04 VA YAYRA (and appeared); Gen. 18:1-22:24, Mat. 8-10

[Bruce Bertram]

Genesis 18:1-22:24; II Kings 4:1-37; Matthew 8-10

God, along with two angels, appears to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre where he is dwelling for a while. Yet Jesus says that ‘no one has seen the Father, but the Son, and He has revealed Him’ (John 5:37, see also John 14:7 and 1:18 ). So this had to have been Jesus. Abraham shows his hospitality by making a meal for them, and the angel of the Lord (Jesus) tells Abraham that about the same time in the next year Sarah will have a son. Sarah, listening from inside the tent door, laughs to herself because she is past childbearing age, which the Lord asks about but Sarah denies it. So the angel says it again just to make things sure. The three travelers and Abraham get up and start to head out to Sodom and Gomorrah, and God decides to inform Abraham that He is going to check things out there, and if it’s as bad as He has heard He will destroy the cities. Abraham, perhaps concerned because of Lot, asks God if He would destroy the cities even if 50 righteous people lived in them, and God says He would spare them for 50. Abraham continues to bargain God down to 10 people, but even that isn’t enough to save the cities, because only four people can eventually be found. The two angels make it to Sodom, where Lot finds them and prevails upon them to stay with him. When the city’s inhabitants find out there are new people in town, they go to Lot’s house demanding that he send them out so they can rape them. Lot tries to bargain with them, offering them his unmarried daughters instead, but the inhabitants refuse and start to threaten Lot. The angels pull Lot back inside the house and strike the inhabitants with blindness so they can’t find the door. The angels tell Lot that destruction is coming, and to gather his family and flee. Lot’s sons-in-law do not believe him, so it is only with his wife and two daughters that he departs in the morning. They dawdle a little bit, so the angels grab them and run for it. Just outside the city the angels tell Lot and his family to keep running to the hills but not to look back, and Lot asks instead if they can flee to a small village nearby because he doesn’t think he can make it all the way to the hills. The angels agree, and as Lot gets to the town of Zoar and the sun comes up, fire and brimstone fall from heaven on the whole plain where Sodom and Gomorrah sit, completely destroying everything. But Lot’s wife looks back at the destruction and becomes a pillar of salt.

Lot moves up into the hills later, and lives in a cave. His daughters, fearing their father will not have any descendants, decide to individually have relations with him and end up pregnant. One child is named Moab and the other Ben-ammi, fathers of the Moabites and the Ammonites who give Israel so much trouble later on. Abraham, meanwhile, moves down toward the Negev and also spends some time in Gerar where Abimelech is king. Abraham tells Sarah once again to tell people she is his sister instead of his wife (which is half-true) so Abimelech comes and takes her to be his wife. God visits Abimelech in a dream and tells him he will die because of Sarah if he doesn’t give her back. Abimelech says he did it with a pure heart, not knowing Sarah was married, and God says that is why He didn’t just kill Abimelech out of hand but is giving him a chance to make it right. Abimelech is upset with Abraham for lying, but Abraham explains he thought he would be killed if he didn’t, so Abimelech gives him back his wife and also some compensation. Abraham prays for Abimelech, so God heals Abimelech’s females of not being able to have children.

A son is born to Abraham, as God promised, who is named ‘laughter’ (Isaac) and Abraham circumcises him as the Lord commanded. On Isaac’s weaning day Abraham has a feast and Ishmael is seen being mean to Isaac by Sarah. So Hagar and Ishmael are cast out of Abraham’s household at Sarah’s urging, wandering in the wilderness of Beersheba (see below) until they run out of supplies and Hagar sits down to die. But God rescues them and provides water, and blesses the boy. He grows up to be an archer and lives in the wilderness of Paran, and his mom chooses an Egyptian wife for him.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Abimelech comes to visit Abraham with his army commander Phicol (‘strong’) and makes a covenant with him at Beersheba (well of seven or well of an oath). There were some disputes between Abimelech’s people and Abraham’s people over some wells that were dug by Abraham and claimed by Abimelech’s people, but they smooth it over and Abraham continues to dwell in Gerar for a while, planting a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and calling on the name of God.

In Genesis 22 Abraham is asked by God to go to the land of Moriah and sacrifice his son to God as a burnt offering. Abraham gets wood together, some men, and Isaac, and goes off to do as God commanded. As he nears the place God specified, Abraham tells the servants to wait while he and Isaac go on over to it. As they are traveling, Isaac points out they have everything they need but the sacrifice, but Abraham says that God will provide it. They get to the place God chose and Abraham sets up the wood and lays Isaac on the pile to kill him but God stops Abraham before he completes the act. Abraham looks and finds a ram caught in a thicket by his horns and uses that for the burnt offering instead of his son. God blesses Abraham yet again with multitudes of descendants because he listened to God, and they all return home. The chapter closes with the names of Abraham’s brother Nachor’s descendants, including Rebecca who will eventually become Isaac’s wife.

Jesus in Matthew 8 comes off of His ‘sermon on the mount’ and heals a leper and tells him not to tell anyone but to offer the prescribed sacrifice. As Jesus enters Capernaum (‘village of comfort’), a Roman centurion comes to Him and asks for healing for his servant who is paralyzed and tormented. Jesus agrees to go with him, but the centurion tells Jesus that isn’t necessary because he is not worthy of a visit. Jesus has only to command it, and the centurion knows it will be done because he understands authority and Jesus is an authoritative figure. Jesus marvels at the faith of the centurion, saying He has not found such a great faith in Israel, and grants the man’s request. Jesus says that many will come from east and west to the kingdom, but many who are born for the kingdom will be cast out. Jesus goes on to Peter’s house and heals his mom, then heals many others.

17This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.” (Matthew 8:17 NASB95)

When the crowd here at Capernaum gets too big, Jesus decides to go east across the Sea of Galilee. On the way there is a big storm which threatens to swamp the boat, but Jesus is snoozing away as the disciples get more and more upset. Finally they wake Him up, and He rebukes their lack of faith then proceeds to rebuke the winds and sea as well. The sea calms down, and the disciples are awed that even the winds and sea obey Him. When they land on the eastern shore in the country of the Gadarenes (possibly the area of the Girgashites from Genesis 10:16, 15:21, and Deuteronomy 7:1) two men meet them who are so demon-possessed violent that no one can travel that way. The demons cause the men to shout in fear at Jesus because they know who He is, and they plead with Him to send them into a herd of pigs if He intends to cast them out. So Jesus does, and the whole herd rushes down to the sea and drowns. The herdsmen run to the nearby town and tell everyone what happened, then the villagers come out and ask Jesus to leave.

So Jesus and the disciples get into the boat and cross the sea again to land back in Capernaum (probably this town because it’s on the shore, while Nazareth is inland and more southerly). A paralytic is brought to Him for healing, and He tells the man that his sins are forgiven. Some nearby scribes think Jesus is blaspheming.

4And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? 6“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” 7And he got up and went home. (Matthew 9:4-7 NASB95)

This blows the locals away and they glorify God for it. Jesus moves on to speak with Matthew, a tax collector, and tells him to follow, and they end up at Matthew’s house for dinner with all sorts of other ‘sinners.’ Pharisees see this and question why Jesus and His disciples eat with such people, so Jesus points out that it is sick people who need a physician, not healthy ones, and that the Pharisees should go learn what it means that “God desires compassion and not sacrifice.”

Next, some disciples from John the Baptist come and ask Jesus why He and His disciples don’t fast the same way that they and the Pharisees fast. Jesus answers that while the bridegroom is present people don’t fast. It’s only when the bridegroom is gone that people fast. Then Jesus switches to the reasons for not following extra-biblical fasting with illustrations involving patching a garment with an unshrunk piece of cloth and putting new wine in new wineskins. During this conversation a synagogue leader comes and asks Jesus to revive his recently deceased daughter, so Jesus follows the man through a crowd to his home. On the way a woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years touches the fringe of His garment, thinking that if she can just touch it she will be healed. She does so, and is healed. But Jesus turns to her and says it is her faith that made her well. When He gets to the synagogue leader’s house He tells the mourners to go outside because the girl is just sleeping. The mourners mock Jesus but go anyway, and Jesus takes the girl by the hand and she wakes up. The new of this goes all over the land. Two blind men come up to Jesus as He is going to another house and ask for mercy, so Jesus asks if they believe He can do this and after they say yes He touches their eyes and they can see. He tells them not to tell anyone but they spread it all over the district anyway. As they were going out, a mute demon-possessed person arrives and Jesus tosses out the demon so the man can speak. Many people witnessing this say that nothing like it had ever been seen in Israel, but Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of the ruler of demons. Jesus travels around healing a lot of people because He has compassion for them, seeing them as sheep without shepherds. He tells the disciples to beseech God for workers to send out into God’s harvest because it is so great.

Matthew 10 describes Jesus selecting the 12 disciples and sending them to towns and cities of Israel. He gives them instructions including what to preach (the kingdom of heaven is at hand) what to do (cast out demons, heal, raise dead) what possessions to take (no money, no extra clothes, etc.) and how to do it (go to a house, if receptive let your peace rest on it, if not leave and shake the dust off their feet in judgment). He also says it will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for Sodom than for those towns that reject them. Jesus is sending them out as sheep among wolves, so the caution is to be shrewd as serpents and gentle as doves. They will be brought before rulers but they are not to worry about what to say because it will be given them by the Holy Spirit. Parents will turn against children and vice versa, but the disciples will not finish going through the towns before the Son of Man comes. If the disciples are persecuted in one city they should flee to the next. They will be hated by many because of Jesus, but their master is similarly treated so it’s no surprise that they are treated the same way. It is enough that servants are like their master, so do not fear those who can destroy the body. Rather fear the One who can destroy both body and soul in Hell. Jesus reassures them of their value to the Father, who doesn’t permit sparrows to die without His knowledge and numbers the hairs of their heads. If people confess Jesus before men then Jesus will confess them before the Father, but He will deny those who deny Him before men. He didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword, setting the members of families against each other and saving the lives of those who love Him and take up their cross to follow Him. Whoever receives a disciple of Jesus, or a prophet or a righteous man because of who their identity, receives Jesus, and will get a proper reward.

Shalom

[Jesse Bramhall]

In Luke 17 26-37 in the Parasha it talked about the process of one man being taken away and another man being "left behind". It's nomally assumed that the righteous is being taken away and the wicked is being left behind. However, I almost got the impression that Jesus is saying the opposite. Because the people ask, "Where, Lord?" as in "Where will they be taken away." and Jesus says, "Wherever there are dead, that's where the vultures gather." almost as if he's saying that these wicked people are going to be snatched away or collected by perhaps demons. Also notice that he parallels it with the story of Lot, saying Lot was spared but the wicked discontinued or taken. The metaphor makes sence to me because vultures sort of clean the earth of the remains of the dead by devouring them.

Any thoughts?

[Bruce Bertram]

I think you are right. I thought (and heard) for many years that this was 'Christians' getting taken away while the other people are 'left behind.' But if you read carefully and compare with similar Scriptures, it is clear that the wicked are removed and the righteous stay behind. Oh wait, that could still apply to Christians!

Consider verses such as:

18"So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him."

[Jesse Bramhall]

I think it does mold the prophecies together, as you say. Ofcoarse, it's because we've assumed heaven is this otherworldly place that this idea came from, but really we're the ones who "inherit the earth" so why would we be forced to leave?

My only question is in the revelations reference, when the people of the twelve tribes are "taken away." And, if the world is destroyed by fire, where are we going to be? Noah had an Ark but we don't. Unless we have a Jesus force field.

Oh yeah, and we've forgotten to consider the sheaves of wheat verses Matthew 13:27-30 (NASB)

27"The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'

28"And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'

29"But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.

30'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but (V)gather the wheat into my barn."'"

This is where people get the impression that it's the righteous taken away, but clearly its the weeds that are taken away first and then thrown in the fire.

[Bruce Bertram]

You made a couple of excellent points, about inheriting the earth and the Matthew passage. I had forgotton about that one, and I agree it obviously shows the weeds being removed first.

I used to hold a position similar to a lot of Baptists, that of a rapture at the end of a seven-year tribulation. Now, however, as I read the Scriptures I have switched to a less-than-certain idea that we will be protected through the tribulation and perhaps translated as a part of the resurrection at the end. There are verses like these to bolster my idea:

19Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, For your dew is as the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits. 20Come, my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until indignation runs its course. 21For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed And will no longer cover her slain. (Isaiah 26:19-21 NASB95)

God is certainly capable of protecting us through it if He wants to. I like the change in ideas because I went from having faith in the 'rapture' to having faith in God and His Word.

4One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple. 5For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. 6And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. (Psalm 27:4-6 NASB95)

As far as something like Noah's ark, it is interesting that the word for 'pitch' used when God tells Noah to cover the ark inside and out is actually a word that translates everywhere else as 'atonement.' It is also interesting that God tells Noah to 'come' into the ark several times, as if God is inside it. It makes sense when you realize that Noah's ark is a picture of Jesus, and Jesus also IS the ark. So maybe we do have an ark, one that is better than Noah's!

19How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of men! 20You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues. (Psalm 31:19-20 NASB95)

And again:

6I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech. 7Wondrously show Your lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand From those who rise up against them. 8Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings (Psalm 17:6-8 NASB95)

Shalom

[Bruce Bertram]

Va’yera; Genesis 18:1-22:24; 2 Kings 4:1-37; Matthew 8 through 10
Also Luke 17:26-37; Rom. 9:6-9; Galatians 4:21-31; Hebrews 6:13-20; 11:13-19; 2 Peter 2:4-11; James 2:14-24

40“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41“He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42“And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:40-42 NASB95)

Genesis 18 starts off with Abraham receiving some visitors and making food for them. Our 2 Kings 4 section speaks of a woman who makes a chamber upstairs in her house so that Elisha can rest there when he passes through the area. Jesus in Matthew 10:5 sends out the apostles to preach the gospel of the kingdom throughout Israel (which was apparently successful as reported in places like Luke 10:17). These three events are all related to the concept Jesus teaches in Matthew 10:40 (and also places like John 13:20), that whoever receives a person sent by God receives Jesus (and/or God, of course). Perhaps Jesus was just meaning the disciples, but the inclusion of the prophet and righteous man seems to blend them all together.

Abraham recognizes his visitors as special, and immediately jumps up to personally fix them an outstanding meal. The text isn’t really clear on how he recognized them, but it seems that he did. The text is also not very clear concerning how the Shunamite woman in the 2 Kings passage recognizes that Elisha is sent by God, it just says that she ‘perceives.’

She said to her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. (2 Kings 4:9 NASB95)

The disciples really had nothing to recommend them at that time in their ministries. They were really just sort of nobodies discipling with an itinerant rabbi, and Jesus isn’t real specific on how they would be recognized as they traveled. So how do the people who receive godly men know that they are from God? How are we to receive a prophet’s or a righteous man’s reward? When do we give a drink of water to ‘humble’ (literally) ones, and thereby retain our reward? Do we just give water to everybody and hope for the best, or is it only specific people (such as prophets, righteous men, and disciples)?

Reputation might account for some of our ability to recognize those sent from God, as in the case of Elisha, but it certainly does not account for all of it. Abraham reacts rather quickly to his visitors, and the text doesn’t say why. Maybe their appearance was striking, or they looked so different that it was clear they were from out of town. Way out of town. I’m pretty sure he didn’t know them from their reputations, at least, and in Jesus’ time the disciples were just too humble of circumstance to have much of a reputation. So I think there is more going on in these situations than meets the eye as far as identifying a person sent from God or who is a part of God’s kingdom. I think we get a clue in the 2 Kings 4:9 passage (she ‘perceives’) that might also be related to what Jesus says in Matthew 18.

2And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4“Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5“And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! (Matthew 18:2-7 NASB95. See also Luke 18:17)

To receive a ‘humble one’ from God would mean that a person was part of the same kingdom, or household, or tribe. It’s a principle that some refer to as ‘like calls to like,’ or even ‘birds of a feather flock together.’ If a person is sensitive and humble, like a child, he or she will convert and enter the kingdom and will also recognize others who are like themselves. In opposition to this there are those who willfully fail to receive anything from God and destroy anyone who is not like they are.

52“Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.” (Acts 7:52-53 NASB95)

One of the keys to recognizing a fellow kingdom member is given by Stephen in the reference above, which is keeping the Law. This is because whatever God says is very important to those who dwell with Him, whether you want to call it a Law or the Word or whatever. People who are like children have the love of God and God’s Word residing inside, and so can receive anyone else that shares that love. The love of God is also the word of God, for if we have His Word abiding in us we also have the love of God. John records some words of Jesus to this effect also.

37“And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. 38“You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. 39“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. 41“I do not receive glory from men; 42but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? (John 5:37-44 NASB95)

If we have the love of God we can easily identify others who have the same love. Humility is one of the hallmarks of a person who has His love, and so is the desire to do everything God says.

Peter is received by the people of Cornelius’ household, which shows that even though they were Gentiles they also had the word and the love of God abiding in them.

34Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. (Acts 10:34-35 NASB95)

Notice that it is those who “fear Him” and who also “does what is right” that is welcomed by God, not just having some sentimental emotional display. The word of God abiding in His people moves us to receive the men of God, and the receiving (or ‘welcoming’ and ‘helping’) is an action that is the visible part of the word and the love of God. The disciples have the love of God, and the people who receive them also have the same love. The Spirit is also related to both the word of God and the love of God.

16“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17 NASB95)

As Jesus indicates above, He came (and comes) in the Father’s name and is not received. But another will come in his own name and will be received. This probably refers to the Beast who will come at the end, but it could also apply to all who are like the Beast between then and now and even before the incarnation. The people who receive the Beast do so because they are like him and belong to the same kingdom. Jesus was not received because the ruling class at the time did not have the Word abiding in them, and neither did they have the love of God. In our present day we have the same problem. People do not receive Him nor do they receive those whom He sends because the love of God does not abide in them. They couldn’t recognize a prophet or righteous man to save their lives. Literally.

Recognizing and receiving a man from God is not due to some supernatural second sight or something; it’s just that as Jesus says, the word and God’s love must abide. Perceiving that a man is from God is also related to the message he has, one that is consistent with the Word of God. There was something of the supernatural involved with Peter and Cornelius, for instance, but the message Peter brought had to be in line with the word already spoken and written down in what we call today the Old Testament. Elisha, the disciples, and the angels who visited Abraham also had a bit of the supernatural about them, but it was the message they bore that sealed the deal and marked the men as truly being from God. Abraham, the Shunamite woman, and the people receiving the disciples (or Peter or whoever) loved God and followed His Word in every way they knew how, which is why they could receive the people sent by God.

In our time there are many men from God whose message is rejected because the word and the love of God do not abide in the hearers. These men are rejected because the message is too much like what God would say and not enough like the ear-tickling stuff the rejecters are used to demanding from their teachers. Sometimes, mindful of the ‘cup of water’ instructions of Jesus or the encouragement to do mitzvoth (‘good works’ or ‘God’s commands’) by the rabbis, we will give food or clothing to someone or hand over some money when the plate is passed, or build a nice new synagogue or church building. We think of ourselves as doing okay because we raise our hand and go forward in a church, or we just got back from confession, or we are part of the ladies auxiliary at the synagogue.

However, what looks like good works on the surface is frequently nothing more than whitewash on a tomb. People who call themselves Christian (or Jewish, or whatever) have the same divorce rates, the same alcoholism and drug abuse rates, the same suicide rates, and so on, as people who don’t even think about God. The love of many is waxing cold, which is a direct result of something filling us other than the word and love of God. I tell you, this is no different than the hypocrisy of the Pharisees at the time of Jesus. And we know the word is not abiding in us like it should because of the deplorable state of our assemblies.

Many who bear the name of God now are not living His Word any better than those Pharisees did then; they who also were renowned for their giving and other external forms of piety. The righteousness of the modern Pharisees in no way exceeds the former, which is bad news all around. The Word of God and the men sent from God to preach it are rejected by churches and synagogues on a regular basis, even if in some ways there are more homeless shelters and soup kitchens than at other times in history. But beds and soup mean nothing if the rest of the Word is routinely disobeyed and rejected. Superficial kindness is no replacement for the abiding word and God’s love. Courtesy and kindness are good, but they just scratch the surface of a love for God and abiding in every word He breathes. Receiving a ‘humble one’ from God means that we have God’s word dwelling in us, making it possible to receive the same reward. Jesus says when He comes back He will have our rewards with Him, but as Jesus puts it, when He returns what will He find?

“I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8 NASB95)

Shalom

[Bruce Bertram]

Genesis 18:1 - 22:24; 2 Kings 4:1-37; Matthew 8 through 10; Luke 17:26-37; Rom. 9:6-9; Galatians 4:21-31; Hebrews 6:13-20; 11:13-19; 2 Peter 2:4-11; James 2:14-24

The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” (Genesis 18:17–19, ESV)

The first part of Genesis, from chapter one to about here, could easily be summarized as being about children. A “seed of the woman” was promised in Genesis 3:15 that would end the estrangement begun in the Garden. All life is wiped out except for eight people in the Love Boat, at least in part saved because of the promise. The serpent tries to corrupt God’s promise by corrupting human kind using the “sons of God” which are probably fallen angels. Abraham has been told he would have a son. This promised son would further God’s plan to bless the nations. In Chapter 18 Abraham is told that this son would be born to Sarah next year. In chapter 21 and 22 we see the promise seemingly threatened by offering Isaac as a sacrifice, but a substitute is provided.

Abraham was promised quite a bit, but other than having a son (and maybe seeing his grandsons) he didn’t really collect. He continued to trust God, and continued to do what God said. He lived a righteous and just life, following all of God’s charge, commandments, statutes, and laws (Genesis 26:5). He got some reward in the form of wealth. He had a bunch of people working for him (Genesis 14:14) and huge flocks and herds. He finally got a son so his family would continue. But much of the promise from God went unrealized in his lifetime.

Abraham had the long view. In his obedience and trust (faith) he knew that God was going to deliver.

When he obediently offered up Isaac, he apparently reasoned that God could resurrection Isaac.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. (Hebrews 11:17–19, ESV)

Have you ever wondered why you should keep doing good? Do you sometimes run out of reasons to keep obeying God? I do.

There are lots of times when I did the right thing, the just thing, or the fair thing, only to have it hurt me economically or make me look like a fool. I’ve been in business for myself at this point for about 20 years. I’ve had employees who made more money than I did, who turned around and accused me of not paying them enough and hoarding money. When I bought my first business, I inherited an employee that wasn’t making minimum wage, and made sure she got a raise past the legal amount. After she quit, the customer thought I was somehow being a meany or something and took away her business. Never mind that the previous wage for the employee was illegal and immoral and the customer knew it. I was the bad guy for doing what was right.

We loaned over a thousand dollars to another employee who paid it back but quit to take a church account away from us. And before he left he rifled through files to take competitive information with him. We had one employee, who we trusted to do some work out of town, but spent the four days drunk on our dime and blamed me. Another guy claimed an injured shoulder, got a $75,000.00 award from workman’s comp, but was filmed lifting concrete out of a hole in the ground. I’ve lost business income because I don’t work on Saturday. I lost contracts because I actually bid and intended to perform the specifications as opposed to my competitors who lied, got the work, then didn’t do them. I’ve lost church positions because I took a stand on the Word. I pursued God through my own business instead of a lucrative career, and struggle to pay my bills because of it. I went against the public school system when it wasn’t fashionable to do it, and my kids paid the price. We’ve had few friends, but many acquaintances.

I admit it. Sometimes I feel that I’m getting knocked around for nothing. It seems like there’s no payoff for doing what God says. I get down and think, “Why should I keep doing this? All around me people are ignoring God and they seem to be financially well off. They’ve got blessings out the wazoo, and I look like a schnook. Doubly so because I experience setbacks though I’m working hard to do what is right at the expense of myself. I can certainly relate in some ways to Job.

But I don’t want to whine. Okay, I want to, and sometimes I do anyway, but I know I shouldn’t. I know I don’t deserve attention from God, and He is not my cosmic sugar daddy. I don’t need to be ‘paid’ in order to follow Him. I do it because He loved me first and gave His Son for me. I do it because it’s right and good and life. There are lots of people who have it worse than me, and about the time I forget that, I could find out how much worse it could get. Jesus didn’t promise a rose garden, He promised sufferings and tribulation. He also promises discipline and the fruit of the Spirit, along with eternal life. The sufferings of this life do not compare to the riches of the next.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, ESV)

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Philippians 1:29–30, ESV)

Obey can be a lonely word. When we obey God, even if we don’t feel like it, we are at odds with the majority of humanity. They laugh at us, carefree in the freedom of the flesh. Just like before the flood. We know another flood is coming, and we are working hard building a boat on dry land. In the meantime we are the butt of many jokes.

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? (James 2:5, ESV)

Obey can seem like a cold word too. But it is who we obey that is the important thing. God is the source of life and goodness, and obedience to Him means we are moving towards that life and goodness.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. (Philippians 3:12–16, ESV)

Abraham set out on a lonely journey, though he had a large household with him. It might seem like a lonely, cold thing, but he knew who he was following, and he knew what was at the end of the trip. He could see the goal, albeit a long ways away, and traveled with the One who would never leave him lonely or cold. It wasn’t as if he followed pagan gods, those capricious constructs of man’s imagining. Abraham was around 50 years old when Noah died. His six-time great grandfather Shem outlived him. So besides his own relationship with God, he had direct testimony of life before the flood as well as testimony of his relative’s relationships with God.

Following God takes us in a different direction than the way the world goes. We walk counter to the selfish ways of the flesh; a narrow rocky way that few travel with us.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13–14, ESV)

A little loneliness and hardship are part of our portion for right now, but we travel with the Spirit of God. He will continue to guide us into all truth, and will never leave us or forsake us. The long view helps us keep our eyes on the goal, and put up with temporary hardship and the world’s humor as we walk the narrow way. He has given us the strength that comes from forsaking the ways of the world and walking His. Leaving all behind us, let us strain forward to what lies ahead.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8–11, ESV)

Shalom
Bruce