Super Happy Fun Words

Jacob Meets his Match (in both Laban and Rachel) Jacob, awe-struck by Rachel Jacob arrives in Haran safely and shortly thereafter meets Rachel, the daughter of his uncle, Laban. After Jacob and Rachel share a cinema-worthy romance scene by the well, Laban greets Jacob and invites him into his home. Jacob is utterly smitten by Rachel and offers to work seven years in exchange for her hand in marriage. Laban slyly agrees as he has it in mind to extort additional work out of Jacob. On the night of the wedding, Laban manages to have Leah, his oldest daughter, instead of Rachel sleep with Jacob. Perhaps Jacob was inebriated to the point that he was unaware of what was truly transpiring. Jacob is stunned when he realizes what has been done. On the surface, he accepts Laban's exceedingly lame and insulting excuse and resolves to work seven more years for the right to marry Rachel. In all, Jacob worked fourteen years in exchange for Rachel and Leah and their maidservants Billah and ...

Back Story of Jacob and Esau Last time, I skipped over writing about these two figures because I wanted to focus exclusively on the finality of Abraham’s story. But now, their story deserves the spotlight, so let’s then illuminate their respective estates. In order to drive home the point that God’s plan of salvation starts and finishes with the working of His power and will, His intervention is required again in the process of conception. Jacob and Esau are born as twins (with Esau coming out first). Duly noted should be Jacob’s deceptive character from the outset as, even from the time that they were in the womb, he grasped the foot of his brother; this will be a reoccurring them throughout his story. Also of importance is the prophecy concerning the two brothers before their births. Rumble in the Jungle, Part 1 Jacob sure did 'rope-a-dope' Esau like Ali did to Foreman Rebekah was perplexed about the jostling she felt in her womb. So she inquired of God...

Abraham Dies, and Yet Lives Forever with God Abe looks forward to coming of Jesus' day So, we finally come to the close of Abraham's life. It has been a fascinating journey to say the least. I've learned many things through his life. From a New Testament perspective, it can be said that his life looked forward to the coming of Jesus Christ (John 8:56-59). He was credited with righteousness which would be paid out when Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world (Rom 4:22-25). This fascinating fact and reality is part of the fulfillment of what is known as the 'Abrahamic Covenant'. This is much different from the later Mosaic Covenant, which was conditional (man had to do something in order to fulfill the covenant) and temporary. The Abrahamic Covenant, on the other hand, is unconditional (God is the one who will fulfill the covenant) and everlasting. Most Bible scholars agree that the Abrahamic Covenant is the single most important covenant in the Bi...

Isaac and Rebekah Marry: Looking Forward to the Promise of the Messiah At face value, this passage appears to be mainly concerned with Eastern marriage customs or guidelines on what to look for in a godly spouse. These aspects can surely be gleaned from the text, but we should also take note of the context. In terms of God's plan of world salvation, we come to understand the importance of what kind of person Isaac marries. Notice the tone of Abraham's charge to his servant: "I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac." ancient Canaanite drawing He reiterates this same sentiment after his servant asks about what to do if his plans fail. Abraham is adamant about his servant refusing to take a wife for Isaac from among the Canaanites. In what s...

Abraham's Faith: Tested and Approved by God God had it in mind to test Abraham's faith. He told him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. The narrative is laced with suspense. In the end, we see that Abraham is truly obedient to God, for he almost sacrificed Isaac. After this, God saw the tangible outworking of his faith. I tend to think that this was God's process of circumcising Abraham's heart; he desperately wanted to be a father, to have at least one child. But God wanted more from Abraham. He wanted Abraham's heart and he wanted to fulfill his plan of world salvation through him. Eventually, God wanted Abraham and all of his descendants to be the recipients of the blessing of His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ. Abraham's righteousness was credited to him through faith and would later be paid out through Christ's death on the cross (Rom 4:22-25). Abraham's faith also pointed to the resurrection of Christ, for he reasoned that God could bring Isaac...

Old Habits Die Hard The fact that Abraham commits almost the exact same error as he did with Pharaoh in chapter twelve is astounding. Or is it? Though Abraham had received the covenant, the outward sign of circumcision and conversed with God deeply he was still, at the end of the day, a flawed man. Despite (or because of) his flaws, God gave Abraham grace and protection, even calling him a prophet. Again though, his sin does not come without consequences. He puts Sarah in harms way again, a mistake that could call into question the legitimacy of her child's lineage from Abraham. Also, his relationship with Abimelek became strained and awkward. What's more far-reaching is that we see his son Isaac and also grandson Jacob commit similar acts of deceit later on in Genesis. Sin is not just a personal matter, but it deeply affects those around us as well. Abraham is sent on his way after the ordeal. As flawed people, we commit errors similar to Abraham's. Though we are promis...

Sarah, Smile There's a song by the 80's band Hall & Oates about a woman named Sarah who needed to smile. I like this song, so I posted it here. Sarah from the Bible had a hard time believing that God could help her conceive. She was probably still bitter about the whole ordeal with Hagar. And at this point, would God really give her a child and use her in his redemptive history? Well, God visits her to answer this question. In what some take as a pre-figuration of Christ, he along with two of his angels visits Abraham's residence. They are given a choice meal and then God begins to speak with Abraham. He confirms his covenant with him stating that surely he will give him a child by the next year. Abraham believes, but Sarah sarcastically laughs thinking that it's a preposterous and perhaps grandiose offer. But God retorts, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" Of course, this would be hard for anyone to believe, but this is God, Creator of the heav...

A Prodigal Reward that cannot be Earned We all like rewards. Corporations have picked up on this and have given many incentives to make people buy their products. But what is one reward that we cannot earn? Genesis chapter 15 answers this question in a profound way. After Abram came from rescuing Lot, he perhaps had more problems to deal with than he had before this event. For one, he was most likely emotionally, mentally and physically spent. From a political/strategic vantage point, he handicapped himself by rejecting a treaty with the king of Sodom and had few other allies (the Amorites Mamre, Eskhol and Aner, Gen 14:13). Most of all, he still had no male heir. So God came to him at a time when he needed words of reassurance. In a vision, God told Abram not to fear, for himself was both his protection and great reward (Gen 15:1). God promised to protect Abram from harm so that he could fulfill His promise to him and his descendants (Gen 12:1-3). What's even more remarkable ...

Abram's Call: From Nominal Nomad to Father of Faith We reach a major division in the book of Genesis. Perhaps one of the most important accounts in the Old Testament is Abram’s transformation from a childless, idol worshiping (Jos 24:2) nomad into a man who ultimately learned to put his trust in the LORD. As we continue to read about Abram, we will come to realize that our journey through faith is much like his; as we attempt to encounter God, we teeter-totter between fear and pride and often make mistakes. However, God is always there calling us back to himself and leading the way to where he wants us to be. We learn from Abram how important repentance of sin and trusting in the LORD’s promises are. Much more could be said as an introduction, but I digress. (What would you all say that characterizes Abram's life/God's call to him?) The question that often came to my mind when reading about Abram’s initial call was why did God call him in the first place? The ...

Towering Pride groundlessly proud baby The construction of the tower of Babel is a story of epic proportions. One would figure that after the flood, man would have settled down a bit (after all the score was like God +infinity Humankind -infinity). But no, every inclination of man's heart has to be all evil even from childhood. As soon as man figures out a bit of technology, he becomes groundlessly proud. Apparently, the people who settled Babylonia developed a new method of constructing buildings. They discovered that brick laying with mortar was much more effective than laying plain old stones on top of each other (eureka). With this huge discovery, they thought to themselves, 'we're not far off from figuring this whole universe thing out. Look out Higgs boson, we're gonna find you soon.' We see that they weren't just interested in building more godless societies. But additionally, they wanted to make a tower that would reach to the heavens (outer spac...

A man who finds a wife, finds what is good, however... Subtitle: My spiel on marriage, because I think it's an important issue How does one choose a mate? Should the decision be based on physical appearance, character, societal status or family background? While these are significant factors, in Genesis chapter six, it seems as though God was hoping that his people would choose based on an altogether different criterion. In the beginning of the chapter, we see that as men increased on the earth, the men of Seth's line (the sons of God) began to notice the women of Cain's line (the daughters of men). He who finds a wife, finds what is good, as the proverb goes. However, how one goes about finding their wife is an important matter to God. The men who at one time called upon the name of the LORD chose to leave God out of the process of finding suitable wives. They essentially based their decision on physical beauty and their own desires. To be sure, physical beauty is a ...