6th January Morning
Genesis 21-22
God is faithful. He had promised this couple a child and yes he delivered. Not in the time of Abraham but in his own time. Sarah said this is too good to be true, and the best explanation to this is to laugh at it and whoever will hear that an 80-year-old woman and a 100-year-old man had a child, not through IVF, but natural birth will just laugh. God is faithful. Whatever he promised and declared upon your life will come to pass by all means. No matter how long, how scientifically important, regardless of the social opposition and all the facts by the experts on the table. Whatever God promised, no devil will resist it. Take some time to find out the real promises that God has over your lives and be rest-assured that they will come to pass. This is not some kind of FATE belief, but rather an emphasis on the integrity of God.
God is not emotional and neither are his promises circumstantial. He does not review his promises to you because you have misbehaved. He is consistent and constant. We must learn from God to be people of our word. We must do what we said we will do and not do what we said we will not do. We must not say, I had said this but due to this, we have reviewed. I work with a very efficient man who delivers upon his word by all means. We are emotional beings and very fluctuating beings, but God intends to teach us that we can be beings of integrity in all that we do. I am personally faced with the challenge of finishing this book throughout this year. Let me see how I deliver on my promise. Let me ask you; what promises have you made to yourself, to family and others? When will you deliver? God delivered his after 70 years, when will you deliver on yours since you are not eternal like God?
We had discussed the pain of Hagar, and what matters here is the Bible’s attempt to explain the reason for the pain inflicted by the Egyptians on the Israelites in the book of Exodus we are heading to. Some present battles are older than today. For instance, the battle between the Tutsi and the Hutu is over 400yrs. And these battles always begin with individuals, then families, communities and then nations. This is what the issue of Ishmael is about. We all have heard of the Palestinian-Israel conflict that has been here for ages.
I am one of the parents who is like Abraham. I already have a child from another woman who is not my beautiful wife, I expect kids from my wife. The problem with having kids from different women is long-lasting wrangles. This is not exclusive to such children alone but even those born by the same mother can suffer the same (Jacob and Esau). The point is that the wrangles between family members are more fatal than those from people who are not relatives. Look into your family and tell me the battles in there. How involved are you? But why? Why don’t you just drop these battles?
Always be a good neighbor. Abraham was a good neighbor to Abimelech and the influence of the God of Abraham had extended to this man as we had seen. Good neighborhoods in this sinful world thrive on defined boundaries. Regardless of how friendly you are and how much you trust each other. Document things and stipulate everything to avoid future wrangles. Do not take anything for granted in life. How you relate with your neighbors might not be how your children will relate to their children. I could say more if this was not a reality in our world today.
In chapter 22, we see a God who combats the existing tradition in a very dynamic manner. In those days, it was a religious ritual for people to sacrifice their favorite biological sons. Families did this for the welfare and success of the family. This was a mode of worship and for a family to thrive and live life abundantly, precious blood had to be split in favor of the entire family. The child for sacrifice was always the favorite and a biological one. He who was in line of the inheritance always went first as a hero to represent the clan.
The children were always sacrificed at a grown stage and they had to agree to the ritual and die a death of salvation to their bloodlines. No wonder Isaac is always understood as an image of the incarnate Jesus Christ. So when God asked for Isaac, God was not doing anything unfamiliar in that culture. What was so special and what made news in that world was the God who never took the life of a child like other gods did. This reshaped and redefined the God of Abraham from other gods and this exactly was the intention of this provocative God. God, in the league of gods, wants to stand out and to establish his true identity, and he does not do this by doing something different but by doing the right and truthful thing.
In this case of child sacrifice, God wanted to tell the world that while other gods take lives, the God of Abraham gives life and he is willing to take no life of your favorite son. If it is a matter of life and death, then God would rather take the life of an animal but save the life of your sons. The Animal that was sacrificed was representative of the idea that God would die in place of the human race. That was the truth that the God of Abraham wanted to communicate and exercise in other communities too. Whoever never wanted their children to be killed by their gods had no option but to subscribe to the God of Abraham who does not take first borns.
The Animal that was sacrificed was representative of the idea that God would die in place of the human race. That was the truth that the God of Abraham wanted to communicate and exercise in other communities too. Whoever never wanted their children to be killed by their gods had no option but to subscribe to the God of Abraham who does not take first borns.
It is no different today. Many religious gods have demands they make over their followers and the truth of the matter is that the followers have no option but to opt out to other gods if they cannot fulfill the demands of those gods. Jesus warned in John 8 that, “…..the thief does not come but to steal, kill and destroy…”, and he later said in John 10 that; “….but I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly…”
You and I need this God of Abraham. Abraham was a polygamist but God always focused on one wife and that was Sarah. I do not believe in having more than one wife. I believe in one rib one wife theory. And I am not sure you can do what I call EQUAL-DUAL LOVE. You cannot love both of them equally. Yes, you can give them the same gifts and equal days but you have one heart and if divided it tears. So one wife will always have it while others hire it. To me, this is not human and therefore not coherent and corresponding to the natural emotional attributes of the love being we are. So I suggest we stick to one spouse and not more. We can emulate all things from the patriarchs of the Bible but one thing we should not pick-up is their polygamous habits. Many women or many men are just but a frustration and strange to the manner in which we are designed. You have two eyes, two hands, two ears, but you only have one heart and one genital tool, and these are the only things that matter for marital issues. You need one user that is according to design but you can redesign yourself and suffer the consequences.
We can emulate all things from the patriarchs of the Bible but one thing we should not pick-up is their polygamous habits. Many women or many men are just but a frustration and strange to the manner in which we are designed. You have two eyes, two hands, two ears, but you only have one heart and one genital tool, and these are the only things that matter for marital issues. You need one user that is according to design but you can redesign yourself and suffer the consequences.
6th January Evening
Genesis 23-24
There is nothing as painful as losing your loved one and most especially your spouse. A spouse you have gone through thick and thin with. One that you have struggled with for ages. One who understands you and appreciates you for who you are. One with whom you have worked together and one who, since childhood, you grew together. That spouse, who has supported you, defended you even when she knows you are wrong.
Friends, there is a difference between losing to death an abusive spouse and losing to death a friend in need and one indeed. Losing an abusive spouse to death is RELIEF, but losing a loving and a supportive one is GRIEF. I have never lost one, but being a pastor, I have talked to many individuals and attended many burials of such. It is horrible.
Abraham had to mourn this woman, she was virtuous and a protagonist as well. Such a spouse deserves a designated graveyard to always honor their deeds while they were still living. Like in the European culture, their graves need to be routinely visited and honored with flowers in commemoration of their brave works. This was what Abraham did to his heroic wife Sarah. Through his good relations with his neighbors, he secured a grave site at Hebron. He was given free land. Let me tell you my friend, always be good to people. Just be good. Be good. And the only way to be good, is to let people have their way at the expense of yours. Just be good, and always foster the good of others before yours.
Chapter 24 is one of conservative values. First and foremost, it is not a sin to marry outside your tribe, it is just a problem. Abraham had lived with these people and they were good to him just as we saw their relations in chapter 23. But still in his mind, he knew he could not allow his son marry them. I think it is important to determine the limits of our relations with those who are both genetically and spiritually not our breed. I normally teach four Bs to consider while looking for a spouse and one of them is BREED. Abraham knew that however much he had lived with these people and had most of his children within, he could not extend his relationship with them to the extent of inter-marrying, lest he gets lost in translation.
This is not segregation but nature and belief conservation. We cannot extend our unique species if we mix and cross-breed species. God created us unique and sin has affected us differently. Since marriage rolls on communication, it matters that you marry your species. We live in a so-called global village and yes marriages have worked but none has thrived like that between the same breed. Of course, by breed, I do not necessarily mean same tribe exclusively but even the conditions and the geographies that have shaped your psychic. We must also understand that however much we become well-versed with a foreign culture, it does not mount to the fact that you are of that ethnicity. You, in principle, still need one of your kind.
Abraham did this because of two things, His belief system and secondly, his tribe. He was not concerned with who his other biological kids were to marry but specifically Isaac. For while other kids shared genes with Abraham, Isaac was the one responsible for extending the belief system of his father. So it mattered who he was to marry. He had a mission on his shoulders and this boy could not just marry anyone. When you have a mission on your shoulders, you do not just marry anyone but you marry someone like Rebecca. A beautiful, down to earth and humble girl. One who takes care not only of strangers but of low-class strangers like Eliezer. People like me with a mission on our shoulders should marry beautiful, hard-working, respectful and humble women. If you are going everywhere and anywhere in life, then you are free to marry anyone you want. It was not important who
It was not important who Ishmael married. It did not matter who the sons born by Milcah married. All these were biological children of Abraham, but only one child of all the sons of this man was a son of assignment. When you are an assigned individual, there are assigned people for you to be your spouse. You do not just marry for the sake. Now you know why rich, civic and educated families are concerned with who their children marry. They just cannot afford to add any mediocre to their dynasty lest they drown their empires.
Just take it from me, if you have a mission in life, mind who you marry and where you get them from. Isaac also, on the other hand, was not after any girl in the village. He was always alone in the woods, contemplating the results of the journey of Eliezer. He was not busy providing alternatives for the mission. Like his father and mother did as they waited for his birth. Sometimes we need to focus on one thing and not jump from one point to another for the sake. Focus on one thing, know what you want. You are a lion, do not start grazing on grass just because you need to survive. Preserve your identity and die a hungry lion rather than dying when the world cannot tell whether you are carnivorous or a grazing animal. Focus and maintain a constant identity.
I cannot wind-up without saying a word or two about the most faithful servant in the entire Bible by the names of Eliezer. This guy had worked for Abraham since the times of Lot, and he was a consistent servant. He was the guy in charge of all the affairs of the house of Abraham. He had raised all the children of Abraham. We all can imagine a kind of servant whom the head of the family entrusts with the responsibility of seeking who the family heir is to marry. Abraham did not call any family member to delegate this duty to but he put this responsibility in the hands of Eliezer.
Let me ask you, with what can your boss trust you with? What responsibility can your family or your community assign to you? Can people trust you to this extent? To what extent have you built the repertoire of your integrity in the minds of those around you? Eliezer is a challenge to all of us workers, from house-helps to country presidents. We must all work not looking and focusing on what we are to get but our attention must be built on who we will eventually be understood as.
Jesus once asked his disciples: WHO DO THE PEOPLE SAY I AM? My friend WHO YOU ARE in the minds of people is more important than WHAT YOU HAVE. Your identity and how the well-thinking members of society think of you is important. I am not saying you should impress everyone, even Jesus was despised by the Priests and the Pharisees. All I am saying is that your reputation must be commended in the circles of the well-thinking members of your community. Calling Eliezer a servant in the house of Abraham is a misunderstanding of who this man really was. No house-help conducts marriages for the first son. Eliezer was more than a servant to Abraham but a brother to him. In some families, servants are more reputable than some family members are.
God bless you. I invoke TRUTH, KNOWLEDGE, and FAITH.
Am Pr. I.T.White. THE GOSPEL HAWKER
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