through the bible

Salt in the Wound

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In Genesis chapter 19, we see the two men that were with Abraham (spoiler alert: they are angels) go down to Sodom. Lot (Abraham’s nephew) sees the men and offers for them men to stay at his house. After some persuading, they agree. This is where things get crazy!

All the men of the town surround Lot’s house at night and demand that the new men staying with Lot come out so they can “have their way with them”. Lot tried to talk with the men surrounding the house so that they wouldn’t try to mess with the angels, he even offered up his two virgin daughters to the men in place of the angels (somehow that’s less messed up?). Those dudes weren’t having it though, especially from a foreigner like Lot, so they tried to attack Lot and break down the door to get to the angels. Before they could do that, the angels opened the door, snatched Lot and locked him in the house, then blinded all the men that were trying to attack them.

After that, the angels tell Lot to take all of his family and get out of the city, because stuff’s about to get real! God sent the angels to destroy the city because the place is too evil to exist. Lot told his son-in-laws what was up and they thought he was joking, so they didn’t move. The angels said “forget them, Lot you and your wife and daughters need to go now.” Lot was still lollygagging (not rushing, clearly not motivated by the impending doom) so the angels grabbed him by the arm and took him and his wife and daughters outside of the city so they wouldn’t go down in the destruction. The angels told them to escape to the hills and don’t stop or look back.

Lot was freaked out and didn’t think he could make it to the hills, so he asked the angels if he could run to a small town in the middle of nowhere that was closer instead. The angels agreed, but told him to hurry because they couldn’t start destroying things until he was safe.

When the sun rose in the morning, Lot and his family arrived at Zoar ( the small town). When they arrived, God sent a rain of fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah and all the cities of the valley, destroying them. Lot’s wife decided to look back on the place they had escaped (despite the angels’ instructions) and was turned into a pillar of salt.

Abraham woke up and saw all the fire and smoke from his house and thought of Lot and God’s promise to rescue him.

Eventually Lot left Zoar with his two daughters and moved into a cave in the hills (the hills that he told the angels he didn’t want to live in). Lot was getting pretty old and his daughters were getting older too. The daughters felt their biological clocks ticking and since God had wiped out all of them men in the land, they came up with a plan to get their father drunk and sleep with him. Both daughters became pregnant, the older one with a son named Moab and the younger one with a son named Ben-Ammi. This is where the Moabites and the Ammonites came from.

There is A LOT that went on in this chapter. Firstly though, if some dudes show up at your house and blind a whole bunch of people, then tell you to leave your house before you get destroyed with everyone else, maybe listen to them. Secondly, if you do evil stuff you’re going to get destroyed – so maybe don’t do evil stuff? Third, rules are in place for a reason. If someone says, hey don’t do this or you will die, don’t be surprised if there are some massive consequences when you do the thing you weren’t supposed to do. And lastly, if you raise your kids around a whole bunch of crazy, don’t be surprised when they act crazy.

I think the main point of this chapter is to show two things. 1) that God keeps his word. He spared Lot’s life like He said He would and He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah like He said He would. Everything He said He would do He did, so I think it’s safe to say that if He says He’s going to do something, He will. 2) actions have consequences. Being evil will consume you and get you destroyed. Being good could spare your life. And following directions will get you to safety.

God destroys the wicked places in our life for a reason. Sometimes we live somewhere (physically or metaphorically) that we are not meant to live in. Even though we may be a light in the dark place, if we weren’t assigned to be there, aren’t spreading our light (standing up to darkness) or if we are not connected to a source of light ourselves, we may be tempted to pick up some of the dark thought processes (ie offering the wicked men your daughters). When God destroys a place, he doesn’t want us to stop moving forward to our next place or to look back on the old place. He moved us out of there for a reason. He spared our life, so keep your eyes on the prize!

Be encouraged that He kept you from the destruction. You may not see the smoke or pillars of fire and He may have had to send angels to pull you out of there kicking and screaming, but the people who care for you (the Abrahams in your life who prayed that you would be spared) can see all of the smoke and know that you are safe.

Conversations with God

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In Genesis chapter 18, Abraham is hanging out by his tent when God appears to him and then three men show up and Abraham runs to greet them and offers to wash their feet, feed them and let them rest a while in his camp. This is another example of Abraham’s hospitable nature, it’s ingrained in him, it’s part of his character. After Abraham sets an entire feast in front of his guests, they asked him where his wife Sarah was and Abraham says that she is in the tent [as in that say it wasn’t proper for wives to entertain company]. One of the men then tells Abraham that he will return to Abraham in about a year and that Sarah will have a son in that time.

Hearing the man speak, Sarah laughed to herself and was like, “Great, now that I’m all gray haired and old I’ll finally get pregnant and have a baby. How can that be?”

Then the man looked to Abraham and asked why Sarah laughed at his words and then said, “is there anything too hard for God?” Sarah tried to deny laughing because she was afraid, but he called her out on that. I would have done the same though, it seems almost like human nature to deny things when we are afraid because maybe if we don’t acknowledge that we messed up, maybe it will go away and not be an issue. Maybe no one will notice our shortcomings or missteps if we pretend they didn’t happen. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, did it make a sound? Well, I’m not sure if it made a noise, but I do know that it fell down and denying that by saying it didn’t make a sound doesn’t change the tree fell over. In the same vein, Sarah may not have made any sound, but she sure did laugh and God knew that.

After that exchange, Abraham walks with the men towards Sodom for a little ways. During this walk, God tells Abraham that they are headed to Sodom and Gomorrah to see what they have done because they were a city full of evil people doing evil things. The three men headed towards the city, but Abraham hung back with God for a minuet.

Abraham asked God if he was going to destroy the righteous people along with the evil people, take out the innocent because of the guilty. Abraham asks if there were 50 good people in the city, would God spare that place for the good people? Abraham says, “you wouldn’t do that, right God? Because you’re a good God.” He’s basically saying, I know your character God, you wouldn’t kill the innocent would you? And God responds by saying that he would spare the 50 righteous people. So then Abraham asks, well what if there were only 45 good people, would you spare them? And God says yes. Abraham asks a few more times until he gets down to 10 and asks what if there were only 10 good people, would you spare them? God again says yes. Then God went on his way and Abraham went back to his home and that’s where we end the chapter.

Now there is A LOT going on in this chapter and the action really breaks down into two parts. The first part is when Abraham invites the men to his camp and Sarah laughs at what God says. I find this particularly funny because God has been continually showing up for Abraham and Sarah and telling them that they’re promised to have a son, but because of their age and how long they’ve been waiting on this promise it seems impossible. I know that I’m the type of person where I’ll believe it when I see it. If there’s no evidence proving that you’re going to do what you said you were going to do, it’s not going to happen until it does IF it does. I would have laughed right along with Sarah, but here’s the thing: this wasn’t a friend or a parent or a random person telling Sarah what was promised for her future, this was the God of all creation. This was the God that got them out of some really tight situations. Once again, God reaffirms His promise and gives a timeline to it now, saying in about a year that promise will be fulfilled.

The second part of the chapter is where God and Abraham talk about the fate of Sodom. Now if you remember a few chapters back, Abraham’s nephew Lot lives in Sodom, so Abraham has a lot to lose if God destroys the city. I love how Abraham reminds God of God’s character before asking if He will spare the city. He was like “I know you, but also I want to make sure that I know you.” And I love that God is willing to have this conversation with Abraham. He’s willing to talk him through what’s going to happen, willing to answer questions, and willing to ease some of Abraham’s fears before He does anything.

Be encouraged! That God of this chapter is the same God of today. He keeps His promises, even if they seem impossible or take a long time to manifest and He is willing to have a conversation and answer questions about anything, including the things that scare us. I dare you to start that conversation with Him! His character hasn’t changed, so give it a shot.

Still Waiting on a Promise

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In Genesis chapter 17, we find a 99 year old Abram still waiting on a promise from God. The Lord has appeared to him 4 times before telling Abram that he will have a son with Sarah and yet he hasn’t seen it. In this chapter, we see God come to Abram and say “I am the God Almighty [most powerful/sufficient]”… God reminds Abram of who He is and then goes on to say that He’s going to keep His word to Abram by making covenant with him. We’ll remember from Genesis chapter 15 that a covenant is a legal agreement, but in this chapter, God is requiring for Abram to give something in the covenant – to be a participant.

God promises to Abram that he will have a son with Sarai, even in their late age. Sarai’s womb that was a tomb will now bring life, the place that was dead will awaken and the promise that God had with Abram all along will be fulfilled. As a sign of this change on God’s end, He renames Abram calling him Abraham [father of many] and He renames Sarai calling her Sarah [princess]. In giving them a new name, God gives them a new identity.

On the flip side, God asks Abraham to walk blamelessly and as a sign that he is one of God’s people, he and any male in his family needs to be circumcised [cut off their foreskin]. That is a permanent, everlasting sign that shows their promise to follow God. Is it painful? Yes, but all great promises come at a cost. This is serious dedication and at 99 years old, Abraham is all in. There’s no going back form this.

After this, God goes on to tell Abraham about his and Sarah’s son and Abraham starts laughing. He laughs at what God says in a yeah right kind of way. Because of this, God tells Abraham to name his son Isaac [he laughs]. God finishes up talking to Abraham by reassuring him again that he will be a father to many nations.

At the end of the chapter, Abraham and all his male servants and his son Ishmael are all circumcised.

There are 2 things that speak to me when I read this chapter. The first is that God can give you a new name and a new identity. The people down the street might have known you as Joe the Joke or Gloria the Gossip, but God can call you Father of Many, or Mighty Warrior, or Sweet One, or Beautiful, or Honored, Honest, Rich, Loyal or Loved and as long as you walk in that new name, that new promise, it doesn’t matter what the people down the street say. They just haven’t seen God’s promise on you life yet, they don’t know your new identity and they haven’t gotten their new identity yet. It’s like watching a superhero movie. Peter Parker knows that something happened after the radio active spider bit him, but everyone else around him still sees plain old Peter. Just because that’s what they see doesn’t change the fact that he’s a superhero. Remind yourself that the world might see who you used to be, but God turned you into a superhero.

The second thing that sticks with me is that God is willing to turn a dead place into a place that brings forth life. A womb has one job, and yet Sarah’s womb couldn’t get it together to produce children. It didn’t work right. It didn’t do what it was supposed to do. It was as dead as her hope. She honestly thought she would never birth a kid and at 90 years old, it’s hard to not think that that ship had sailed. But the most amazing thing is that God can take the things that are dead, buried, mourned for and forgotten about and He can bring them to life. If He promised it, He will make it happen, you just have to hold on to the promise. It might take 90 years to happen, but the dead things can come alive again. The dead place can produce life. The forgotten hope can be revived.

Be encouraged! God keeps His promises and He’s willing to remind you as many times as you need to that He will keep His promise. Sometime we need to do something to show our dedication in the process, we need to walk with God in this, but His promise is His promise. Just keep holding on, it will happen. God is faithful!

Pregnant with Doubt

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In Genesis chapter 16, we find Abram and Sarai’s hope fading once again about ever having a child. We are reminded once again that Sarai has bore Abram no children and in this time of waiting for a promise that never seems to come true, Sarai gets the idea that she and Abram can still have a child if Abram sleeps with her handmaid Hagar. Sarai tells this to Abram and he listens to her – he goes along with this plan. It doesn’t say that Abram protested, expressed any opinions, struggled, nothing. It just says that Abram listened to his wife.

So Abram goes and sleeps with this other girl and gets her pregnant. Once his wife Sarai notices that Hagar is pregnant (which must have taken some time, it couldn’t have been immediate) she also noticed a change in Hagar. Hagar started looking down on Sarai and treating her poorly. Hagar was disrespecting the chain of command and that made Sarai angry.

Sarai went to Abram and told him how she felt and Abram was like “look this is your servant, handle it” so Sarai was SO mean to Hagar that Hagar ran away.

Upset, pregnant, probably lacking resources and scared, Hagar went off into the wilderness. An angel came to the wilderness looking for Hagar and began to talk to her about her situation. The angel asked her a very important question, ” where are you coming from and where are you going?” Once the angel heard her out, Hagar was given a blessing saying that she would have a multitude of offspring, but that her son would be a wild and crazy guy. The angel told Hagar to name her son Ishmael which means God hears. Then the angel instructed Hagar to go back to Sarai and submit to her.

Hagar called that place in the wilderness Beer-lahai-roi, meaning the well of the God who sees me, because God saw her in her place of affliction. She went back to Abram and Sarai and gave birth to Ishmael when Abram was 86 years old.

For me, this story touches a place deep in my soul. That place that is waiting for a promise that doesn’t seem to come. The promise that keeps getting told to me, the one I have heard many times and am waiting in anticipation, but I see nothing in my life that points to this promise coming true. Like Abram and Sarai, I have my doubts and sometimes I come up with my own plans to “help” God with His promise, but that never seems to work out. The amazing thing is that the promise is still a promise. God’s word for my life doesn’t change just because I can’t be patient. Abram and Sarai didn’t lose out on their promise just because they tried to figure out their own way of doing things, they just had some added complications to their blessing.

I also greatly appreciate how God dealt with Hagar. She wasn’t trying to mess up anyone’s blessings, but when she got blessed when someone else didn’t, she got a little arrogant. She treated someone she served poorly because she thought she was better than her. That led to some consequences and Sarai treated her poorly as a result. I don’t know what kind of relationship they had before, but even if it was just cordial and professional, that relationship was now broken and both sides were hurt.

Being extremely hurt, Hagar ran away, but God met her in that broken and lonely place and sent someone to talk with and listen to her. I love the question that the angel asks, “where have you come from and where are you going?” It’s a great self reflection question about where we’re at and what led us to get to this place and how are we going to get out of it. A lot of times brokenness, anger, mistakes and sin have caused us to run away to the wilderness, but God sees us and meets us in these lonely places. He will even bless us in our mess, but then He instructs us to turn back to that broken place and return with a different attitude.

Now I imagine that it was extremely hard for Hagar to go back to a broken relationship and submit. I bet it was extremely hard to go back to someone who treated her so harshly and stay in that place and not have content in her heart. I bet it was equally hard for Sarai to accept Hagar back into her presence after she treated her poorly and then seeing Hagar run away, but that’s the beauty of God. He calls us back to the broken places so the His glory can shine.

Now the text doesn’t say that Sarai welcomed Hagar back with open arms, but it also doesn’t say she backhanded her upon arrival. I imagine there was some awkwardness as they both tried to navigate the broken relationship, but I love that God sent Hagar back for the chance to make things right.

Be encouraged, God is the God who sees us. He will keep His promises to us and even if we mess up along the way, he will give us another chance to make things right. He is the God of many chances, so even if you are currently in the wilderness, if you were hurt, if you did the hurting, if you have doubt, if you messed up something so bad that you don’t think it can ever be fixed, know that God hears you and he will give you another chance to go back and try again.

A Dream and a Promise

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In Genesis chapter 15, we find Abram having a vision from God. In the vision, God reassures Abram that there is nothing to fear, God is his protection (his shield), and that Abram shall be rewarded (meaning he did something worthy of a reward). Abram says to God, “look I don’t want a reward, I just want a child (remember that God promised him offspring? Abram remembers that too, but hasn’t seen anything…) but I still don’t have one. The closest thing I have is one of the dudes who works in my house. Is this really how I’m going to die, leaving all my stuff to that guy Eliezer?” Basically Abram said, I know You promised me this God, but I haven’t seen it yet. So God once again said that he would bless Abram with so many offspring that he wouldn’t be able to count them. Then God went on to remind Abram of all the good things He has done for him.

After that, God tells Abram to bring him some animals to be cut in half. Now this seems weird to us, but in Abram’s days, this is how people made covenants (agreements/legal contracts) with one another. Now as Abram is preparing everything for God to show up and make this covenant with him, birds of prey started showing up trying to get at the animals that were set aside for sacrifice for the covenant. Doesn’t that always happen when we are waiting in anticipation of a promise, something comes in and attacks it and we either have to defend our promise or roll over and let someone (or something) take it from us. Abram could have let the birds pick at the sacrificial animals and then not had anything set aside to establish his covenant, but his covenant with God was important to him and was something he honored so he protected it and shooed away the birds.

Before God signed on the contract’s dotted line, he put Abram into a deep sleep (the same kind Adam went into in Genesis chapter 2 when God took his rib to form Eve). In that sleep, God tells Abram of the future of his offspring: they will be slaves for 400 years, but then they will be set free and God would place judgement on their captors.

Then the sun went down and Abram saw the fire pass between the two halves of the sacrificed animals (the symbol of the covenant). God said to Abram that He would give his offspring this land. The covenant – the promise that God gave to Abram did not require anything of Abram or anyone else, it was just God’s promise to Abram and is the second covenant in the Bible (the first is with Noah). God promises that Abram will have offspring and that his offspring will have land. And that is where we end chapter 15.

The thing I really appreciate about this chapter is that Abram was very human. He told God what was really on his heart, what had been on his heart for years, that he wanted a child. Abram expressed doubt, even though God had spoken directly to this man three times previous to this chapter and said he would have offspring, Abram couldn’t see it and questioned it. OH BUT GOD! God swooped in on the scene and reminded Abram of who he was, what he had done for this man and then reaffirmed His promise with Abram in a way that Abram would understand (a legal binding contract – a covenant).

Sometimes when we are holding onto a promise for some time, it is hard to keep running in a direction when you don’t see any results. We get tired, we question God, we question ourselves and it is so easy to think that when we see the birds of prey circling up above that our promise is dead and we will never see the end result. Can I tell you from personal experience that when you see those birds circling, chase them away! They can’t attack your promise from God. And that thing in your life that looks dead, the thing that attracts those birds of prey might just be the sacrifice that God needs to reaffirm His covenant with you.

Be encouraged! If God said it, He will do it. It might take some time, but He will be the one to uphold His promise. And if hope is fading in the process, ask God to remind you of all the things He has done for you. If He promised you something before and He came through, won’t He do it for this promise too?

I Declare War!

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In Genesis chapter 14, we find the first record of war in the Bible. This probably isn’t the first war in history, but it is significant to the text because it now involves one of God’s people. While the kings of the East defeat Sodom and Gomorrah, they take with them Abram’s nephew Lot along with a whole bunch of people. One of the people taken captive escaped and told Abram what happened. He was not pleased, so he gathered his servants (318 who were all trained to fight) and partnered up with some of the guys he lived with and went to war. Abram, the man always trying to seek peace, the one who lied to not be killed by Pharaoh, the one who gave up land to his nephew so there would be no fighting – that man is going to war!

Abram divided and conquered and took back all that was taken, including Lot. The king of Sodom was pleased and came out to meet with him, as did Melchizedek king of Salem and priest of the most high God. Melchizedek brought out wine and bread and blessed Abram, so Abram blessed him back with a tenth of everything (a tithe – more on that later). Then the king of Sodom offered Abram everything he had gotten in battle, but Abram had made a promise to God not to take anything. He told the king to reward the men who were with him with what they ate, but that he wouldn’t take anything.

Talk about boldness, integrity and honor! They go after his family, Abram fights and gets them back. They offer him spoils, but he honors his promise to God and takes nothing – and he tells them exactly why he’s taking nothing. There is no secret and Abram is not ashamed by his promise to God. God doesn’t get mad that Abram went to war, but I’m sure He would have if Abram hadn’t kept his promise or if he had kept quiet about why he wasn’t taking the spoils of war.

Now Abram is clearly the focus of the chapter, but let’s take a second to shine a light on Lot. This guy thought that he had picked the perfect land. It looked good, it was fertile, it seemed like the greatest place. I’m sure it felt like the greatest place until he got taken prisoner!

From this chapter we learn a few things. First, sometimes going after something based on looks alone can end with you being held captive. Do your homework, research some things and ask for guidance. Looking good and actually being good are two different things. Secondly, even the most peaceful ones sometimes need go to war in order to protect family and reclaim what God gave you or someone else. Letting evil win should never be an option.

The Grass is Always Greener…

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Genesis chapter 13, we find Abram and his family leaving Egypt heading to Negeb (the dry land south of Judah). Abram had A LOT of stuff, including riches and livestock. Now the thing about livestock is that they need a lot of space to graze and live. As they were setting up camp, it became apparent that the land couldn’t support Abram (with all of his possessions and livestock) and Lot (his nephew who was traveling with his own possessions and livestock). It was like having two large families try to share a studio apartment, there just wasn’t enough space.

Strife (conflict/fights) started breaking out between Abram’s camp and Lot’s camp. Abram told Lot that family shouldn’t be fighting, so he told Lot that they needed to separate, but that he would give Lot whatever land he wanted. Lot decided to head to the lusciously green land of Sodom and Gomorrah (let’s take note of this appealing to the eye land for a later chapter) and they separated. So Abram settled in Canaan and Lot went East.

Now, the text tells us that the men of Sodom were wicked and big giant sinners against God. In other words, they were the bad guys in just about any movie you can think of. You know the guys who twist their mustache before doing something stupid and you just want to punch them in the face? These were those guys. More on them later.

Anyways, God went and talked to Abram after he separated from Lot. God told Abram that all the land that Abram sees is going to be his and his offspring’s (note – he still doesn’t have kids yet and he’s older that 75 years old at this point). God tells Abram that he will have so many offspring that he won’t be able to count them. After their talk, Abram moved his tent to Mamre (a land of oak trees) and built an alter to the Lord. And that’s where we leave this chapter.

Sometimes we have to separate ourselves from people we love for the sake of keeping the peace and expanding the kingdom. When you have such a large camp and someone you’re traveling with also has a big camp, there might not be enough resources for you both to stay in the same place. Assess your situation and make sure your not cramped into a space that’s causing you to fight. The thing I love about how Abram resolved this situation is that he loved his nephew so much that he let him have his pick of the land. He gave Lot the choice of the best place in all the area to go and dwell and Abram took what was left over. Abram was a peacemaker.

The great part of this story is that God blessed Abram after this. Abram gave up the better land and God told him that ALL of the land would belong to him and his family. Isn’t that just like God to bless us back double when we’re obedient to let go of the little things? Be encouraged, if God is asking you to give something up, it’s so He can make room to give you something so much greater.

Adventure Time at 75!

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In Genesis chapter 12, we are introduced to Abram and Sarai (later named Abraham and Sarah) a married couple who are in their 70s. They had already lived 7 decades worth of life in Ur (a wealthy land) and were now about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime. God came and spoke to Abram and made him a promise. He said, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee.And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Basically, God said I need you to go to a new place away from the land and the people you know to do something new. If you do that, I will give you lots of land, you’ll build up a great nation, and anyone who is good to you, I’ll be good to, but anyone who is bad to you is going to get what’s coming.

So at 75 Abram packed up his things, took his wife (Sarai) and his nephew (Lot) and went to the land where the Canaanites were (Ham’s offspring – the ones who were cursed because of what happened with Noah… there was some tension there). God told Abram that He was going to give this land to Abram’s offspring (note that promise of offspring for later), but Abram kept travelling. There was a famine (lack of food and resources) in the land, so he decided to go on down to Egypt.

When he got to Egypt, he noticed that his wife was getting a lot of attention because she was good looking and he was scared that if they knew he was married to her, they would kill him. Being scared, he asked his wife to lie and say that she was his sister. Now Pharaoh liked what he saw, so he wanted to put a ring on Sarai. Thinking that she was Abram’s sister, he took her to his palace to be his wife. God didn’t seem to be to pleased with this, because he sent all kinds of plagues to Pharaoh’s house. Pharaoh was not pleased.

Once Pharaoh learned what the truth was, he yelled at Abram for lying to him, gave him back his wife and told him to take his things and go. And that’s what he did. Abram wasn’t killed, it doesn’t say what God thought of the lying (it seems like He was mad about the potential adulatory part though because – the plagues), and Abram and his family got to keep all their possessions. And that’s how we end chapter 12.

I think the takeaways from this are that God can use you at any age. At 75 Abram left all that he knew to start over, he just had to be willing to go. The same is true for us. At any age, if we are called to a new journey, we just need to be willing to pack up our things and go. That being said, we need to remember God’s promises and not get scared away from what we’re supposed to do.

God promised Abram that he would have land, have a nation, and that people that were good to him would be blessed and those that were bad to him would be cursed. Pharaoh experienced that first hand with the plagues. So why did Abram fear that he would be killed when he went to Egypt? It’s simple – doubt.

Abram (like most of us – me in particular) doubted the promise of God. Maybe it was because people hadn’t followed through on their promises to him over his 75 years on the Earth, maybe it was because God gave his promise and Abram expected the promise to come out of a microwave like some golden holy Hot Pocket ready to consume, or maybe Abram doubted that God could use someone like him. We don’t know the reason, but he doubted for sure.

Just like Abram, we doubt what we heard too. We doubt our callings, especially in the waiting period. But can I give you a great revelation that I had the other day? A homemade meal that takes all day to cook and heats the house up to a million degrees and makes you sweat and causes your stomach to grumble during the preparation process and makes you think about food ALL DAY LONG tastes a billion times better than a hot pocket. I’m not saying that God can’t move quickly on the promises He has given you, but what I am saying is that if He doesn’t move quickly it’s just because He is preparing something that will taste delicious and just needs a little more time in the oven. Be encouraged, He keeps His promises!!

Origin of the Nations

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Genesis chapter 10 is a look into how the Earth was repopulated after the Flood. Through the sons of Noah, we see 70 different nations emerge spreading all across the Earth. From the East to the West, from the Amorites to the Philistines and all the nations in between, the Earth once again has been populated. With that, we also see that God is the God of all people.

From Noah’s descendants, we see that even the nations that later went on to battle and become enemies of the Israelites came from the same blood line. And to go back even further, before Noah, all of humanity originated from Adam and Eve. This genealogy account further shows that.

We also see that life went on even after Noah’s missteps and Ham’s poor judgement. God did not wipe out their family line, in fact He even allowed for great people to come from their family line like Nimrod the great hunter and eventually Abraham the father of many nations.

What I particularly like about this chapter is that we are all related. We all came from the same family line, under the same God, and although we have branched out and have our own languages and values, our origin story is the same. We have great people in our family line and some not so great people. Everyone is human, we all make mistakes, some people are amazing and some are amazingly horrible, but we all bleed the same blood.

Be encouraged, for you come from a great family tree that was designed by the Creator Himself! This is just the beginning. This is your origin story!

An Olive Branch and Dry Land

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In Genesis chapter 8, we see an end to the flood. While the flood continued for 150 days, it took 261 days for the flood to calm. And when the waters calm, Noah is cautious and sends birds (first an unclean bird – a raven, then a clean bird – a dove) out of the ark to scout the region and see if there is dry land. The dove came back, after a second trip, with an olive branch in it’s beak signaling that the land had dried and the storm was over. In today’s society, we see a dove with an olive branch as a sing of peace and when fights happen, we say that we should “extend an olive branch” to signal peace. I’m sure that for Noah and his family, seeing the olive branch that the dove brought back was a sign of peace for them too.

But still, Noah and his family (and all of the animals, we can’t forget them) waited for 7 more days on the ark before sending the dove out again. When the dove didn’t return to the ark, Noah knew that the time of judgment was over.

I’m sure when Noah and his family came out of the ark, they kissed the land that they thought they may never see again. Noah made a burnt offering to God, being grateful to Him for his and his family’s safety. God was pleased and said that He would never again curse the ground like that again.

Have you every gone through a season of life where you thought the storm would never end, that the world around you would always be flooded and you would never see the safety of dry land again? I know I have, but when I start to feel like that, I remind myself that I am alive. If I am alive, that means I didn’t drown in the waters surrounding me. It means God gave me an ark, a shelter from the flood. The other thing I need to remind myself of is that it won’t rain forever. The storm will pass, the flood will subside and I will see dry land once more. Be encouraged, God loves you enough to provide you with a way to survive even the biggest of storms!