How do you feel about free offers? Do you snap them up or think they must be too good to be true? Who likes to negotiate and barter? What’s happening with Abram? Abram has been promised by God that he will be blessed and that through him God’s promised blessing (Jesus) will come to all… Continue reading Trust, doubt and negotiation
Tag: Genesis
Did God speak to Terah in the same way that he did to Abraham?
In Genesis 11:27-32, Terah, the father of Abraham (still known as Abram at this point) and grandfather of Lot takes his family from Ur in Mesopotamia towards Canaan. He doesn’t get as far as the intended destination but settles at a place called Haran to the north of modern-day Israel. There the family remain until… Continue reading Did God speak to Terah in the same way that he did to Abraham?
Out of the frying pan …
Abram hasn’t been long in the promised land when famine hits. He decides to leave then land and go to Egypt to find food. There has been some debate on whether or not this was a good thing to do with some commentators pointing to the absence of explicit negative assessment. However, sometimes the point… Continue reading Out of the frying pan …
Journey interrupted
We usually leap into the story of Abram in Genesis 12, however, he’s introduced in Genesis 11:27-32. There, at the end of the list of descendants of Shem, following the scattering at Babel, we are introduced to Terah, the almost Patriarch. Terah has three children, Abram, Nahor and Haran, mirroring Noah’s three sons and Cain,… Continue reading Journey interrupted
How many of the Ten Commandments did Adam and Eve break?
Adam and Eve broke one specific commandment in the Garden of Eden: not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, I want to suggest that there is a sense in which they may well have been breaking each of the Ten Commandments. How? Well, first of all, by listening to… Continue reading How many of the Ten Commandments did Adam and Eve break?
Names
When the writer provides the generational records for Noah’s sons, he reverses the expected order. We are told first about Japheth’s sons the Hams. The line of Shem is delayed into chapter 11 and before that we have some further detail about what Ham’s descendants get up to. This will enable Moses to go on… Continue reading Names
Nimrod
It’s tempting to skip over the lists of names in the Bible. We’re not too sure what to do with them but they are worth pausing and reading. In Genesis, when we get to the words “These are the generations” as we do at the start of Genesis 10, it provides a marker to indicate… Continue reading Nimrod
Shame and curse
Has The Flood dealt with the problem of sin and evil? Lest we are tempted to think that righteous Noah has brought an end to sin, guilt, shame and curse, there is a follow up to the Flood narrative. Read Genesis 9:18-29 We are reminded again of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, all humanity… Continue reading Shame and curse
Signed, sealed, delivered
How can we be sure that we have peace with God and are safe through and from judgement. Ultimately our assurance and security are found in what the New Testament teaches us about being justified with God (Romans 5:1-2). However, there are some important clues in the Old Testament pointing towards this. Read Genesis 9:9-17… Continue reading Signed, sealed, delivered
Dignity
Do ethics matter and where do Christians get their ethics from? Read Genesis 9:1-7 God’s blessing of Noah’s family mirrors the original Genesis 1 blessing as they are commanded to be fruitful and re-fill the earth (v1). In contrast to Genesis 2 where the animals were brought near to Adam to be named, God causes… Continue reading Dignity
Faithroots 