Abraham: Beersheba

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 21:22-34.  It would be 1000 years before the Philistines would be major players in the conflict over the Holy Land.  But Abraham meets up with king Abimelech and his commanding general and established a covenant with them.  Abraham attested to his ownership of the disputed well by giving seven ewe lambs to Abimelech. The number seven is significant because it sounds like the word for oath. Both parties made a covenant of mutual respect that day, and the place where the well sat was called Beersheba.  Abraham’s descendant, David, would be in conflicts again over ownership of this land generations later.  But during Moses’ time, the covenant stood.

LORD, teach us to reconcile with our enemies, whenever possible.

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Abraham: casting out the slave and her son

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 21:1-21.  Isaac had been born, and laughter filled Abraham’s house.  But some of the laughter appears to have been mocking from Ishmael, who is about 16 years old by now.  Sarah is indignant, and orders that he and his mother be sent away.  She has no intention of having both sons raised in the same household.  This breaks Abraham’s heart, because he loves Ishmael.  Nevertheless, Abraham prays, and God tells him to listen to his wife.

It is not long before Hagar and Ishmael are in a desperate spot.  She cries out to God, but does not expect Abraham’s God to hear her. He hears her.  He loves her too – and Ishmael.  He answers her, and they revive, and thrive.

Sometimes the things God calls us to do appear harsh and unloving.  We have to trust God, and obey him.  No sacrifice is too great to stay in the center of his will.

LORD, keep us faithful to you, even in times when our faithfulness is displeasing to us.

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Abraham: last minute rescue

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 20.  The LORD had rescued Lot and his daughters from destruction at the last minute.  Now, he rescues Abraham and Sarah from the consequences of their sin.  If the LORD had not intervened by speaking to Abimelech in a dream, Sarah would have become another of his wives.  Neither Abraham nor Sarah realized what was at stake here.  When we give in to fear, we open the door to disaster.  Only God in his grace can rescue us from our short-sightedness.

LORD,  may we keep the faith, and trust you to recue us.  May we be faithful to you, and live in such a way that we proclaim you as faithful to us.

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Abraham: seeing smoke

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 19.  Early in the morning, Abraham went to the place where he had pleaded with God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, and he got his answer.  Smoke from where Sodom and Gomorrah had been  went up like the smoke of a furnace.  Destruction.  God had not found ten righteous.

Abraham would learn later that God had spared his nephew and two daughters.  Lot’s wife could not leave without looking back.  She did not leave (26).  His sons-in-law did not take his warning seriously.  They did not leave (14).

LORD, destruction in hell awaits all those who refuse your assistance in their escape.  Help us to be means of their rescue before it is too late.

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Abraham: intercessor

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 18:16-33.  One of the three “men” who had visited Abraham at Mamre turns out to have been the LORD himself.  He sends the other two off to evaluate the spiritual condition of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham stays back with him to talk.

Perhaps Abraham is compelled to intercede with the LORD on behalf of these cities because his nephew lives there.  He gets the LORD to agree that if the angels find ten righteous among the cities’ inhabitants, he will not destroy them

The cities were destroyed, but Abraham’s intercession was not in vain.  The LORD rescues Lot and his two daughters.  From one of those daughters came the Moabites.  From the Moabites came a descendant named Ruth.  Ruth became a spiritual child of Abraham, and married into the tribe of Judah.  One of her descendants is the answer to all our prayers.

LORD, may we follow the example of father Abraham, and pray for the salvation of those on their way to destruction.

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Abraham: do not pass by

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 18:1-15.  Three “men” on a mission.  Abraham sees them and pleads with them to stop and stay a while.  He gives them rest, and a quick but substantial meal.  What if he had not taken the time to show hospitality to these “men”?

  1. He would have missed the honor of time with them in fellowship.
  2. He would have missed the confirmation that they gave him and Sarah that their son, Isaac, would be born in about a year.
  3. He would have missed the chance to intercede for his nephew Lot and his family.  These “men” were on their way to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah!

LORD, keep us alert so that we do not miss our opportunities to have fellowship with you, learn from you, and intercede for those in danger.

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Abraham: new things

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 17.  Abram was an old man of 99 years, but he was not too old for the LORD to do some new things in his life.

  1. God gave him and Sarai new names.  The names reflected the intensity of their relationship with God, as well as the magnitude of their inheritance (5,15).
  2. God gave a new covenant.  Instead of simply inheritance of the land (Gen. 15), God now promised a new relationship with himself (7).
  3. God gave a new sign,  so at 99, Abraham was circumcised, and all the men who were with him.
  4. God gave a new promise.  It would not be Ishmael, but a son from Sarah who would inherit the covenant (19).

LORD, may we never stop expecting you to do new things among us, and through us.

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Abram: the living one who sees me

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 16.  There was a well between Kadesh and Bered that stood as a memorial of this time when Abram followed Sarai’s advice and tried to pull a fast one on God.  He impregnated Hagar, and her attitude toward her mistress changed overnight.  Sarai dealt harshly with Hagar, so she fled from her (6.).

The living one who sees all stopped Hagar, and told her to go back and submit to her mistress.  Even this mistake fits into his divine plan.  The one who sees me is the one who will provide for my future.

LORD, keep us constantly aware of your presence, and trusting in your provision.

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Abram: dreadful and great darkness

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 15.  Abram had just rejected the reward offered him by the king of Sodom.  Next, the LORD promises that his “reward shall be very great” (1).  The LORD gives him a glimpse into his ultimate future by showing him a sky full of stars.  The LORD says “so shall your offspring be” (5).

The next question Abram has is about his possession of the land.  The LORD has Abram act out a sign where some sacrificial animals are placed on the ground, and Abram protects them from the birds of prey.  Will Abram see his descendants come into the land?  No, he is in a deep sleep, and dreadful and great darkness falls upon him.   God explains that “As for yourself, you will go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. and they shall come back here in the fourth generation” (15:15-16a).

LORD, may we trust you for the future of our descendants, like father Abraham did.

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Abram: rescue

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

hs-2002-10-c-webGenesis 14.  By this time, Abram had amassed an army of 318 men with military training – just in time to rescue Lot and his people and possessions when they had been caught on the losing side of the battle of the kings.

Abram had been promised all the land he could see (13:14-15), but he did not use his victory in this battle to claim any land.  He trusted God “Possessor of heaven and earth” (19) to fulfill his promise.  He showed this by giving a tithe to the king of Salem (20), and by not taking anything from the king of Sodom (22-23).  He had determined that his rescue would come from the LORD.

LORD, we thank you for the promise of eternal rescue and of an everlasting inheritance from you.  Because of that promise, we can risk everything to rescue the lost Lots of this world, knowing that our future is sure in you.

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