This week’s chapters had three individual stories that stood out to me as being . . . we'll call it outlandish.
I think it's worth noting that I believe in Biblical inerrancy (though I do not believe in a strictly literal interpretation of the Bible). While I recognize the numerous steps and edits and conventions and crazy stuff the Bible went through in becoming the compilation of writings we know it as today, I do believe that its construction was God-orchestrated and divinely inspired. I think if we take an honest and prayerful view of Scripture as a whole, we can decipher the bits and pieces that don't make sense or seem a little crazy. I suppose you could say I take the Bible as a "whole is greater than the sum of its parts" work.
Anyway, here is my take on three questionable Old Testament stories, though I'm no expert. Please share your thoughts too and maybe we can come to a better understanding of the meaning behind these passages.
(18:16-32) Abraham Pleads for Sodom:
Reason to Believe That the Wrath of
God Unleashed in the Old Testament is More Than Fair
This is one of my favorite Old Testament
passages. Abraham is very boldly pleading with God to save the city of Sodom. His argument
is: “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (v. 23). I think that’s a question we would all like to ask, for any
of the Biblical stories that show devastating events affecting human beings.
This passage seems to answer for all of them.
Abraham is foot-in-the-door’ing God as he asks, “what if 50
of them are good people?” God says, “then I will save the entire city, just to
protect those 50.” Abraham continues, “what about 45? 30? 10?” Each time, God
promises to save the city for the sake of the righteous, no matter how few.
That’s not even fairness – that is mercy. To save an entire city on account of a righteous few. And I guess in a way it alludes to Christ. The Righteous One
has God saving the entire world. Despite our sinfulness, God decreed to allow the life, death, and resurrection of one to save us all from death to our sins and death to our relationship with him. In a world before Christ, we can see several times throughout the Old Testament that God is loving and merciful in ways such as this. All small acts leading up to the ultimate giving of his son. Let's keep an eye out for those, because they're awesome.
(22: 1-19) Sacrifice of Isaac:
This Sounds Like One of Those “I
Drowned My Kids in the Bathtub Because God Told Me To” News Stories . . . say
what, God?
If anyone planned to sacrifice a child in today’s world at
the request of God, CPS would be all over that, stat. So I think the question
begs to be asked . . . why the heck is this in the Bible? Why would God ask
something like that of Abraham? And what does this mean for people now who
claim to have been asked to complete a similar task?
Well, first off, this was done in a time when sacrifices
were all in a day’s work. God regularly asked for sacrifices of animal life, so
human life wouldn't be too much of a stretch I suppose. In a post-theocratic (we’ll
delve into theocracy a bit later in the OT), Christ-resurrected world, there aren’t sacrifices of this sort being made anymore.
Second, God didn't actually let Abraham go through with it.
It contradicted everything that God had said was planned for Abraham and his
descendants. I think the point is that Abraham trusted God enough to walk up
that mountain with his kid, knowing that no matter what happened, God was on
their side - both of them as God's children and covenant members. I think another good point is that Abraham's mentality wasn't just climbing a
mountain to murder his kid, but more willing to offer what he valued most in his
life to God. Abraham was recognizing that God gave him that son and God could
take that son away. Abraham wouldn't hold on to his son for merely his own pride and
joy, but first and foremost, he would place Isaac in the hands of his creator and heavenly father.
That is a lot of faith on Abraham’s part. A whole. lotta. faith. To be
willing to say, “Hey God, I've wanted this basically for forever, and you
finally gave him to me, and I love him so so so much. But always be it your will, not
mine.”
Third, this passage shows the importance of substitutionary
atonement. Basically, God calls for sinless people. It’s impossible. Instead of
being dead in sin (remember from last week how Adam and Eve's sin in the garden held the consequence of death for all of mankind?), God allowed something else to be a physical representation
of sin-death to make up for it. In this case, it’s a ram. Much later on down
the timeline, Jesus is the permanent substitutionary atonement for the entire world.
(32:22-32) Jacob Wrestles With God:
Uh . . . okay . . .?
This is pretty unique, right? Jacob is wrestling
all night and then we come to find out that he’s wrestling with God.
Jacob is a wrestler. He’s been wrestling with everyone throughout his entire life. He wrestled Esau out of his God-given birth right and blessing
from Isaac. He wrestled with Laban for Rachel and livestock. But his real
struggle all along has been with God.
Clearly, God had the power to dominate the wrestling match
at any time (look at what he did to Jacob’s hip with one touch v.25). God could win
whenever he wanted to, so the struggle must have been the point of the
wrestling, not the outcome itself. And maybe that’s what Jacob needed to
understand: that God was the one in control, no matter how hard Jacob fought
for anything otherwise.
I think this also shows us how hard God is willing to
pursue his people. He does whatever it takes to get them to know him, and yield
their lives to him.
This week we’re finishing up Genesis and beginning our journey through Exodus. Here are some things to keep in mind while reading:
1. Exodus is the second
book of the Pentateuch. We're still looking at God fulfilling the promises he made to Abraham (the people of Israel are Abraham’s offspring and have inherited his covenant with God), despite the fact that Israel is now enslaved and up against Egypt, a very formidable foe, and despite Israel continually falling short of God’s standards for them.
2. We’ll discuss the
historicity of the exodus in the next couple of weeks
3. Moses is around
starting now and lasting for pretty much the rest of the Pentateuch. Moses acts as a mediator between the Lord and his people.
4. There are two parts.
Part 1 – Israel is freed from slavery and gets
the heck out of Egypt
Part 2 – The early
beginnings of a theocracy, with the 10 commandments and all that good stuff
5. The presence
of the Lord shows up from time to time and will dwell among the people, begging
the question – how can the presence of an infinitely holy God be with a sinful
group of people?
6. Relation to the New
Testament: Jesus is the New Testament Exodus, reenacted in his own life and
death. Keep an eye out for parallels.
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