Deceptively Revealing (part 1 of 2)

Let us never forget, each and every time we approach the Scriptures, that the communication of the stories of the men, women, and the nation of Israel is designed to reveal God.  Even in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, which is sometimes thought of as a commendation of the faithfulness of the men and women therein referenced, the actual message that comes ringing through quite loudly and ever so clearly, is that it was God that was faithful by granting faith to those that are mentioned so that He might accomplish His purposes through them.  These stories are not necessarily communicated so as to provide us with examples to emulate, but rather, as the Apostle Paul would tell the church in Corinth, they were written and told again and again for the purpose of instruction, and as examples of God’s faithful actions according to His covenant (1 Corinthians 10:11). 

If we ever find ourselves attempting to imitate one of these Biblical characters and their actions, whether good or bad, it is time to take a step back and examine what it is that we are supposed to be doing, and what it is that is providing our motivation towards imitation.  If our motivation is to put ourselves in a position to enjoy the same types of blessings that they enjoyed, so in order to achieve that end we do what they did that seems good according to our own subjective observations, then our motivation is faulty.  If we are attempting to imitate in the sense that we have a desire for God to use us in the establishment of His kingdom and in the accomplishment of the redemption that He is working out for His creation, without placing demands upon God in regards to the nature of the way in which He is going to use us, then it is more likely that we are taking the right approach. 

That said, we look to Abraham’s family and to Isaac’s blessing of Jacob and Esau.  According to a pattern that fills Genesis, this story begins with something akin to a deception, but it is not something that is incredibly overt at first glance.  We read that “When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, ‘My Son!... Since I am so old, I could die at any time.  Therefore, take your weapons… and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game for me.  Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me.  Then I will eat it so that I may bless you before I die” (Genesis 27:1-4).  Now why can it be said that this is a deception, though initial appearances to do not provide us with that perspective?  It is because Isaac is speaking about his death, and making it seem as if it is imminent and could happen at any time. 

According to the Scriptural record, Abraham had lived one hundred and seventy five years.  Abraham’s father Terah (Isaac’s grandfather) lived, for two hundred and five years.  At this point, Isaac was at least seventy-five years old, and ultimately, Genesis tells us that he lived to be one hundred and eighty years old.  At the very least, Isaac would know that he had some pretty good genes working for him, and what he might expecting in the area of the duration of his life.  Beyond that, we have almost the entire Scriptural history of the lives of Jacob and Esau, along with the births of all of Jacob’s children in the record that intervenes between Isaac speaking of his death and the actual time of his death.  That record encompasses a minimum of twenty years, though it is probably a much longer period of time. 

Regardless, and even though it is quite nearly impossible for a man to know when death will finally come upon him, it seems plausible to posit that Isaac was probably not actually terribly worried about death impinging upon him at that time.  In addition, at this point it appears that Isaac’s brother Ishmael is still alive as well, as we read that Esau, in the wake of the blessings bestowed by his father, “Went to Ishmael” (28:9) to get a wife.  He died relatively young, at the age of one hundred and thirty seven, meaning that Isaac was approximately one hundred twenty four years old when Ishmael passed away.  At the minimum, Isaac is speaking of his death nearly sixty years before death will take him.  So either Isaac was quite mistaken about his physical condition, or he was simply a pessimist that was always seeing death around the corner.  A third option would be to consider that the record of Genesis has both he and his father talking about their fear of being killed by men that would take their wives, and that this was yet another entrance into the practice which seems to be a cornerstone in the edifice of their history, which is deception.   

Movement (part 1 of 3)

The God of Israel is the God of exodus.  The Scriptural narrative is one of constant movement, not only in action but also in location.  This may aid us in discovering why, though God would allow a Temple to be built in Jerusalem and though He would fill that Temple with His glory, that He did not ask for that Temple to be constructed.  The underlying movement theme of Scripture gives us insights as to why God was satisfied to be represented by a tabernacle---dwelling in the midst of His people in a portable temple. 

If the Scriptures unfold before us a repetition of exile and exodus, then asserting that the idea of movement is an important element for the God of the Scriptures, is not unjustified.  In the Bible’s second verse, we read that “the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water” (Genesis 1:2b) preceding the restorative and ordering acts that followed and culminated with the creation of the being that would bear God’s image.  After Adam and Eve had trespassed beyond the boundary of their divine covenant, we read that they “heard the sound of the Lord moving about in the orchard” (3:8b), prompting them to hide in fear.  When judgment is pronounced upon them, they are expelled from the garden (3:23).  This expulsion is also described as their being driven out (3:24). 

Noah was sent by God into an ark to escape the flood (an exile of sorts).  Later on, he and his family went forth from the ark (an exodus).  After this departure from the ark, God’s command to them was to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (9:1b).  This filling of the earth seems to imply a demand to move and to spread out across the lands of the world.  This process appeared to be underway, which we see as we reach the eleventh chapter of Genesis.  There we find “When the people moved eastward, they found a plan in Shinar and settled there” (11:2).  This, in and of itself, is not a problem, because in order for the earth to be filled, there will have to be some settling.  However, this settling apparently took a form that was contrary to God’s clear intentions, and must have involved a great number of people.  There, it was said “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens,” presumably so that it would be too high to be overtaken by another flood, “so that we may make a name for ourselves” (11:4a).  This is a problem because man is meant to bear God’s image in the world and to gain Him the glory that is due to Him.  As we bear in mind that God never asked for a temple such as the one that David desired to build, is there a possibility that we can ascribe such thinking to King David? 

Furthermore, part of the justification for the construction of this tower is found in the statement of “Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the earth” (11:4b).  Obviously, this stands in stark contrast to that which God had demanded of Noah and his family, which we can imagine had been well communicated to and through their descendants (thus accounting for the continued movement recorded in the second verse of this chapter).  Scattering and movement was what God desired.  Pointing up the motif of movement, and the contrast provided by man’s new desire to become stationary, “the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building” (11:5).  In response, the Lord said, “Come, let’s go down and confuse their language so they won’t be able to understand each other” (11:7).  When the people failed to move, the Lord moved.  What was the result?  The result was movement, as “the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth” (11:8a).

When we first meet Abram (Abraham), he is moving.  We find that “Terah took his son Abram,” along with other family members, “and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan” (11:30a).  However, Terah did not reach Canaan, instead he settled in Haran.  It is in Haran, according to the record of Genesis, that Abram receives his calling from the Lord.  What are the first words that the Lord is said to have spoken to Abram?  They are “Go out.”  God tells Abram to “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you” (12:1).  How did Abram respond?  “Abram left… for the land of Canaan.  They entered the land of Canaan” (12:4a,5b).  So Abram had left Ur, he had left Haran, and he had entered Canaan.  What is that we find Abram doing in subsequent verses?  He builds altars.  Also, upon reaching Bethel, which is translated as “house of God,” Abram “pitched his tent” (12:8).  This is not at all unlike what we will find in the book of Exodus.  Shortly after Israel leaves Egypt, they are given instructions regarding altars and a tent.  The God of exodus shows Himself as such early and often.