Why So Clear?

Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, "Please place your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."   The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?"   Then Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there!   The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.   But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this my oath; only do not take my son back there." (Genesis 24:2-8 NASB)

Do not get a wife for Isaac from the Canaanites but from Abraham's family; and even more, do not take Isaac to Abraham's family.  Why so specific?  Abraham has met Melchizedek who he tithed to and who blessed him in one of the names Abraham used for his God.  Isn't he and his city, Salem, righteous enough to produce a wife for Isaac?  What about Abimelech, the king to whom Abraham lied about Sarah being his wife?  He demonstrated both character and faith, why couldn't his city produce a righteous woman for Isaac?  What is it about Mesopotamian women or ones from his clan that is so important?

On the surface, pagan beliefs and practices would seem to be the cause.  Yet examples of places in Canaan where those were not practiced were also found.  So it had to be something else as well.  I believe Abraham is thinking about his "descendants".

What if his concern is that his descendants become 'Canaanite' rather than a distinct people who will dispossess the Canaanites?  I think this might be more toward the issue with Abraham.  Another clue to that being so prominent in his mind is the other charge, 'only do not take my son back there.' 

Isaac needs to remain in Canaan, but not integrate with them.  If he goes back to Abraham's family then the danger is he will not return; the promise would fail.  If he marries among the Canaanites, he will loose his distinction and become yet another Canaanite tribe.  But really, what's the big deal?  As long as descendants of Abraham inherit the land, who cares who marries whom?

The only way I can meander through some sort of understanding of this is to follow Abraham as he follows God.  God tells him his descendants will inherit the land, yet Abraham doesn't have any.  God tells him that the promise will be for children of his.  So he tries to fix it with a "non-barren" wife, Hagar, and it seems to work.  God rejects this one.  Hagar is an Egyptian, part of the line of Ham.  God promises to bless Ishmael, but the promise of the land is not for him. 

Part of the lesson Abraham learns from Isaac's birth is that this blessing he has been given will not be through any line but his family's.  It is a thoroughgoing rejection of the line of Ham (Genesis 9:20-27) which includes a curse on Canaan.  This is even though Canaanites demonstrate moments of lucid worship of God (i.e. Melchizedek, Abimelech, Shechem, and perhaps Mamre and Hebron).  That amount of good "seasoning" were not enough to overcome the rejection.  It's sobering to consider the total rejection of an entire 'branch' of humanity by their Maker.

So what do I learn from this 'possibility'?  Well, I see my Master a bit differently.  He can choose to reject entire branches of humanity, even though they demonstrate some degree of righteousness.  I see this as indicative of His complete knowledge of all things regardless of time.  Sure Melchizedek and Abimelech demonstrated righteous understanding of God, but their influence is gone in a few generations.  The 'remnant' left over is actually recovered by my Master, but out of that line, and into the line of His chosen people.  So, while the entire 'branch of humanity' is rejected, my Master reserves a remnant for Himself; it's not a total and complete rejection.  There's hope for me in that.

But in the midst of this rejection on such a wide scale I see grace at work.  While it may be shocking to think that the Maker of the universe would "have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and wrath on whom He will have wrath;" the real wonder is that He doesn't have wrath on everyone.  We all deserve it, we have all failed Him, there are none righteous, no not one.  Yet not all are destroyed.  Why not?  If I focus just on the ones under His wrath, then I miss a key element of His character.  Even among those rejected, He still pulls out an remnant.  Even in the midst of His wrath, He still saves some. 

It is arrogance that sees this as unfair to those rejected.  It is the height of rebellion against the Maker to call Him to task for the destruction of His wayward and apathetic creatures.  And yet, it still bothers me.  That some are destroyed makes me uncomfortable because I see that there is little distinction between myself and them.  I stand before a Master Creator Sovereign King, and I see that it is only by His work I stand there.  People fall to either side of me, and I should be among them.  It's not about me, I diminish into the background of His mercy and grace; elements of His glory and holiness.

These two things help me understand my Master better.  They help me see myself more truly as I am (powerless), not as I wish I were (powerful).   I can't change this world, the people around me, or the circumstances I find myself within.  I can only change how I respond to the One truly able to change this world (which He created), the people around me, and the circumstances I find myself within.  I respond in worship.  He is worthy of all my praise, my adoration, the focus of my entire life, and all within my grasp.  He is worthy of it all.  The problem is that I am so often unwilling to give it.  That is where my lesson is; school is now in session (does it seems early this year?).

The Fractured Reality of Sodom 3: Why Is It So Hard To Leave?

When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city."  But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.  When they had brought them outside, one said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away."  But Lot said to them, "Oh no, my lords!  Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved."  He said to him, "Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken.  Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.  The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.  Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.  But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:15-26 NASB)

Okay, so Lot knows who these guys are, they tell him they are here to destroy the city, and yet, he can't seem to get it together to leave.  Really?  A roving mob of nocturnal rapists makes up the most common past time of the place and yet Lot can't let the place go.  I find it difficult to understand why he's there in the first place.  I was hoping that he was hoping to share the influence of his God with them.  But his refusal to leave flies in the face of that.  If he truly believed in the power of God and truth of the coming destruction, I would hope his faith would impel him to get out of Dodge.

The text is alarmingly specific here.  Lot "hesitated".  The angels had to take he, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and bring them out of Sodom.  They were told to run for the hills, but Lot then negotiates to make for a small town on the plain because the hills are too far.  The angel tells him that nothing will happen until he's safe, but he wants the town.  And God gives him that. 

The text is also specific that this is happening for Lot because of the compassion of God and his love of Abraham.  I would also include the patience of God.  These two angels put up with way more than they should have from Lot.  So strong was the love and compassion of God (in the midst of His wrath - don't miss the irony here) that He endured the failures of Lot as He saved he and his family. 

We are not told, and I find it really difficult to guess at the attraction of Sodom.  What was it that was so difficult to give up, especially given the description of the place?  On the other hand, I am not so far out of my own refuse pile of sin that I can't remember how difficult it is to release.  There are many things to which people give themselves that consume them and yet are difficult to let go.  I remember mine, and still, occasionally feel it's pull back.  So, while the text may not tell us what it was specifically with Sodom, I suspect that it had to do with all those things to which a person can loose themselves.  I suspect Lot had his, even though we may not be told what it was specifically.  It was as if all the addictions off humanity were located in those two cities.  That would explain such a fractured reality on an entire community.

I see the difficulties and the casualties of my own sin in my life.  I see here the description of Lot's (and his gets worse on in the chapter).  While I'm not told the specific sin, the consequences are described, and I can readily recognize the connections with my own life.  In fact, there are still things I find it difficult to give up, and I don't know why.  Perhaps I need to spend more time here letting the lesson of Lot sink in.  There is a message from my Master to my soul here: LET IT GO!

The life I live in this world, I should be living in relationship with my Master.  Only then is life truly eternal.  Isn't it another kind of fractured reality to endure something in my life that hinders this relationship?  Does it make any more sense for me to hold on to anything, sinful sounding or not, that impedes my walk with my Master, my availability to Him, my ability to hear Him, and therefore obey Him?  In these ways, am I not like Lot?  A little too much for my comfort.