked 7 years for Leban in order to marry his daughter Rachel. On wedding night however, Leban put his older daughter Leah in the place of Rachel. Like his mother, Jacob was surprised with a spouse he did not expect - for the rest of his life.
b. Leban changed Jacob's wages over and over.
c. Jacob did everything he could to get the upper hand.
6. Rachel stole her father's idol and hid it under her seat. When asked to get up she said she was having her period and couldn't.
7. Tamar tricked her father-in-law Judah into believing she was an unknown prostitute when in fact she was only trying to get a child in the name of her dead husband.
8. Two brothers led a village into believing that the family would settle down with the village for economic and marrigage reasons if they were circumcised. Instead the brothers slaughtered all the men who were unable to defend themselves in their weakened state.
9. All the brothers tricked their dad into believing that Joseph was dead, when in fact they sold him into slavery.
10. Joseph tricked his brothers into believing he was a mean old ruler telling them that they were spies and imprisoning one of them until his other brother came to Egypt.
11. Joseph set them up again with a stolen cup placed in Benjamin's sack of food. He set them up for purposes to be explored later.
There was a lot of trickery, dishonesty and bad stuff going on in Genesis.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The First Angels in Genesis - The Cherubim
The first angels in the book of Genesis were Cherubim that guarded the garden so that no human could enter again. Cherubim is plural for cherub. The King James Version adds an "s" to cherubims to let us English speakers know that it is plural.
Cherbim were a special class of angels represented in different places and in different ways in the Bible. They were usually more important than the common class angels that we are used to hearing about and that are represented in the rest of Genesis. The Bible and other Hebrew literature is filled with a whole lot of different levels of angels, many levels of which are not clear to us today.
In the temple of Israel, God was said to live between the two golden cherubim and in heaven they are intimately connected to the presence of God.
Our first mention of angels in Genesis tells us that God used these "angels that cover," the angels that were intimately connected to his presence - he used those angels to watch over the garden to protect it from being entered again.
Cherbim were a special class of angels represented in different places and in different ways in the Bible. They were usually more important than the common class angels that we are used to hearing about and that are represented in the rest of Genesis. The Bible and other Hebrew literature is filled with a whole lot of different levels of angels, many levels of which are not clear to us today.
In the temple of Israel, God was said to live between the two golden cherubim and in heaven they are intimately connected to the presence of God.
Our first mention of angels in Genesis tells us that God used these "angels that cover," the angels that were intimately connected to his presence - he used those angels to watch over the garden to protect it from being entered again.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Angel #2 and #4 Hagar and the angel
Hagar, Sarah's servant was treated harshly by Sarah because Sarah was a frustrated woman who was barren. Sarah allowed her husband to impregnate Hagar because he wanted a child so badly and as a result Hagar, who was extremely fertile, got pregnant. Even though Hagar was lower in society, like Joseph she flaunted her good fortune in the presence of her competition, thus receiving Sarah's wrath (again like Joseph's story with his brothers).
Hagar ran away into the desert where an angel met her and asked what she was doing. After she recounted her story the angel told her:
1. Return and submit to Sarah.
2. Her descendents will become a nation.
3. She was to call the child's name "God will hear" (Ishmael).
4. God had heard her affliction.
5. The child would be a wild one fighting people who were close to him.
Number 5 stands out to me as very interesting. God had heard her affliction; in other words, God acknowledged the suffering she faced at the hands of Sarah. Why this is so interesting is because God was far more tender with Hagar than He was with Sarah who was and is the mother of the nation of Israel. In Sarah's case, angels spoke to Abraham telling him that his wife would conceive, but in Hagar's case the angel spoke to her directly and comforted her by acknowledging the abuse she had under Sarah and promising her great things for her child.
Number 2 says that Ishmael would be the father of a nation. There are many today that believe the Arabs are modern day descendents of Ishmael, but there is debate about this.
Number 1 is important to us today, because sometimes God calls us to go into situations we would rather not go, but there is an ultimate and often unseen reason for His command.
14 years later, Sarah gave birth to a son who was mocked by teenager Ishmael which caused Sarah to demand the removal of Hagar and Ishmael from the home. Hagar again entered the desert and facing certain starvation was comforted again by an angel. The focus of this passage again centered on God hearing. God heard the boy cry and an angel of God spoke from heaven stating that God heard his cry.
One last piece of interest. I have already mentioned the similarity between Joseph and Hagar - both flaunted their status among their competitors. Both suffered for it. With Ishmael, however, there are similatities as well. Both Ishmael and Joseph were thrown out of their houses because of jealousy and anger, both faced uncertain times and both were protected by God.
Hagar ran away into the desert where an angel met her and asked what she was doing. After she recounted her story the angel told her:
1. Return and submit to Sarah.
2. Her descendents will become a nation.
3. She was to call the child's name "God will hear" (Ishmael).
4. God had heard her affliction.
5. The child would be a wild one fighting people who were close to him.
Number 5 stands out to me as very interesting. God had heard her affliction; in other words, God acknowledged the suffering she faced at the hands of Sarah. Why this is so interesting is because God was far more tender with Hagar than He was with Sarah who was and is the mother of the nation of Israel. In Sarah's case, angels spoke to Abraham telling him that his wife would conceive, but in Hagar's case the angel spoke to her directly and comforted her by acknowledging the abuse she had under Sarah and promising her great things for her child.
Number 2 says that Ishmael would be the father of a nation. There are many today that believe the Arabs are modern day descendents of Ishmael, but there is debate about this.
Number 1 is important to us today, because sometimes God calls us to go into situations we would rather not go, but there is an ultimate and often unseen reason for His command.
14 years later, Sarah gave birth to a son who was mocked by teenager Ishmael which caused Sarah to demand the removal of Hagar and Ishmael from the home. Hagar again entered the desert and facing certain starvation was comforted again by an angel. The focus of this passage again centered on God hearing. God heard the boy cry and an angel of God spoke from heaven stating that God heard his cry.
One last piece of interest. I have already mentioned the similarity between Joseph and Hagar - both flaunted their status among their competitors. Both suffered for it. With Ishmael, however, there are similatities as well. Both Ishmael and Joseph were thrown out of their houses because of jealousy and anger, both faced uncertain times and both were protected by God.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Angels #3a Abraham's Visitors
The Lord Himself visited Abraham in a most unusual way. In the middle of the day He came with two other people who are probably angels. The two men with the Lord were not called angels, they were called men, yet we can be confident that they were angels. How do we know they were angels? In the middle of the chapter, as the Lord stayed with Abraham, the two men left for Lot's home city Sodom. A short time later, 2 angels visited Job and his family.
In the first part of their journey, the 2 angels ate and drank what was set before them by Abraham and Sarah. After they ate the angels and the Lord together delivered a message for Abraham as his wife listened from inside the tent, the message was that that even though his wife was very old, she would become pregnant and give birth to a son.
After the pronouncement the Lord and the 2 men left to go to Sodom, but then before they all parted the Lord turned to the two men with him for counsel, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" Thus the angels served as counselors for the Lord. The Lord turned to them for suggestions.
While the Lord continued to talk with Abraham, the angels moved on to Sodom where they were invited into the home of Lot.
In the first part of their journey, the 2 angels ate and drank what was set before them by Abraham and Sarah. After they ate the angels and the Lord together delivered a message for Abraham as his wife listened from inside the tent, the message was that that even though his wife was very old, she would become pregnant and give birth to a son.
After the pronouncement the Lord and the 2 men left to go to Sodom, but then before they all parted the Lord turned to the two men with him for counsel, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" Thus the angels served as counselors for the Lord. The Lord turned to them for suggestions.
While the Lord continued to talk with Abraham, the angels moved on to Sodom where they were invited into the home of Lot.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Angels #3b - Lot's Visitors
Having left Abraham, the angels went to Sodom where they met with Lot who had earlier parted company from his Uncle Abraham. Somehow Lot had also moved careers. No longer a cattle herder, he was a city official of some sort. We know this because it was the city officials of that time who sat under the gate of a city, and Lot was sitting under the gate. Lot therefore had risen to prominence in Sodom.
The angels came to the city and were met by Lot as was mentioned. Lot insisted that they stay with him. But while they stayed the city's men came to have sexual relations with the men. This is very unusual, because there were plenty of other men to have sex with and Lot offered 2 virgin daughters to the mob to protect the visitors, but they didn't want their daughters, they wanted the men.
I will address several issues here:
1. Why are they so focused on these two men?
There must have been plenty of other travellors who came through the town, but these two were targeted. Jude states that the city went after strange (other) flesh. This is usually interprteted as men with men. But in this case, I think the NT writer was thinking of flesh of the angels. The people of the town knew that these men were unusual. Did they know they were angels? It is possible. Earlier Genesis spoke about Sons of God connecting with the Daughters of men. It is possible that in this worldview angels sometimes coexisted with people and it wasn't surprising to people of this time.
2. What is the sin of Sodom?
The OT never clearly states what the sin of Sodom is until Ezekiel. The OT uses Sodom as an example of evil many times. It talks about the sin of Sodom, but it does not describe the sin of Sodom until Ezekiel.
Sodomy which is taken from the word "Sodom," was the word used for homosexuality in the Law - so one can conclude that the OT culture saw a strong connection between the city of Sodom and the homosexual act.
While many believe the main sin of Sodom was homosexuality, some have suggested that the biggest sin was the bad treatment of strangers.
Ezekiel is the only Bible verse that spells out the sin of Sodom in detail.
"Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." Ezekiel 16:49
This is not what we would expect.
Back to Lot...
Lot brought the visitors into his house and the men in the city wanted to rape them. The angels knew that the city had to be destroyed, so they told Lot and his family to leave and not to look back. Lot left with his wife and 2 daughters, but his wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.
Originally the angels told Lot that he should run away to the mountains, but Lot wanted to move to a small city instead. The angels said he could so he moved into the small city, but became araid of the people so he moved into the mountains, but before all that, the angels told him to hurry out of the town because they couldn't destroy the town until Lot left.
I personally believe that he and his wife wanted to move to the city. For one, his wife turned around after leaving Sodom, in her heart unable to leave the city. But as for Lot, when it came time to go, he dragged his feet not wanting to leave. When he was literally dragged out of the city and told by the angels to move into the mountains, he wanted to move to another small city instead. Lot evidently did not like being out in the open fields.
The angels came to the city and were met by Lot as was mentioned. Lot insisted that they stay with him. But while they stayed the city's men came to have sexual relations with the men. This is very unusual, because there were plenty of other men to have sex with and Lot offered 2 virgin daughters to the mob to protect the visitors, but they didn't want their daughters, they wanted the men.
I will address several issues here:
1. Why are they so focused on these two men?
There must have been plenty of other travellors who came through the town, but these two were targeted. Jude states that the city went after strange (other) flesh. This is usually interprteted as men with men. But in this case, I think the NT writer was thinking of flesh of the angels. The people of the town knew that these men were unusual. Did they know they were angels? It is possible. Earlier Genesis spoke about Sons of God connecting with the Daughters of men. It is possible that in this worldview angels sometimes coexisted with people and it wasn't surprising to people of this time.
2. What is the sin of Sodom?
The OT never clearly states what the sin of Sodom is until Ezekiel. The OT uses Sodom as an example of evil many times. It talks about the sin of Sodom, but it does not describe the sin of Sodom until Ezekiel.
Sodomy which is taken from the word "Sodom," was the word used for homosexuality in the Law - so one can conclude that the OT culture saw a strong connection between the city of Sodom and the homosexual act.
While many believe the main sin of Sodom was homosexuality, some have suggested that the biggest sin was the bad treatment of strangers.
Ezekiel is the only Bible verse that spells out the sin of Sodom in detail.
"Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." Ezekiel 16:49
This is not what we would expect.
Back to Lot...
Lot brought the visitors into his house and the men in the city wanted to rape them. The angels knew that the city had to be destroyed, so they told Lot and his family to leave and not to look back. Lot left with his wife and 2 daughters, but his wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.
Originally the angels told Lot that he should run away to the mountains, but Lot wanted to move to a small city instead. The angels said he could so he moved into the small city, but became araid of the people so he moved into the mountains, but before all that, the angels told him to hurry out of the town because they couldn't destroy the town until Lot left.
I personally believe that he and his wife wanted to move to the city. For one, his wife turned around after leaving Sodom, in her heart unable to leave the city. But as for Lot, when it came time to go, he dragged his feet not wanting to leave. When he was literally dragged out of the city and told by the angels to move into the mountains, he wanted to move to another small city instead. Lot evidently did not like being out in the open fields.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Angel #5 Tells Abraham not to Kill Isaac
Isaac was tied up on an altar reaady to be slaughtered by his own dad who believed God wanted him to do this. As Abraham lifted up his knife to slaughter his son, and angel came and told Abraham not to kill his son. The angel also said that God now saw how faithful Abraham was in obeying God by putting his own son on an altar to be killed.
Hebrews 11 tells us that as Abraham was ready to kill his son, he believed that God would raise him up for these reasons built in basic logic:
Premise 1 - God promised Abraham that he would raise up a nation through Isaac.
Premise 2 - God told him to slay his son.
Conclusion - Therefore Isaac cannot die or if he dies he would be raised up.
This is how the writer of Hebrews viewed the event.
In the same episode the angel of the Lord appears a second time to Abraham during this same time period telling Abraham that because he was obedient to God he would be blessed and his descendents would be beyond number. In other words, God renewed his covenant with Abraham.
Hebrew scholars throughout the ages have debated why God chose Abraham and many have concluded that although there was nothing that preceded his call to tell us why God chose him, studying his life after his call tells us more about why God chose Abraham. If we look at this event we see into the argument that it was his obedience that made Abraham worthy of receiving the blessing.
The New Testament writer James pursued this argument about Abraham's obedience. On the other hand, Paul focused more on the faith of Abraham in that Abraham believed God when He told Abraham that he would be the father of a nation.
Hebrews 11 tells us that as Abraham was ready to kill his son, he believed that God would raise him up for these reasons built in basic logic:
Premise 1 - God promised Abraham that he would raise up a nation through Isaac.
Premise 2 - God told him to slay his son.
Conclusion - Therefore Isaac cannot die or if he dies he would be raised up.
This is how the writer of Hebrews viewed the event.
In the same episode the angel of the Lord appears a second time to Abraham during this same time period telling Abraham that because he was obedient to God he would be blessed and his descendents would be beyond number. In other words, God renewed his covenant with Abraham.
Hebrew scholars throughout the ages have debated why God chose Abraham and many have concluded that although there was nothing that preceded his call to tell us why God chose him, studying his life after his call tells us more about why God chose Abraham. If we look at this event we see into the argument that it was his obedience that made Abraham worthy of receiving the blessing.
The New Testament writer James pursued this argument about Abraham's obedience. On the other hand, Paul focused more on the faith of Abraham in that Abraham believed God when He told Abraham that he would be the father of a nation.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Angel #6 - A Prayer or Is It a Hope?
Abraham wanted to get a wife for his son Isaac, but for some odd reason he would not let Isaac get his own wife; so he sent his best servant to Isaac's cousins hoping to snag some girl into marrying Isaac sight unseen. The servant was concerned because he was not sure that he could get anybody to agree to such a huge request, but Abraham knew how to jump the hurdles.
First of all he sent the servant with a lot of money / gold / jewelry and stuff to divert the attention away from the marriage to an unknown man. Secondly, Abraham told the servant that God would send his angel ahead of him to prepare his way.
There was no angel that appeared in this episode, but Genesis leaves us believing that there may very well have been one that went ahead - not in human form, but in spirit.
Now back to the dowry - I believe that Abraham was working the typical magic trick - diverting the audience's attention away from the slight of hand. In Genesis the servant used the diversion of wealth and power. Not only did he have camels loaded with treasure, he had stories of Abraham's greatness and Sarah's legendary pregnancy.
The question remains, why the slight of hand? Was Abraham hiding something?
First of all he sent the servant with a lot of money / gold / jewelry and stuff to divert the attention away from the marriage to an unknown man. Secondly, Abraham told the servant that God would send his angel ahead of him to prepare his way.
There was no angel that appeared in this episode, but Genesis leaves us believing that there may very well have been one that went ahead - not in human form, but in spirit.
Now back to the dowry - I believe that Abraham was working the typical magic trick - diverting the audience's attention away from the slight of hand. In Genesis the servant used the diversion of wealth and power. Not only did he have camels loaded with treasure, he had stories of Abraham's greatness and Sarah's legendary pregnancy.
The question remains, why the slight of hand? Was Abraham hiding something?
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Angels # 7 Jacob's Ladder
This story was addressed under Dreams of Genesis. Angels ascend and descend to and from heaven and earth at Bethel. Jacob dreamed this as he was given the promise of descendents and blessing, in other words it was the continuation of God's Covenant with Abraham.
As in most of the other covenants of Genesis, God established his promises to individuals when they were most afraid. Abraham was afraid of revenge because he had just slaughtered a large army. Hagar was afraid because she had no food and was alone in the desert with her child. And Jacob was afraid because he had just run for his life from his brother, and was moving into unchartered territory.
In all 3 cases the individuals were afraid for their lives and in all 3 cases, God promised them a future - and a blessed one at that. God promised Jacob not only a nation as descendents, but more specifically God promised that He would be with Jacob on his journey and bring him back safely.
When Jacob woke up he made a pillar of stones to mark the spot where he had his dream and then he promised God 10% of all that he was to make when and if he returned safely.
Jacob did return over 20 years later and when he came back he was a wealthy man with servants, cattle and not one but four wives.
As in most of the other covenants of Genesis, God established his promises to individuals when they were most afraid. Abraham was afraid of revenge because he had just slaughtered a large army. Hagar was afraid because she had no food and was alone in the desert with her child. And Jacob was afraid because he had just run for his life from his brother, and was moving into unchartered territory.
In all 3 cases the individuals were afraid for their lives and in all 3 cases, God promised them a future - and a blessed one at that. God promised Jacob not only a nation as descendents, but more specifically God promised that He would be with Jacob on his journey and bring him back safely.
When Jacob woke up he made a pillar of stones to mark the spot where he had his dream and then he promised God 10% of all that he was to make when and if he returned safely.
Jacob did return over 20 years later and when he came back he was a wealthy man with servants, cattle and not one but four wives.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Angel # 8 Time to Go
This angel episode was likewise addressed in the Dream section of my blogs.
Jacob may or may not have had a dream of an angel telling him it was time to go. The reason I say it is in question is because there is so much deceit and trickery in this family at this time. Jacob wanted to go home and it was a convenient time to go because his Uncle was away. Jacob no doubt felt that he could not leave with his Uncle knowing because his Uncle would not have let him or his daughters go. So he left when his Uncle was away.
Jacob may have received a dream at that time, or he may have received a dream before that time but was waiting for the right moment to tell his wives. He may also have felt unsure about his wives' willingness to go and therefore needed the dream to help force them to leave their dad's place.
Whatever the story may have been, it worked. The wives decided it was ok to leave their dad without him even knowing.
Jacob may or may not have had a dream of an angel telling him it was time to go. The reason I say it is in question is because there is so much deceit and trickery in this family at this time. Jacob wanted to go home and it was a convenient time to go because his Uncle was away. Jacob no doubt felt that he could not leave with his Uncle knowing because his Uncle would not have let him or his daughters go. So he left when his Uncle was away.
Jacob may have received a dream at that time, or he may have received a dream before that time but was waiting for the right moment to tell his wives. He may also have felt unsure about his wives' willingness to go and therefore needed the dream to help force them to leave their dad's place.
Whatever the story may have been, it worked. The wives decided it was ok to leave their dad without him even knowing.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The 1st Dream in Genesis - Abraham's Covenant
Abraham's Covenant
Context:
Abraham had just conquered several kings from several cities, slaughtering their armies, in order to save his nephew Lot (and Lot's family) who was captured into slavery. Because our text (ch 15) starts out with "Fear not," I can conclude that Abraham was afraid of revenge from the lands he had conquered or from other cities that would want to attack him. Later in Genesis Jacob feared surrounding villages when his sons slaughtered a city in revenging their sister's rape. Abraham was probably afraid of similar consequences, so the context of God's promise to Abraham was Abraham's need for survival.
The next sentence reinforces my claim: "I am your shield." God told him not to be afraid because God would protect him.
Being assured of his survival, he then turned to God about the survival of his name. God had promised already to make him a nation, but as of yet God had not made good on his promise, so Abraham's next question was about his lack of children. God promised that he would have children and lots of descendants. Abraham believed God.
In obedience to God, Abraham cut 3 animals in half and killed 2 birds. Protecting them from birds he eventually fell into a deep sleep as the sun was going down.
The Dream:
Darkness and horror surrounded Abraham as God told him that his descendants would face 400 years of slavery and pain in a land that was not theirs, would then be delivered with great wealth and would then return to the land where Abraham lived. God let Abraham know that the land could not yet be taken because the sin of the people was not yet at its height.
Reflecting back to Abraham's fear for survival, God promised him a long life.
Whether it was part of the dream or whether it happened after the dream, a smoking firepot and a burning torch passed through the pieces of the offering. This was part of a custom in making solemn vows in a world that had little or no writing, so could make few if any written contracts.
And in this covenant, God promised to give the land that Abraham was in to his descendants.
Context:
Abraham had just conquered several kings from several cities, slaughtering their armies, in order to save his nephew Lot (and Lot's family) who was captured into slavery. Because our text (ch 15) starts out with "Fear not," I can conclude that Abraham was afraid of revenge from the lands he had conquered or from other cities that would want to attack him. Later in Genesis Jacob feared surrounding villages when his sons slaughtered a city in revenging their sister's rape. Abraham was probably afraid of similar consequences, so the context of God's promise to Abraham was Abraham's need for survival.
The next sentence reinforces my claim: "I am your shield." God told him not to be afraid because God would protect him.
Being assured of his survival, he then turned to God about the survival of his name. God had promised already to make him a nation, but as of yet God had not made good on his promise, so Abraham's next question was about his lack of children. God promised that he would have children and lots of descendants. Abraham believed God.
In obedience to God, Abraham cut 3 animals in half and killed 2 birds. Protecting them from birds he eventually fell into a deep sleep as the sun was going down.
The Dream:
Darkness and horror surrounded Abraham as God told him that his descendants would face 400 years of slavery and pain in a land that was not theirs, would then be delivered with great wealth and would then return to the land where Abraham lived. God let Abraham know that the land could not yet be taken because the sin of the people was not yet at its height.
Reflecting back to Abraham's fear for survival, God promised him a long life.
Whether it was part of the dream or whether it happened after the dream, a smoking firepot and a burning torch passed through the pieces of the offering. This was part of a custom in making solemn vows in a world that had little or no writing, so could make few if any written contracts.
And in this covenant, God promised to give the land that Abraham was in to his descendants.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Dreams 2 & 3 Abimelech's Warning and Jacob's Ladder
Dream #2 - Abimelech's Warning - God warns Abimelech in a dream to stay away from Abraham's wife. Until the dream Abimelech didn't know Sarah was his wife. We learn from this that God can speak to people through dreams. Dreams that are mentioned in Genesis are messages from God.
Dream #3 - Jacob's Ladder - Jacob dreams about a ladder where angels travel up and down. The top was in heaven and the bottom was a place on earth he called, "Bethel" meaning "The House of God." From this dream Jacob learns that angels travel between heaven and earth, to and from the place Jacob sleeps for a night on his journey away from home.
This dream is the setting for God to confirm his covenant with and through Jacob. The ladder going up and down reflects the ancient thought that heaven was above and a place that could be reached if one built a tower tall enough. When God made a covenant with Abraham (Jacob's grandfather) the Tower of Babel preceded the covenant. When God continues His covenant with Jacob, the dream of the ladder brings us again to the Tower of Babel where people try to reach heaven but cannot because God puts a stop to it. When God called Abraham heaven reached down to earth and Bethel is the time and place where heaven is reached and the covenant is established with Jacob.
Dream #3 - Jacob's Ladder - Jacob dreams about a ladder where angels travel up and down. The top was in heaven and the bottom was a place on earth he called, "Bethel" meaning "The House of God." From this dream Jacob learns that angels travel between heaven and earth, to and from the place Jacob sleeps for a night on his journey away from home.
This dream is the setting for God to confirm his covenant with and through Jacob. The ladder going up and down reflects the ancient thought that heaven was above and a place that could be reached if one built a tower tall enough. When God made a covenant with Abraham (Jacob's grandfather) the Tower of Babel preceded the covenant. When God continues His covenant with Jacob, the dream of the ladder brings us again to the Tower of Babel where people try to reach heaven but cannot because God puts a stop to it. When God called Abraham heaven reached down to earth and Bethel is the time and place where heaven is reached and the covenant is established with Jacob.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Dreams #4 & 5 - Jacob's Move Home
Dream #4
When Jacob wanted to leave his uncle and Father-in-Law Laban, he wanted to convince his wives that staying at their father's place was not in their best interest and that it would be better to move to his parents many miles away. His uncle and he had been battling for the cattle, and even though neither one of them were playing fair, Jacob ended up with more cattle than his uncle, which created problems with Laban and his sons.
To convince his wives to leave their father and to move to his parents' place, he shared with them the long history of their dad's cheating him and topped it off with telling them about a dream he had. In his dream an angel came to him and told him that because God saw the way his Father-in-Law cheated him, God made sure that things went well for Jacob. The angel also told him that it was time to return to his parents' home.
I've never known if this dream really happened or if Jacob made it up to put the pressure on his wives to leave their home. The dream sounds very much like it comes from God, but two clues suggest otherwise.
First of all, this dream is placed in a different setting than all the other dreams in Genesis. Most of the other dreams are revelations of things to come or are given by God to be between God and the individual. No other dream is used for the purpose of convincing others to to do something.
Secondly, the the timing seems a bit odd, or should I say too convenient. No mention is made as to when Jacob received this dream. If he did receive a dream from God, it may have come days or even years earlier, but was held back until the time was ripe. And with all the deceiving and tricking that went on with Jacob's mom and her family, I wouldn't put it past Jacob to pull a fast one, either by waiting to tell his wives about the dream until this time or making up the dream to make sure his wives to leave their home.
Dream #5
Jacob and his family left Laban's house without any warning because he was afraid that Leban would take his wives by force thus not allowing them to leave. Jacob had a good head start, but could not get far enough away to outrun Laban. It could very well be that Jacob had wanted to leave for quite some time but had to wait for the best time - a time when hoped he could get out of the reach of Laban's persuit. In other words, he would need a time when he knew Laban would not miss them for several days. As it happened, Laban was told 3 days after the fact. I think Jacob had expected a much longer time to be able to escape.
Sure enough Laban pursued, but before he reached Jacob he got a dream in which God tells him to say neither good or bad to Jacob.
This whole episode shows us that the relationship between Laban and Jacob was very intense. Jacob felt trapped, cheated and afraid while living with his uncle. Add to this that in the end of his life he told Pharoah that his entire life was "evil." In other words, in his own mind he thought his life was depressing, difficult and full of struggle.
His 20+ years with his uncle Laban was not easy.
When Jacob wanted to leave his uncle and Father-in-Law Laban, he wanted to convince his wives that staying at their father's place was not in their best interest and that it would be better to move to his parents many miles away. His uncle and he had been battling for the cattle, and even though neither one of them were playing fair, Jacob ended up with more cattle than his uncle, which created problems with Laban and his sons.
To convince his wives to leave their father and to move to his parents' place, he shared with them the long history of their dad's cheating him and topped it off with telling them about a dream he had. In his dream an angel came to him and told him that because God saw the way his Father-in-Law cheated him, God made sure that things went well for Jacob. The angel also told him that it was time to return to his parents' home.
I've never known if this dream really happened or if Jacob made it up to put the pressure on his wives to leave their home. The dream sounds very much like it comes from God, but two clues suggest otherwise.
First of all, this dream is placed in a different setting than all the other dreams in Genesis. Most of the other dreams are revelations of things to come or are given by God to be between God and the individual. No other dream is used for the purpose of convincing others to to do something.
Secondly, the the timing seems a bit odd, or should I say too convenient. No mention is made as to when Jacob received this dream. If he did receive a dream from God, it may have come days or even years earlier, but was held back until the time was ripe. And with all the deceiving and tricking that went on with Jacob's mom and her family, I wouldn't put it past Jacob to pull a fast one, either by waiting to tell his wives about the dream until this time or making up the dream to make sure his wives to leave their home.
Dream #5
Jacob and his family left Laban's house without any warning because he was afraid that Leban would take his wives by force thus not allowing them to leave. Jacob had a good head start, but could not get far enough away to outrun Laban. It could very well be that Jacob had wanted to leave for quite some time but had to wait for the best time - a time when hoped he could get out of the reach of Laban's persuit. In other words, he would need a time when he knew Laban would not miss them for several days. As it happened, Laban was told 3 days after the fact. I think Jacob had expected a much longer time to be able to escape.
Sure enough Laban pursued, but before he reached Jacob he got a dream in which God tells him to say neither good or bad to Jacob.
This whole episode shows us that the relationship between Laban and Jacob was very intense. Jacob felt trapped, cheated and afraid while living with his uncle. Add to this that in the end of his life he told Pharoah that his entire life was "evil." In other words, in his own mind he thought his life was depressing, difficult and full of struggle.
His 20+ years with his uncle Laban was not easy.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Dreams 6 & 7 - Joseph's Dreams
The next 2 dreams in Genesis are Joseph's dreams.
Context:
As the number 11 son of 12, as dad's favorite, Joseph was clueless about the effect being dad's favorite had on the rest of the family. His dad made a coat of many colors for him and gave nothing of the sort to the others. Put yourself in his shoes as a kid. You would feel more important than the rest as he did.
About dreams in the modern world:
Dreams often tell us about ourselves and how we feel about life's events through symbolic images.
Joseph's dreams:
Joseph had two dreams that were very similar. In the one he and his brothers tied bundles of grain when all of their bundles bowed down to his. In the next dream the sun the moon and the 11 stars bowed down to Joseph's star.
About stars:
Stars were somehow tied to people, so when Joseph had a dream he was seeing himself, his brothers and his parents as stars.
Interpreting the dreams:
Because we know the end of the story we know that the dreams were predictive and we also know that Joseph's brothers believed they could put an end to his dreams by kiling him or by selling him into slavery.
However predictive they ended up being, the source of the dreams were entirely bound by what Joseph was feeling at the time. His dreams give us an opening into the very depths of Joseph's feelings about himself and the world around him. Joseph completely bought into the idea that he was above his brothers and in even his parents bowed down to him... not in the future (for after all, his mother died long before he became a ruler) but in the present. In Joseph's mind, his whole family bowed down to him. In his mind, he was the center of his family.
This explains his brothers' behavior in wanting to kill him and eventually selling him into slavery.
Context:
As the number 11 son of 12, as dad's favorite, Joseph was clueless about the effect being dad's favorite had on the rest of the family. His dad made a coat of many colors for him and gave nothing of the sort to the others. Put yourself in his shoes as a kid. You would feel more important than the rest as he did.
About dreams in the modern world:
Dreams often tell us about ourselves and how we feel about life's events through symbolic images.
Joseph's dreams:
Joseph had two dreams that were very similar. In the one he and his brothers tied bundles of grain when all of their bundles bowed down to his. In the next dream the sun the moon and the 11 stars bowed down to Joseph's star.
About stars:
Stars were somehow tied to people, so when Joseph had a dream he was seeing himself, his brothers and his parents as stars.
Interpreting the dreams:
Because we know the end of the story we know that the dreams were predictive and we also know that Joseph's brothers believed they could put an end to his dreams by kiling him or by selling him into slavery.
However predictive they ended up being, the source of the dreams were entirely bound by what Joseph was feeling at the time. His dreams give us an opening into the very depths of Joseph's feelings about himself and the world around him. Joseph completely bought into the idea that he was above his brothers and in even his parents bowed down to him... not in the future (for after all, his mother died long before he became a ruler) but in the present. In Joseph's mind, his whole family bowed down to him. In his mind, he was the center of his family.
This explains his brothers' behavior in wanting to kill him and eventually selling him into slavery.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Dreams 8 & 9 The Dreams of the Cup Bearer and the Baker
Joseph was in the king's jail falsely accused of attacking the wife of Potiphar. While in jail he was put in charge of the entire place because he was a good steward. Of all the people in the jail there were 2 who had dreams.
The morning after the two had dreams, Joseph noticed that these prisoners were sad. This is unusual, because one would expect prisoners to be sad - they were in prison. Nevertheless, Joseph noticed a big enough difference with these two that he asked them about what was wrong. They informed him that they had no one to interpret their dreams. Joseph replied that interpretations belonged to God, then listened to the recouting of the dreams, and then he interpreted them.
Like Joseph's dreams these dreams were filled with metaphore. And like Joseph's dreams they predicted as well as reflected feelings those two men had hidden deep within their thoughts.
The Cup Bearer of the king had possitive thoughts about his relationshiip with the king. His dream was filled with prosperity of grapes and wine - he saw himself serving the king with his wine. This dream says something about the Cup Bearer's inner feelings at the time - he felt good about his work and about the king. Joseph told him that he would be restored to his job within 3 days.
When the Baker told Joseph about his dream, we discover a man who felt deep inside that his work for Pharoah was being taken away from him by birds. Joseph predicted that he woould lose his life within 3 days.
Joseph was right about both dreams.
As in Joseph's dreams, although these dreams were prophetic, the sources of the dreams were the inner thoughts and feelings that these two men had the night they dreamed the dreams.
The morning after the two had dreams, Joseph noticed that these prisoners were sad. This is unusual, because one would expect prisoners to be sad - they were in prison. Nevertheless, Joseph noticed a big enough difference with these two that he asked them about what was wrong. They informed him that they had no one to interpret their dreams. Joseph replied that interpretations belonged to God, then listened to the recouting of the dreams, and then he interpreted them.
Like Joseph's dreams these dreams were filled with metaphore. And like Joseph's dreams they predicted as well as reflected feelings those two men had hidden deep within their thoughts.
The Cup Bearer of the king had possitive thoughts about his relationshiip with the king. His dream was filled with prosperity of grapes and wine - he saw himself serving the king with his wine. This dream says something about the Cup Bearer's inner feelings at the time - he felt good about his work and about the king. Joseph told him that he would be restored to his job within 3 days.
When the Baker told Joseph about his dream, we discover a man who felt deep inside that his work for Pharoah was being taken away from him by birds. Joseph predicted that he woould lose his life within 3 days.
Joseph was right about both dreams.
As in Joseph's dreams, although these dreams were prophetic, the sources of the dreams were the inner thoughts and feelings that these two men had the night they dreamed the dreams.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Dreams 10 & 11 - Pharoah's Dreams
Most of the dreams in Genesis came in pairs. The last 2 dreams of Genesis belonged to Pharaoh. His dreams were as symbolic as most of the dreams were in Genesis. With Joseph's interpretation Pharoah learns that there will be 7 years of plenty and then 7 years of famine.
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