Genesis 16

Trusting can be difficult at times. Abram and Sarai attempt to take matters into their own hands here. To be fair, we don’t have proof that God told Abram that Sarai would be the natural mother of his children. However, the tenor of the passage suggests that they understood the promise and wanted to “help” God make His promise come true. After all, Abram is getting older, his wife seems barren, so something had to be done! The absolutely wrong thing, as it turns out, that causes generations of heartache. We should take a warning from this. Sometimes we want to forge ahead with what seem like a good idea to us. Perhaps waiting, praying, and observing would be good first steps before we rush into anything!

The “angel of the Lord” in the OT is often thought to be a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, and Hagar seems to indicate that this angel is more than simply a messenger: “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him” (WEB)? God shows that He understands the fact that Hagar was put in a terrible predicament by Sarai and Abram. He also shows that He cares for her and her offspring by promising them a future, albeit a difficult one.

Genesis 16:12 “He will be like a wild donkey amongst men. His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. He will live opposed to all of his brothers” (WEB).

Thought for the day: what does it mean to you that God sees you?

Hebrews 4:13 “There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.”

Genesis 15

Abram is worried because he doesn’t have an heir. God reassures him that one will come from his own body, and that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. However, Abram wants assurances! Normally, when a covenant is ratified, both parties participate. Here only God passes between the carcasses. He promises to be faithful, even though Abram will occasionally lose his way. That’s why we can trust God!

Lamentations 3:22-23 “It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.” (WEB)

Thought for the day: what does it mean to you that God is your shield, and exceeding great reward?

Psalm 28:7 “The LORD is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him.”

Psalm 142:5 “I cried to you, LORD. I said, ‘You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.’ “

Genesis 14

A picture is worth a thousand words.

From The ESV Study Bible.

Abram shows both his bravery in rescuing Lot and his ongoing desire to honor God. Following his victory, Abram is led in worship by the priest/king Melchizedek (“king of righteousness”), who then receives Abram’s thanksgiving offering. Melchizedek is recognized in the New Testament as a type of Christ.

Hebrews 6:20-7:3 “where as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (being first, by interpretation, ‘king of righteousness’, and then also ‘king of Salem’, which means ‘king of peace’, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.”

In rejecting the king of Sodom’s offer of material goods Abram shows that he isn’t a bounty hunter in it for gain, or a vassal of a king. He is a servant of the “God Most High,” and he wanted any blessing he received to be unequivocally from the LORD.

Thought for the day: gifts to God through His servants are one way he has established for us to show thanks to him.

2 Corinthians 9:7 “Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Genesis 13

God reaffirms His promise to Abram and expands on it. Not only will his descendants be “as the dust of the earth,” but they will also possess the entirety of the land of Canaan.

Abraham is gracious towards Lot, and Lot chooses the well-watered land. Unfortunately, that will be his undoing. Lot’s choice reminds us that when we choose the world, trouble is always the outcome: “Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against the LORD” (WEB).

Thought for the day: worldliness is always devastating!

1 John 2:15-17 “Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s. The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever” (WEB).

Genesis 12

With God’s call of Abram, we now see the beginning of God’s people. God promises to give Abram a place, protection, and progeny. However, the greatest promise is that God will bless all the families of the earth through him!

Galatians 3:8-9 “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you all the nations will be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.”

Although a heralded man of faith and obedience (Hebrews 11:8-10), Abram also felt fear. God protected him when he misled others about his wife, but we shouldn’t misread that situation. In protecting Abram, God was protecting His own promise (“I will make you into a great nation”). God doesn’t always promise to protect us from our own fear and stupidity. Although used mightily, most of the patriarch’s lives reveal significant flaws in their walks with God. I think that should give us hope. God can still work in our lives when we aren’t perfect.

Thought for the day: Even when you fall or fail, God is there to pick you up and he is still willing to use you!

Micah 7:8 “Don’t rejoice against me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.”

Genesis 11

Genesis continues with its theme of beginnings. How did humanity develop different languages? Look no further than the Tower of Babel! Not content to live for God after the flood, mankind wants to make a name for itself (4). Instead of attaining significance and immortality, they end up scattered and alienated from God.

Lifespans are decreasing, seemingly one of the effects of the flood, but the genealogy picks up the lineage of the Messiah and leads us to Abraham.

Luke 3:34-38 “the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”

Thought for the day: What does Babel reveal about the nature and danger of pride?

Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.”

Genesis 10

Since Genesis is the book of beginnings, we see here the beginnings of the various nations. In fact, this chapter is sometimes called the Table of Nations. Once the ark landed, the family clans migrated to different regions.

(This image comes from the ESV Study Bible)

Thought for today: Mankind got a second chance through Noah, but nothing changed from God’s perspective. He still wanted people to seek Him!

Acts 17:26-27 “He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons and the boundaries of their dwellings, that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”

Romans 3:29-30 “Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.”

Genesis 9

God gave mankind dominion over the earth, which includes the ability to eat any animal or vegetable. However, eating blood is forbidden. Blood is seen as that which carries life and symbolizes what is sacred. As such, shedding man’s blood is absolutely forbidden, precisely because mankind was made in the image of God, and the death penalty is a result.

Romans 13:3-4 “For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the authority, for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil.”

I believe that this passage implies we still carry the imprint of God’s image, even though it has been marred by sin. We are like our creator in many ways, but we have lost the holiness that once was ours, which is why we need Christ!

Ephesians 4:20-24 “But you didn’t learn Christ that way, if indeed you heard him and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.”

The Noahic covenant is more fully explained here, having been revealed in the prior chapter. God would never again destroy the entire earth with a flood, and the rainbow is a symbol of His covenant with mankind.

What was Canaan’s sin that he was so severely punished? What did he do wrong? Some have come up with bizarre speculations, but we don’t need to go beyond what the text says. Honor and shame were big deals in ancient culture, and we can see the beginning of that here. Rather than treating his father with respect and taking care of him, he apparently chose to ridicule him and tried to have his brothers join him in dishonoring their father. To their credit, they refused.

Thought for the day: How do you treat your parents?

Ephesians 6:1-3 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with a promise: ‘that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth’ “ (WEB).

Genesis 8

“God remembered” didn’t mean that God forgot. It meant that God was faithful to His promise.

Genesis 6:18 “But I will establish my covenant with you” (WEB).

The New Testament looks back on the flood and compares Noah being saved to what happens to us because of our salvation. The water of our baptism is a symbol of the cleansing that happens to us when we believe in Christ.

1 Peter 3:20-21 “In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (WEB).

Thought for the day: Isn’t it amazing what God has done for us?

Titus 3:5 “But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love towards mankind appeared, not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (WEB).

Genesis 7

The size of the ark depends on the size of a cubit. It’s entirely possible that the ark was over 500 feet long and 50 feet high – easily enough to have three decks. The storage space inside would be about the same as 450 semi-trailers. If each semi-trailer could hold 250 sheep, that means the ark could have held 112,500 sheep! That would be ample space for two of every unclean and seven of every clean animal, plus the space necessary for additional food.

Genesis 7:11 says, “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the sky’s windows opened” (WEB). Because of the changes that take place after the flood, some have speculated that there used to be a water canopy above the earth, and that the fountains under the earth refer to subterranean water chambers, hydrothermal vents, and/or tectonic plate movement. In fact, there is scientific evidence for water in the earth’s mantle!

Thought for today: If you really believe that Jesus rose from the dead, why is it so hard to believe some of the other events that the Bible details?

Psalm 119:160 “All of your words are truth. Every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever.”