JESUS and Hagar's Predicament (Gen.15-16)

Abram leaves Egypt to go back to where he had built an altar.  By trusting God again, he finds success and not only honors God when standing up to a king, but soon after - Abram becomes "a believer".  This verse here echoes what is said in Romans 4 about what it means to be a "Christian".

(Genesis 15:6)   Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. 

After this, God reminds Abram of His promise, and makes a firm covenant with Abram regarding the land... using a method of making a contract that people used back then. Usually both parties would go through the animal halves (signifying that if anyone broke the contract - that person would be like the dead animals they had just walked through);  but God puts Abram in a "deep sleep" and only God goes through... meaning, even though Abram and his descendants will constantly mess up, God will keep His promise.

BUT once again, Abram soon takes matters into his own hands.  Sarai still could not conceive so she suggests that Abram have an heir through one of her maids - Hagar.  Not trusting that God would follow through with His promise of supplying descendants, Abram agrees to this.  And OF COURSE Sarai immediate becomes jealous and angry and hateful toward the mistress.  (God never condones people having more than one spouse!!!  Gen.2:24  tells us that God's intention has always been - that the man should be joined to his WIFE and become one flesh.)

To escape Sarai's harsh treatment, Hagar runs away.  And while she is out in the wilderness, the angel of the LORD appears to her (Gen.16:7).  In the Old Testament, when it says "THE angel of the Lord", this is the manifestation of God... this would be Jesus.  He tells Hagar to return and submit to her authority, and He would greatly multiply her descendants.  Her son, Ishmael, would one day live east of the Israelites and become a great force to be reckoned with.

Hm... blessings and consequences.  Hagar was blessed for her endurance through persecution.  But through Abram and Sarai's disobedience came great consequences... Not only did they invite adultery into their marriage, but the whole conflict between Arabs and Jews arose from this - because Abram and Sarai did not trust God enough to wait for God's timing to provide!  How many unnecessary consequences have we brought onto our selves and others because we have asked God for something, but then did not trust Him to answer - in our best interest?

And another very cool observation that I just had - is - the angel of the LORD found Hagar, an "outcast"... a pagan woman who was not part of Abram's people, in the wilderness by a spring of water.  This is one of the first passages that mentions God appearing to a woman in the Old Testament.  And then in the New Testament, one of the first passages that mentions Jesus speaking to a woman is - the woman at the well... an "outcast"... a Samaritan woman.  Not only were Samaritans hated by the Jews, but a man speaking to a woman in public was frowned upon in those days.  This just demonstrates how much God loves EVERYONE!!!

JESUS and the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen.12)

In Genesis 12:1-3, the LORD prophecies Jesus' coming to earth...

3    3    3    

(Genesis 12:1-3)  Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great;  and so you shall be a blessing;
3    And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.  And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

I know that later on, God will build on this prophecy of Jesus coming to earth through Abram/Abraham's "seed" (meaning "descendants").  This is why all those passages of who begat whom are so important.  And knowing a few things about Abram's story going forward. even though Abram did not understand this last part, Abram trusted and obeyed God with this.

Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all their possessions, and headed to the land that God would show him.  Abram was already 75 years old at this point, and Sarai had not been able to give Abram any children (Gen.11:30).

When they reached the land of Canaan, (Gen.12:7) the LORD appeared to Abram to tell him, "To your descendants I will give this land."  Curious to know HOW the LORD appeared to him, but it doesn't really matter.  Abram built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.  Abram even built a second altar in another spot... but then...

Because of a drought, they went into to Egypt.  There, not only did Abram NOT build an altar to God, Abram decided NOT to trust God regarding his wife Sarai - even after just trusting God with the huge move to another land.  And even after God had promised that GOD would make him a great nation... GOD would bless him... Abram still decided to take matters into his own hands and lied to protect his wife.  Which didn't work, by the way.  The Egyptians still took her.  And because of Abram's sin, the consequences fell onto the Egyptians, which angered the Egyptians toward him.  Curious to know how the scenario would have gone if Abram would have trusted God???

But here we see just how faithful and patient God is.  God saves Sarai, and she is returned to Abram, even though Abram had failed.  We know that God still kept His promise... Jesus still suffered and died for us and rose again to provide salvation... BECAUSE - it's pretty obvious! - We need saving!!!

JESUS and Tower of Babel (Gen.11)

I have no idea HOW, but Genesis 11:5 says that the LORD "came down" to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.  It kind of sounds to me like He perhaps manifested Himself again...  It's interesting that people like to complain that God never shows Himself;  but He does so in several different ways:  we can see His amazing creation... we can read His mind-blowing-words which have no contradictions within them... we can see how He works and answers prayer... and He HAS appeared to people many times... But do people always see HIM???  Just a thought...

Obviously, the people who were building their tower to prove how powerful they were, did not see God or look to Him for their strength.  So then, we have another "let Us"...  the Trinity at work!  After seeing what the people were trying to do, the LORD said...

(Genesis 11:7)  "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

The consequences to the people for trying to do things their way - trying to get their way - was that they would be scattered throughout the earth and given different languages.

In the few times that I have lived in areas where a different language is spoken, I have had to lean on God's guidance and wisdom in more ways than usual.  We often take the gift of communication for granted - especially the gift of communication with God.  He wants us to be talking with Him always.  lol, like most people, I often talk to myself... so a while ago, I decided, "Hey, why not involve God in these conversations???!!!"  When I do, the discussions and outcomes are far more intelligent!

JESUS and Man's Fall (Gen.2-3)

I just noticed this!  And I find it interesting!  In Genesis 2, right after verse 3... the name "LORD God" is now used to recap - or rather zone into - the part where man is created.  If you do word studies on all of God's names, it gives us a deeper insight into God and all of His wonderful and powerful attributes.  LORD was translated from the Hebrew text YHWH (probably pronounced "Yahweh"), which has a twofold meaning, the "active, self-existent One", and Israel's "Redeemer".

After the LORD God creates man and woman, He "plants" the Garden of Eden as an immediate food source and a beautiful place for them to work.  Obviously, we get hungry several times a day and they didn't have time to wait for a harvest and orchard to grow and produce!  He knew this!  He created them and then took care of them by giving them the Garden of Eden.

With this, not only does the LORD God provide them with practical things, He also "provides" them with a choice.   He lets man know that they can eat from any tree,  except for one!  Just one!   (Genesis 2:17)  They were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or they would die (a spiritual death).  Why?  Well think about it:  without a choice, there would not be any free will.

But what do they do???  They took and ate from that one tree, bringing spiritual death to all mankind. After realizing their mistake and that they were naked...

(Genesis 3:8)  They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Curious if Adan and Eve got to see and speak often with the manifestation of God???... PERHAPS this is God in human-like-form actually walking in the garden, or it just sounds like He is walking... Whatever this is, we know that God manifests Himself quite a few times in the Old Testament.  But keep in mind, when Jesus appears like this in the Old Testament, He is completely God.  In the New Testament, He at that time is not only 100% God, but also becomes 100% man.  More on that much later.

The point here is that God goes to where mankind is - and gives them the opportunity to make things right.  God does not throw up His hands and leave them to figure it out on their own.  While He lets them know the consequences of their choice (to do things THEIR way and not God's way),  God also delivers the first prophecy of His coming to earth to die for our sins as He speaks to the serpent (really - to Satan)...

        (Genesis 3:15)  "I will put enmity between you and the woman, 
        And between your seed and her seed;
        He shall bruise you on the head,
        And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

Her "seed" refers to her descendants (specifically Israel, because Jesus would come from her seed),  And in the spiritual battle to follow, Satan and his demons would ultimately lose, while ("He") Jesus would suffer but conquer death and be victorious.

Meanwhile, the LORD God, after speaking with Adam and Eve, made clothes from them made of animal skins... leather.  Since sin has entered the world... where there is sin - there is death.  Throughout the O.T., Israelites sacrificed animals to cover their sins (temporarily).  In the N.T., Jesus came to earth to be the once-for-all sacrificial Lamb to pay the price for all sin (eternally).

The LORD God also protected them/us by sending Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and having it securely guarded so that they would not be able to eat from the tree of life, which would have put them and kept them forever in that state of spiritual death.

Mankind had everything perfect, but choosing to eat from that one tree brought about death.  And now we are born into sin (death) and the only thing that will change this death sentence is for mankind to choose the ONE solution that the LORD God provides - "the tree of salvation" - the cross - Jesus' death and resurrection which paid the price for our sins.  Again, Jesus provides!  He cares about our physical needs as well as our main spiritual need - to be saved... to be reconciled in a glorious relationship with God.

JESUS and Creation (Gen.1)

I have an idea!!!  I'm so excited!!!  What I typically do when having my devotions is to pick a topic, then start reading the Bible from beginning to end - taking notes on that particular topic.  This not only helps me to learn something about THAT particular topic, but my A.D.D.-brain stays more alert and therefore I am able to learn a whole lot more than if I just read for the sake of reading.  So I thought, "Hey, why not put my notes into this blog!!!???"

My topic of choice will be:  WHERE DO WE FIND JESUS IN THE BIBLE?  since we hear this a lot - "It's all about Jesus."  And it is.  But I want to explore this more.

Starting with Genesis 1... immediately, we see a reference to Jesus.  Remember, there is only one God - who is a Trinity:  God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  I like to think about this as one person who has 3 different roles.  Kind of like me - who is a wife, as well as a mother, as well as an employee (of some sort)...  I have these very distinct roles with very different job descriptions, yet - I am one person.  Now amp this up a LOT!  We are talking about God... so how could I ever fully understand or explain God and how He all works,  He created the universe in all its complexities in only 6 days.  MIND - BLOWN ! ! !

Now notice what is highlighted and underscored...  

(Genesis 1:26)  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (NAS)

This is the first reference to the Trinity that I can see... the first reference to Jesus - which tells us that Jesus was right there at the beginning - creating the universe.  Creating US.  And overlooking everything He had just made, said, "It is VERY GOOD."  His desire was that we would have an awesome life - with purpose - and a close relationship with Him.

PTSD and the Confession That Leads to Freedom

(Psalm 118:6)  The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?

        Something I realized recently, is that my post traumatic stress disorder was a sin.  I knew that as a Christian, I should fear God, and then fear nobody or nothing else!  And for the most part, I had confidence in God and trusted Him to look after me.  Except for my PTSD, because I thought, no-no - THAT is just a condition I just have to deal with because it was a result of something that happened years ago.  And I had already dealt with that by forgiving my persecutor, asking God to forgive them FOR me.  When I had done that, immediately I felt a weight lifting off of me.  And, immediately I could empathize and love them.  And, there was even was a sincere reconciliation.  So I thought I had done everything I could do on that issue.

       So it was while praying for someone else to be able to forgive their persecutors because it would bring freedom to them, not the persecutors, that I thought, "Wow, they're kind of bragging about what they went through saying, 'But what I went through was just SO terrible that I cannot bring myself to forgive them!'"  And then it hit me - "Wow, Tanis, look at the log in your own eye!"  I was basically saying the same kind of thing, bragging that "What I went through was so terrible that I'm now struggling with PTSD!!!"  And so what???  I can trust God to protect me in life, with everything, everywhere, but I can't trust Him to protect me from the fear of the possibility of something happening?  So, I can't trust God to protect me from - NOTHING???  That is a sin.  "LORD forgive me!  I confess my sin of not trusting You!!!"

         Immediately, I felt a weighting lift off of me.  And when I got home from my walk-and-talk-with-God, the Tanis-just-a-few-minutes-ago would have locked the exterior door (as one should), but then I would have gone into the bedroom and locked the door, and then into the bathroom and locked the door, and then during my shower - turn the water on - then off - "What was that???" - continue - no, WAIT!!! - etc...  But the now-Tanis came inside, locked the exterior door (as one should), went into the bedroom - I'll just leave the door open!  Went into the bathroom - I'll just leave that door open!!!  Showered in peace.  No interruptions!!!  Wow!  God was faithful to deliver me from that bit of insanity!!!  Thank you, Lord!!!  He is so amazing!!!

(James 5:16)  Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

(1 John 1:9)  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Faith is Relying on God

Matthew 19:26 “And looking at them Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

 Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

 Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”

I remember back to the times of struggles and pleading with God to help me just get through something – and to “give me a break, already”, because I had felt I had learned enough for the time being.   It is good to be honest with God and work out that faith.  What’s even better is actually learning the lessons.  Sometimes that means hindsight.  Because lately, I’ve been wondering why things seem so peaceful – and when will the “shoes start to drop?”  When will my next test from God come?   And then I realize that I’m actually going through a few struggles even as I write this.   Awesome!  And I really mean that.

What I have learned is to REALLY put my faith in God, and trust HIM to take care of things.   Let God do everything for me.  My faith is something very real, which is based on knowledge, as well as solid evidence.   I am not putting my faith “in my faith” – I am putting my faith in a God who is all-powerful! – In a God who created me with a purpose and loves me so very much!!!