God is not a carnivore.

It’s a classic scenario, one that is put to students in every philosophy and ethics class everywhere. It begins with, “Would you be willing to die for a cause/ideology/religion  you believed in?” Almost everyone says yes. There is a glory to martyrdom that appeals to the ego, and it attracts like mosquitos to a bug-zapper. It is a glory that, to a lesser degree, appeals to those in the military. They would not die as martyrs, but as soldiers on the battlefield, or at least consider the possibility. To go out in a blaze of glory has always drawn people to step forward into harm’s way.

The twist comes when the class is asked the next part of the scenario. “Would you be willing to sacrifice someone you love for same cause/ideology/religion?” To this almost everyone answers no. The reason is expressed in different ways, but boiled down  is the same all over: by definition, to love someone is to protect them from all harm, even if it means allowing harm to come to you instead. So, by human standards, sacrificing someone else in your place is incompatible with loving them, because you are placing their survival below yours in priority.

Genesis 22:1-12
“Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am!" Abraham replied. 2 God said, "Take your son - your only son, whom you love, Isaac - and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you." 3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about. 4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance. 5 So he said to his servants, "You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you."  6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father?" "What is it, my son?" he replied. "Here is the fire and the wood," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 8 "God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son," Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together. 9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son. 11 But the Lord's angel called to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am!" he answered. 12 "Do not harm the boy!" the angel said. "Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me."

So the question is, did Abraham truly love his son? We know that he did, after all, God states it plainly. But if Abraham loved his son Isaac, why would he be willing to sacrifice him simply because God had commanded it? Perhaps Abraham figured God wouldn’t really make him carry out the sacrifice. Abraham’s explanation to Isaac about God providing the lamb for the burnt offering would indicate this. But if this is so, then how is it a true test of Abraham’s loyalty to God? The only explanation is that Abraham must have believed that God really wanted him to kill Isaac. And for him to go through with it must mean that Abraham loved God more than his own son.

Thankfully, God is not a fan of human sacrifice, a favorite of pagan religions all over the world. He is, however, sympathetic to sacrificum deus, that is, divine sacrifice. For what the story of Abraham’s aborted sacrifice of Isaac foreshadows is exactly that. And because the Father and the Son are of the same essence, God is both demonstrating His willingness to die for the human cause/ideology/religion, and also protecting those He loves.

Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

Your secrets are no secret.

We live in an age of few secrets. The CIA and the FBI maintain records on millions of US citizens. Meth addicts comb through your garbage, looking for any useful information in defrauding you. Our cellular phone calls can be monitored at anytime. Video cameras stare at us at traffic lights, ATMs, and street corners. A few clever taps of the keyboard and some 22 year old hacker in Finland is strolling through your Internet history. You are public knowledge. Just Google yourself sometime – its amazing what is out there for anyone to view. At the same time, the technology that enables all of this to happen distracts us from face to face communication, to the point of creating a society made up of citizens who are strangers to each other personally but known to the world publicly.

Genesis 21:22-34
“At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now swear to me right here in God's name that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. Show me, and the land where you are staying, the same loyalty that I have shown you."  24 Abraham said, "I swear to do this."   25 But Abraham lodged a complaint against Abimelech concerning a well that Abimelech's servants had seized.   26 "I do not know who has done this thing," Abimelech replied. "Moreover, you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today." 27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty.   28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 29 Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?" 30 He replied, "You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof that I dug this well."   31 That is why he named that place Beer Sheba, because the two of them swore an oath there. 32 So they made a treaty at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned to the land of the Philistines.   33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, the eternal God. 34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time.”

Abraham had double-crossed Abimelech not too long before this encounter, so Abimelech was naturally a little wary of Abraham. He establishes a treaty with Abraham, but makes him promise that there will be no more deception. Abraham complains to Abimelech that his servants had seized a well that Abraham had dug. When Abraham sets apart 7 female lambs as a testimony to his honesty, swearing an oath regarding it, his reputation was reestablished with Abimelech.

We are a society in contradiction. We try to cultivate contact with our friends and family, and we try to keep strangers away, but we have succeeded in doing the opposite. Recently, Facebook added new restrictions aimed at protecting the privacy of underage members, due to the fact that the website had become an easy place for creepy people to troll for 14 year old girls in short shorts. But this kind of regulation only works if the 14 year old girl in question wants her page to be private, otherwise she just puts her age down as 18 years old. My page is certainly not a popular one, yet I have had almost 4,000 views registered. I can only imagine how many hits her website has received. At that same time, I watch that same 14 year old girl walk around at church on Wednesday night with her head buried in her cell phone, text messaging people who are her BFFs, who are sometimes in the same room. Meanwhile, modern suburbia dictates that we barely know our neighbors, never let our children run around unsupervised, and move across the state from our parents, grandparents, and college roommates.

How will God narrate our society in the 21st century? A nation of strangers, whose reputations and character are common knowledge, walled off from each other by technology that had promised to bring us closer together.

Polygamous Rivalry

It is common today in churches across America to see blended families, or families with children from previous relationships. In most cases, the previous relational setups have been over for some time, and the current marriage is strong. Often, the family begins to attend church and grow in the Lord from an early stage of the marriage, sometimes because of the marriage. This is all well and fine, and God will bless what has been offered to Him.

However, I have seen challenges in most blended families that threaten to disrupt them. Due to the fact that at least one of the parents is not the mother or father of all the children, there can be problems with jealousy, favoritism, sibling rivalry, and even conflict between husband and wife. This can put additional strain on a family that has already been through some broken relationships in the past.

Genesis 21:1-21
“The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised.   2 So Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 3 Abraham named his son - whom Sarah bore to him - Isaac.   4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do.   5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.)  6 Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." 7 She went on to say, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!" 8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.   9 But Sarah noticed the son of Hagar the Egyptian - the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham - mocking.   10 So she said to Abraham, "Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!" 11 Sarah's demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son.   12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not be upset about the boy or your slave wife. Do all that Sarah is telling you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted.   13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too." 14 Early in the morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, and sent her away. So she went wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of Beer Sheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved the child under one of the shrubs. 16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, "I refuse to watch the child die." So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.  17 But God heard the boy's voice. The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Don't be afraid, for God has heard the boy's voice right where he is crying. 18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation." 19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt.” 

Sarah was finally blessed with a birth child. Although technically Ishmael was her child by the fact that Hagar was her slave and Abraham was Ishmael’s father, in practice the plan Sarah had hatched to produce an heir for Abraham had blown up in her face. Now that Isaac was born, there was no need to rely on Ishmael to carry on the family lineage. Things came to a head when Ishmael began to disrespect Isaac, either by mocking him or treating Isaac as if Ishmael were equal with him instead of the son of a slave. Sarah immediately went on the offensive and demanded that Abraham expel Hagar and Ishmael from the family. This greatly upset Abraham, who loved Ishmael his son. But Abraham caved into to Sarah’s wishes and booted Hagar and Ishmael from the family.

God didn’t give up on Hagar and Ishmael, even if Abraham and Sarah did. Even though it was not God’s idea in the first place for Sarah to give Hagar to Abraham to father a child, God still honored the relationship between Him and Abraham enough that He blessed Ishmael and made him into a great nation. God has means of making things balance out.

It becomes the very definition of irony that, two generations later, Joseph (Abraham’s great grandson) is sold to an Ishmaelite caravan as a slave. God exacts exquisite justice.

Jesus, save me from your followers.

Christians do some really stupid things sometimes, like all people everywhere. The problem with being a Christian and doing stupid things, especially in public, is that it makes Christ’s Church look bad too. This is unfair, of course, but nevertheless true. Whether it’s being filmed holding a sign that says “God hates fags” at the funerals of soldiers, or publicly endorsing a very questionable political candidate (Pat Robertson), some Christians in the public eye seem to have a knack for embarrassing the rest of us. Its all the more frustrating because these things become the media’s portrayal of us in everything from plays to music videos to Headline News.

Genesis 20
“Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident in Gerar, 2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. 3 But God appeared to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else's wife."  4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, "Lord, would you really slaughter an innocent nation?   5 Did Abraham not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' I have done this with a clear conscience and with innocent hands!" 6 Then in the dream God replied to him, "Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. That is why I have kept you from sinning against me and why I did not allow you to touch her. 7 But now give back the man's wife. Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live. But if you don't give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you." 8 Early in the morning Abimelech summoned all his servants. When he told them about all these things, they were terrified. 9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done!"   10 Then Abimelech asked Abraham, "What prompted you to do this thing?"  11 Abraham replied, "Because I thought, 'Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.' 12 What's more, she is indeed my sister, my father's daughter, but not my mother's daughter. She became my wife. 13 When God made me wander from my father's house, I told her, 'This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: Every place we go, say about me, "He is my brother." 14 So Abimelech gave sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. 15 Then Abimelech said, "Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please."  16 To Sarah he said, "Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your 'brother.' This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you."  17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children. 18 For the Lord had caused infertility to strike every woman in the household of Abimelech because he took Sarah, Abraham's wife.”

Abraham did a very stupid thing, again. He apparently didn’t learn his lesson last time he pretended his wife was his sister and Pharaoh to her into his harem, so now Abimelech must endure Abraham’s lack of moral fiber. On top of this, this scenario is repeated again with his son Isaac!

I doubt very much that Sarah was all that appealing at 90 years of age. More than likely, Abimelech took her into his harem in order to cement a political alliance with Abraham. It might also explain why Abimelech had not yet come near her as well! But God was not pleased. He warns Abimelech of the extreme danger he was in, and reveals to Abimelech the truth about Sarah. Abimelech then scolds Abraham in front of his whole court.

It is one thing to take advice and correction from another believer who comes to you in sincerity and concern. It is quite another to be chewed out for blowing it big time in front of a courtroom full of nonbelievers.

Try not to make us look bad anymore, Abraham, if you can help it, ok? Oh, the same goes for the rest of you. ;)

Your first priority is truly your addiction.

I have a very addictive personality. I thank God all the time that I never got into drugs when I was younger, because I would probably still be hooked on them – I’m just that kind of person. But I have to be very careful not to let other things hook me as well. The word addiction is from the Latin, and literally means “to give over, surrender.” Broadly used, addiction could apply to anything you have given yourself over or surrendered to. In this regard, whatever is truly your first priority is your addiction. We are all addicts in this sense.

Genesis 19:30-38
“Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31 Later the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby to have sexual relations with us, according to the way of all the world. 32 Come, let's make our father drunk with wine so we can have sexual relations with him and preserve our family line through our father."  33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, and the older daughter came and had sexual relations with her father. But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up.   34 So in the morning the older daughter said to the younger, "Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let's make him drunk again tonight. Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father."   35 So they made their father drunk that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 36 In this way both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi. He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.”

In the case of Lot’s daughters, we find they are addicted to fear. It is fear that drives them to do this universally repulsive act, in order to preserve their family line. The rest of the family, including Lot’s wife, had perished in Sodom, and now these two virginal daughters are scrabbling around in a cave with their father, who up until this point had been a wealthy man. Having lost everything, Lot’s daughters turn in desperation to incest in order to produce not only male heirs, but also someone to take care of them when they became old.

Our addictions enslave us, they can drive us to do foolish and destructive things. And it is not a matter of curing our addictions, which we are unable to do, but rather shift them so that they become beneficial to us rather than harmful. God has designed us to be addicted to him, He has designed us so that we go through horrendous withdrawal symptoms if we are separated from Him. By surrendering to His control over our lives, we receive what we truly need, rather than finding ourselves in a cave committing incest.

The City

The city has long represented a place of vice and corruption in the Western mind. There are countless stories that entail the young country innocent encountering the Big City for the first time, and in many of those stories, it isn’t long before the young innocent encounters someone who takes advantage of him. Pinnochio is an excellent example of such a story. A movie entitled The Village is another, although in that story it is the fear of “the towns” rather than the reality that is more harmful. The story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) is a biblical example. The moral of these types of stories generally has something to do with appreciating the love, security, and goodness to be found at home and hearth.

Genesis 19:18-29
“But Lot said to them, "No, please, Lord!   19 Your servant has found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because this disaster will overtake me and I'll die.   20 Look, this town over here is close enough to escape to, and it's just a little one. Let me go there. It's just a little place, isn't it? Then I'll survive."  21 "Very well," he replied, "I will grant this request too and will not overthrow the town you mentioned. 22 Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there." (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.)  23 The sun had just risen over the land as Lot reached Zoar.   24 Then the Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord.   25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew from the ground. 26 But Lot's wife looked back longingly and was turned into a pillar of salt. 27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.  29 So when God destroyed the cities of the region, God honored Abraham's request. He removed Lot from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed the cities Lot had lived in.”

Even though Lot was fairly hypocritical in his involvement with Sodom and Gomorrah, including his shabby treatment of his own virginal daughters, God still rescues him and his family from destruction. More than this, Lot actually bargains with God so that they will not have to flee as far in order to escape. Lot and his daughters escape (although considering the next part of the story it might have been better for them to have been destroyed). Lot’s wife, however, disobeys the angels’ orders and looks back toward the cities. The implication is that it was more than a mere curiosity to see what God was doing that prompted her to turn around – it was a spiritual longing for what Sodom and Gomorrah had to offer – pleasures and entertainments and high society.

Today in America, most people live in or near cities. The current culture lifts up the city as a place of tolerance and diversity, as opposed to the supposed small-mindedness and bigotry of the country folk. But not much has changed since Sodom and Gomorrah; there are the same men wandering the streets and bus stations and airport bathrooms, waiting for some hayseed fresh from Sticksville.

Our Faces Will Burn With Shame

There’s an old saw about Christians being hypocrites. The saw is generally true, in the sense that we proclaim  a holy God who has called us to holy living but regularly fall short. That unbelievers say this so often about us is a problem, though. Part of the blame is ours, because like to pretend we’ve got it all under control, even though we don’t in the slightest.  I usually try to disarm any false appearances, because they are very difficult to live up to.

It is tough to walk your faith before your critics. They hold you to a higher standard than they do themselves, and any misstep along the way could influence their understanding of what it means to being a disciple of Jesus.

Genesis 19:1-17
“The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while Lot was sitting in the city's gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground. 2 He said, "Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant's house. Stay the night and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning." "No," they replied, "we'll spend the night in the town square."  3 But he urged them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they could lie down to sleep, all the men - both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom - surrounded the house.   5 They shouted to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!" 6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 7 He said, "No, my brothers! Don't act so wickedly!   8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. Only don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof." 9 "Out of our way!" they cried, and "This man came to live here as a foreigner, and now he dares to judge us! We'll do more harm to you than to them!" They kept pressing in on Lot until they were close enough to break down the door. 10 So the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house as they shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, with blindness. The men outside wore themselves out trying to find the door. 12 Then the two visitors said to Lot, "Who else do you have here? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? Get them out of this place 13 because we are about to destroy it. The outcry against this place is so great before the Lord that he has sent us to destroy it." 14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. He said, "Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them.  15 At dawn the angels hurried Lot along, saying, "Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!"   16 When Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. They led them away and placed them outside the city. 17 When they had brought them outside, they said, "Run for your lives! Don't look behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!"

In the debate with ourselves and with our culture over homosexuality, this passage is one of the most often used. The argument usually centers around God’s condemnation of Sodom and Gomorrah, the reason being that the men were homosexuals. This is not exactly the issue here. The problem with using this passage as a prooftext for homosexuality as sin is that those on the other side of the debate will then argue semantics. They will say that what God is condemning is rape or a gross violation of the hospitality expected between a host and guest. They are right, but the fact that the men of the town are also attempting homosexual rape of two men in the care of Lot and his family adds another layer sinfulness. They are so focused on this heinous act that they brush aside Lot’s offer of his two virgin daughters in exchange for his guests’ safety.

Which brings us to the other issue here. Lot may be Abraham’s nephew, but he is morally corrupt. He had chosen to live in a place where sinful rebellion had sunk to the very depths of evil. He had betrothed his daughters to Sodomite men, forming familial and political alliances with people who had no ethical and moral boundaries. As the epitome of Lot’s complete hypocrisy, he is willing to throw his daughters to these dogs outside his door, knowing that his guests are angels of the Lord. I don’t know if he could ever look his daughters in the eye again, let alone these angels of God. And yet, Lot is still rescued from total destruction.

God’s mercy and compassion even cover those buried in corruption. We may be hypocrites at times, but when God decides to spare us from annihilation, nothing can stand in His way, especially our own hollow souls. He reaches down and plucks us from the quicksand of our Sodomite situation and lifts our heads until our eyes meet His and our faces burn in shame.