Abraham is Told to Sacrifice Isaac

Today’s Reading:
• Genesis 20:1-22:24
  
• Proverbs 2:16-22
  

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Genesis 20:1-22:24
Abraham did it again! Once again he visited a strange land and insisted on calling Sarah his sister and allowed her to be taken as a wife to the king. It baffles me, because if Abraham has enough faith to sacrifice his own son, shouldn’t he have enough faith to trust the Lord to protect him and his wife?

This reading also saw the birth of Isaac from Abraham and Sarah, just as God had promised. Chapter 22 contains the famous story of how God told Abraham to go sacrifice Isaac, and Abraham proceeded to do so without question. Can you even imagine sacrificing one of your children? I know that God sacrificed Jesus, and that is such a powerful sacrifice. I know as a parent, my greatest fear is that one of my children will die before me, because I don’t think I could bear it. Even if God came down and stared me in the face, I’m not sure if I could sacrifice my own child. Okay, I'm sure I would obey, but I still can't imagine. No wonder Abraham was so special, and so blessed. And thank God he didn’t have to go through with the sacrifice!  

Proverbs 2:16-22
Here is more on living a righteous life. This time it remarks on the promiscuous woman, and how men who enter her house ride the road to death. I don’t have much more to say about this one, except that I don't intend to ever be the promiscuous woman who “abandon[s] her husband” (2:17).

Why do Wicked People Seem to Get Everything they Want?

Today’s Reading:

• Matthew 8:18-34
  
• Psalm 10:1-15

Matthew 8:18-34
Here we read about the famous story where Jesus calms the storm while him and his disciples are riding in a boat. Here’s what I don’t get: these disciples -- these men following Jesus for all this time -- have seen him perform miracle after miracle after miracle.

These men have given up everything to follow Jesus, yet the disciples were amazed that Jesus calmed the storm? Verse 8:27 says:

The disciples were amazed. ‘Who is this man?’ they asked. ‘Even the winds and waves obey him!’

Next Jesus casts demons out of two men and into a herd of pigs. The pigs immediately plunged off a cliff and drowned. Apparently an entire town came out to meet Jesus after that, yet they all turned him away and begged him to go (8:34). Isn’t that sad? It pains me to think of one person turning away Jesus, let alone a whole town full of people. Yet I know that there are an incomprehensible number of people who will never know or will consciously turn away from Jesus. We’re all God’s people and he loves each of us like a child – can you imagine having your children just turn away from you? It must be devastating.  

Psalm 10:1-15
This Psalm addresses a very real grievance – why, does it seem, that wicked people are often given their heart’s desire? I know how they get it – many do such things that others would never consider doing, no matter what they would get out of it.

The Psalm suggests that because these people get whatever they want by despicable means they think that God is dead, or God pays no attention to them, or God lets them do whatever they want to do. I say let God judge as He sees fit: whatever these people earn will do them no good in the afterlife.

How much do you think these people are even enjoying their lives? I mean, truly? I can say nothing for them, I’m not in their shoes, but I can imagine that a life where I had everything I wanted yet acquired these things in a despicable manner would surely leave me unfulfilled. Even if it is fulfilling, a few years of happiness on earth doesn’t even touch an eternity of pure joy and fulfillment. 

The Death of Abraham; Do not be Impressed With Your Own Wisdom

Today’s Reading:
• Genesis 24:52-26:16
  
• Proverbs 3:7-8
  

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Genesis 24:52-26:16
It’s hard for me to imagine being a woman in biblical times, or even a woman in a country where women’s rights and desires are often ignored. It’s remarkable to me that Rebekah chose to up and leave her family in such a short notice – the next day after meeting Abraham’s servant. I am heartened, however, to see that God blessed their marriage with love (24:67). It just goes to show that God blesses those who follow his will.

Abraham died at 175 years old – but not before spawning many more children. A new wife is mentioned, named Keturah, and they had 6 sons together (or at least I assume they were sons, it doesn’t specifically say the gender in 25:2). It then goes on to say that Abraham sent off the sons of his concubines – not just his new wife, and not just a single concubine, but plural (25:6). That makes me wonder how many there were, and was it only after Sarah died? You’d think it would be, because the story of Sarah and Hagar is so remarked upon, but there’s so little to go on that I really don’t have a clue. Anyway, it interests me to read about the polygamous practices in the bible, and how even Abraham himself partakes of them. I’ll have to keep an eye out for various teachings on that subject matter.

Next we meet Esau and Jacob. First, while the twins were in Rebekah’s womb, she was told by God that Esau would serve Jacob (25:23). Just a little bit later, we see Esau sell his birthright to Jacob (25:27-34). To me, the whole exchange sounds like bickering between brothers and empty promises, but I guess it was quite a serious exchange and oath. I assume we’re being set up for Rebakah’s betrayal of Isaac and Esau, so I’ll save the rest of my thoughts and comments for when we get there.

Finally, it must have been really dangerous times to live in. In 26:7-11 we see Isaac do the same thing Abraham did repeatedly: tell everyone his wife was his sister. It makes me wonder, again, what these men were afraid of – they had God on their side! I guess I’ll never understand it. 

Proverbs 3:7-8
Here we’re told not to rely on or be impressed with our own wisdom. Even if we deem ourselves wise we still need to fear the Lord, fill ourselves with His wisdom, and turn away from evil. No matter how wise we may think we are, we will have true wisdom, discernment and understanding without knowing, fearing and following the Lord.

Conclusion
I find myself so impatient! I desperately want to learn the answers to all my questions and see all the bible has to teach and offer me. But I shall take it one day at a time, one tidbit at a time, one word at a time. Hopefully this will help me to absorb and understand more.  I love how instead of growing tired of reading the bible, I want to read more and more of it.

I love the way this reading program is laid out. Before I always got bored quickly, because it seemed all I was reading about was generation lines and sacrificial rites. But reading the bible like this allows me take many angles and read so many interesting things in just a single day. My sincere thanks goes to the One Year Bible Online for creating and posting these readings lists for me. 

Finally, please not that the reading plan is a one year plan, but as I have remarked before, I have split it up into two years so that I can ensure I will be able to keep up the pace of posting a blog entry each and every day until I've read through the entire bible.  After that point hits I don't know what will happen, but I do know that it doesn't stop there!

Good Deeds Should be Done Privately

Today’s Reading:
• Matthew 6:1-24
• Psalm 7:1-17

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Matthew 6:1-24
This reading teaches very good lessons. It starts off by saying not to give publicly – do good deeds, pray, and fast, but it do it all privately. Each of these verses reinforces that if you do any of those things for the attention that you get from other people, then that will be all the reward you will receive. Do it instead for your heavenly reward. So it seems to me this passage isn’t saying that doing these things for recognition is a sin, but I don't think you'd get your full heavenly award and fulfillment if you do it for recognition.

Psalm 7:1-17
This was another very powerful psalm from David calling for protection and vengeance against his enemies. I like how David doesn’t just beg the Lord to save him. Instead he tells the Lord to punish him if he’s been wicked and prays for the Lord to take vengeance against those who are wicked. To sum up this reading, I just want to remark on how I love verse 14. This is the NLT version, so take that into account, but they did a great job with it regardless:

“The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.”

Abram Circumcises His Household

Today’s Reading:
• Genesis 16:1-18:15
• Proverbs 2:1-5

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Genesis 16:1-18:15
I guess it’s a good thing that Abram didn’t divorce Sarai for being barren throughout their marriage. That aside, I can’t imagine handing a woman over to my husband to sleep with and bear a child. I would be afraid I’d hate the child because I’d be reminded of it every time I saw him. But that’s just what Sarai does. She hands her servant, Hagar, over to her own husband. Hagar becomes pregnant and begins to treat Sarai with contempt. My question is, how did Sarai treat Hagar? The bible tells so little of the story, but there had to be anger and resentment there when Hagar became pregnant, don’t you think? I feel sorry for everyone in that situation.

After Ishmel is born to Abram and Hagar, the Lord visited Abram again, this time to form a covenant. For this covenant to be fulfilled, Abram must take every male of his household, himself included, and circumcise them. That could hardly have been well received! I wonder how hard of a time Abram had when he rounded up everyone, explained to them what had to happen, and then physically had to do it. I can’t imagine!

Abram (100 years old) and Sarai (90 years old) are from this point forward known as Abraham and Sarah, and God tells them that they will have a son together. I know that people lived a lot longer back then, but 90 years old must have been far past their prime. I would imagine it’s like a 65 – 70 year old woman trying to bear a child. So I can see how they might both have been skeptical of the promise from the Lord. Regardless, they were told – twice – that it would happen. The reading ends with Sarah’s skeptical laughter.

Proverbs 2:1-5
These verses focus on seeking out wisdom. We’re told to find insight and understanding, to seek them as you would a hidden treasure. This will teach you to both fear the Lord and gain knowledge of him. I feel like that’s happening to me right now as I am undergoing this study – learning all these things has already given me new fear and appreciation for the Lord. At the same time, I am literally gaining knowledge of God. While it is a bit scary to truly examine my life against God’s standards, I am becoming better prepared to steer out a new path to follow.