a different kind of love story.

Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.
Genesis 24:48

This is indeed a love story, but one with a much different focus than we normally tend to think about this time of the year. Abraham is incredibly old, he has lost his wife, and is concerned that his son Isaac marry the right woman. He binds his household manager to a solemn oath to find a wife for Isaac among Abraham's own kinsman. The servant knows this is a daunting and dangerous task, but does so.

When he arrives in the territory of Abraham's family, he realizes that the task must be divinely directed. You have to hand it to Abraham. He had instilled a vivid faith in the members of his household as evidenced in the servant's prayers to God. And God heard and answered them with the events that clearly made it apparent that Rebekah was an outstanding, caring, and hard-working young lady. Again, not at all like how we might think of a love story today, but she is the right woman because of her character.

The result was that God was worshiped in such a human matter as procuring a wife and arranging a marriage. Abraham's servant acknowledges God's direction in the provision of Rebekah. Her family recognizes the hand of God in the matter by letter her go to be the wife of Isaac. Rebekah follows God's clear direction by agreeing without hesitation to leave home and family and marry a man she has never even seen!

In the end two things usually at odds are perfectly harmonized. God is glorified by clearly leading in the matter and perfect obedience to Him yields a wonderful result. Secondly, Abraham got exactly what he desired for his son, showing that his desires and wants were in keeping with God's will. And Isaac and Rebekah seem to truly have found a remarkable love, as evidenced in her response to him and his willingness to take her as wife. All in all, quite the happy ending... at least for chapter twenty-four.

Technorati Tags: Genesis,Abraham,Isaac,Rebekah,Love,Marriage

In sorrow, a promise.

After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.
Genesis 23:19-20

I make just a really brief observation from this text. Sarah has lived a long life and has died. Abraham now must find a burial plot in the land of his sojourn, Canaan. With her death comes the first physical purchase of land that Abraham has made: The burial plot near Hebron. There his beloved wife's body is laid to rest. There, he too will be buried. The first bit of the promised land to come to Abraham was a cemetery and cave. But it is a tangible bit of the promise of God.

And so it is that even in sorrows, God can visit us with His promise. I doubt that Abraham was greatly comforted with the knowledge that he now possessed a deed to land in the place God promised to give him. At least not while he was mourning Sarah. But it was true. God moved, even in great loss, to secure His covenant and keep His Word.

God will provide.

7    Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8    Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.

Genesis 22:7-8

This first recorded conversation between Abraham and his son Isaac is poignant and a testament to faith. God had instructed Abraham to offer his only son of the promise as a burnt offering. And Abraham believed that obeying God in this was what he should do. When Isaac asks this question, Abraham is not lying. I believe Abraham saw this for what it was: as test of faith.

In the New Testament, the book of Hebrews comments on this episode and offers insight into Abraham’s faith: he believed God would raise Isaac back. After all, God had already promised that Isaac was the son of the promise. So if God took him in sacrifice, God would have to raise him up because God does not lie. And so an old man and his young son walk on up the mountain to build an altar.

And God did put Abraham’s resolve to the test. Dramatic tension increases as Isaac helps prepare the altar and the wood, and then the old man binds his son and lays him on the altar, ready with knife to kill him like a lamb and burn him in sacrifice. It is then that God stops the action, pronounces satisfaction on the ancient faith of Abraham, and does exactly what Abraham prophesied: a ram is caught in a thicket to be sacrificed in Isaac’s stead.

Of course this is not a passage to be literally applied. The resulting trauma to any child (outside of the call of God) would be abusive. But I can see times in which God has called me to obey, to wait through the seemingly unthinkable until He has provided. And it is always worth the wait because God will provide.

God’s Schedule.

2    So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.
3    Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
4    Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5    Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

Genesis 21:2-5

God’s time is not measured in human expectation. Abraham had faithfully trusted that God would provide a son for him and by the time that son is born, Isaac is clearly a son of God’s provision. He is 100 years old when Isaac brings laughter to the tents of Abraham and Sarah. It is clearly a work of God.

One of the reasons that God’s time is not measured well on a human scale is that God brings glory to Himself in all that He does, including the timing of everything. And when we want things to occur at our most convenient time, it is often to make ourselves feel good, or look good, or be what we want. But God’s schedule is the way in which He makes Himself known as powerful and in control.

What I observe then is that I need to back out of my calendar and agenda from time to time and make sure I am not getting in the way of God’s overall timing. Abraham tried to move the schedule along with Hagar as his concubine. And God told him that was not the right plan. Abraham struggled to trust God when confronted with political powers like Pharaoh and Abimelech, and God let him know that He would not allow Abraham’s impatient lies to stand in the way of God’s faithful promises.

So even today I will be working on the administrivia of ministry: something I personally see as a necessary evil. But I would fail miserably if I thought that simply having a procedure, a plan, or a calendar date would ensure God’s blessing. I need to be sure to see where God is promising to work in my heart, in my home, and in my church. And then I need to faithfully look for His timing and schedule. God may use my planning for His glory, but only when my planning is clearly under His schedule and direction. So I will trust.

Faithlessness in the Faithful

Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done."  And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you see, that you did this thing?"
Genesis 20:9-10

Sometimes God will use the least likely people and circumstances to rebuke us. Abraham has fallen into a sinful pattern. His wife was indeed his half-sister, and was considered very beautiful by the culture (even in her nineties!). Abraham had pulled the stunt of passing her off only as his sister to Pharaoh in Egypt. Now he does the same when they live under Abimelech's rule. And when Abimelech takes Sarah into his harem, Abraham does not stop it.

Personally, I find the whole episode a strange weakness in Abraham. He could trust God to lead his homegrown commandos in battle, but he could not trust God with the sanctity of his own marriage! But our sins usually defy expectation. Abraham gives some explanation for his actions: He acted out of fear to turn a half-truth into a convenient cover. But the reality was that Abraham sinned by so doing.

God uses the pagan king that Abraham feared to point out the patriarch's great sin. And I am sure that at this confrontation, Abraham trembled. He feared confrontation with this king, but now his own deceptions had created it. And the king is very upset. Fortunately, God had supernaturally intervened on the part of Abraham and Abimelech was ready to humbly mend things with Abraham.

There have been a few times in my life where God has done the same with me. I remember being humbled on issues of integrity by a boss at a bank who would not let even $20 go unreconciled on an account that moved tens of thousands of dollars a day. I remember having a factory supervisor be used by God to rebuke me when in a fit of temper I used language unbefitting a Christian. Those were not easy messages to hear, but God used them, and I vividly remember them still. I have a feeling Abraham learned the same way from this episode.

faithful and obedient

For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.
Genesis 18:19

The personal elements of the covenant are interesting to see in this passage. God did the choosing of Abraham. There was no merit on Abraham's part to earn the "right" to receive the covenant. It was God's choosing of him that gave him the covenant. But there was responsibility in the covenant. Abraham was to begin a dynasty of faithful obedience and walking with God. He was to command his children and household to follow God and to doing what the Lord said was righteous and just.

The result of the choice and of the obedience was that the covenant would be honored by God. He would bring Abraham what He had promised. This personal relationship with God just keeps being explained and exemplified in the life of Abraham.

What is really interesting in this passage is that Abraham, through the normal practice of hospitality, winds up entertaining God, Who gives him further insight into the events that would transpire. Once again, Isaac is predicted to enter Abraham's household. It is clear that God will continue to honor the covenant through this child of promise. God is clearly doing the heavy lifting in the covenant. Abraham is just remaining faithful and obedient.

a twist in an overall direction

But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.
Genesis 17:21

This is what a journey with God looks like. It twists and changes while remaining constant in its overall direction. Abraham had taken matters into his own hands by fathering Ishmael through Hagar. God makes it clear in this context that this was not what He had in mind. God would make Ishmael a nation (actually nations) of people, but a unique covenant would be established with the son of Abraham and Sarah. Abram is now Abraham and Sarai is now Sarah. By renaming this struggling couple, God was confirming that now their lives would never be the same. At ninety-nine, Abraham would father a child. At ninety, Sarah would bear that son. And laughter would follow in the wake of this wild promise.

What happens in Genesis is a natural "thinning of the ranks" as God prepares to enter a unique covenant relationship with Israel. And grace is given all the way. God is gracious to allow Abraham's son Ishmael to thrive and become a great race of nations. God is gracious to continue to bless Abraham and Sarah despite their struggles in faith. God will graciously give an infant to the aged. And God will establish his covenant with their son.

Abraham firmly believed this. He struggled. But with each new conversation with God, the faith of the patriarch becomes more firmly entrenched in the literal promises of God. A son would come to represent a future nation. A tent in Canaan would hold on to the promise of a land for all his vast descendents.

Stumbling through faith.

15    And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
16    Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Genesis 16:15-16

God's patience never seems to amaze me. When I read Genesis 16, I am struck at how quickly Abram could reason away God's promise, or at best re-negotiate the terms of it unilaterally, which is what happened here. Sarai had not born him a son. And the longer he waited, the more improbable it seemed to be that it would happen. I don't think Abram and Sarai were thinking some sort of biological miracle could happen. They were evidently TRYING to have a baby (and the thought of a couple in their eighties planning for the nursery is really a bit ridiculous!), and Sarai decided to appeal to custom over faith.

It was customary for wealthy people to name an heir. And it was also customary for those without a son to name to attempt to surrogate an heir through a household servant or concubine. It was socially acceptable. it was not, however, part of God's decree. And the "logical move" on the part of Abram added to the difficulty he would face, almost immediately. As soon as Hagar got pregnant by him, the fireworks started at home.

But God graciously chose to honor some of Abram's promise even with a child who was not the child of promise. Hagar's son, Ishmael, would himself be the father of an innumerable nation. We know them as Arabs today. And they proudly trace their lineage to this moment. But even this lack of  faith would be used by God.

For Abram, God would clarify that Ishmael would not be the son to inherit all the benefits of the covenant. Sarai would bear a son to Abram and the waiting, even after this attempt of their own, would make the prospect even more outlandish, pointing clearly to the power and promise of God and not the planning and cunning of a human answer. Through it all, God does not give up on Abram, even as he stumbles through the content of what he truly believed.

And, God help me, I am the same. I stumble through what I believe, not always responding as I should and hoping I can plan my way to something that I must trust God to bring about. That is why I need to read more of this story. It helps me know how to trust the God Who is wisely working His will in my life as well.

From Herdsman to Hero.

14    When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
15    He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

Genesis 14:14-15

Lot is a study in spiritual decline, while Abram is a study in God’s blessing on obedience. Lot has moved from living as a herdsman outside of Sodom to living in the town with the reputation as the original “Sin City”. When the politics of the day lead to war and Sodom is besieged and quickly captured, in the custom of the day Lot and his family are led away along with all the spoils of war. And Abram shows that he has grown from a simple herdsman to a man expert in politics and military action.

Abram now has a household security retinue of 318 “trained men” who were evidently skilled in fighting matters. With his private army, Abram practices classic military strategy with success: He fights at night, splits his forces in what is doubtless a pincer move, and defeats the coalition of forces that raided Sodom. He then chases them off north of Canaan in order to remove the threat from the land. Not bad for an old shepherd!

Lot should have learned his lesson and gotten himself out of Sodom. Really this was his first rescue from the wicked town, but he did not even get the point. He went back to Sodom, to comfort, to commerce, and to compromise with the ways of sinful worldlings for the sake of convenience.

Abram went back to his tents, believing God’s promise and refusing to even take a coin in compensation from the princes of Sodom and the towns of the plain because he knew it was God who was going to keep blessing him and not the system around him. His faith grew as Lot’s continued to decline. No wonder Abram is such a shining example of faith to us in the New Testament. Paul singles him out in Romans 4 as the example of faith justifying us. Hebrews 11 makes much of the old patriarch who believed God more than trusting in wealth or power or prestige. And his simple faith brought him all three.

A place of worship

Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.

Genesis 13:18

I notice something interesting about Abram. Even though he was a nomadic herdsman, everywhere that he settled, he managed to make some sort of visible statement of his commitment to worship the Lord. In Bethel (Genesis 13:4) he built an altar. And here, as he settles a grazing rights dispute with his nephew, he settles in and quickly builds another altar. No matter where Abram was it was important that it be a place of worship.

There is an interesting contrast being made in the text between Abram and his nephew Lot. Abram allows the younger nephew to make the choice of land (an unusual situation), and Lot chooses a well-watered plain that points right at the city of Sodom. From there, it is easy for Lot to place his personal camp not far from the city where the text warns us an extraordinarily wicked culture existed. Lot made his choice of home a place of commerce first and foremost.

While Lot flirts with the enticements of worldly culture in the choice land, Abram faithfully builds an altar to worship the Lord in the place where it seems he might just eke out a living. And God rewards his faithfulness with blessing upon blessing. The immediate response by God is to re-iterate and expand the blessings of the covenant with Abram (Genesis 13:14-17), promising to give to him all the land around him (Canaan or modern day Israel) and promising him a throng of people as his descendents. God thus rewards faithful commitment to His glory.

A calling, a promise, a small start.

1    Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;
2    And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
3    And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

Genesis 12:1-3

In the call of Abram to leave his familiar surroundings and follow the Lord’s direction we have the beginning of what has been an ancient relationship God has had with a unique people: Israel. And in “father Abraham” we see the standard for what faith, following, and friendship with God are all about.

First, the faith… Abram simply was told to leave and that God would show him a land that would be his own. He was to live the life of a faithful nomad, trusting God’s call more than his own security. From that step God would make of this childless old man and his wife a great nation. He would be blessed, become someone of fame, and be a blessing to the world.

Then there had to come “the following”. I would not be commenting on this story if Abram had not believed. But the old man took God at his word (even though we do not know WHY God chose him… I think Abram was equally dumbfounded) and packed up the extended family and headed out into what was for him terra incognita. He followed by faith.

And Abram received a friendship with God. God began the whole thing. Later, as they dwell in Canaan God simply says to him, “This is the land I was talking about.” A series of brief encounters with God occurs from there on it. It is clear that God is talking to Abram and the old man is listening. This conversation is the essence of a faithful friendship with God that persisted through several manifestations of this initial covenant that God made with the patriarch.

It is with Abram that we see the care of God for individuals that ultimately changes the world. The personal desire of God to walk with us did not abate despite Adam’s sin, Cain’s murder of his brother, the generation that died in the Flood, the overt humanism of Babel, or the simple existence of Terah and his nomadic son Abram. And with that patriarch, God began to show us what faith in His Word could do. And through that pursuit by God of us, we have been blessed, for Abram became the father of the Jewish nation, and in Bethlehem, in Judea, in the land God promised Abram, a Savior was born Who has blessed the entire world forever.