Bible in a Year, Week 2: Genesis 15-28, John 6-11, Psalms 6-9

These were some heavy chapters for me - dealing a lot with strong, vulnerable women that I felt I could see myself in. I always try to find humor where I can, but these chapters, particularly because I did a She Reads Truth devotional on women in the Old Testament, hold heavy hitting topics that I hope I can bring justice to.

Genesis 15-28

I truly am awed by how much patience the Lord has with us, especially after reading the stories of Abram and Sarai. Abram questioned God's plan. Sarai laughed at it. I mean, God speaks with Abram on a regular basis, and when he makes a covenant with Abram in chapter 15, AND THEN AGAIN in chapter 17, Abram's response? "But Lord, how can I know that I'll actually obtain the land you're promising me?" AND falling face down laughing at having a kid at 100 years old. If I were God, I would have responded, "Boyyy, I'm TELLING you! So of course it will happen!" But God handles it a lot better than I would. Haha.

Then we're introduced to this tumultuous relationship between Hagar and Sarai, and every time I read this, my heart breaks a little bit. Sarai's human side really shows - she's impatient, insecure, and lacks faith. So she gives Abram her Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, to procreate. After Hagar becomes pregnant, even though she's now Abram's wife, she's still Sarai's maidservant. And, who knows how she was treated before this in Egypt. The Bible doesn't imply that she was mistreated before this by Sarai, but she certainly was afterward. Out of envy, Sarai becomes abusive. So much so that Hagar runs away - a trend, I've noticed (see Gen. 21).

But then God sees her, and it's such a touching moment. Here she is, by a spring along a road in the desert, and God says, "Look. This won't be easy. Your son will be a little wild. Everyone's hand will be against him, and his against them. But I hear you. I've got you." And how comforting that must have been - Hagar was probably yearning for attention and love, especially once she married Abram and became pregnant with his child, only to receive abuse and hate from Sarai. But God sees her. And, at the ripe old age of 86, Abram soon to be Abraham becomes a daddy, y'allll.

However, God's not done with (now) Sarah. He gives her a new identity in Him. She's spiritually transformed, but as we read in chapter 18 with the three visitors, she's still very much imperfect. She overhears the conversation from her tent and laughs to herself, "YEAH, okay. I'm going to have a kid at 90?? With my old husband, who's 100?? Right. Like sex would even be pleasurable anymore." But, like, how often are we like Sarah? We can hear (or read) clear promises from God, yet we still laugh in disbelief. Like, Sarah carried the lineage to CHRIST!! In her 90s!!

Then there's Abraham pleading with God about Sodom and Gomorrah. I picture God sitting in a chair while this is happening, maybe in the shade of an olive or almond tree, filing his nails, his legs crossed, as Abraham paces back and forth. "But what about 45 righteous people? What about 30?" Abraham paces, hands behind his back, unsure about speaking out again. Until he gets down to a mere 10, which the cities don't even have. God, all the while, saying, "Yes, yes. For the sake of 10, I won't destroy them." But then, wow. When the angels arrive at Sodom - WOW. It's just all so bad. Pervy men struck with blindness, betrothed sons-in-law who think the fire and brimstone speech from their future father-in-law is all bologna. And then, poor Lot's wife. Another reminder that what God has planned for us is so much bigger than us. She didn't trust him because she didn't have all the information (who can relate? I know I can.), and looked back at what she was losing rather than taking a moment to see what lied ahead. Whatever God has saved us for is so, so, so much greater than what he's saved us from.

24 years later, Isaac is welcomed onto the scene, and Hagar and Ishmael are sent away because Ishmael is causing trouble. A 24-year-old who, I'm sure, has seen the treatment of his mother, and has also been blessed with this spitfire personality. Him? Causing trouble? But it's here that my heart shattered. She and Ishmael wander in the desert, run out of food and water, and are starving. She quite literally leaves him under a bush, in the shade, and leaves so she doesn't have to watch him die. (!!!) Cue all the tears. This is so devastating to me. They're both crying, her because she knows she's about to lose the only important person to her, and Ishmael because he's dying. But then what happens? God sees her. Ugh, guys. My heart. He shows her a well, and tells her that he'll make Ishmael into a great nation (think Islam, people) and his offspring would marry into Esau's bloodline. What I get from this, beside my heart getting ripped out of my chest, is that we don't have to hit rock bottom to cry out to God for help. He sees us and hears us now. If we ask, he will provide!!

So, fast forward and Isaac is a strapping young man, and God comes to Abraham for a test. God tells Abraham that he has to present a human sacrifice in the form of Isaac. Like, owww, still crying from Hagar and Ishmael over here. Can we not?? The Bible doesn't even say that Abraham protested. It just says that literally the next morning, he gets up and begins the journey to do what he was asked. It took him and Isaac and their servants three days to reach the spot God had told him - and can you imagine that journey? How heavy was that burden on Abraham? We've already established that he was kind of a bad ass, but my goodness. He was over 100 at this point and he had three days to mull over what he was about to do. Did he tell Sarah? How emotionally tough was he when Isaac kept asking where the offering was? "Uh, dad, look - you said there was an offering, but where's the lamb? Are we just going to hope for the best when we get there?" And then him and Isaac go to Moriah, leaving the servants behind, they build the altar, and then Abraham turns to Isaac and says, "Son, you're the offering." The Bible doesn't say it, but Abraham binds him up, places him on the alter, and LITERALLY HAS THE KNIFE OUT TO SLIT ISAAC'S THROAT before God intervenes. So the conversation had to have happened. Was Isaac crying? Was Abraham crying? Can you even imagine?? And then God comes in and says, "Just kiddingggg. There's a ram over there - sacrifice that. Don't kill your son." Ugh.

Can I just say that I am so looking forward to meeting Rebekah? She seemed like a sweet, beautiful soul when she and Isaac married. She was so kind, and also a little ballsy (see Jacob and Esau). We're also introduced to Laban, whose daughters will marry their first cousin, Jacob. But whatever.

My second-to-last nugget deals with Abimelech. This guy. He must have been so sick of Abraham and his family because both Abraham and Isaac do the same thing to him. Abraham told Abimelech that Sarah was his sister so he wouldn't kill Abraham. But God showed Abimelech in a dream, before he slept with her, that Sarah was Abraham's wife. To which Abimelech says, "Come on, man. Why." And we learn that Abraham and Sarah are actually half-siblings. Sooo, there's that. But then we fast forward and Isaac and Rebekah do the same damn thing. This time, Abimelech sees Isaac being all cute and kissing on her in the courtyard, and I wonder what Abimelech's reaction was as he put it together right there. I can picture him just being like, "Damn it, Isaac! Damn you and your father!" When Isaac was actually kicked out of the land, I wonder if Abimelech (and all his men) let out a huge sigh of relief.

And, the last thing from Genesis is, of course, this really intense scene of Jacob snatching up Esau's blessing. Isaac is blind as a bat at this point, but Rebekah has a plan. I love how the Bible says that she can throw down in the kitchen. "Bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it." I can picture her winking here. Jacob must have been a nervous wreck - we know Esau was this big, hairy, hunting, manly dude while Jacob was more . . . frail? Maybe not frail, but definitely not as masculine. So I can imagine that while Isaac is taking his time going through a blessing ceremony that's probably pretty lengthy, Jacob - who is COVERED in goat skin/hair - is probably sweating up a storm. Like, "Come on, come on, come on. Whyyy does this have to take sooo long?" Meanwhile looking nervously through the folds in the tent, expecting to see Esau riding back with his hunt slung over his horse or donkey. Jacob barely gets out from the tent and away before Esau returns. Like, what is Rebekah doing while Esau prepares this food over the cooking stove? What is she doing when she hears her son crying out in anguish inside the tent as Isaac tells him he's given away his blessing? Meanwhile, Jacob is hightailing his butt to Laban. Poor, poor Esau.

John 6-11

I feel like, in the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, we can see a bit of his sense of humor. Chapter six says he already knows what he's going to do, but asks the disciples anyway, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" To which I can see Philip answering in a PANIC, "Eight months' wages wouldn't buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" I can see Jesus laugh, kindly, of course. Like maybe a small chuckle. And just knowing that, by the end, those original five loaves and two fish had leftovers is so cool.

I think it's also a little sad that we learn that Jesus' brothers didn't even believe in who he was. I'm sure home life wasn't the easiest - I think Joseph had sons before Mary, and these were the siblings of Jesus (but I'm not certain on this). But the Bible says in chapter seven that his brothers wanted him to show his miracles publicly - to become a public figure - so they could see for themselves. Otherwise, they didn't believe that their brother was the Messiah.

The story of him writing in the sand is mind-blowing to me just because of the scene it must have been. Jesus is getting ready to teach in the temple, and the Pharisees and other teachers drag in this woman - who knows her state - that was caught in the act of adultery. Straight savage. Where was the man who was also partaking in this act? Maybe he was in the crowd? Either way, she probably still had the smell of sex on her, her clothes were probably disheveled and half on, her hair a mess, and instead of judging her, Jesus simply starts writing in the sand. And when the men who brought her there read it, they all start disappearing. I can imagine her sobs slowly stopping as she looks around wide-eyed in wonder. And then he turns his face to her and asks gently, probably with a small grin on his face, "Where are they? Has no one condemned you?" Ow, my heart.

Psalms 6-9

Psalm 9:1-2 - "I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High."