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By the edge of the sea
12. Sarai—the princess who had no child. She was Abram’s wife, and we know she was his beloved wife because she remained his only wife until she died. As far as we can know about, he had no concubines until she gave him Hagar…I really think Abram loved her. And I wonder, with the name princess—what royal line was she from? How was her upbringing? I bet she was pampered and prized, and expected to give Abram many sons to carry on his name.
What a surprise, a slow surprise, to find out she could not have children. Children, by this point in world history, were the focal point of any redemptive hope, as well as the source of personal wealth and status. They were the world’s treasure. The Lord had begun the promise of redemption packaged in the tiny bundles of new life and at this point that promise was likely remembered and regarded by a relatively large percent of the world’s population I would think. Children were a woman’s life and treasure, and Sarai didn’t have any.
Yet Abram stayed—we think, and probably so especially after he met and decided to follow God—a righteous man, and he loved his barren wife by waiting for children from her womb. Amazing. Waiting for children from her womb seems to be the way God directed Abram in righteousness as he “made it” in every other worldly way. Crazy.
Suspenseful—as this genealogy prepares us for the next step in redemptive history, we come across the obstacle of the closed womb. It even gets its own verse and sentence—which would have also stood out in the Hebrew as the short, punctuating sentence: “But Sarai was barren; she had no child.” What is God going to do now???? Then comes Genesis chapter 12…
Review–Backtrack–Reflect:
So far, people knew of God, and of His promise of redemption in this way:
The offspring of Eve would overcome the offspring of the serpent
His name was called upon
Sacrifices were made to Him
He scattered the people by confusing their language
He had destroyed all the original civilisation but left Noah and his sons to start over—
Concerning this:
• What kind of stories did Noah and his wife tell about the “old earth”
• Did they even talk about it at all?
• What did they tell their children about the LORD?
• Did Noah describe God’s word to him to his children and grandchildren? Did he tell them about the experience of receiving word that all his friends and family would be destroyed if they didn’t repent? The experience of having preached for 100 years and having won no one over at all? Probably not too much, or we would have it written in Genesis for us.
What we do have is from Noah and the stories he passed down to his children and grandchildren…it’s minimal in our modern minds—it centres on children being born.
Noah has been described as an alcoholic because of one mention of his getting drunk after the flood—was he really an alcoholic though? I’d get drunk too if the Lord gave me a message for all my friends, none believed it, and they all died and all of our entire town and world was destroyed.
Grandpa Noah and Grandma Noah—my hunch is– they lived in the present with their children and grands. Those Grandkids meant everything—literally—to them, and I imagine the past was not brought out too much for many reasons, one of which would be the pain it evoked. Noah may have been an alcoholic, may not have been—either way, I’m sure he was loved and revered by his family.
They did, we see, all stick together. That was the problem the Lord had to solve at Babel. Good ole’ Grampa Noah! I bet his grandkids got SO good at trying to tease information out of him about life before the flood—and SOOOO frustrated at his stubborn silence. He had to have been stubborn to get through all that life experience of his. And look at God’s mercy toward him—
Noah could make wine, which helps with the pain.
He had 3 sons who stuck with him—despite Ham’s unfortunate attitude when he was drunk—it seems they did love him.
He had to have had a good wife. I’m sure she was amazing, and not mentioned specifically because she probably served as his help-meet so much that any mention of him was a mention of her. I bet she rocked those grandbabies with a smile on her face—and knew how to keep a great garden. She was the first woman to cook meat—I wonder who shot the first deer for her? Hunting is mentioned in the Bible before this time—but it was Cain’s line who did it, and interestingly, the Lord gave the OK to eat meat after the flood. I wonder if only the rebellious ate meat before this instruction? I can’t wait to sit down with Gramma Noah in Heaven—she’s going to be a mentor of mine for sure!!!!!!
SO, back to the barren princess…what do we learn about children from this point on?
13. Well, before the next mention of children we have Genesis 12—the Lord tells Abram to “Get out!”—Amazing– Noah was the previous man to hear a similar command from the LORD. And before him, well—who else did the Lord send away?
• Adam and Eve had to get out of Eden in the great fall from God’s presence. Cherubim block its entry with a flaming sword.
• Cain had to get out from his family after murdering Abel.
• Noah had to build a get-away boat—God deals with him so gently in His words—this was maybe the most fearful thing anyone has ever had to do! Certainly had been up to this point…Cain’s exile was also frightening, but filled with bitterness and taking place upon the same earth. This time—the earth and all people would be destroyed!
• The LORD scattered everyone at once when they gathered at Babel—they all had to leave because they could not talk to eachother.
• Now Abram is told to get out from his home to a new land God would show him…
The next mention of children—Genesis 12:7—God promised Abram, once he reached Shechem in the land of Canaan, “To your descendants I will give this land.” God talked about kids that didn’t yet exist! What was this? Abram built an altar to Him there in the place where He appeared to give this promise. Abram is invited into a time of patience, where he will wait years for this promise to come true.
Patience is a characteristic of God Himself—Abram is being trained up, himself a child of God the Father—to be like God in this way.
• The patience of God—what a phenomenal subject to begin to ponder! He shares it with us in so many ways. Children are one way:
The Mother must wait on that baby in her womb to grow and develop. She cannot rush this process or control it—only experience it in the most intimate and mysterious way…
Again, as parents provide for, care for, relate to, and train up a child, they wait patiently to watch personality, skills, character, develop in this child. All the rest of their life, the parent watches, prays, relates to, loves, their child. And when grandchildren come in to the picture, the process multiplies—along with the prayers, joys, patience, sorrows, and all of that and etc…
God waits upon us as His children to grow into character, skill, relationship. He waits on us as corporate church—local bodies, universal, small groups, to grow in love for one another as family as He sees us as all His children.
God waits upon His creation as a whole—for all things to come to completion in this age, so the next one can begin. He will have to destroy it again. The next time it will be fire that destroys it all. But redeemed out of that fire are a multitude that no one can number—except God alone. All of creation waits for this to unfold—the ground, the rocks, the trees and life—they all wait in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed, so they can be free from the bondage of decay—and somehow, humanity will also free from our bondage to sin and death.
Jesus also waits until this end time is ready—in some strange way even He does not know the exact hour or day when it will all end—only the Father knows, and is waiting for us…waiting for everyone to come to repentance (to turn around and find God with you!)…waiting…
Children are our Hope
First mention—Genesis 1:28—The LORD commanded the man and woman He created: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.”
• This is before the fall, when no one had sinned, when creation was still as intended.
• God commanded the first people to have children—lots of children!
• He also commanded them to fill this earth—so we see, it was made for people to live in. We cannot buy the lie that people have no place in any of the world’s ecosystems—they do!
• Also, God commands the people to subdue the earth. This earth was not yet subjected to futility and cursed because of sin. No—even the perfect earth was supposed to be cultivated by people–God made it that way.
• So, in summary: God’s first command includes: Lots of children. Lots of people. Spreading out to all areas of the world. Subduing the earth to cultivate it and live well upon it. This is God’s will, and these things must remain precious to His heart.
Second Mention–Genesis 3:15—They are referred to as the Lord pronounces enmity between the offspring of the serpent (ie—devil) and the woman. Here the final victory of the woman’s seed is also announced as they will crush the head of the serpent’s offspring. Meanwhile, his offspring would bruise their heel…we see that going on today as the enemy seeks to destroy children and people—all Eve’s offspring…and we live in hope of the ultimate destruction of the forces of evil.
Third Mention—Genesis 3:16—The woman will bear children in pain—the pain will be increased as a consequence of general sin in the world.
Fourth Mention—Genesis 4:1-2—When Eve bore Cain, the world’s first child, she acknowledged that the Lord helped her to get this baby man. His name reflects this. Then she bore Abel, the world’s first little brother. Each grew up to occupy a unique profession, and each grew up to have an unique understanding of and regard for the Lord and spiritual things.
Fifth mention—Genesis 4:17ff—Cain’s wife gave birth to Enoch, his firstborn—the world’s first grandchild. This grandson was born far away from his grandparents in the land of Nod, east of Eden. His father was in exile because of the murder he committed. The following passage describes Cain’s family and the generational pattern of fearing a revenge killing.
Sixth mention—Genesis 4:25—Adam’s third son, Seth, is born to Eve. His name reflects the fact that he was a replacement child given to Eve after her oldest murdered her youngest. She named him because of this. Later on in Genesis Chapter 5, it is told that Seth bore his father’s image—possibly this means he looked just like Daddy. Or maybe a moral likeness is suggested, or the likeness in that both were patriarchal heads of the redemptive family—since Noah is descended from Seth.
Seventh mention—Genesis 4:26—Seth had a son, Enosh. The first grandson from Seth for Adam and Eve. Perhaps he was born close to Grandma and Grandpa—we don’t know. He is quite possibly and probably the first grandson they ever saw—or at least, got to see as an infant. But it is mentioned that at the time of his birth, people began to call on the name of the Lord. He was born into a time of spiritual awakening and/or awareness.
Eighth mention—Genesis 5—This is the first genealogy. It tells of the times of the births of all the firstborn sons of men beginning with Adam, and going until Noah and his three sons. Interestingly enough: Seth is reckoned as Adam’s firstborn. The pattern of non-first-born sons taking the first-born-place begins here.
Ninth mention–Genesis 6:1ff—The strange story of Nephilim. After people had been having children and started to multiply upon the earth, angelic beings looked and found the young women beautiful. So they had unique children with them who were called Nephils (a word also meaning giant)—they were larger than life in a way because of their ancestry. Their coming was in accordance with increased wickedness—i.e., rebellion against the Lord’s created order—and the Lord decided to limit the lifespan of people at this time, as well as decided to wipe out all people except Noah and his family, because the people were so rebellious against His created order.
Tenth mention—Genesis 10—Noah’s children– These children were the heads of all the new kingdoms on the Earth.
Eleventh mention—Genesis 11:10ff—Shem’s children—From Shem to Abram, the genealogy is detailed. Shem had his firstborn child (at least, the first boy!) born 2 years after the flood. This is the only precise date we have in connection with any of the babies born after the flood—he was named “Arphachshad”. **Arphachshad was the first father to be recorded as being under 65 years old when he had his first son. He was 35 years old when Shelah, his first son, was born. “Arphachshad” means “healer” or “releaser”—he was probably a great relief to everyone when he was born—especially if he really was the first baby after the great flood. He would have been born close to Grampa and Gramma Noah—as we see, everyone stuck together after the flood, despite Gods command given to Noah—to fill the earth (presumably meaning to scatter abroad on it, like they had done in the beginning). They stuck together until Babel, when God decided it was best to separate them form one another by confusing their languages. This caused them to fill the earth as He has intended—they moved away from each other because they could not understand each other’s speech.
july09 newsletter(4)
