By the edge of the sea

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

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.

It was epic, because there was at least five years of bee-handiwork inside the rum-barrel they’d been using as a hive for their precious combs. The lifespan of a honeybee averages around 40 days, which means forty-five generations of honeybees had lived in this barrel in our nature centre since it had been placed there.

It was an upheaval– we picked up the barrel to move it outside, and eventually dismantled their entire dwelling. We took most of their food-supply for our own use, kept their combs to make into candles, and a portion of their nursery we burned. Yes, we seemingly did these bees pretty bad.

Yet our motive wasn’t destructive, our feelings toward the bees not unkind. It was said- or did I imagine this?- that the experienced bee-keeper who facilitated this whole process has a honeybee for an uncle. He could speak to the bees. Several of our field trip facilitators were not far from tears when we burned a bit of their nursery.

And the colony was not destroyed. It lives on, taking up residence in a clear plexiglass beehive located inside the same display case where the rum barrel was before. It will give our guests a much better view of the bees’ work, and provide a much more civilised way for us to encourage and gather the production of excess food-stores. This will yield honey and wax for our delight. The display will allow thousands of children to fall in love with the ways of the bee. Children of all ages are drawn to the beehive-behind-the-glass like filings to a magnet.

Bahamian honey is lovely and sweet. This really didn’t surprise me last Friday, as most things cultivated and tended with love do flourish in this land of sun, breeze, and year-round fruits. Yet this honey is painstakingly made by hundreds of thousands of tiny honeybees. They give their lives for it. Honey is made for the purpose of reaching their goal. Every single honeybee has a twofold goal: to enable the colony to survive the winter so that it can reproduce in the summer. One colony of bees will become two at the very least by the end of summer.  Incidentally, the reigning Queen leaves the hive to settle the new colony, while her daughters are left to hatch and compete for the Crown in the parent colony.

I kept my eye out for the Queen the entire four-hours of this epic re-homing. Dressed in the white suit, peering through screen and smoke, I watched as the honeybee-nephew coaxed the bees to leave each section of their old hive, cutting it apart for various uses and disposal as he went, and simultaneously assembling the new hive into a suitable arrangement for the colony. I loved working the smoker. There is way it can be used to aggravate the honeybees, a way to use it to shepherd them to march in military rows  from the old hive to the new, and a way to keep them calm as their entire world is up heaved beneath them.

At one point during the transfer, the Nephew had encouraged the colony to a place where the top of the barrel was thick with bees having their hinds in the air, alerting the misplaced and working majority to the Queen’s continued presence inside the barrel. She held them together in the same way they sent off their unified message– through pheromones, a hormone-scenting system by which every individual bee picks up her wishes, her mood, and her commands. She rules based on the constant feedback her worker-daughters give her. She regulates how much of what sort of pollen must be gathered in an afternoon. And each day she can deposit a specific number of un-fertilised eggs to become drones (males), and fertilised eggs which carry the females. All females become worker-bees until Queen commands for a set amount to be fed an exclusive diet of Royal Jelly, which her attendants also feed her every day. These will become new Queens. She does this when she knows it is time the colony must split.

Without the Queen, the bees have no colony. For the honeybee cannot live alone, and a grouping of honeybees always works under spectacularly efficient organisation. For honeybees to exist, colonies must exist, each under one Queen, each with a twofold goal–survive the winter and reproduce in summer through a split.

So I got nipped by a bee on my chin early on in this experience. You know a bee has nipped you when there is no stinger left, but the distinguished sharp pain suddenly radiates from a spot on you. You know a bee has almost given its life–as they all do– in an act of valorous attack on you who are the perceived enemy of the colony. It’s always all for one and one for all in the bee-hive.

At a couple points during the epic, as the Nephew encouraged the bees into their new see-through hive, he picked up a stainless steel ice scoop like we use in a kitchen. He took this scoop to clusters of bees that looked like living raisins and scooped them up from the window or siding to which they clung. He poured them into the new beehive like raisins going into the “Raisin-Bran” box! I marvelled at this as I watched it—it took our breaths away. I thought of God Almighty sifting the nations, nations made up of individuals free: able to resist the scoop, able to fly out of it, and yet most remained and found themselves inside a new hive. How long these scooped-ones stayed in the hive before buzzing away I don’t know. But after several scoops the clusters of bees were gone, and at the end of the day the new hive was full of its inhabitants buzzing louder than is usual.

Except for one cluster– which remains as I type this account four days after the epic upheaval. And in this cluster I got my first glimpse of her as the men secured the window back to the display case, new beehive in place. “Queen!” “Queen!” “I see the Queen!” I yelled, running in to get the Nephew who spoke as much English as I speak Spanish. “Queen–I see!” He filed through the bees with his tools, and I looked for that large one I saw, with the big, bright yellow thorax. It could have been a drone, except that according to all the photos and charts of bees I’ve been studying, the drone would likely not have been quite that big…and I noticed the tip of her abdomen was not rounded as a drone’s should be. “She’s probably gone inside.” I really thought I saw her.

So, honeybees experience epic upheaval. They carry their dead outside the hive to designated mortuary areas by mortuary bees. Based on my observations of how our colony handled the casualties of this move, it takes two bees to carry one dead bee. We have two plexiglass tunnels leading outdoors from the display case where the hive is. Our bees travel them constantly during daylight as they forage for pollen, nectar, water, and resin. Usually many bees are observed coming in from outside bearing pollen in their baskets. But the day of the upheaval and the day after, the mortuary bees were more prominent than the foragers.

I could not stop thinking about war as I watched the casualties being carried out of the hive. As Madeleine L’Engle has said, each one mattered. Each dead one still mattered cosmically- from living bee, now chemistry would form their bodies into soil.

And I could not stop thinking about war. Splits. Personal fallings-out. Church splits. Divorces. Goings-of-separate-ways, Heads of Nations dead-locked and bombing. Gaza is being bombed heavily as I type this in my bedroom–the BBC calling it “hell” as it reports news from the correspondents. This bee colony was split, and casualty was heavy. I could not stop thinking about splits and casualties.

One of the most initially disillusioning experiences for me has been the number of Christian leaders I have seen split first hand. One is sent away. Another leaves. Two agree to go their separate ways. Our pastor at the learning centre reminds us that Christians plan to live together for eternity, and he challenges us to learn to love each other now. That challenge is hard. It is so counter-intuitive at times, so impossible. Yet striving to meet it, I am being changed. I am so thankful for that sort of counsel. Didn’t Jesus say the wheat and the tares MUST grow together? Why does He allow that? Why does He allow splits?

Well, I am a daughter of Eve and I have the ability to fly away off the ice-scoop when Jesus directs me in a way I don’t want to take. I can defy Him. I can leave. I can split. I can even hate. And I know that the majority of my most beloved friends have split –and if I think about it, I realize that I have too. God’s ways are not my ways, yet His grace is powerful to show me His love in ways I understand. He says He is good, and all He does is good. I know I need Him to teach me His statutes every day. I don’t understand Him, but I know He loves me and all the other splitters.

So I see that He has made the honeybees to flourish and grow, to survive and multiply–and they work until they die. They teach us that honeybees can populate the earth. They have, even though the vast majority live only a month before dying of exhaustion. They are found all over the earth- and their sudden and widespread disappearance is causing global concern. What is wrong? Why are the bees disappearing?

In my Church of which Jesus is the Head, I can look back and see The Great Schism, The Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the Anglican Church departing from the Roman Catholic Church, Mainline Denomination buildings rented out by Bible-Believing-Non-Denominational Fellowships, And now an Emergent/Emerging contingency steps aside, And etc…Jesus can see the wheat and the tares.

I saw the Queen again today, still amidst the cluster outside the hive. I have no doubt this is the same bee, the same Queen. She is so beautiful for a bee. I must call the Keeper to get his opinion–will he need to wield the ice-scoop to coax the Queen inside? The hive is full and the air-traffic back to normal. But we usually don’t have a living cluster hanging off the window. I don’t know what he’ll say, but I do know the Bee Keeper knows honeybees, and I trust he’ll have a solution if there is a problem here. After all, God created the honeybee colony in such a way as to give us a chance to learn the art of keeping them. It reminds me of the way He keeps us. Keeps me. And may the Lord bless and keep you.

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good…” Genesis 1:31a, KJV