Month: August 2021

“I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups. Save me I pray.” Genesis 32:10-11a (Genesis 32-33)

Upon Jacob’s return home, news comes that Esau, the offended brother, is approaching at great speed with 400 hundred men. Jacob is terrified and prepares to protect his family and property as best he can. He calls out to God, (verse above) then sends his wives, concubines and sons ahead under cover of darkness. Alone in the dark Jacob once again encounters God. This time they wrestle and Jacob refuses to turn loose or be defeated. This struggle leaves Jacob crippled for life. When the dust settles, God has renamed Jacob, Israel, and God has become his God rather than the God of his fathers. The former arrogant and entitled Jacob is gone and a humble servant has evolved. 

Rather than approach his brother with vengeance, Esau offers a very generous reception. Jacob presents many gifts and when Esau accepts them, their reconciliation is complete and they part in peace. 

Twenty years earlier Jacob left his home with nothing. Now, as angels welcome him home, he is a prince with an inheritance in the Promised Land. When he left he knew of the God of Abraham and Isaac. Now he is home and The God has become his God.

The God wants to be your God, your peace, your provision, your hope, your friend! 

Love,

Gretchen

It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.  Genesis 31:49

Jacob met his match when he encountered the deceit and crooked behavior of his father-in-law Laban. Laban cheated Jacob of the woman he loved and broke every agreement made over wages. Still Jacob thrived and became independently wealthy. His brothers-in-law accused him of abusing Laban’s resources but Jacob knew it is by God’s power and authority he was successful. 

God promised Jacob would return to his father Isaac after an extended exile. The time has come and with discontent in Haran, Jacob packs up his household, wives, children, slaves and herds, and heads back home. The reality is, Laban’s prosperity came through Jacob’s wise management and farming ability, so he was not happy when Jacob secretly fled. He pursued and after negotiations, Jacob and Laban came to a peace agreement before going their separate ways.  

Jacob is heading toward a brother that wants him dead and a father he manipulated. He’s leaving a family-in-law that distrusts him. Who wants to live in a world that is crushing you with hatred and ill feelings? NO ONE!! Jacob and Laban did not conclude who was right and who was wrong, they consented to live in peace. God was given charge of justice and security and all else became irrelevant. In this way Jacob and Laban were able to move forward with clear hearts and minds. 

Peace is a choice that honors God and His plans for your life. 

Have a Wonderful Monday,

Gretchen

In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and manservants and camels and donkeys. (Genesis 29 & 30)

Jacob traveled alone to the land of Haran, where his mother’s brother lived and the place his grandfather Abraham migrated from. There, Jacob begins to get as good as he gave. He loved Rachel, but was tricked into marrying Leah, a woman he did not love, before he was finally given Rachel. Rachel was barren, but Leah gave him six sons. Leah and Rachel’s maidservants both gave Jacob children as well, and finally, Rachel gave birth to Joseph. (Later she became the mother of Benjamin, but it is not part of this narrative.) These men are important as later, their families became the twelve tribes of the Messianic nation of Israel. 

This polygamous family was a mess. Jacob’s father-in-law was as conniving as Jacob once was, his wives’ bickering kept discord in his home, and his sons were not the sort to make a man proud. If anything validates Biblical writing as true, Jacobs story does, for we see him clearly, warts and all. 

What can we glean from these characters that so clearly know God, but believe Him to be their servant rather than the other way around? 1. God is always at work for His good, for He is good. 2. God is extremely patient with man. 

You cannot out sin God’s love. 

Love,

Gretchen

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. Genesis 28:3 (Genesis 26-28)

Through less than ethical behavior Jacob has taken his older brother’s blessing. This blessing gave authority as heir and patriarch apparent of the covenant nation. With the help of his mother Rebekah, he tricked his aged and blind father and robbed the birthright from his older brother, thus, taking for himself, all that Esau would have received. As a result, Jacob’s life was in danger and he was directed to flea to the land of uncle Laban. 

The consequences of Jacob’s behavior cost him tremendously.  In his exile he never saw his beloved mother again, and home loving Jacob was completely alone in an unfamiliar land. Robbed of all security, in the middle of nowhere, with only a dark sky full of stars for a blanket, Jacob lays his head on a stone and sleeps and dreams of a staircase to Heaven. At the zenith stands God while angels ascend and descend. In this vision, God transfers the covenant promise to him and shows a direct connection from Heaven to earth. In Jacob’s loneliest moment, He finds God standing with him. 

Even though Esau proved repeatedly that he cared nothing for his birthright and blessing, Jacob paid dearly for the fraudulent way he acquired what God has already laid a foundation for. Sin causes great pain and separates us from God and others we love. However, it doesn’t have to be the end of our story. God doesn’t quit because we fail. Praise be to God!

Love,

Gretchen

But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.  Genesis 25:33  (Genesis 23-25)

Sarah died and Abraham, an alien in a foreign land, bought a cave and a field for her burial. He and Isaac mourned her death. Today this cave is in a mosque under Muslim control. As the father of Ismael, Muslims hold Abraham in very high regard and Christians are not permitted to enter. In 1862 the Prince of Wales, by special permission, visited and saw the stone tombs of Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah and Leah. (Halley’s Bible Handbook, pg. 101)  

God’s covenant was dependent on a wife and children for Isaac. Abraham wanted to keep his family line free of idolatry, so he sent a trusted servant back to his own country to find a suitable mate. The servant prayed for God’s leading and wisdom and Rebekah returned to Canaan to marry Isaac. She was barren for twenty years and then gave birth to twins. Esau the older, as his father’s heir, was entitled to birthright (money) and blessing (authority). However, he proved to be impulsive, reckless, willful and worldly. This combination cost him everything. During a fit of hunger he sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for some lentil soup and a piece of bread.  

It isn’t entitlement that creates destiny or blessing, it is the action of obedience or lack there of. In the deepest, most intimate and secret places of our heart and mind, God is there. By this we know He alone is a Perfect Judge, and Trustworthy Leader.

Peace and Blessings,

Gretchen

Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. Genesis 22:8 (Genesis 21:22-22)

Isaac, the long anticipated, promised son, is growing into adulthood. AND THEN!!!!! It seems that God has chosen to jeopardize His own plan for a covenant nation. He is demanding that Abraham give his son back as a child-sacrifice. This chosen and called man has had many shortcomings in his behavior, and disobedience has not been without its consequences, but to kill one’s off-spring makes no sense!

The demand Abraham awoke to that morning was puzzling and frightening, but this time Abraham followed God’s instructions without question or hesitation.  At some point Abraham released the impulses of his earthly being and began to walk exclusively by faith, knowing that all the future was God’s and God was good. God didn’t need Isaac’s death to satisfy Himself, He wanted Abraham to understand the strength of a steadfast certainty. The History of the world rested on this defining moment.

God is not a God of pointless, ridiculous penance. What we relinquish and what we are given to keep are designed to purify and perfect our hearts and our relationship with our Loving Protector and Provider. When a faithful God and faithful man stand together……….the world is forever changed!

Love,

Gretchen

Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”  Genesis 21:6 (Genesis 21-1-7)

Sarai/Sarah is known as ‘Abraham’s wife,’ barren and childless. In straight terms, Sarah is insignificant. In order to protect himself, Abraham twice asks beautiful Sarai to title herself as his sister, (which she was) and submit bodily to a ruler of a foreign state. The Bible doesn’t say how she felt, but betrayal and violation must have passed through her mind. Both times, God intervened and saved Sarah while inflicting pain and discomfort on her offenders. 

Common culture allowed Sarah to give her handmaiden, Hagar, to her husband in order to secure a child and family line, but having done this with Abraham’s consent, Sarah was disappointed and grief-stricken. God wasn’t happy either. It wasn’t His plan. When God brought news that she would give birth to the father of the covenant nation Sarah laughed in disbelief. But when she held her precious baby in her arms, she realized God can do anything and her joy overflowed into laughter. 

Sarah stands singularly unique as a Biblical woman who’s name was changed by God.  Her story isn’t perfect obedience, but it is a story of a faith that outweighed defeat. God’s divine promises have Sarah at the heart of them, and her marginal status became a very important part of the Israel’s history. 

In the darkest moments of your story, God HAS NOT forgotten you. He has a plan, but faith is the only means to experience it.

Have a Blessed Day,

Gretchen

P.S.  It is worth noting in chapter 21:8-20, that God shows kindness to Hagar, the slave, and her son, the outcast child, Ismael.  They have both been tossed and toiled at the whim of others, but God loves and provides.

He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, do not pass your servant by,” Genesis 18:3 (Genesis chapters 18 &19)

The culmination of God’s plan and timing has come together and while Sarah is way beyond the season of child bearing and Abraham is very old, 99 years in fact. God says, “In a year it will happen.”  In this, only God can claim glory and Isaac is born, the covenant son.  Lot’s family is threatened by the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah but Abraham intervenes.  Known as God’s friend, Abraham speaks on behalf of the innocent in the company of the wicked and we see that it goes against God’s nature to destroy. A final judgement is never a first option.

Three visitors came to Abraham’s tent, near the great trees of Mamre, in the middle of the day (during siesta) and Abraham offers them the highest hospitality. During this visit, the promise of a longed for son becomes a reality and Abraham, as a friend of God pleads for the innocent people of two cities and the home of his nephew Lot’s family.  God shows His compassion for those who choose to live in righteousness. 

When we read the Biblical narrative it is easy to delete the freewill factor. It seems that everything is just God’s predestination and we are pawns in His game. It is not so! Do not fall into a trap of excusing bad things as fate, ill luck or karma, and then denying gratitude for blessings because it is your due, or a happy coincidence. Abraham was called, and he went. The journey wasn’t without it’s real life episodes, but it is the story of a Trustworthy God and a faithful man. 

Seek right and healthy relationships. Make wise promises and keep them. Ask for forgiveness, accept it humbly. Commit your life to God and walk forward in peace.

Love,

Gretchen  

When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.” Genesis 17:1 (Chapter 17) 

God’s promissory covenant with Abraham in chapter 15 verse 18 was unconditional, but the covenant of circumcision is dependent on man’s obedience. Circumcision was a physical sign to the reality of all God’s promises and obedience to God by His people. In this narrative there is the gathering of a multi-racial household into one covenant. Through circumcision, those not related to Abraham joined in kinship with him.

The blessing of all nations began with this one. In ancient times a landed family wrote precise records of offspring and lineage. This was proof of ownership, their heritage. Abraham’s blessing did not come from his earthly father. He was called to leave his home and go into a strange place and there, God would make him the father of a new and great nation.

Humanity repeatedly sorts itself out according to physical attributes and geography.  I am not minimizing the covenant of circumcision, but the greater part of this relationship between God and man is obedience, not branches on the family tree, validated by race. To share in the Body/Family of God our Father, we must share in each other, first through obedience to God and then love for one another.

Have a Wonderful Week End,

Gretchen

The angel of the LORD also said to her, “You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery.” Genesis 16:11 (Genesis 12-16)

Abraham was born in the city, but God called him into the country of Canaan. The area was stricken with drought so Abraham, Sarai and his nephew Lot, went into Egypt, but first he asked his wife/half sister Sarai to disguise the fact that they were husband and wife, as Sarai was amazingly beautiful, thus putting Abraham’s life in jeopardy. Sure enough, Pharaoh took her into his palace and gave Abraham gifts. Immediately plagues fell on this royal house and Abraham and Sarai were sent on their way. Having grown wealthier over time, Abraham and Lot had to separate because their vast live stock made living together too difficult. Given the choice of land, Lot took his portion from along the Jordan valley, but got caught up in a war between local kings and was taken prisoner.  Abraham went and rescued him.  

Sarai, Abraham’s wife was barren. Although God made a promise that his offspring would be like the dust on the earth, Abraham and Sarai had grown old and they were beginning to lose sight of God’s promised blessing. Hagar, a servant, probably came into their household when Pharaoh gave Abraham servants and cattle as compensation for having taken Sarai into his harem. Sarai gave Hagar to Abraham so that he could conceive a child with her and carry on his family line. It was a short walk to bitterness for Sarai, and dissonance and discontent fell on everyone. Hagar ran away, but was ordered to return with God’s peace. She gave birth to Ismael who became the patriarch of the Arab people. 

Hagar, an Egyptian, came to Abraham’s household because of the lie about his kinship to Sarai and Ismael is the result of Sarai’s impatience with God’s will and timing.  

God explicitly, through the act of covenant making, laid out His promise to Abraham and Sarai and they still took matters into their own hands. It didn’t go well. But God is faithful and He will do what He promised He would do. He is worthy of our unquestioning trust, love and adoration.

Have a great Friday,

Gretchen