Tag-Archive for » Abraham «

Rewriting the Story

Friday, January 04th, 2013 | Author:

By faith Sarah herself received the power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.  Hebrews 11:11  ESV

Power to conceive – The inclusion of Sarah in the heroes of the faith hall of fame has always seemed a bit strange.  When we read the story of her miraculous pregnancy in Genesis, there is no indication that she actually believed God’s promise.  In fact, the text seems to suggest just the opposite.  Sarah laughed at God’s words, finding them ridiculous and impossible.  The ancient story doesn’t match this author’s evaluation.  Or so it seems.

There is another problem with this account.  The Greek word translated “power to conceive” is katabole.  It has two distinct meanings.  The first, and most common, is “foundation,” found in numerous New Testament texts (e.g. Hebrew 9:26, 1 Peter 1:20, Matthew 13:35).  But here the second meaning is clearly in mind.  Katabole is a description of the male sexual function, the “casting of seed” in euphemistic parlance.  And this means that the author of Hebrews really has Abraham in mind when he talks about Sarah’s pregnancy, as the following verse makes clear.  In other words, it is not Sarah’s inability to conceive that is the issue.  It is Abraham’s impotency.  The verb katabole has virtually no application to females.  So we have another discrepancy between the story in Genesis and the analysis in Hebrews.  How are we to reconcile these matters?

The resolution is found in the rabbinic approach to Scripture.  If we read the text as a midrash, then we can understand why the author changes Sarah’s character and applies a verb about male potency to a woman.  He is simply altering the story to fit his objective.  That objective is to include Sarah in the line of the faithful so that both parents of the tribe of Israel are seen in a positive light.  But if we read the text as critical historical examiners, we will run right up against these two textual problems.  And then we will be forced into gyration theology or Scriptural error.  In other words, the only way we can understand why the author deliberately includes these unsubstantiated elements is to read the text from a first century Jewish perspective.

Why do we care about this little revision of Abraham’s sexual activity?  Does it really matter?  Yes, it does, but not because we are interested in the accuracy of this author’s account.  It matters because if the author takes a Jewish rabbinic perspective in this small detail, wouldn’t we expect him to take the same perspective in the larger issues?  If the author employs the technique of midrash here, why wouldn’t we expect him to use the same techniques in other passages?  If the details are Jewish, why not the summaries?  Our insight into this tiny revision should make us realize that the author employs Jewish ideas to communicate his message and that means we are not to read the rest of the text as if it were based on later Christian paradigms.  If the book of Hebrews doesn’t make sense for a first century Jewish reader, then it doesn’t make sense at all.

The book of Hebrews is often used by Christian apologists to prove that the old sacrificial system has been done away with, that it was flawed and needed to be replaced.  But this little investigation into Abraham’s impotency suggests that we may need to re-read Hebrews in a different light.  Are you up for that challenge?

Topical Index:  Abraham, Sarah, katabole, sex, midrash, Hebrews 11:11

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A Substitute for God

Monday, September 17th, 2012 | Author:

“May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.  Ruth 2:12  NASB

Under whose wings – Do you realize that Boaz is the one who actually fulfills the blessing of the Lord that he himself pronounces over Ruth?  With the same words, Ruth asks Boaz to cover her with his wings, translated in 3:9 as “covering” (NASB).  Boaz desires God to provide for Ruth.  Ruth recognizes that God will do so through Boaz.  Boaz speaks a self-fulfilling prophecy.

While the self-fulfillment of blessings is repeated in the story of Ruth with other characters, there is another connection here that cannot be overlooked.  Ruth is the female superior to Abraham.  As Trible notes, “Divine promise motivated and sustained his [Abraham’s] leap of faith.  Besides, Abraham was a man, with a wife and other possessions to accompany him.  Ruth stands alone; she possesses nothing.  No God has called her; no deity has promised her blessing; no human being has come to her aid. . . . Consequently, not even Abraham’s leap of faith surpasses this decision of Ruth’s.”[1]  Trible observes that the story requires Boaz to provide the interaction with God that Abraham received directly.

The point is important.  First, it deliberately connects the story of Ruth with the story of Abraham.  We should be on the lookout for other connecting fibers.  To miss the parallels is to miss the true depth of the narrative.  Secondly, it reminds us that the appeal for the direct intervention of God in our circumstances is near blasphemy.  Ruth is the superior model of divine activity hidden in the ordinary events and characters of the human drama.  To expect, even demand, that God show Himself before we act is arrogant, presumptuous and perhaps even sinful.  God does show Himself – in whatever ways He happens to choose.  It is up to us to recognize His handiwork in disguise, and at times even become the instruments by which His work is accomplished.

There could hardly be a more fitting story for Torah guidance.  Ruth is the quintessential outsider.  Her very existence is an affront to the Torah.  She carries the stigma of scandalous beginnings and broken covenants.  Her pagan background allows speculation about sexual impropriety.  She comes with nothing but a bad reputation.  But she demonstrates a faithfulness greater than Abraham.  If we do the same, will not the Judge of all the earth judge justly with us?  Ruth is our sister, our mother and our priestess.  Do we honor her for who she really is?

Topical Index: under whose wings, Abraham, Boaz, Torah, Ruth 2:12, kanaf


[1] Phyllis Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality, p. 173.

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Abraham’s Daughter

Tuesday, July 17th, 2012 | Author:

But Ruth replied, “Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you.  For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”  Ruth 1:16

I will go – “From a cultural perspective, Ruth has chosen death over life.  She has disavowed the solidarity of family; she has abandoned national security; and she has renounced religious affiliation.  In the entire epic of Israel, only Abraham matches this radicality, but then he had a call from God.”[1]

If Abraham had a daughter, it was Ruth.  The themes of hesed, faithful loyalty, personal sacrifice and action that reflect God’s character are vibrantly present in both people.  In fact, Ruth is more like Abraham than his own son, Isaac.  Furthermore, Ruth is a Gentile who decides to enter into fellowship with YHWH just as Abraham was a Gentile who decided to act upon God’s call.  Both leave behind lives of expected conformity and security to journey to “a land I will show you.”  But, as Trible notes, Abraham had a call from God.  Ruth makes a life-altering decision without God’s specific direction.  The power of hesed is her only motivation.

We should notice that Naomi holds up Orpah as the model of rational action.  “See, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods” (v. 15).  Naomi’s motivation might be good.  She is concerned about the welfare of Orpah.  But she is willing to send Orpah back to Chemosh, the pagan god of Moab, in order to achieve security.  There is no emphasis on following the one true God at any cost.  In fact, when Ruth declares her conviction to go with Naomi, Naomi tells her that she is crazy.  Doesn’t Ruth know what this means?  Doesn’t she appreciate the potential difficulties, the obvious threat, the danger?  Naomi is focused on just one thing – security.  Worship of the true God takes a distant second place.

But Ruth decides.  It is her decision that propels the story forward.  Regardless of the warnings, regardless of the expected hardships, Ruth will not be deterred from the inner call on her life.  She establishes a new standard of obedience, even exceeding the obedience of her distant spiritual father, Abraham.

“I will go.”  Elek.  “Go out!”  Lek-leka.  Both from the same root, yalak.  Ruth follows in the footsteps of God’s chosen man, perhaps because, even without knowing it, she is God’s chosen woman.

Do you need a “calling” to go out?  Or are you like Ruth – committed because it is what you must do even if you don’t hear a word from the Lord?

Topical Index:  yalak, to go, Abraham, Genesis 12:1, Ruth 1:16, I will go, calling


[1] Phyllis Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality, p. 173.

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Living on the Edge

Thursday, February 16th, 2012 | Author:

Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son  Genesis 22:10  NASB

Knife – The ma’akelet is a special kind of knife – a knife used to slaughter sacrifices.  In the Old Testament, it describes the instrument used to cut a person into pieces (Judges 19:29) and to prepare animals for the altar.  This word is sinister, fearful and ominous.  Unfortunately, we transfer this foreboding on to Abraham.

Our picture of Abraham’s action has been distorted by a long history of incorrect teaching.  We may believe that God forced Abraham to come to this point.  Thanks mainly to Kierkegaard, we believe that Abraham had a terrible moral struggle over God’s command, battling about obeying God or protecting Isaac.  None of this is true if we read the text carefully.  Abraham has reached a point in his life where he finally believes that God can do anything.  He is finally devoted to God and willing to entirely obey.  While this is definitely a test of Abraham’s obedience, I believe that it comes only when Abraham’s total commitment is ready to be demonstrated.  Abraham believes that God will fulfill the promise even if he kills Isaac.  After all, Isaac was born out of impossibility.  Now Isaac will continue to live even it seems impossible.

Throughout the story, God emphasizes how important Isaac is to Abraham.  Isaac is the representation of what matters most to a man. God asks Abraham to sacrifice what matters most, so that only God is the true object of total devotion.  Abraham demonstrates that God comes first, no matter how valuable the sacrifice.  But God never demands this action.  He does not command Abraham to slay Isaac.  God asks, “Please?”

We need to see this story in our own lives.  God says, “Take, please, your most valuable possession, and sacrifice it on a mountain I will show you.”  Take your dreams, your children, your spouse, your fame, your wealth, your future – and slaughter it with the ma’akelet.  Put it on the altar of death.  Believe that I am El Shaddai – the God who can do anything – even if it looks like your dreams will be burned up.”  The test of faith – and we all have one – is to believe God in spite of our circumstances.  The test is to believe that God must come first and to act according to that conviction.  If we say that we love God, but we withhold our most prized possession, then we are lying to ourselves.  If we say that we trust God, but we refuse to sacrifice our future to Him, then we are deceiving ourselves.

There is an altar in every life.  It is the altar where you and I are asked to butcher our dreams, our plans and our hopes.  Life is not about us.  It is about God’s purposes through us.  As long as we keep the ma’akelet in the sheath, we will never know what God has in mind.  Take out the knife.  Place your future on the altar and sacrifice it to God.  Let Him give you “another ram” – another life.  The future you really needed must always come from the hand of God after the future you thought you needed is gone.

Topical Index: knife, ma’akelet, sacrifice, Isaac, Abraham, Genesis 22:10

 

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Ruth in Reverse

Sunday, December 11th, 2011 | Author:

“Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.  Thus and more may the LORD do to me if anything but death parts me from you.”  Ruth 1:17  NJPS

Parts . . from – When we read Scripture, we must read with an awareness of linguistic connections.  Scripture is like those word puzzle games, pages filled with letters where you have to find certain words.  The words might be sideways, backwards, vertical or horizontal, but they are all there somewhere.  In Scripture, there are deliberate connections between different contexts.  Those connections are hidden in the Hebrew words.  Unfortunately, most of our English translations don’t pay attention to these linguistic connections.  In order to make the English translation more elegant, translators often use synonyms instead of duplicating the exact word from one context to the next.  This means English readers never see the linguistic connections present in Hebrew.

This is the case with Ruth’s proclamation to Naomi.  The Hebrew word yaphrid  comes from the verb parad.  In this context, it means “to separate from kin.”  It plays a significant role in another story, a story from Ruth’s distant past, the parting of Abraham and Lot (Genesis 13:9).  The separation of Abraham and Lot begins a saga that ends in Ruth.  Lot leaves the company of Abraham over economic issues.  He allows potential prosperity to override family ties.  The eventual results are disastrous.  After utter collapse of his hopes and dreams, his own daughters take sexual advantage of his drunken condition to produce offspring.  Everything about the end of Lot’s life is a mess.  His separation from Abraham is the beginning of walking out of favor with God.  As I recall, Proverbs has a great deal to say about the company we keep and the company we should not keep.

Then comes Ruth.  The use of the same verb alters the course of Ruth’s life and the lives of all she touches.  Her refusal to separate exemplifies her commitment to covenant relationship even when she has no obligation to make that commitment.  In fact, in another verbal clue, Ruth uses the same word found in Genesis 2:24 (devak) when she affirms her unbreakable relationship with Naomi.  Carefully reading the story even implies that Naomi isn’t willing to accept this unbreakable commitment.  But while Naomi may be wary, Ruth is not.  This is a “until death do us part” promise.  And because it reverses what Ruth’s distant progenitor did, it restores a separation that had been affecting two groups of people for generations.  Ruth is truly the go’el, the kinsman-redeemer.  In fact, this isn’t the only reversal in the story of Ruth.  Naomi’s life is reversed by Ruth’s hesed.  Naomi comes back to Bethlehem “empty,” but she is once again “filled” with the birth of her grandchild (the story even indicates the Ruth’s son redeems Naomi).  The statements about Ruth’s prior marriage (Ruth 2:11) reverse the action of Genesis 2:24.  The actions of Ruth on the threshing floor reverse accepted cultural norms.  And, of course, Ruth’s very existence is reversed when her marriage to Boaz reunites two members of the same family who parted company at the Jordan hundreds of years before.

Is Ruth a model for us?  Can you and I put our lives in reverse and make up for what has been lost in the past?  Will we exercise the power of parad through acts of hesed?  Maybe Ruth is a much bigger love story than we thought it was.

Topical Index:  Ruth 1:17, parad, Abraham, Lot

 

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Our Father Abraham

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 | Author:

Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people.  Genesis 25:8  NASB

Satisfied with life – Let’s talk about death.  In particular, let’s talk about the death of Abraham.  Abraham is the father of our faith.  Paul holds him up as the paradigm of God’s redemptive grace.  He is first in the heroes of the faithful.  His life is the foundation of God’s chosen people.  God’s promise to Abraham is the reason we serve the Lord today.  There is hardly a more important figure in the Tanakh than Abraham.

But far too often we think of Abraham’s faith in our categories, not his.  We forget that Abraham didn’t have a single line from the Bible.  He didn’t have the historical hindsight of our generation.  He didn’t know anything about Yeshua.  And most of his life, he experienced God’s silence.  Abraham could not have endorsed our creeds, produced a modern statement of faith, written a systematic theology or recognized anything in our worship services.  He is our father, but his understanding of YHWH was radically different than ours.

Some of this is just a matter of God’s progressive revelation.  Abraham didn’t know because God didn’t reveal it to him.  He knew what he had to know.  But some of this enormous difference is the result of cultural importing.  Instead of reading Abraham as an ancient near-eastern Semite, we read him as if he sat in the back of the sanctuary, saying “Amen” to our stage performance.  Perhaps we can begin to appreciate how much we have misread Abraham if we consider his death instead of his life.

Notice that the verse says absolutely nothing about life after death.  Not a hint!  Abraham lived a long and fruitful life.  Then he died.  The NASB glosses the Hebrew idiom zaken vesavea, literally “aged full.”  The idea that Abraham was satisfied with his life is a contemporary cultural import.  We are the ones who demand to be satisfied with life.  There is no indication that such an expectation was part of Abraham’s culture.  In fact, there are several ancient near-eastern cultural facts that overturn such a translation.  Consider these:

1.  H. W. Wolff argues that  “man does not have nephesh, he is nephesh, he lives as nephesh.”  Nephesh is granted to Man.  It still belongs to God.  God is its source.  We do not have it as a piece of divinity now inherently resident in us.  Genesis 35:18 suggests that nephesh departs at death.

2. “Where the nephesh is related to awareness and perception, the ruah is related to consciousness and vitality.  Like nephesh, the ruah is not understood as continuing to exist once the person dies.  Indeed, it is difficult to demonstrate that a person has his/her own ruah.  Rather, each person has God’s ruah.”

“What continues to exist in Sheol after death is neither nephesh nor ruah.” [1]

 

3. The near-eastern view of death means that life is returned to the Creator.  To be human is to be a guardian of what originally and ultimately belongs to God.  To die is to simply return to God what was always His.

4.  Therefore, life is what life is NOW!  To live a full life is to experience God’s purposes in my life now while I am the custodian of His gift.   In fact, the singular orientation of the Tanakh, from Abraham to Isaiah, is the duty and honor of service to God while I live.  It is not accidental that there is almost nothing about an after-life in the Tanakh.  The preoccupation with eternal life had to develop during the time between the end of the prophets and the end of the Sages.  How much of that development was influenced by Greek metaphysics and the Greek concern with the heavenly abode has yet to be determined.

This much is clear about Abraham.  He lived a life purposeful to God – and he died.  Whether or not Abraham considered his life satisfying is irrelevant and anachronistic.  The story of Abraham is God’s autobiography, not Abraham’s biography.

Would you have the faith of Abraham?  Would you follow God based on His call alone?  Would your faith be diminished if you put aside the idea of heaven and heavenly rewards?  Can you still love the Lord as much if the end is “gathered to your people”?  I am not suggesting that heaven isn’t real or that there isn’t life after death.  Yeshua clearly teaches that there is.  What I am asking is more fundamental.  Do you have faith like Abraham, who perhaps never knew any of the hope of the other side?  Could you walk with God as Abraham walked if your life were returned to the Creator at death?  Or are you “faithful” because you are looking for something more than “aged full”?

Topical Index:  death, zaken vesavea, aged full, Genesis 25:8, Abraham

 


[1] John Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament, p. 214

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God’s Poetic Name

Monday, February 07th, 2011 | Author:

“I am El Shaddai.  Walk in My ways and be blameless.” Genesis 17:1 (JPS commentary on Genesis)

El Shaddai – Certainly you realize that God’s personal name, revealed in Exodus 4, has been vocally lost.  Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey are the consonants of that name, but the actual vocalization of this name disappeared in the Jewish reticence to speak the divine name.  But this isn’t the only name of God that we have lost along the way.  El Shaddai is another lost name, not because we don’t know how to pronounce it but because we don’t really know what it means or where it came from.

El Shaddai appears nine times in the Torah.  Twenty-eight of the remaining thirty occurrences are in poetic texts like Job and Psalms.  In fact, all of the true prose occurrences are found only in Genesis.  Thus, God can say to Moses, “I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as El Shaddai” (Exodus 6:3), but now God will be known by the divine name YHWH.  What this means is that the name El Shaddai is not only very, very old, it is also connected to an ancient tradition and source that we no longer understand.  Abraham knew the meaning of this name.  So did his son and grandson.  But today we can only guess at its meaning.  Check a dozen different translations of this passage and you are likely to get at least a half-dozen different renderings.  Modern scholarship sometimes connects this name with the Akkadian word for “mountain,” but even that is conjecture.  The hard truth is that we have a text that is so old we no longer know what the word really means.

Does this make you uncomfortable?  Do you feel somehow less familiar with the great God of Israel, the Holy One, the Almighty if you recognize that some things about Him have been lost?  I do.  I want to know all about Him.  I want to know what Abraham knew.  I want to hear Him speak to me, proclaiming His name so that I might honor it.  But it is not to be.  Just like you, I am thousands of years removed from God’s revelation to Abraham and there is no way to go back and recapture what Abraham knew.

That’s why the name of the One who restores my understanding of YHWH is so important to me.  His name I know.  It is Yeshua.  When He says that all I need to know about the Father has been exhibited in Him, I feel a little relief.  The great God of Abraham is not lost in the murky past.  Yeshua proclaims Him.  I don’t have to fret because I don’t know what Abraham knew.  In fact, I am perhaps more fortunate than Abraham because I have the fuller revelation.  Someday you and I will be able to sit with Abraham and ask him, “Father Abraham, tell me about El Shaddai.”  That will be a wonderful conversation.  Then he will ask, “Now, tell me about Yeshua,” and we will both rejoice.

Topical Index:  El Shaddai, Genesis 17:1, Exodus 6:3, Abraham, Yeshua

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OPEN EYES FAITH

Thursday, March 04th, 2010 | Author:

Sometimes I think we get the idea that God leaves us in the dark on purpose.  We have the bump-into-things view of faith, like walking through a room with the lights off.  This morning my wife and I read our devotional page from Oswald Chambers’ book.  We talked about our current situation.  Nothing seems to have changed to correct the financial crisis we face.  The external evidence still points to a dwindling bank account and not enough income.  She said to me, “I know that God has His reasons.  But I would just like to know what they are”.  As I thought about her request, I was reminded of people in history whom God directed.

Abraham is a good example.  We have a heroic view of Abraham.  We think of him as a pillar of faith.  We know the story of his willingness to sacrifice Isaac.  We remember his negotiation with God to rescue Lot.  But we often forget that Abraham had years of struggle and doubt.  We forget that he was very human – just like us.  And God still chose him.

Abraham started out well.  God called him away from his culture, family and friends.  God said, “Follow me to a place I will show you” and Abraham responded.  Now that takes faith!  How many of us would pack up everything we had, sell the house, leave the job and just go somewhere based only on a voice from God.  God didn’t even bother to tell Abraham where he was going.  He just said, “Get on the road and I will let you know when you need to know”.  Abraham made his first stop at a sacred grove on a mountain.  There he made an altar and worshipped God.  He demonstrated his faith even though he still had no idea what the plan was all about.  Things seemed to be settling down.

God showed up and explained that some day Abraham’s descendents would inherit all the land that surrounded Abraham.  God would see to it.  Of course, there was only one small problem.  Abraham didn’t have any descendents.  But God told him not to worry.  Things would work out exactly as God intended.

Then Abraham got his first real test.  There was a famine in the land.  Nothing to eat, provisions running low and plenty to worry about.  Abraham decided to head for Egypt where food was available.  But on the way he realized that Pharaoh would see how beautiful his wife was and would probably want her for himself.  Abraham reasoned that if that happened, Pharaoh might just kill him to get Sarah.  So, he came up with a plan.  He would tell Pharaoh that Sarah was his sister.  That way, nothing would happen to him.  Of course, a lot would happen to Sarah, but Abraham didn’t seem too concerned about her.  After all, he had to protect himself so that he could get what God promised.  It wouldn’t do much good if he were killed.  So, he lied.  And things got very bad indeed when his lie was discovered.

Abraham failed the test.  Do you think that God would have let Abraham be killed in Egypt if God had already promised that Abraham was going to be a great nation?  You have to wonder why Abraham didn’t trust God to take care of the situation.  Abraham lied to protect his own skin.  But his lie denied God’s promised protection.  The Father of Faith made a big mistake (and, as we see when we read the stories, he seems to have made the same mistake more than once).

Of course, after Pharaoh kicks Abraham out of Egypt, Abraham regrets his lack of faith.  He comes back to worship God.  He straightens out his trust problem.  But he has set the tone for the family.  Lot follows uncle Abraham’s lead and ends up in a real mess.  And Sarah does the same thing.  She shows the sin of impatience.  God’s promise is only good when she can see how it is going to work out.  And as the years go by, she figures that it’s time for her to take over.  That decision results in an internal family nightmare, an illegitimate son, more broken relationships and thirteen years of silence from God.  And, by the way, just in case we start thinking that it is all Sarah’s fault, we are reminded that Abraham is the one who agreed to have sex with Hagar in order to produce the required descendent.  Did Abraham have a momentary mental lapse?  Did he forget completely that God was able to handle every problem?  Or was the offer to have sex with someone else, with his wife’s blessing, more than any man could refuse?

God returns to the lives of these fractured people and renews His covenant.  Abraham finally seems to understand.  But there are still trials and failures and regrets and restorations ahead.  The Father of the Faith is quite human.  The Bible could have painted him as a great saint.  But it doesn’t.  I am convinced that God wants us to see the ups and downs of his life, and the lives of many of the saints.  Why?  Because the story is about what God does, not about how wonderful and spiritual we are.  God gets the credit.  He takes the time to show us that we are all cut from the same cloth.  And that should give us great comfort.  Our faith is just like the faith of those Bible heroes – struggling, rough and in need of purification.  But it is faith nevertheless, and God recognizes it for what it is.  If God didn’t give up on Abraham, a man who caused one family problem after another with lies, loose morals and doubt, then God won’t give up on us either.

Let’s look at what Paul (another one of those Bible heroes with a very checkered past) has to say about faith:

“for the righteous man shall live by faith”  Romans 1:17

“having been justified by faith, we have peace with God”  Romans 5:1

“whatever is not of faith is sin”  Romans 14:23

“and without faith it is impossible to please [God]”  Hebrews 11:6

A few more references will help.

“but he must ask in faith without any doubting”  James 1:6

“for we walk by faith, not by sight”  2 Cor. 5:7

“now faith is the assurance of things hope for, the conviction of things not seen”  Hebrews 11:1

Let’s see if we can draw some conclusions from these verses.  Faith begins with God’s grace toward us.  God was faithful in His promise long before we came to realize that what He says about us is true.  Just like Abraham, we responded to something that God had in mind before He asked us to get up and follow Him.  In other words, God’s intentions for us came first.  That is the essential meaning of “the righteous man is justified by faith”.  In the case of Abraham, God looked on Abraham as faithful in spite of Abraham’s human failings.  The Old Testament word is “accredited” or “counted”.  God counted Abraham as faithful – He decided to see Abraham as faithful.  God had something in mind for Abraham.  God had no intention of letting Abraham’s human failures stand in the way of divine plans, so God just kept after Abraham, reminding him that the promise was based on God, not on Abraham’s efforts.

We need to see our faith in the same light.  God has something in mind for each of us.  He has this in mind long before we get started on our journey toward the place He is going to show us.  Along the way, most of us get off track.  There is a Greek word for this.  It is planasthe.  It means “to cause to wander, to lead astray, to seduce or mislead” but we translate it as “deceive”.  Abraham got off track when he deceived himself into thinking he had to protect his own life in order for God’s promise to be fulfilled.  We do the same thing.  We don’t see how things are going to work out for us.  We worry about the money, our health, the job or any number of “protection” items.  And so we begin to take care of those things our own way.  We deceive ourselves into thinking that God needs us to lend a hand to His promise.  Just like Abraham, we eventually discover that we have made a mess.  The first thing we need to know about faith is that it is God’s plan for us, not our plan worked out with an acknowledging nod toward God.

Faith does not begin with us.  Faith begins with God.  First, God acts on our behalf.  His intentions always precede ours.  In fact, about the only thing He asks is for us to follow.  He didn’t say to Abraham, “Now, get out there and make things happen.  Go up the road until you think you have arrived.  Set up shop.  Build a city.  Make babies.  Get wealthy and build a big church.  Then, when you have done all that, I’ll come back and inspect your efforts”.  No, God said, “Follow along and I will show you something.  I’ll show you when I’m ready.  You just tag along behind”.  Funny thing.  Jesus said almost the same words.  “Follow me”.

Faith begins with God.  Actually, it’s a good thing that it does.  If faith began with us, we would certainly mess it up.  And even better, when we do mess it up, God can still bring about His intentions for us.  Abraham messed it up several times.  God still produced the results He wanted.  God had to deal with all the mess that Abraham made along the way.  Extra children.  Broken relationships.  Bad company.  An abused wife.  But God was more than able to manage all that mess and still get Abraham where God wanted him to be.  Just a bunch of extra baggage that Abraham packed into the trip.

If faith begins with God, why do we carry along so much extra stuff?  Why are we always trying to “fix” things that God forgot about?  “Wait a minute, God!  Did you forget that I have to pay that bill?  Did you forget about that assignment I need to do?  Hey, what about my plans to take that job?  Did you forget I need a new car?  Don’t you remember that my husband doesn’t treat me right?”

When faith begins with God, we have absolute assurance that faith will arrive at its intended destination.  We’re not in charge, thank God!  So, relax!  Follow along.  Stop adding to the pile you’re carrying.  God knows what you need.  It’s His train.  You’re just a passenger.  The greatest struggle of faith is to remember who owns the train.  Faith is remembering who’s who.  The reason the Bible includes all those stories about the failures of faith’s heroes is to remind us that faith is about God, not about us.  And God is able.  He is able to take any mess, any circumstance and any problem – the stuff that just seems like there is no way in the world it will ever work – and bring about His intentions.

A ninety-year-old woman gets pregnant.  An altar covered in water gets consumed with fire.  A starving man in the desert gets fed by birds.  A blind man knocks down a temple.  And God dies.  All of these things are impossible.  But they happened because God had His own plans in mind.  Isn’t he able to manage your journey?

Paul tells us that once we see our faith in terms of God’s promise toward us, we will have peace.  “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God”  Romans 5:1

The Greek word for “peace” is eirene.  In the New Testament, the word is about relationships, not external conditions.  The word is not primarily associated with resolution of political conflict, good health, personal well-being or even prosperity.  It is associated with words like love, grace, glory, honor, righteousness and mercy.  Its opposites are also words about relationships:  anxiety, anguish, fear, confusion, division, distress.  Peace is the settled confidence that my relationship with God has been repaired.  Jesus tells us that he “gives” this peace and “leaves” this peace with us.  It is not an announcement that we have accomplished something.  It is a gift left behind for us to enjoy.  Jesus is giving his followers a going-away present.  That present is unbroken fellowship with God.  It is a present that we can have right now and it will last forever.  It places a safety net over our lives that nothing can take away.

So, the second thing about faith is also about God.  Surprised?  You shouldn’t be.  God has purposes for you.  He will see that they are carried out.  And to do that, He is ready to give you peace.  It is the confidence that God is on my side, that I can trust Him completely.  He knows what He is doing.  I don’t have to second-guess His arrangements.

That’s exactly what got Abraham in so much trouble.  He knew God had plans.  He knew God made promises.  But he second-guessed how it was going to be done.  So, he did what we all do – the commonsense thing.  He went to Egypt.  He lied to protect himself.  He decided that sex with Hagar wasn’t such a bad idea.  He told the kings another lie.  Instead of waiting for God, he said to himself, “Hey, what gives here anyway?  God made me a promise but things look pretty bad.  I guess I’d better do something to make all this come true”.  God repaired the damage, but the damage didn’t need to be done.  Abraham was an impatient man.

Aren’t we the same?  Are we ready to wait for God?  Do you rely completely on the peace that we have?  We know that God has restored the relationship.  Why can’t we find comfort in that restoration?  Is anything more important?  Jesus tells us the same thing (isn’t is amazing that Jesus just reminds us of all those Old Testament lessons we forgot).  He says, “Why do you worry about what will happen to you?  Don’t you know that your heavenly Father knows all of your needs?  Seek Him first – follow along – and let Him take care of the rest”.  Jesus is a great tour guide.  He keeps putting us back on the train when we decide that there is a shorter way to glory and we fall off the track.

Faith is God first – and God second.  First, God comes after us.  Second, God looks after us.

If we just kept those two things in mind, we would have the mind of faith.  But Paul knows that we struggle.  So he provides us with a warning.

“whatever is not of faith is sin”

What is not of faith?  Not remembering rule 1 and rule 2.  Rule 1: God is in charge.  Rule 2: God is able.  He draws us to Him.  He restores our relationship with Him.  He protects and cares for us.  As long as we act in accordance with these simple facts of Life (for that’s what they are), we will exhibit faith.  As soon as we forget one of these simple things, we step off the train.  The biggest problem with stepping off the train is that it is still moving.  We get hurt.

The New Testament word for sin is hamartia.  It literally means “missing the mark”.  In this case, it might as well mean “doing it our way”.  It is the Frank Sinatra principle (“I did it my way”).  And, by the way, just in case you didn’t know it, Frank Sinatra was not God (neither was Elvis).  If I think that I can assist God by doing things my way, I am certainly going to miss the mark.  Abraham found out the hard way.  God didn’t visit him for thirteen years while Ishmael grew up.  For thirteen years, Abraham looked every day on the consequences of doing it his way.  For thirteen years, Sarah and Abraham had to deal every day with the results of doing it their way.  Not a very happy marriage.  And the other mother, Hagar, was right there in their faces every day.  There was no option of divorcing and moving across the country.  There were no restraining orders.  There was no child visitation.  Sometimes the consequences of our foolishness need to stay with us to remind us that faith is about God’s way, not ours.

“and without faith it is impossible to please [God]”  Hebrews 11:6.

Why is it impossible to please God without faith?  Well, think about it.  Faith is recognizing those two simple rules.  If I act without taking rule 1 and rule 2 into account, I will automatically be singing along with Frank.  Notice that the verse in Hebrews doesn’t say, “Without faith it’s pretty hard to please God”.  It doesn’t say, “Most of the time without faith it’s tough to please God”.  It says that it is impossible.  The Greek word is adunaton.  It literally means “is not able” or “can’t be done”.  Isn’t that amazing!  With faith, God is able.  Without faith, we are not able.  In other words, if I remember that God is in charge, then I know that God is able.  But if I forget that God is in charge, then it turns out that I am not able ultimately to please Him because I did not let Him do what He is able to do.  How simple is that!  God is able.  Let Him do it.  Sin is just deciding that God is not able and I need to do it.  That insults God.  No wonder He is displeased.

Sarah wants to enjoy the prestige of being associated with a great man – her husband.  God has promised he will be the father of many, a high honor indeed.  But Sarah doesn’t have a child.  She knows that she doesn’t have a child because God has not yet allowed her to have a child.  She recognizes God’s sovereignty when it comes to her body, but she is not willing to recognize God’s sovereignty over the rest of her world.  So, she decides to sing along with Frank.  She thinks, “God is not able to take care of this.  I’ll have to do it myself”.  She knows Abraham has eyed Hagar a few times.  Every wife knows this sort of thing.  So, she comes up with a plan that she knows Abraham won’t refuse.  Pretty soon they are all humming along with Frank.  When we think God is not able, we deny God’s faithfulness toward us.  We call God a liar.  It doesn’t work out very well.

“but he must ask in faith without any doubting”  James 1:6

There are times when doubt is a good thing.  If you are about to step off a moving train and you catch yourself doubting if you can make the step without injury, doubt is good.  It probably saved your life.  Oswald Chambers reminds us that whenever we encounter doubt in our walk behind God, we need to stop.  God does not promote doubt.  God is very clear about what He wants us to do, even if what He tells us is only a tiny step of the whole plan.  In fact, I don’t know a single person who ever knew the whole plan from the beginning.  I doubt (there’s that word again) that even Jesus knew it all for day one.  The Bible tells us that he had to grow up learning obedience just like we have to.  That’s very comforting.  If Jesus had to learn to follow, why should I think that I can just run ahead?

Now James tells us that if we are going to do something with our faith, we need to not start an internal dispute with ourselves.  That’s what this word means.  The Greek is diakrino.  It comes from the idea of separating or choosing between one thing and another.

There are two other words that are translated “doubt”.    One is dialogismos.  It means “to debate through words” or “argument”.  It is used in the New Testament for the idea of evil thoughts or argument.  It usually has the sense of trying to justify your actions – arguing with God about how “right” your sin really is.

The other is distazo. Here the idea is that you are stuck between two courses of action.  There are two pictures that help us see the meaning:  a man standing at a crossroads, not knowing which way to go and a balance scale, equally weighted on each side, tipping back and forth.  It means, “to hesitate, to waver, to be uncertain”.  It is not argumentative or evil.  There is no sin here.  It is just being stuck in the middle.  God help me, I don’t know which way to go!

James uses diakrino because he does not want us to think about trying to justify ourselves before God nor does he want us to think about simple hesitation.  He wants us to see that this kind of doubt is about debating what is the right selection.

We come to a crossroads as we tag along behind God.  But God is out just out of sight.  We can’t quite see which way He went.  So, we have to choose.  Right or left.  We waver (distazo).  We remember Oswald Chambers.  Stop! We fix our mind on the mind of Christ and then we feel we should go right.  We don’t argue with God about it (“You know, God, you really didn’t make it clear and besides, it looks so nice down the road on the left and I just couldn’t help it”).  We take a step to the right.  Suddenly we are besieged with doubt – the diakrino kind.  Wait!  What if this isn’t the right way?  Maybe I didn’t hear it correctly?  Maybe I should have prayed more?  How do I know I am really doing what God wants?  Maybe I need a sign?  I should open the Bible and find a verse.  But what if that doesn’t work either?  Diakrino is the doubt that stops acting on faith because it doesn’t believe that God can repair mistakes.  It believes God has only one way and if I miss it, I will never recover.  The entire universe depends on me making the right choice.  The pressure is too much.  What will I do now?

James says, “Go forward.  God is able to correct you if you are on the wrong path.  He’ll get you back on track.  But He can’t do anything until you start to move.  Just standing there debating with yourself will accomplish nothing”.

Once again Oswald Chambers reminds us that when we move forward on faith, God will simply close the doors if we are off course.  Then we can retreat and start again.  Remember, it’s God journey.  He’s in charge.  So get up and get moving.  Don’t be afraid to put your trust on Him.  He is able.

Rule number 1:  God’s in charge.

Rule number 2:  God is able.

Rule number 3:  Go forward.

Now comes the greatest blessing.

“for we walk by faith, not by sight”  2 Cor. 5:7

“now faith is the assurance of things hope for, the conviction of things not seen”  Hebrews 11:1

If we know the rules, we don’t have to know where we are going.  In fact, this is a journey of just following with our eyes wide open.  It is not “blind” faith at all.  We know God is in charge.  We know God is able.  All we have to do is go forward.  Faith is exercised on a “need to know” basis.  When you need to know, God will tell you.  Faith is realizing that you don’t need to know.  But everything is still OK, because He knows.

Our world is convinced that we have to know.  We want to know the outcome before the event.  What plans do you have for your life?  What will you become?  How will it all work out?  What if it doesn’t come out the way that I want?

Maybe we should think of our need to know like a box.  If we knew all the answers, we would be nicely packaged but we would lose the possibility for creative change.  God doesn’t tell us everything because we are in a cooperative process of creative change with Him.  Our lives are not boxed.  Faith is simply knowing that the plans are being revised along the way.  And that’s a good thing.  When I mess up, the master Architect can redraw the plans and still get the results He wants.  God’s disclaimers about life are true:  past promises do guarantee future rewards.  Past events do guarantee present and future relationships.

So, we’re left with hope and conviction.  “now faith is the assurance of things hope for, the conviction of things not seen”  Hebrews 11:1

Hope is telling yourself that what God says is true is really true.  It’s reminding yourself about rule number 1 and rule number 2.  God is in charge.  God is able.

Conviction is acting on that hope.  Rule number 3: Go forward.

Faith isn’t blind.  It’s open eyes obedience.

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Life Insurance

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 | Author:

And it happened as the sun was setting and a deep sleep fell on Abram, and behold, a terror of great darkness falling on him Genesis 15:12

Deep Sleep –

One of the principles of Hebraic interpretation is connecting thoughts based on similar words.  When a word appears only a few times in Scripture, the connections become even more important because each “dot” adds to the overall concept.  So, when we encounter a word like tardema (deep sleep) which occurs only seven times, we want to be sure we see where the connections lead us.  This is particularly important when we draw the connection between Abraham and Adam.

Genesis repeats themes that are crucial for living according to God’s plan.  Here we have the first (but not the last) repetition of the story of Adam and Havvah replayed in the lives of Abraham and Sarah.  The choice of tardema is a reminder of the story of Adam.  We need to pay close attention to the implications.  Here’s what we discover.

In both cases, God causes this trance.  In both cases, God is the active agent in the covenant formation.  Notice the results.  Abraham sleeps while God does the work.  Abraham is the beneficiary of the resulting covenant.  He is not a material partner in the agreement.  Everything important happens while he sleeps.  He wakes to find a new situation, one that establishes an eternal promise for his benefit.

Apply that insight to Adam.  While Adam sleeps, God works.  God brings into existence the Woman who is specifically designed to reflect the application of God’s will.  She is built to have an intuitive understanding of God’s boundaries and moment-to-moment direction.  She is the partner in covenant relationship with God.  Adam wakes to find that his world has changed.  But he had nothing to do with it.  He is the beneficiary of the relationship between God and Havvah.  In Adam’s situation, the ‘ezer kenegdo has a connection to God that benefits the man, just as Abraham is benefited by God’s promise to Himself.  In other words, the red-flag marker of tardema begs us to see that the work of the Lord is for the well-being of the male even though neither male actively participates in the arrangement.  This helps us realize that there are really two covenants in marriage.  One covenant is the promise of fidelity between the husband and wife.  The other is the covenant relationship between the ‘ezer and God.  One is voluntary; the other is divinely-designed.

What does this mean?  It means that God’s work in creating the ‘ezer kenegdo is connected to God’s work in establishing the covenant of promise with Abraham.  The Woman is God’s first manifestation of promise.  Man needs help.  God supplies help.  Man is the beneficiary of God’s supply.  We are reminded of the critical role the Woman plays.  We see that her role is to provide shalom to her charge.  The design of God’s covenant for Abraham results in the opportunity for shalom for all Mankind.   Don’t you suppose that the design of God’s “helper” for Adam has the same horizon?  Did you think the creation story was disconnected from the redemption story?  The ‘ezer kenegdo is God’s answer to the problem of being alone, just as the covenant with Abraham is God’s answer to the problem of being separated.  The similarities are impossible to deny.  The Woman plays a crucial role in the manifestation of reunion.  She is the foretaste of the promise of unity and marriage is the vehicle though which this unity is accomplished.

Topical Index:  covenant, sleep, tardema, Adam, Abraham, ‘ezer, Genesis 15:12

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“Not my problem, man”

Saturday, February 07th, 2009 | Author:

“You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” James 2:24

Thursday night, 7 PM.  The weekly Bible study at our home.  We’re making our way through Genesis, one verse at a time.  We read the passage where God establishes the covenant with Abram.  We followed the reference as it is used Romans and James.  One of the women looks frustrated.  “I know that it says justification by faith.  All my life my church talked about “imputed” – whatever that means.  But what about James?  He says it takes works too.  How can both of these be right?”

Sometimes we have to look across many different passages to make sense of just one.  That’s the case here.

James says, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone”.  What a confusing and difficult passage!  Paul’s central focus is justification by faith alone.  It is the theme of Romans.  It is the argument of Galatians and Corinthians.  Now it looks like James is saying that we need faith, but we also need something else.  How do we resolve this dilemma?

The Greek word for “works” here is ergon.  We get the word “energy” from this root.  There are other words that James could have used.  That gives us a clue to the meaning behind James’ assertion.   He uses a word for active zeal.  This is the word that John uses over and over to describe the miracles (signs) that Jesus performs.  In the New Testament, it is action that follows submission to God.

With that in mind, let’s look at the context.  James is writing about a real issue in the church.  He tells his readers, “Suppose someone says that they have faith.  Then they meet a person who is in great need.  The person is destitute.  He needs clothes and food.  But the one who claims to have faith tells him – “Oh, don’t worry.  Let peace warm you and fill you.  Let me show you the door.”  Now James says, “Is that faith any good?”

The first point that James is making is this:  faith means nothing if it does not result in actions.

I have hundreds of theology books.  They sit on shelves in my library.  They are the documentation of my faith.  But if my life shows no active zeal for God’s purposes, what good is my claim to believe?  I have had some of those books for decades.  The content of those books hasn’t changed.  Not a single word has been altered since I bought them.  But for many years my life did not reflect what was written about my faith on those pages.  God and I fought for control.  I did many things I now regret and am ashamed of.  The content of the beliefs did not change, but it was not being practiced.  James wants me to know that unless my faith is demonstrating itself in active zeal, I am giving up God’s attempt to restore me (justify me).

Recently disaster struck my family.  Everyone who knows about it says to me, “Oh, I’m so sorry”.  Their emotion is genuine.  Many are encouraging.  “Don’t worry.  Soon you’ll be back on top.”  Then the conversation turns toward less uncomfortable things.  Only a few people have come quietly and said, “I want you to know that you can count on me.  I want to help you.  Do you need anything now?  Just ask.  What’s mine is yours”.

We all know this story.  It is the “not my problem, man” theology.  James is giving us a little spiritual evaluation test – which group are you in, the ones who say, “Oh, what a tragedy.  If there’s anything I can do, just call” or are you in the group that says, “You don’t even have to ask.  Here, take this.  I know you can use it”.

Once I was in the “in-between” camp.  I had money, lots of it.  So, when the situation seemed right, when I was feeling generous, I gave.  But there were plenty of times when my first thought was, “Why should I always be the one to take care of this?  It’s my money.  I can do what I want with it.”  I was so wrong.  God saw my mishandling of the fortune he entrusted to me and He called in my loan.  “I want you to learn about mercy and debt”, He said.  “So, I going to put you on the other side of the coin.  You need an experience in dependence”.   He is right.  He always is.  I am learning to be a much better waiter because I am now a busboy.

I used to be the one who said, “I’m so sorry”.  Now I need to be the one who doesn’t wait to help.  James doesn’t say, “Wait in comfort until God directs you to do something”.  He says, “When you see someone in trouble, get your faith going.  Do something to help”.  James’ command comes from his understanding that God spreads His treasures around so that we can have the privilege of sharing them.  When I took care of only myself, God realized that I needed an attitude adjustment.  I needed to be the one who was in trouble so that I could experience the design of divine sharing.  A lesson like mine is never forgotten.

But James is also fighting another problem.

James is concerned about the idea that I can earn my way to God.  The flip side of “justification by works” is not “justification by faith alone”.  It is “justification through works”.  The Jewish community was greatly influenced by their Rabbis.  These men taught that God dealt with us on the Principle of Right Action.  If you did the right thing, God would bless you.  If you did the wrong thing, God would punish you (either now or later).  They believed that doing the right thing obligated God to reward you.  Therefore, they sought justification with God through (because of) their efforts.  In other words, they put works before justification.  They kept a celestial scorecard.  Do the good deeds, reap the rewards.

But this is not what James is saying.  James tells us that faith should produce good works.  He uses the example of Abraham’s willing sacrifice of Isaac.  He says Abraham was justified in the active zeal of this sacrifice (verse 21).  But then he goes on to say, “And the Scripture was fulfilled saying, “Abram believed God and it was counted righteousness to him” (verse 23).  This is a direct quote of Genesis 15:6.  But verse 21 comes from Genesis 22:9.  Which event came first?  Genesis 15:6 or 22:9?  Of course, the statement that Abram’s belief was counted as righteousness came before the sacrifice.  What James is saying is that the active zeal found in the sacrifice put the behavior stamp of commitment on the previous internal belief.  Unless Abraham believed, he would never have gone through with the sacrifice.  But unless he went through with the sacrifice, there was no behavioral evidence of his belief.  Faith spills into action.  Action confirms faith.  The proof of justification is that life is changed.

Abraham was counted righteous (justified) the moment his heart validated God’s promise in the covenant.  But Abraham behaved in accordance with his belief when he put Isaac on the altar.  Works justified his commitment.

In order to fight the theology of the Principle of Right Action, James shows that the sacrifice is tied to the covenant belief.  They are inseparable.  Abram did not earn the covenant promise.  He wasn’t even a party to it.  He was the recipient of its benefit.  But it changed everything in his life.  And he demonstrated that change in his behavior.

The Principle of Right Action is motivated by control.  It seduces us into believing that right action produces right standing.  Both James and Paul agree that this is wrong.  Right standing before God is evidenced in right action.  There is no manipulation.

So James says, “If we claim to be believers but we don’t act out that belief in our actions, does our claimed-faith make any difference?”   Real faith automatically produces real energy toward the needs of others.  Faith without energy is dead.

I worked in a church in Chicago.  This church was once in a very upscale neighborhood, but over the years, the rich moved to the suburbs and now it was surrounded by a ghetto.  The white consistency was very uncomfortable with the black population.  When I started a tutoring program and a basketball team, some church members wanted it stopped.  There was no room in their church for kids from the street.  Believing all the right things without putting them in action “profits nothing”, James would say.

What James is fighting is the idea that once I adopt the right set of beliefs, no further effort on my part is needed. “I know that Jesus is the Christ.  I know that he died for me.  I’ve got the right “theology”.  So, my salvation is assured”.  This reasoning is no different than the Pharisees.  It basically says, “If I do this, then God has to do that”.  It’s an “earn my way to God through right thinking” theology.

James calls it on the carpet.  The test of real faith is that it produces active zeal – things happen.  Don’t tell me that you have faith and then ignore those in need!

How many times today we will cross paths with someone in need?   Do you have a faith that spills out in action?  Or do you walk by?  Why not read the story of the crippled man at the pool of Siloam?  It’s in John chapter 5.  Ask yourself what motivated Jesus to heal this man?  If you can’t figure it out, you don’t understand the aimlessness of compassion.

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