Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
Chapters 8-11 of Genesis can be a tough read in some spots. Obviously, the end of the flood with Noah in chapter 8 is the easiest of this narrative. But, as we move to chapters 10-11, the walk through the verses is much more daunting. In order to understand what is really happening we have to recall the point of the Bible. The Bible is God’s redemptive story about Christ saving the evilness of mankind. Chapters 8-11 are a microcosm of that story. In chapter 8 we read about the evilness of mankind. God even says that mankind is evil in his heart (Genesis 8:21). In order to save mankind from this sins, God allows Noah to start a new generation. Yet, we then read of the sin of Noah and his son, Ham (soon to be named Canaan ... remember, later the nation of Israel will come to conquer the land of Canaan). God needs a savior for mankind. As we reach the end of chapter 11 we begin to see this take place. God begins the call of the nation of Israel by calling the patriarch of Israel, Abraham. This call of Abraham is mentioned in Acts 7 in the sermon of Stephan. Not what Stephan says:
And Stephen said:
“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran.
God calls Abraham. Abraham gives birth to Issac. Issac gives birth to Jacob, who is later renamed Israel. Israel has 12 sons (the tribes of Israel). Of those sons, one is named Judah. From the tribe of Judah comes the Messiah, Jesus. So, this passage of Genesis 8-11 can look out of place and we could think, “to what end?” But, God is directing the sin of mankind to produce a nation, that will produce a king, that will produce a savior for mankind’s salvation. God directs even the nations to make sure His plan of redemption is fulfilled for us. In that we can rejoice.
No comments:
Post a Comment