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timewithgod.blog-city.com — January 2009
Genesis 17 -- Remembering For A Lifetime That He LAUGHED
God appeared ... and Abram bowed facedown on the ground. God didn't say, "Get up and let's sit here and talk." Instead, He left Abram there during the entire conversation. It was a subservient position and one of r
God appeared ... and Abram bowed facedown on the ground. God didn't say, "Get up and let's sit here and talk." Instead, He left Abram there during the entire conversation. It was a subservient position and one of respect. "God is infinitely high..." describes why we should assume such a position when we meet Him face to face. "...and God is infinitely nigh..." describes the closeness that He allows us to experience with Him. He deserves our respect and awe.
"Obey Me and do what is right" was the only command He gave Abram at this meeting, aside from the command to circumcise all males. That's really all God wants from us. Everything else in this covenant was up to God to fulfill.
At some point, Abram had raised up. When he bowed again in verse 15, his name was now Abraham -- the "father of many nations" was now bowing before His God.
Lest there be any room for misinterpreting His command this time, God told him that Sarah would have a son, and Abram would be the father.
Abraham bowed down facedown on the ground at this news.......and laughed. My commentary said that it was in joyful wonder, not in disbelief, mentioning Romans 4:18-21, which says, "Abraham never doubted.... and never stopped believing." He knew that what God willed was as sure as if it had already happened. With faith like that, it's possible that he was already envisioning holding his new son in his arms.
Showing His incredible sovereignty and omniscience, God didn't miss a beat as He continued, "His name shall be 'He laughed' (Isaac in Hebrew)." Had Abraham been laughing in unbelief, this would have amounted to God giving him a lifetime reminder that he'd doubted God's word. Since Abraham did believe, it instead was a lifetime reminder (every time he called Isaac) that he was overjoyed at how God was going to bless him with a son.
How about that for a reaction from us each time God speaks and reveals His will for our lives? Shouldn't we laugh with joy? Our Creator is speaking to us! He's alive and active in our lives! He has plans to prosper us and to give us a future. He wants to engage us in what He is doing in the world. He's again picking me for His team! This sounds like a good day to bow....and laugh with joy!
Father, thank You for being my God, and for loving and caring for me so much. Thank You for counting me worthy of being used for Your purposes. Ready me now for Disciple Now and for the joy of again hosting more of Your sons in my home. Teach them that You are worthy of their respect and help them to give it to You. Fill them with awe that You are choosing them personally and working in and through them to bless not just themselves, but others as well. And let them laugh with joy at the prospect of it all!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Genesis 18 & 19 -- Proper Prayer Etiquette?
I always wondered if God was upset by Abraham's long "bartering session" over the impending destruction of Sodom. I'd have probably told him to quit finagling and get out of the way."The bargain" was an integral and
I always wondered if God was upset by Abraham's long "bartering session" over the impending destruction of Sodom. I'd have probably told him to quit finagling and get out of the way.
"The bargain" was an integral and expected part of all commerce in the Middle East back then, and survives even to this day. Both sides know and expect that the initial price will change, and the process isn't just about driving a bargain and consummating a sale. It also validates the buyer's "masculinity" in a way by challenging the worth of whatever product is being offered, similar to a duel without the bloodshed. It also allows the sellers to adjust the price without losing face.
Of course, as Abraham "bargained with God", I know that he did not consider it a contract among equals. His repeated attempts to save the city for Lot's sake continually demonstrated humility and a healthy fear of his Creator. There was no consideration of "making his mark" by putting one over on God.
My commentary said, "His effectual intercession was based on the righteous character for the Judge of all the earth and evidenced that boldness, yet deep humility which only an intimate knowledge of God can give. Only when Abraham stopped pleading did the Lord close the matter and depart. There are many mysteries in life for which the truth of verse 25 is the only satisfying answer.:
Father, I know at times in prayer I've almost felt too bold in my pleas. I've also felt as if I've possibly asked too much or too many times. Help me to understand better the boldness that life in Your Son affords us when approaching Your throne of grace, yet also help me to display that deep humility that any created being should evidence before his Creator. Thank You for not closing a matter without listening to our pleas and for even giving us a voice in the matter, for as God of the Universe, You don't even have to do that!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Genesis 20 & 21 -- I'M In The Bible??
This sounds like déjà vous! Abraham is again wandering around and entering foreign territory and he's again telling his wife to say that she's his sister. He's afraid that if he tells the truth, he will be killed
This sounds like déjà vous! Abraham is again wandering around and entering foreign territory and he's again telling his wife to say that she's his sister. He's afraid that if he tells the truth, he will be killed and Sarah will be taken. Being the chivalrous guy he is, he claims again to be her brother, and she is again taken but his life is spared. I've wondered if, spending her first night in the harem, Sarah is ready to give her cowardly husband a piece of her mind. (I've also wondered just what Abimelech saw in a 90 year old woman, unless he was over 100 also.)
My commentary said, "It seems incredible to us that Abraham would again try [this] -- incredible, that is, until we remember our own perpetual proneness to sin!" (Ouch!)
That's when I had to stop and offer my apologies to Abraham, for I had to offer my apologies to Joseph last night ..... again. Suffice it to say that math is not Joseph's cup of tea. He's exhibited a particular aversion to memorizing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division tables, preferring instead to use an idiotic method called "touch math" that amounts to counting up or down to get the answer (now isn't that a timesaver). In effect, everything seems to take 9 times longer. He's also quite careless in transposing answers from the work sheet to the answer sheet, meaning that I find myself working each problem to check it, then helping him correct the ones he's missed, then having to look over the answer sheet to point out what he's missed in that step. Last night, we had two such sets to do! Needless to say, the last thing I wanted was to spend 2 hours doing math with Joseph last night. There are much more fun ways of bonding.
So when his grumbling reached an annoying enough level ( or when he says for the 4th time that 4 goes into 25 eight times), like Abraham, I sin again in the EXACT SAME WAY I'VE DONE BEFORE.
Father, instead of reacting to Abraham's actions by thinking, "What an idiot!", help me to react to my own repeat sins in that way. For I am the bigger fool because I've got his example to learn from. Please grant me divine patience, because my own patience will never be enough. I pray that I will not be someone whom everyone else looks at and says, "AGAIN?!?"
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Genesis 22 -- Remember, There Were TWO People There
Much has been said of Abraham's faith -- to be able to take his "son of the Promise" and prepare to offer him as a burnt offering to God, going so far as to raise the knife before God stopped him. Hebrews explains that Abraham bel
Much has been said of Abraham's faith -- to be able to take his "son of the Promise" and prepare to offer him as a burnt offering to God, going so far as to raise the knife before God stopped him. Hebrews explains that Abraham believed that God would raise him back up, since he believed that God could not break the promise of a posterity through Isaac. It truly is remarkable faith.
But I also saw it through Isaac's eyes this morning. My commentary said he could have been as old as 25. He'd witnessed first-hand his father's faith in God over the years. It was nothing for him to agree to go with his father a 3-day's journey to offer a sacrifice.
When the servants were left behind with still a day's travel to go, Isaac carried the wood to start the fire. When it dawned on him that they'd forgotten to bring a lamb, he trusted his father when Abraham assured him that God would provide.
There came a point when the altar was built and the fuel for the fire was ready and no offering had arrived. We aren't privy to everything that went on there. Those must have been poignant father-son moments when Abraham revealed God's command to Isaac. Verse 9 only tells us that Abraham "tied up his son Isaac and laid him on the wood of the altar." There's not one mention of any struggle. For Isaac went willingly. (He's a picture of Christ in the whole scene, and Christ too went willingly to the cross.)
I can't help but think that Abraham took the time to explain to Isaac what Abraham himself had concluded -- that God had made this incredible promise of descendants for Abraham from his son who had not yet married and had no descendants himself. I wonder how Isaac reacted when Abraham told him that he knew God was a promisekeeper, so the only way God could both command his death and keep that promise was for God to raise him back to life!
I can't help but think that Isaac too showed incredible faith, for like Christ, he did go willingly. Did he ask, "Will it hurt, Dad? I'm scared...." (It would have broken my heart right there to hear it.) I can only imagine tears streaming down both of their faces as they both hoped their faith and trust in God was well-placed. What a shock the angel's shout must have been, commanding Abraham to stop! And what a relief.
That father and son must have cemented an incredible bond at that place, for both heard from God in that moment and both had trusted God and each other. My commentary happens to note that this passage is the first time that the words "love" and "worship" were used in the Bible. It certainly fits.
Father, it's not often that a father and son both hear You speak, I imagine. To share a God-moment together is an incredible experience. Though mine pales in comparison, I thank You that my boys and I could experience You right in the midst of us, as You showed us to each other at those orphanages in Ukraine. Thank You for allowing us to trust each other, and to trust You on those special days! May our experiences increase our faith and cement our love for each other, and for You!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Genesis 23 & 24 Careful -- You Never Know Who May Be Asking
My commentary put an interest spin on this familiar story of Abraham's servant going to find a wife for Isaac. It said, "The servant is a symbol of the Holy Spirit sent by the father to win a bride for the 'heavenly Isaac', the
My commentary put an interest spin on this familiar story of Abraham's servant going to find a wife for Isaac. It said, "The servant is a symbol of the Holy Spirit sent by the father to win a bride for the 'heavenly Isaac', the Lord Jesus .... The first time we see Isaac after his experience on Mount Moriah is when he went out to meet Rebekah. So the first time we will see the Savior after His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension is when He returns to claim His chosen bride."
I found some interesting comments about the Hebrew words used in the story of Abraham's servant finding Rebekah. He wasn't so much asking for a drink as he was a sip of water -- not much at all. But the one God had chosen as Isaac's wife "would reveal her generous nature and her willingness to serve others by offering him not a mere sip of water, but an abundant drink. To this she would also add the astonishing offer of drawing water for the camels ALSO."
Any woman who would be willing to offer to draw many barrels of water, with the servant's men standing nearby, when only a sip was requested, would truly be a woman of character.
Father, help me to have a generous spirit like Rebekah. Don't let me be stingy when You direct people to ask me for something, for I may never know how You are planning to bless me through that request.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Genesis 25 -- Giving The Devil A Foothold
The Bible faithfully records even the things God never approves, my commentary notes. Like Abraham's trying to have a son by his wife's servant girl, and after Sarah died, his taking of his concubine as a new wife and having six other s
The Bible faithfully records even the things God never approves, my commentary notes. Like Abraham's trying to have a son by his wife's servant girl, and after Sarah died, his taking of his concubine as a new wife and having six other sons. He also sent these six sons away, as he had Ishmael, so they wouldn't interfere with Isaac. Those actions don't do much to help family unity. The same thing was going on in Isaac's family. Isaac loved Esau while Rebekah loved Jacob. Such favoritism nursed the conflict that had existed between the twin boys in the womb, and it intensified as they entered adulthood.
Each boy also had his faults. Esau seemed to care nothing about the value of his birthright and inheritance. Jacob was true to his name -- a trickster and conniver who seemed constantly on the lookout for something he could get without putting forth any effort.
The sidebar in my Bible spoke about anger that arises from such conflicts. It described anger as "a tumor of bitterness ... its fatal fibers creep around the edge of the heart and ravage it."
Last night was one of those very rare moments when my oldest son and I don't get along. He came in from playing outside and something had changed his entire attitude, I could tell. He didn't want anything I'd fixed for supper and he found nothing else he wanted to eat. He had little interest in doing his short homework assignment. He'd also failed, for the third day in a row, to bring home some makeup work from school. All that coupled with the tough day I'd experienced at work led to a volatile mix and anger resulted on both our parts.
Before bedtime, it was for the most part resolved, but those angry moments are hard to forget, and they make your heart feel cold as ice. I can only imagine what Isaac's household must have been like with all of the resentment seething under the surface.
Father, I pray that You will help me to better recognize the signs of a brewing storm better than I did last night, so that I can head it off early. Please help me also to better control my reactions to such circumstances, not giving the devil a foothold to use to climb into our family to try to drive a wedge between us, for we are Yours.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Genesis 26 -- NOT Passing The Sins Of The Father To The Children
Isaac was born way after most of Abraham's mess-ups, yet somehow he acquired several of Abraham's pet sins. During a time of famine, he too wanted to migrate to Egypt, and even got on the road. God stopped him on the way, but Isaa
Isaac was born way after most of Abraham's mess-ups, yet somehow he acquired several of Abraham's pet sins. During a time of famine, he too wanted to migrate to Egypt, and even got on the road. God stopped him on the way, but Isaac's fear of the future led him into another test at Gerar.
It was there that he repeated his dad's pet sin of lying about his relationship to his wife for fear of his life. He told the Abimelech ruling at the time that she was his sister. When the real facts became known, an order of protection was issued by the king.
It is scary to think about how my sinful attributes might get picked up by my sons, yet I already see it happening in some ways. My oldest, when really pushed, is starting to develop quite a temper that he has problems controlling, and as I work to calm him and in fact try to help him prevent such flare-ups, I feel like the pot calling the kettle black. It serves to make me all the more vigilant in making sure my walk matches my talk.
Father, not-so-little-anymore eyes and ears are still watching and listening to me, and I remember all too well Your admonition to those who might cause a child to sin. Please help me to teach my children well, both in what I say to them and in what I do. I want them to grow up resembling my Father more than me.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Genesis 27 -- The Consequences Of Rushing Ahead Of God
I'd always thought that Jacob and his mother seemed to have "prospered through deception: and that it just didn't seem right that they should have done so. My commentary really did a great job at explaining how that wasn't nece
I'd always thought that Jacob and his mother seemed to have "prospered through deception: and that it just didn't seem right that they should have done so. My commentary really did a great job at explaining how that wasn't necessarily the case:
First, it noted that God had already told her that Jacob would receive the promised blessing. It need not have been obtained by deception. She wasn't trusting God but instead leaning on her own understanding.
Secondly, as for Jacob, he really ended up enjoying very little of the blessing. C.H. Mackintosh is quoted as observing: "His brother sought to murder him, to avoid which he was forced to flee from his father's house; his uncle Laban deceived him .... He was obliged to leave him in a clandestine manner .... He experienced the baseness of his son Reuben... the treachery and cruelty of Simeon and Levi towards the Shechemites; then he had to feel the loss of his beloved wife ... the supposed untimely end of Joseph; and to complete all, he was forced by famine to go into Egypt, and there to die in a strange land...."
Paybacks are heck, I guess.
I think there's a lot to say about our waiting on God here, too. My commentary noted, "Isaac was now 137 ... and he thinks he's about to die ... But he will live 43 MORE years." Just think what heartache would have been spared if he'd waited to bless!
As for Jacob, "Jacob expected to return soon, but it was not to be for more than 20 YEARS. His father would still be living, but his mother would have passed on." He was his mother's favorite child, yet their deception cost them their relationship.
Father, help me not to rush ahead of You. Keep me sensitive to what You are doing in my life, and alert me if and when I begin to get ahead of You. I want to be in lockstep with Your plan for me and for my family.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Genesis 28 ...... But I Did Not KNOW It!
Isaac had not wanted to bless Jacob before, desiring instead to give Esau, his firstborn, the blessing. Now, though, Isaac asked God to bless Jacob and give him many children. He also asked God to bless Jacob by giving him and his descend
Isaac had not wanted to bless Jacob before, desiring instead to give Esau, his firstborn, the blessing. Now, though, Isaac asked God to bless Jacob and give him many children. He also asked God to bless Jacob by giving him and his descendants (he wasn't married yet and had no children) the land of Israel to own.
On his way north 400 miles to his uncle's home, Jacob encountered God for the FIRST time. My commentary says, "Prior to Bethel, where Jacob was 'surprised by joy' and 'transfixed by awe', he had NO personal contact with God. Everything had come to him second-hand."
God declared wonderful promises to Jacob, but as my commentary noted, Jacob's faith was not strong enough to take God at His word. He was bargaining with God and actually bargaining for less than God had already promised! He ends up making his tithe of 10% conditional on God's performance of His part of the agreement!
We have Disciple Now coming up this weekend, with over 100 kids signed up. I pray that those who don't yet know God themselves will say as Jacob did, "Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not KNOW it!"
Father, it's easier to see now how Jacob could have been so conniving in regard to the birthright. He hadn't yet met You. What a tragedy that it wasn't until he was old enough to pick a bride that he finally encountered You. I pray especially for the 7th grade boys who will be in my home this weekend -- that they will also encounter You and find out what they've been missing!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Genesis 29&30 -- The Distinct Hazards Of Unequal Love
Abraham and Sarah hadn't "waited on God" and the world paid a terrible price as a result, with Ishmael's descendants against everyone else.Isaac and Rebekah had stayed monogamous, but they failed to both love their children equally.
Abraham and Sarah hadn't "waited on God" and the world paid a terrible price as a result, with Ishmael's descendants against everyone else.
Isaac and Rebekah had stayed monogamous, but they failed to both love their children equally. This favoritism tore their family apart.
Now Jacob, the deceiver, gets a taste of his own medicine. His soon-to-be father-in-law sends his oldest daughter in for the honeymoon, rather than his youngest. Not even liking Leah, Jacob agrees to continue the fraudulent marriage in order to have Rachel. Leah's pain at his constant lack of love for here is revealed in the names of her children with him. She had low self-esteem as a result of being unloved.
In desperation to have children, Rachel pulls a "Sarah" and decides that her slave girl can be a surrogate mom. Leah also jumps on that bandwagon. Finally God allows Rachel to bear children.
My commentary says that God compensated for Jacob's unequal love for his wives by giving Leah children, and that this divine compensation law still is at work today.
What I'd never noticed before was that Jacob was 77 when he left to find a bride (and get away from his twin brother's hatred). He stayed there until he was 97, then traveled back to Canaan, living there 33 years until, at age 130, he traveled to Egypt, finding his long-lost son Joseph there. He lived 17 more years there, dying at 147.
Father, help me to love both of my boys equally, so that this type of undercurrent of envy doesn't develop in my family. The heartache involved is terrible. Give me wisdom in disciplining and shaping them in the proper ways for each of them, yet let them understand that I love them both.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
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