GENESIS 15

Obviously this continues from Genesis 14...

Genesis 15 - God's covenant with Abram.

1  After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."

2  But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"

3  And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

4  Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir."

Um, what?  A son coming from his own body?  That would deffinatley be a mirracle.  In modern science it is possable for a man to "give birth" to a baby using a cavity bellow the man's stomach but I'm wondering if god was just talking about his sperm...  though I can't help but thinking, gentle reader, that if a voice came to me and told me I would have a son coming from my own body I'd be a little apprehensive to say the least.  But lets, for now, hold judgement and see how Abram will give birth.

5  He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

6  Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

7  He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."

8  But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"

9  So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."

The lord created all those animals, if he wanted some why didn't he just make some?  Is it a test of faith and what is he going to do with these animals?  Make a pie?

10  Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.

OK, obviously the SPCA hadn't been created back then.

11  Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12  As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

13  Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

I challenge that if god knew this would happen why would he let it happen?  He is basically saying "your people will be slaves, just accept it mmmkay."

14  But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.

15  You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.

16  In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

Translation: "Your people will be slaves but it'll earn them some land.  Maybe not them, but generations to come."  I'm begining to see a trend here, someone does something good or bad and their descendants are the ones that get rewarded or punished.

17  When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

18  On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates--

                                       

19  the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

20  Hittites,Perizzites, Rephaites,

21  Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

GENESIS 14

Thus far this could be the most meaningless chapter of the bible and could be the reason it took me so long to post.

GENESIS 14

ABRAM RESCUES LOT

1  At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim,
2  these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
3  All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley).

This is one of those boring, historically-could-be-accurate-but-who-knows moments in the bible by the looks of it.

4  For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.5  In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim6  and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert.7  Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.

When reading these texts it is easy for ones eyes to glaze over and skip what's actually going on so I thought I would do a little more digging and what I found was interesting. There are two schools of thought (of course there are) you can read about in Historical Discovery. Other than that there is not much to see outside of the obviously bias Christian websites.

8    Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim9  against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.10    Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills.

I wonder if we will ever discover the remains of these people from the tar pits... I didn't find anything although I would not call my research into this area exhaustive.

11  The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away.12  They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.13  A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram.

As boring as this all is I'm it will all tie in somewhere down the road... maybe in the next chapter!

14  When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 

Does Dan know more than 300 people are after him?

15  During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.16    He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.17  After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).18  Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,19  and he blessed Abram, saying,“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,Creator of heaven and earth.20  And praise be to God Most High,who delivered your enemies into your hand.”Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.21  The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”22  But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,23  that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’24  I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”

Seems to me god had nothing really to do with this, just two men thinking that god said this or that and making it all up as they went.