Considering Abraham

Parashat Hashavuah


Vayera -”And he appeared”
Torah : Genesis 18:1-22:24
Haphtarah : II Kings 4:1-37
Gospel : Matthew 8-10

So, we were down to four last night, but again, the numbers did not keep us from having an amazing conversation. I’m not so sure that wasn’t one of the most transcendent conversations that I’ve ever been a part of. (That might be the most convoluted way of saying that). It was a wonderful discussion.

We had eight questions that lead us all around....we talked about the second coming of Christ, how to live from day-to-day, whether God revealed Christ to the patriarchs, and how precious these words of God are.

I didn’t know that the Jews recite the story of the binding of Isaac each day when they pray. This story is so troubling to me. If I were editing the Bible, I’d be sure to leave this one out. The only way I’ve been able to reconcile this story in the past is to say that it’s testing Abraham’s faith. But hasn’t he been proved righteous already? He got up and left .... He made the covenants with God ...waited for Isaac. So is there more to this story? Many Jews think this is the beginning of the sacrificial system.  (In fact, the binding took place on Mount Moriah...where they built the temple).

And spent a lot of time considering whether the Jews will be saved outside of the work of Christ (or through the work of Christ?) What about faithful Jews. Well...we didn’t answer that...but we got stuck in Romans 11. Listen to this:
“  25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
   "The deliverer will come from Zion;
      he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
 27And this is my covenant with them
      when I take away their sins.”

 And this is Paul’s answer to this quandary:
“33Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
      How unsearchable his judgments,
      and his paths beyond tracing out!
 34"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
      Or who has been his counselor?"
 35"Who has ever given to God,
      that God should repay him?"
 36For from him and through him and to him are all things.
      To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

Amen indeed.

Go

This week’s study gets us to Abraham.

Father Abraham had many sons...but it seemed for a long time like he would have none.

We’re reading:

Lech Lecha =
Torah : Genesis 12:1-17:27
Haphtarah : Isaiah 40:27-41:16    
Gospel : Matthew 5-7

Wow...the Sermon on the Mount was amazing to read in a whole bit. It sounds so much like Deuteronomy to me. Of course, others have noticed that, but this point came glaring through ... Jesus is teaching Torah there.

On the Isaiah passage...

This is, of course, one of my favorite passages. But I haven’t looked at in context for a very long time. I love the way this is phrased:

“Why do you say, O Jacob,
       and complain, O Israel,
       "My way is hidden from the LORD;
       my cause is disregarded by my God"?
 28 Do you not know?
       Have you not heard?
       The LORD is the everlasting God,
       the Creator of the ends of the earth.
       He will not grow tired or weary,
       and his understanding no one can fathom.”

I surely don’t know any one who complains... Yeah, it’s a reminder of God’s love again. In chapter 41 we get a picture of judgment, but then God’s care for his chosen ones.

“For I am the LORD, your God,
       who takes hold of your right hand
       and says to you, Do not fear;
       I will help you.
 14 Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob,
       O little Israel,
       for I myself will help you," declares the LORD,
       your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”

And how does God chose Israel? Through Abraham.

This passage seems obscure to me...and I’m not sure why. Who is this Abraham and why did he get picked? Is it random or is there something within him that makes him special to God? Did he just happen to be at the right place at the right time? And where did he get his faith from? We hear later in the text that his father worshipped idols. How does Abraham know God? Why does he go?

The story of Melchizedek is amazing. We have this tiny picture of grace and God’s works outside of what we understand.

Abraham’s basically gone to war against other kings and then he meets this guy.

“18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
       "Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
       Creator of heaven and earth.
 20 And blessed be God Most High,
       who delivered your enemies into your hand."
      Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”

The symbolism is deep here people: Salem = peace, Melchizedek = king of righteousness (it may not even be a personal name) and then we have a picture of the sacrament and then tithes...The title of God is interesting. El Elyon?

Then we have Psalm 110:

“The LORD has sworn
       and will not change his mind:
       "You are a priest forever,
       in the order of Melchizedek."”

And the writer of Hebrews connects it to Jesus. Listen to Hebrews 6:19-20:

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

And then all of Chapter 7 is devoted to comparing Jesus to this OT figure!  

Wow...listen to the author’s reasoning here:

“ 23Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25Therefore he is able to save completely[c] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”

Wow!

Hey...Is Sarah Abraham’s niece?

Comforting God

Reflecting on last night’s Torah Club

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ll start by saying I’m really enjoying this mix of people and questions.
The study material is really wonderful, and the questions really lead to
great conversations.

Here’s the points I want to discuss:

€Grieving God’s Heart
€Seeing the twists and turns of the narrative
€The timing of the flood

Grieving God

Frankly, it surprises me that God’s heart can be grieved. It seems to me that a God who knows the future and has great love would ever regret what’s happening. Maybe it’s because our grief is wracked with sin. We get prideful, selfish, mopey...etc. Maybe it’s not the grief that’s sinful (obviously it’s not if God grieves)...but how our broken selves deal with it. We can take away the reminder that sin is not a joke. God is seriously affected by it (so much so that Jesus incarnated and died on the cross to deal with it).

But that’s a different point. I guess I’m talking again about the Openness of God. How much is God influenced by humanity? How do prayers, humanity’s sin, the movements of history affect God’s plans?

I’m not claiming to agree with it (because you can’t deny the sovereignty of God), but here’s more details about the openness of God. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_theism

Notice that I am not answering these questions!

Noah’s name means comfort. The Hebrew root (the Nun and Het if you must know) are part of the word for comfort. It’s a play on words (ah...the lovely play of the Hebrew language)...There’s a glimmer of hope. God never does destroy all of the creation; he always saves someone. Think of Abraham lobbying for Lot, Moses for the Israelites, the prophets for the people...

That’s what we can take out of this story. Even when things are at their worst, God makes a way. He is a God of grace. It’s all over the Old Testament, people!

Another thought: What was the nature of Noah’s relationship with God? How did he learn about God? This is pre-established religion.

The Twisting Narrative

Aaron brought up an excellent point; he’s more reluctant to see the little cool things that’s happening in the Biblical narrative than in a novel. We’re really skeptical to see play on words, random connections, and cool unexpected things in the Bible. I’m not expressing it well. I just think about all the time I’ve spent dissecting novels and get all excited about the tiny details. Think of how much time I’ve spent analyzing the cool little parts of the Matrix. Why do I think it can’t be possible there are cool little details in the Bible?

Timing?

Did you know there’s a date for the flood? Genesis states “In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month”. When is the second month? It’s either in the spring or in the fall. Why does that matter? Well...if it’s in the fall, it’s close to the time of Atonement (Did you know the Hebrew word for atonement and pitch (Like what they smeared on the ark) is the same?). Surely the story talks about it. But if it’s in the spring, the timing for all of this places is smack in the middle of Passover, and the time of Resurrection. Interesting.

We also talked extensively about end time stuff, but I’m tired and will blog about that later.

What a letdown...

...or the story of the flood...

This week’s reading is the sidrah about Noah (Genesis 6:9-11:32)

The haphtarah is Isaiah 54:1-55:5 and the Gospel reading is Matthew 3 and 4.

Should I admit that I find the story of Noah a letdown?

There’s something about this story that has always bothered me. And it’s this verse: ”6:6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.”

So, God’s not happy with humankind? I know they’re vile and wicked (more than we are? More than Las Vegas at 3 in the morning?) He regrets that he made humans? This is the same God who loves us so much that rejoices over us with singing? The same one who sent his very own son to combat the problem of sin? The God who gathers his children like a mother hen?

And then he wants to not only wipe out humankind, but the animals and birds he created too.

Why does God want to reverse the creation?

Then there’s Noah. He found favor in God’s eyes? How? Didn’t he basically earn his salvation then? I’m not sure I’m speaking soteriologically here...I mean actual salvation from death and the flood. Or am I speaking of spiritual salvation? I don’t know!

Listen to what Isaiah says in the haphtarah:

“"For a brief moment I abandoned you,
       but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
 8 In a surge of anger
       I hid my face from you for a moment,
       but with everlasting kindness
       I will have compassion on you,"
       says the LORD your Redeemer.
 9 "To me this is like the days of Noah,
       when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
       So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
       never to rebuke you again.”

He was angry with Israel (How many times?) But yet he will spare them and show his love. I’m so confused!

I loved this story as a kid...the animals, the one brave family that was spared...but now it just seems weird. Of course, we’re running up on that intersection of love and justice. The one that makes no sense.

So, how will me see the Messiah? The notes were a bit fuzzy for me. Obviously we have one righteous man in the midst of a sinful generation. Sound like Jesus? We have the story of salvation with the ark. But I’ll have to talk more about this topic after the discussion tonight.

Reflecting on the the light

We had a great conversation that took more than two hours. I had expected to breeze through the eight questions; the notes were pretty easy to read and the questions seemed quite straight forward…of course I was very wrong, as I usually am when I approach the Torah.

The thing that surprised me this time is when Eve received her name. It’s after the fall…I wonder if she’s the mother of the living only after death enters into the picture. Is that significant? I’m sure it is.

We also talked about light. There was illumination before God created the sun and the moon. God is light. The sun and the moon are there to mark time and the seasons…and there will again be a place where God lights it all…the New Heaven and the New Earth.

This brought us to John 1. The author is weaving Hebrew and Greek ideals together. The Jewish ears would hear stuff like In the Beginning….we have seen his glory…and think of Genesis 1. The Greeks would hear about the Logos and glory and think philosophically.

John 1:14 might be the most amazing verse in the Bible (along with Gen. 1:1)

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

The infinite became infinite. That is the thinking of the Aramaic word for “word” Memra. It’s a deep concept.

Then we also talked about Paul's view of Christ and the creation.

To wit from Colossians 1:

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

We also talked about Cain and Abel. That is a mind boggling story. Cain approached God with sin. But what was the sin and how was it worthy of death? (Aren't we all worthy of death?) But doesn't that seem harsh? But then we have the writer of Hebrews who says that Christ's blood speaks better than Abel's.

Hebrews 12

22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

I'm not sure what to make of this.

A new season begins

Today, we return to Genesis.

The second Torah Cycle takes a look at the titles of Christ as found in the Torah. Of course that will keep us busy. Even in the first verses of the Bible, we see God moving. (We know how important Christ is to creation when John and Paul talk about Christ’s role in creation).

This section is B’resiheet: Gen. 1:1-6:8

Here are the titles of Messiah we’re exploring:

The Branch
The Word
The Light of the World
The Lord of the Sabbath
The Last Adam
The Son of Man
The Son of Perez
The Seed of the Woman

What richness there is here. I’ll add my comments after the discussion tonight.