16:2ff - Impatience and lack of faith lead to vast consequences int history of man. Sarai takes things into her owns hands and gives her servant for Abram to take as a wife (STUPID!). "Shockingly", when the Hagar conceives she looks down on Sarai...Hagar is younger and pregnant and Sarai is older, bitter and jealous. When these two women clash, it leads to the most world changing spilt in the history of man...Ishmael becomes the father of the Arabs and Isaac the father of the Jews. To this day there is hatred between them that started in Genesis 16.
16:6 - I gotta say, Abram kinda ticks me off here...he may be a faithful man of God, but he is definitely not perfect. He takes Hagar as a wife, but then rejects her and refuses to treat her like one. He basically used her for sex and a son and turned her away. That's horrible...Hagar is just as much God's daughter as Sarai and we see that in the next few verses.
16:11 - God hears the cry of the oppressed Hagar and comforts her. She names the place where he meets her Beer-lahai-roi, which means "the living God sees me." How awesome is that name! The living God sees me. You and I have a living God who sees us...who hears our cries...who offers us comfort and strength. That is really good!
17:8 - You may look at God promising Abram that the Jewish people will have possession of the Promised Land forever and wonder how He can say that when they constantly lose it in the Old Testament and they aren't really in control of it today. Was God lying? No. God made an everlasting covenant with His people, but in a covenant, both sides have to keep up their end of the deal. The Jews have often rejected God for others and paid a heavy price for it.
17:13 - What is this circumcision stuff all about? It is a show of commitment and sacrifice. It is symbol of cutting away the other things that have kept people from God...cutting away the useless flesh represents cutting away the useless things we chase after. It is a cleaner and healthier way for a man to live and this represented the set apart nature of followers of God.
17:23 - It says that Abraham had himself and every one of his males relatives and servants circumcised THAT VERY DAY! There are not excuses...there is no stalling...Abraham hears the voice of God calling him to act and he acts. Maybe we should try that.
18:1ff - Okay we have to talk a little about this crazy encounter with the Lord/three guys that show up. The author treats the three men in this passage as God in the form of three humans. It says the Lord appeared to Abraham and goes on to explain that He looked like three men. Maybe representing the Father, Son and Spirit? If you look at the questions the men ask, it reminds you a great deal of the conversations Jesus had with people int he New Testament (Think the "Book of John" Matt). The strangers ask questions they know the answers to, to push the dialogue. "Where is Sarah? Why does she laugh? Etc." This shows the divine nature of the three guys, not to mention the fact that they are moving on to Sodom and Gomorrah to bring judgement.
18:23 - These types of situations always used to mess with my mind - is Abraham's plan better than God's plan? No. Here is what I, Brandon Forsythe, believe. I believe that God understands that death is not the end - if there are righteous in Sodom that die alongside the wicked in a mass destruction...they will receive justice in the end. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is already happening in God's view of time, because He is outside of time and can see everything simultaneously. So the righteous are covered in the blood of the lamb. In death they will recieve life...they will go to paradise. God changes His mode of operating to accommodate Abraham's lack of understanding in my opinion.
6 comments:
17:3 really caught my attention. its just like when Jesus said "I am He" in John. Its like a natural reflex just to fall on your face in the presence of God.
Man i love what Matt just said. That must be so incredible to just be near the presence of God. I really like these three chapters because they all show the humanity of Abram and Sarai and how real they are. They doubt, they get jealous, they blame each other. i think people forget those emotions are in the bible and that's what turns them off. They don't realize how real these stories are.
Yay for Kim!!! Welcome aboard!
I can't help but laugh at 18:13-15. It's hilarious to me how Sarah is actually trying to argue with God. She thinks she can lie to the God of the universe.
On the more serious side I love how God tells Sarah she's wrong. He says, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" He doesn't punish her or criticize her for wondering how this is all going to work out, he just points out the obvious in a kind way. God doesn't always make his point with compassion and understanding, but when He does it sure makes me feel like I'm in caring hands.
I really like what Josh said, It really speaks to how we should correct others when they are wrong and also how we should receive correction. We shouldn't correct like a sledgehammer, Rather through a loving, compassionate heart that wants to see them grow. When receiving correction, we should be humble and not put up a defense. The Lord also stays strong while correcting Sarah... even though she was clearly embarrassed.
I'm so happy...so many comments...I love you all!
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