City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

¹ Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. ² And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. ³ Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Genesis 26:1-5

⁵ Oh that my ways may be steadfast
    in keeping your statutes!

Psalm 119:5

²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:24

Reflection

I think we, the church, have done a pretty good job of teaching people how Jesus needs to be the Lord of their lives.  But I do not know that people are thinking that they must also see themselves as students, and that God the Father is actually in the process of teaching a lesson. I say that to emphasize the point that to understand the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we must understand the events of their lives and the promises of God in the context of the world in which they lived.

Consider the story of Abraham and Isaac.  God is testing Abraham, so that he might come to an understanding that he will hold nothing back from God. But God is also teaching the cultures around them that His people do not sacrifice children. Abraham walked through the ritual steps of a child sacrifice, but in the end, God showed that He, Himself, would provide the thing to be offered.  For Abraham to go through this trial, in light of what God had promised him, showed the world around that his God was different.

Monolatry – is the belief in the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one deity. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolatry)

Monotheism – is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheism)

Professor Gary S. Rendsburg, of Rutgers University, in his lecture “The Book of Genesis” explains that the early Hebrew belief was likely a monolatry, which may explain most of the interactions they had with the peoples around them.  In the ancient world, often people had the view that gods were attached to the land.  So, if you were away from your land, you would not be able to worship your own god.  This meant that often people would simply worship the local gods until they returned home.  Professor Rendsburg goes on to explain that it is not until the Babylonian captivity that the Jews finally deny other gods and begin to practice monotheism.  In captivity they are taken away from their land, but still they find that the same God they worshiped in their homeland is there in their captivity.  Perhaps it is this transition that lays the groundwork for Jesus to explain to the woman at the well in Samaria that those who worship God must worship him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4).

In this monolatrist world, the average Hebrew may have said, “yes, those other gods are gods, but they are for those people. But I worship this one God.”  In this mindset, to establish the worship of God, a land for that worship had to be established.  So, God tells Abraham that his descendants would possess the land in a promise.  Then God retells Isaac that his descendants will live in the land, so that worship of the one true God can be established.  So, where Abraham was the receiving of the promises, Isaac was the establishing of the promises in the land.  And to establish the promise, Isaac had to stay put, even if it meant surviving the famine of the day.

Application

Often, we are confronted with choices that challenge our faith in God, and quite honestly sometimes we fail.  We give into the easier choice, and we lose the day.  We miss the opportunity to be salt and light for the surrounding people groups.  But I must say that there are days in which we overcome.  Not that we are looking to boast about our achievements, lest we truly boast of the Lord and his good work.  I’m only looking to point out that we should spend time thinking on the good work that the Lord is doing through our lives.  The fact that we make mistakes does not mean that the Lord is unable to still teach sinners His way through our lives.

Abraham got to go to Egypt for his famine.  Jacob got to go back to the homeland to get his wives.  But Isaac had to stay put.  Perhaps it doesn’t seem fair, and maybe it isn’t.  But what matters is that the Lord is moving through the lives of His people when they are simply obedient to Him, and in doing so, He is working a wonder.

Prayer

Dear Lord, I pray that my ways might be established as that which produces obedience to You.  May my eyes look to You always, and may my heart seek Your face no matter where I go.  May there be no boundary to my love for You and no restriction to the places in which I seek Your mercies and favor.  Establish my heart in Your word Oh Lord.  In Jesus name I pray, amen.