Ok, time for today’s reading (I love days off by the way, 3 day weekends are so nice 
But I digress…). Today I’m going through Genesis 16-20. So here goes…
Chapter 16
Interesting that Sarai says to Abram that “The Lord has kept me from having children.”, I guess its the gut reaction of a lot of people to blame God for what they are going through (and not saying I have never done it)…but doesn’t really make it right/true I suppose. There is always a bigger plan, even if we can’t see it.
I wonder what Hagar saw when the Lord appeared to her…she says that “I have now seen the One who sees me.”. Did He appear as an angel or something else? Assuming it was something out of the ordinary for her to know that it was Him though.
“And he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” I wonder what Hagar felt when she heard that?
Chapter 17
Sure, the idea of a 100 year old man and a 90 year old woman having a child is a little out of the ordinary. But, don’t you think that if you were so overwhelmed by the Lord’s presence that you fall facedown that you might be able to stifle your laughter and listen to what He had to say with an open mind? Not that I have a clue how I would react, but come on God created the heavens and the earth, I think He can handle creating another kid…but maybe its just easier for me to say that given that I am in a different time and place and I already know how their story ends up. Who knows.
Once again, I wonder what he saw when the Lord appeared to him. Since it isn’t really described in words very often when God does appear to people, I assume it is something that we just don’t have the capability of expressing in words to begin with.
Chapter 18
Hmmm…”quick get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread” If Abraham knows how to bake bread, isn’t it pretty likely that Sarah does as well and probably doesn’t need instructions from him? I wonder if she rolled his eyes at him after he left the tent
Maybe Sarah doesn’t understand the whole all-knowing concept too well or else I’m guessing she wouldn’t have lied to God and said “I didn’t laugh” and think she could actually get away with it.
“I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” This passage really confuses me…any idea why God needed to come down and see? Where was He exactly that He couldn’t already see what was happening? And how does news “reach him” exactly?
Chapter 19
In all seriousness, if a righteous man at that time offers his daughters up to men outside his door to protect his guests in the name of hospitality…that’s pretty scary and I don’t really want to think about how un-righteous men treated their daughters at the time…
Not going to comment on the rest of this chapter (life in the cave). Next…
Chapter 20
Ok, really, didn’t Abraham notice that claiming Sarah was his sister the last time wasn’t the greatest idea? I think he was a bit of a slow learner if you ask me. Another reminder that you really don’t need to be perfect for God to work through you (or to bless you, apparently). And no, its not ok just because Sarah technically is his sister - that doesn’t make what he said any less of a lie because there is such a thing as a lie of omission. And Abraham was completely conscious of the fact that he was leaving out some important information when he was introducing Sarah.
I think that closing the wombs of the people in Abimelech’s household was a little harsh considering he was completely in the dark about the fact that Abraham and Sarah were married…but who am I to question God’s decision-making abilities, after all. He did re-open them though, so at least it was only temporary.
General Thoughts
I am finding that this time through Genesis is reminding me that, from my very limited understanding as a human, God’s decisions can seem to be a little…hmmm…quirky? Like I said though, its not like I can pretend to understand/predict Him though. Just going to have to stick with the whole “trusting Him and trying to see where He wants me to go next”-approach and leave the “trying to figure Him out completely”-approach to people who don’t mind engaging in futile activities :)