Continuation from Meditation on Genesis Part 4.
Genesis 19, Biblical Comments; ASV Bible Text
1 And the two angels came to Sodom at evening; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom; and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face to the earth; … 4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; 5 and they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men that came in to you this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. 6 And Lot went out unto them to the door, and shut the door after him. 7 And he said, I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly. … 23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came unto Zoar. 24 Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven; 25 and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. …
Comments Genesis 19. First, pay attention to the verse that says all young and old, all men of the city. The sin of this city was so great; the Lord created the man before the woman so that the man would lead the woman, but here, the men had become corrupt. Men seek men; the Bible here clearly tells how wicked the men of this city had become; instead of men seeking women, the men seek men. But the Lord created the man to be a leader of the family, and the woman He created to follow the man as taught in the Bible.
People read this chapter and accuse the Lord of having no mercy, which is contrary to what the Bible says. The Bible clearly states that the Lord is the God of mercy, but the Bible also shows that the Lord punishes the unjust. These cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, are places all should think about. The Lord punished and destroyed all, even the plants of the land, because of corruption.
Genesis 20, Biblical Comments; ASV Bible Text
1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the land of the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister; and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, you are but a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man’s wife. 4 Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, Lord, will thou slay even a righteous nation? 5 Said he not himself unto me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother; in the integrity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this. 6 And God said unto him in the dream, Yea, I know that in the integrity of your heart you has done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me; therefore suffered I you not to touch her. 7 Now therefore restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for you, and you shall live: and if you restore her not, know you that you shall surely die, you, and all that are yours.
8 And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears; and the men were sore afraid. … 17 And Abraham prayed unto God; and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants; and they bare children. 18 For Jehovah had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
Comments Genesis 20. Whoever reads this chapter should think more about the Lord and how the Lord works in human life and mind. The Bible clearly tells us that the Lord has talked to this man, Abimelech, in a dream. Also, in this place, the Bible says straight about what the Lord wants; the Lord wants to save his chosen ones, and He acted directly. How many times in the Bible does it say that the Lord threatened someone and their family? Here in this chapter, the Lord has threatened this person’s life and all that belongs to him. However, the Bible doesn’t tell us what Abimelech actually saw in his dream. It is beneficial to read this chapter and meditate on what this man could have heard and seen in his dream that gave him that fear.
Genesis 21, Biblical Comments; ASV Bible Text
1 And Jehovah visited Sarah as he had said, and Jehovah did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 2 And Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. … 12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in your sight because of the lad, and because of your handmaid; in all that Sarah says unto you, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall your seed be called. 13 And also of the son of the handmaid will I make a nation, because he is your seed. 14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away; and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. … 33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Jehovah, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.
Comments Genesis 21. One place to take note in this chapter is how Abraham sent his slave and the child away empty-handed. Many people could consider him an unfit father because of this act, but people forget to think about who Abraham is in the eyes of the Lord; he is a human who has had conversations with the Lord. In his heart, Abraham trusted that the Lord would take care of Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham was not a heartless man; he gave her bread and a skin bag of water. At that time, the skin bag was costly; it was a special way to make the bag to be able to hold water, so he gave her a valuable thing.
Genesis 22, Biblical Comments; ASV Bible Text
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. 2 And he said, Take now your son, your only son, whom your love, even Isaac, and get you into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you of. … 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? 8 And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son; so they went both of them together. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither do you anything unto him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you has not withheld your son, your only son, from me. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh; as it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided. 15 And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said, By myself have I sworn, says Jehovah, because you has done this thing, and hast not withheld your son, your only son, 17 that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you has obeyed my voice. 19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba. ...
Comments Genesis 22. The Bible clearly tells us in verse 1 that the Lord tested Abraham. This test was not just the test of faith alone, but the test of trust in the Lord as well, as Abraham will be the father of many nations, so this test had an important role for humans after him. Many people have used these verses to justify God’s wrongdoing. But the Bible says that this is a test, and that is what it is for all people to think. People read this chapter, but they need to think as well: did the sacrifice ever happen or not? For the unsettled minds, that is what the Lord wants them to think. The Lord asked for this sacrifice as a test but did not let Abraham do it (See Hebrews 11:17-19). Here in this chapter, the Lord tested Abraham, but think also that the Lord Himself allowed His Begotten Son to be sacrificed as a ransom for all humans. The Lord asked Abraham as a test but did not let him make the sacrifice, but the Lord Himself did it by giving His Son Jesus to be sacrificed for all humans. Many preachers, not ordinary people, have made a doctrine out of it to link Abraham’s test to the Begotten Son’s sacrifice; however, you cannot compare any situation or circumstance to the Lord Himself. The Father has given us the Holy Bible, but not everything in the Bible He will link to the Holy Son Jesus.
Genesis 23: No Comments
Genesis 24, Biblical Comments; ASV Bible Text
1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age; and Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh; 3 and I will make you swear by Jehovah, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 but you shall go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac. … 13 Behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; 14 and let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down your pitcher, I pray you, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give your camels drink also; let the same be she that thou has appointed for your servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master. 15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. 16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her; and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. ... 58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Will you go with this man? And she said, I will go. 59 And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let thy seed possess the gate of those that hate them. …
Comments Genesis 24. In this chapter, we see that the Lord God of heaven knows all and sees all. All the Lord’s plans will be accomplished. Also, here, it clearly states that the Lord never forces His will on anyone (See Verse 58). We can see, just ask, and receive the answer according to the Lord’s will and plan (verses 13 and 14).
Genesis 25, Biblical Comments; ASV Bible Text
1 And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. … 8 And Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people. … 27 And the boys grew; and Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison; and Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 And Jacob boiled pottage; and Esau came in from the field, and he was faint; 30 and Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray you, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. 31 And Jacob said, Sell me first your birthright. 32 And Esau said, Behold, I am about to die; and what profit shall the birthright do to me? 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me first; and he swore unto him; and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way; so Esau despised his birthright.
Comments Genesis 25. One person in this chapter that all readers should pay attention to is Esau. Although he was born first to Isaac, he sees no value in being the firstborn. When he despised the firstborn’s rights, he rejected the Lord as well because, in the Old Law, the firstborn had rights and duties to fulfill towards God and family. But because Esau rejected that duty, the Lord has rejected him as well (see Hebrews 12:15-17).
Therefore, if we strive for holiness by faith in the Lord Jesus as God of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit), by honoring the Lord Jesus in all things, giving Him glory in all things, and rejecting all types of images and idols, we can secure spiritual blessing from God the Father. We must put the Lord first in our lives and give Him all the glory.
Genesis 26 to 50: no comments.
Meditation Tasks:
We conclude the meditation series on Genesis with the following meditation tasks:
- Read Genesis chapters 19 to 50 and meditate on the comments we posted.
- Ask yourself what the most challenging faith topics in the Book of Genesis are for you.
- Every reader should read Colossians 1:1-21 and meditate on how they can honor the Lord Jesus as part of the Trinity and God of creation.
If you have any questions about the topics presented in this blog, please contact us, and we will try to provide our answers in a timely manner.