The Weirdness of our Forefathers

The Skinny:

Chapter 17 - Sarah gives birth to Isaac [which means "he laughs"] and God makes a 3rd covenant. This one is a little below the belt. That very day, Abraham goes out and has every male in his household circumcised. Chapter 18 - The Lord appears to Abraham as 3 men. Abraham has a meal prepared for the Lord and pulls out all the stops. Sarah overhears them talking [predicting that she will bear a son] and she laughs at the idea. Then, when confronted, Sarah denies laughing because she's afraid. Next, there is this fascinating scene where God wants to destroy Sodom and Abraham bargains with him - using phrases such as "Far be it for you to do such a thing-to kill the righteous with the wicked." The Lord allows this banter and in the end agrees that if there are even 10 righteous people in Sodom, he will not destroy the town. Chapter 19 - Two angels show up in Sodom and some really bad stuff happens. Lot urges them not to stay in the town square, fearing for their safety. He finally talks them into coming home with him, and then the men of the town practically beat down his door. They are apparently obsessed with raping these angels. Lot offers to give these evil men his virgin daughters instead. Just as they are about to break down the door, the angels afflict the wicked men with blindness. An intense action scene follows where the angels hurry Lot and his family out of the town and tell him to go to the mountains. But he doesn't want to go to the mountains and pleads with them to let him go to a little town. Lot's wife looks back on Sodom and is turned into a pillar of salt. Lot is afraid, and apparently changes his mind about the mountains, leaving the town to flee to them. Then it gets even weirder when his daughters get him drunk and have sex with him so that they can procreate. Chapter 20 - Abraham meets Abimelech king of Gerar, and again he pulls the whole "She's not my wife, she's my sister" bit. And so Abimelech takes Sarah but then has a dream where God exclaims, "No - wait! You don't want to do that!" Abimelech confronts Abraham and Abe skirts the issue saying "Actually, she really is my sister." Chapter 21 - Isaac is born! Sarah kicks Hagar and Ishmael out of her house and God tells Abraham to listen to her. Hagar and Ishmael end up in the desert very near death and the Lord shows up and saves them with a well. Scene shift - Abraham and Abimelech make a treaty [at Beersheba] to resolve a quarrel about a well. Chapter 22 - God tells Abraham to go offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham listens and is just about to drop the knife when The Angel of the Lord shows up and stops him, repeating the covenant. After that, we get a little excerpt about Abraham's brother's sons which foreshadows Isaac's future wife. Chapter 23 - At 127, Sarah dies. Abraham goes to the Hittites and insists on paying them for the plot of land to bury his wife. Chapter 24 - Abraham asks his servant to swear that he will go back to Abraham's hometown to pick a wife for Isaac. The text notes that if the woman will not agree to come, the servant is freed from the oath. The servant prays and God answers that prayer - enter Rebekah - Isaac's bride-to-be. Chapter 25 - We find out that Abraham took another wife and that he had concubines - and a whole mess of other kids. Then, Abraham passes away at the "good old age" of 175. We get a little excerpt on the sons of Ishmael, his death and that he lived to be 137. Another scene shift - Rebekah is barren, but Isaac prays for her and she becomes pregnant with twins! Enter Jacob [meaning he grasps the heel [or figuratively, he deceives]] and Esau [which may mean hairy]. The Lord tells Rebekah that the older one will serve the younger. We are told that the parents have favorites. Isaac loves Esau and Rebekah loves Jacob. Next, Esau sells his birthright to his brother for some stew. Chapter 26 - Freaky deja vu. Like father like son. Isaac tells Abimelech that Rebekah is his sister. But then they're caught getting up close and personal. Abimelech calls him out and orders his men not to touch either of them. They too make a treaty a Beersheba. Chapter 27 - Isaac is aging and blind. He wants to bless Esau before her dies so he tells him to go hunt down something tasty and fix it for him [so Esau can then receive his blessing]. But Rebekah overhears and convinces Jacob to go and pretend to be Esau so he can get the blessing. He even puts on goatskin to become hairy like his brother. Which raises the question, just how hairy was this guy? Jacob succeeds and gets the blessing. Esau comes back - no blessing for him. He is devastated and wants to kill his brother. Rebekah suggests Jacob gets the heck out of there until Esau cools down, and so, Jacob flees. Chapter 28 - While on the lamb, Jacob has a dream and encounters God in a very real and powerful way.

Wow. That's some crazy stuff. It begs the question - what the heck??

Crazy stuff.

I have enlisted a couple books that are way smarter than I am: How to Read the Bible for All it's Worth and How to Read the Bible Book by Book both by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart.

The first one has a really great chapter on biblical narratives - what they are and what they aren't. I thought, since Genesis is packed with narratives, this might be a good time to reference them.

What Biblical Narratives Are

In essence, they are "purposeful stories retelling historical events" [pg. 90]. I mentioned yesterday that God is the ultimate protagonist. Satan and evil people/powers are the antagonists and folks working with God are the agonists. Every narrative has a plot and characters.

Also, there are 3 levels to the biblical narrative [pg. 91]. The 3rd level was basically described above - a Great Big God leading his people to redemption. The 2nd level is the idea that God is redeeming people for his name - twice - by the former covenant and the "new" covenant [ie: Jesus]. The 1st level is all the little narratives [what Scot Mcknight calls "Wiki-Stories"].

I know I'm getting little teachy here, but I think keeping the levels in mind helps to read the bible as Story.

What Biblical Narratives Are NOT

- Allegories or stories filled with hidden meaning [though they do often have an "implied" meaning - one with cultural context that would have been obvious to the original listeners]

- Intended to teach a moral lesson [this is key - these are accounts of the lives of real people! [I can only imagine if someone sat down and read my life]]

Ha. Okay. Now that we got that out of the way, we can get to the good stuff. I feel an apology about length coming on . . .

Sorry!

My Comments, Questions, and Wonderment

I'm not sure I fully understand the whole circumcision thing. But, then again, I'm not sure I'm supposed to [nor am I sure Abraham fully grasped it either - gentlemen, can you imagine being circumcised right now? At 100??] I think the main point here is obedience. We don't get all of God's reasoning. We don't have to. We just have to trust God, listen and do what he says.

Phyllis Tickle [in a teaching about the Holy Spirit at Mars Hill Bible Church] said the story of the 3 visitors is the first reference we have to the Trinity. Here, it is clearly stated that there are 3 - and yet the 3 are referred to in the singular form.

The story of Lot and his family is just bizarre. My brain can't handle going into all the gory details right now. So, I'll just address Lot's wife. Because she seems to really get the raw end of the deal, right? Lot offers his virgin daughters to sex fiends and the daughters get their father drunk and take advantage of him. And neither offensive offense seems to warrant so much as a cough from God. But Lot's wife turns around and gets turned into a pillar of salt [of all the weird ways to die]! I've heard it said that the punishment was so harsh because she effectively was looking back longingly - as if wanting to return to her old evil ways. There is no doubt that sick sexual sin was abundant in Sodom. But honestly, I really don't get it.

The Abraham /Isaac dealings with Abimelech ["She's my sister.", "Let's make a treaty."] seemed odd to me. Is this the same guy? Did he really fall for the sister gag twice?

Did Abraham know that God was going to stop him from sacrificing his son? He seemed so ready and willing for whatever God had in store. As a mother, I was deeply moved by this story. It's a breathtaking example of obedience and trust on the part of Abraham.

Abraham having concubines is difficult for me. I know it was a way different culture. And I know that it doesn't mean God is condoning it - narratives, as previously stated, simply give a true account. And I know God doesn't pick people on their own merit. Still, my inner feminist is sulking a little bit.

A theme that keeps coming up [from How to Read the Bible Book by Book] - God often chooses the younger, or weaker, or most unlikely to bear the righteous seed. I like that a lot.

Okay, really, who sells their birthright for some soup? And, honestly! Just how hairy was this guy?

Seems like an odd place to end, but I think I've run out of comments. It's about time.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Tomorrow's reading: Genesis 29:1-40:23.