Ken's commentary

Back in the 80's there was a remake of an old 60's song called "Signs".  It talked about how people put up signs everywhere for everything.  Sometimes God calls us to put up signs, too.  In Genesis chapter 17 God makes an amazing covenanent with Abraham.  He promised Abraham that he would have a child in his old age, he would be the father of nations, and that the world would be blessed through him.  It was very imporatant that Abraham and his descendants remember this promise, so God had them make signs.  Not billboards, or flashing neon.  He had them create very personal signs.  He ordered that each male ever to be born in Abraham's house was to be circumcised as a reminder of the Covenenant,  Then everytime time they dressed or relieved themselves they would be reminded that God was to be their God.  Everytime they lay with their wife, she would be reminded that she could be the mother of kings!  These personal signs would constantly remind them of who they were and who they belonged to.  What about you?  What signs do you have in your life to remind you that you were bought with the blood of Christ and you willing made Jesus Christ the Lord of you life?  Do you need to put up some more signs? 

 

God is so faithful to keep His promises.   God had promised Abram that He would make him a great nation, and Abram believed Him.  But it just wasn't happening fast enough.  Abram was getting old and God just wasn't doing it on his timetable.  So Abram decided to 'help' God fulfill His promise.  Instead of waiting God to fulfill the promise through his wife Sarai, Abram married Sarai's servant Hagar, and had a son through Him.  To a great extent, the Bible is all about God's promise to Abram to make him into a great nation that would bless the whole world.  But God also made another promise in Geness 16:10-12.  This promise was not to Abram but to Hagar, the mother of Abram's firstborn son Ishmael.  "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall be counted for multitude"..."Behold, you are with child and shall bear a son.  You shall call his name Ishmael Because the Lord has heard your affliction.  He shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him.  And he will dwell in the presence of all his brethren".  Our world today is still heir to both promises.  God fulfilled His promise to Abram to bless all the world through his son Isaac and ultimately through his descendant Jesus Christ, the messiah, the Son of God.  All who are believers in Christ are heirs to this promise.  But God also fulfilled His promise to Hagar, through Ishmael and through his descendents the Arabs.  The heirs to the first promise are Christians while the heirs to the second are Muslim.  God has definitely blessed the world through Christians, but no one can doubt that the Muslims "are against every man, and every man's hand against him".  The difference in the two promises is perfectly illustrated by how Christians and Muslims attempt to share their faith.  Christians spread their faith by sharing the love of Christ with a hurting word.  Muslims spread their faith by violence and intimidation. 

 How different our world might be today if Abram had had a little more patience!  How different would your world be if you had a little more patience?

 

 

One question I have heard many times is a question about questions.  "Is it okay to question God?"  But that is the wrong question.  Of course it's okay to question God.  We all question God.  It's part of our nature.  But the questions that we ask reveal a lot about our faith.  In Genesis chapter 15 Abram and his wife Sarai are getting old, but they have no children.  He has received promises from God about his multitude of descendents but he is beginning to wonder if God can or will keep His promises.  He expresses his doubt in verse 2 "...Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Elieaer of Damascus?"  His question reveals his lack of faith.  God answers him in verse 4 "...This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir."  Verse 6 records the change in Abram "And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness." 

So what is the right question?  The question all believers should ask themselves: Where are my questions coming from?  A position of faith, or from a lack of faith.  Am I asking God "will you keep your promise?" or am I asking Him "how will you keep your promise?".  How we question God reveals the strength of our faith.

What question are you asking God?

In Genesis chapter 14 Abram's nephew Lot was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  He was living in the city of Sodom when it was attached and he was carried away as a prisioner.  When Abram heard about it he put together his own private army, tracked down those who had captured Lot, and defeated them.  He brought back all the goods that had been taken, as well as all the people.  It was normal for a conquering general to take what he wanted so the king of Salem came out to negotiate with Abram and try to get him to take only the goods and release all the people.  I would have loved to have seen the king's face when Abram answered "I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High ... that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you shoud say, 'I have made Abram rich'...". Abram didn't want to be "beholden" to anyone.  "Beholden" is a word that isn't used much anymore.  Merrium-Webster defines it as ' being under obligation for a favor or gift'. Abram wanted to be "beholden" only to God.  So he didn't take any of the treasure offered him.  He didn't want to "owe" anything to anybody.  He didn't want to create a situation where someone had leverage over him to force him to disobey God.  His relationship with God was the most important thing in his life. 

 What about you?  To whom are you "beholden"?

 

One my favorite movies of all time is "Back to the Future" with Michael J. Fox.  In the movie Marty McFly is is transported back in time from 1985 to 1955, then tries to get back home.  Only, when he finally gets there it isn't the same.

 Abram had a similar experience in Genesis chapters 12 and 13.  No, he didn't travel through time.  He was taken to Egypt by a famine.  While he was there he really scrwed things up.  He didn't keep his parents from meeting the way Marty McFly did, but he did walk away from God, lie to Pharoah and almost force his wife in adultery.  He almost destroyed his future just as Marty did.  Just as Marty wanted to get back to 1985, Abram just wanted to get back to where he was before.  He wanted to get back to a good relationship with God.  Marty made it back to 1985 in the Delorean, and Abram made it back to God at the alter he had made between Bethel and Ai.  The future of neither man was the same.  Marty's family had changed for the better and Abram received another promise from God. 

 In many ways our relationships with God are much like Abrams.  We all sin and separate ourselves from God.  We just have to realize what we have done, confess it and seek God.  Abram travelled to the alter he had made.  We just have to go as far as our knees.  He is faithful to restore us, and often, to bring us even closer to Himself.

Genesis chapter 12 begins with the call of Abram to leave his home and go to the land of Canaan.  He displayed great faith in obeying God, leaving everything behind simply to do what God had told him.  As he traveled God made Him a promise.  "To your descendants I will give this land".  But then a problem arose; "there was a famine in the land".  Abram's response was to be duplicated time and time again throught the history of the nation of Israel.  Instead of trusting God to meet his needs Abram turned to Egypt.  Just as his grandson Jacob would do.  Just as future Kings and Israel and Judah would do.  Instead of faithfully trusting God to meet their needs, they turned to Egypt.  Don't we do the same thing?  We don't actually turned to Egypt, but we do have earthly things that are our first resource when things go wrong.  We try to fix things with money, or with notoriety, or with...something.  We view God as a last resort.  We exhaust every other available resource before we turn to God.

Abram trusted God enough to leave his home and move to a foreign land.  He just didn't trust Him to sustain him there.  We have trusted God enough to save us from our sins, but do we trust Him enough to sustain us?

When I study the Bible I read through a passage once to see where God wants me to focus, then I go back and study that focal point in depth.  In studying Genesis chapter 9 I didn't get far before God started speaking to me.  In fact, I only read the first word.  God wanted me to focus on the very first word.  'So'.  It is a small word packed with a lot of meaning.  The Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines 'so' in this instance as 'therefore' or 'consquently'.  What happens next is a direct result of what happened before.  To fully understand Genesis chapter 9, we have to look back to chapter 8.  In verses 20-22 Noah makes an offering to the Lord.  Noah chose to make the offering; he wasn't commanded.  After all that Noah had been through he still loved God!  He very easily could have been bitter.  He had been put in a position where he had to work very hard and suffer ridicule for many years only to have to watch his friends and neighbors killed.  Then he was couped up in the ark with all the stinky, messy animals for an extended period of time.  Now the ordeal was finally over.  What was the first thing that Noah did?  He told God how much he loved Him!  'So", 'therefore', 'consequently', the next thing happened.  Genesis 9:1 records the following statement, "So, God blessed Noah and his sons...".  God didn't bless Noah because He felt guilty for bringing the flood.  God didn't bless Noah because He wanted Noah to replenish the earth.  He blessed Noah simply because Noah loved Him. 

 

Noah had a choice to make.  God had spoken to him and revealed to him what He was about to do.  And what He was about to do was rather unbelievable.  Nothing like this had ever happened before.  Water was going to fall from the sky!  Water had never fallen from the sky!  And not just a little bit of water, but enough water to cover the whole earth.  Okay, so even if Noah could believe that this could happen he still had a choice to make.  Was he willing to open himself up to public ridicule by building this huge boat far away from any existng body of water?  His friends and neighbors would think he was crazy!  If he stepped out on faith and did what God wanted would God be faithful and keep his word?  We all know that Noah chose to obey God and that God was faithful to His word. 

Now, each of us has a choice to make.  God has spoken to us through the scriptures and revealed to us what He is about to do.  And what He is about to do is rather unbelievable.  Nothing like this has ever happened before.  The world as we know it will pass away, and all of mankind will have to stand before Him in judgement.  Okay, so even if we can believe that this can happen we still have a choice to make.  Are we willing to open ourselves up to public ridicule by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior?  Our friends and neighbors will think we are crazy!  If we step out on faith and do what God wants, will God be faithful to keep His word?  God was faithful to keep His word to Noah, and He will be faithful to keep His word to us! 

What choice will you make?