jeffersonvann

Genesis 20

Genesis 20:1 Abraham traveled from that place to the territory of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur, and he lived as a guest in Gerar.

Genesis 20:2 And Abraham told people regarding Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So, Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

Genesis 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “Notice, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is another man’s wife.”

Genesis 20:4 But Abimelech had not had relations with her. So, he said, “Lord, will you kill a blameless nation?

Genesis 20:5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with integrity in my heart and with innocent hands.”

Genesis 20:6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, in fact, it was I who kept you from failing[1] me. For this reason, I did not let you touch her.

Genesis 20:7 So, return the man’s wife now because he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will stay alive. But if you do not return her, know that you will definitely die, you, and everyone associated with you.”

Genesis 20:8 So Abimelech got up early in the morning and called all his slaves and told them all these things. And the men were very frightened.

Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I failed you, that you have caused me and my kingdom to commit a great failure?[2] You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”

Genesis 20:10 And Abimelech asked Abraham, “What were you thinking that possessed you to do this thing?”

Genesis 20:11 Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife’s beauty.

Genesis 20:12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not my mother’s daughter, and she later became my wife.

Genesis 20:13 And when God caused me to roam from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is the covenant faithfulness you must show me: at every place where we go, say of me, He is my brother.'”

Genesis 20:14 Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male slaves and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him.

Genesis 20:15 And Abimelech said, “Notice, my land is before you; live wherever you want to.”

Genesis 20:16 To Sarah, he said, “Notice, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all with you, and before everyone, you are vindicated.”

Genesis 20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and also healed his wife and female slaves[3] so that they could again give birth to children.

Genesis 20:18 You see, Yahveh had closed all the uteruses of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

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[1] חָטָא = fail. Genesis 20:6, 9; 31:39; 39:9; 40:1; 42:22; 43:9; 44:32.

[2] חֲטָאָה = failure.

[3] אָמָה = female slave. Genesis 20:17; 21:10, 12, 13; 30:3; 31:33.

Genesis 20 quotes:

“The portrayal of the monarch in this tale is as interesting as the portrayal of husband and wife. He is scrupulously honest. The divine being directly reveals the truth to this person. The effect, as in Genesis 12, is to show the foreigner’s implicit fear of God. The character who should be playing the role of adversary plays a veritable patriarchal role in his close and positive relationship with the divine. Implicit here is a certain respect for people such as Abimelech who are in positions of power, a respect that is not grudging or implicitly mocking but genuine. It is also significant that he is a non-Israelite. Such people are capable of deserving respect, human and divine. As noted in the morphological analysis, the should-be “adversary” in Genesis 20 is the victim, his problem and its rectification a focus of the tale equally important to the focus on the hero and his wife. This is a tale without a villain.”

Niditch, Susan. A Prelude to Biblical Folklore: Underdogs and Tricksters. University of Illinois Press, 2000. p. 56.

“I chose to do an Old Testament Exegesis to show that healing not only happened in the New Testament, but also in the Old Testament. Canonically, this is important because it shows that healing is an integral part of the message of the Holy Bible. The Bible is Holy because it is to be read as a whole, not as fragments, and this wholeness brings in healing as an integral message of the whole Bible (to heal is to make whole). I chose Genesis 20:17-18 particularly because it is the first recorded healing in the Bible, and as such, lays a foundation for the rest of the healing in the Bible.”

Moore, Les. Healing in the Christian Spiritual Tradition. Author, 2003. p.2.

“Abraham is described not only as dwelling in the Negeb but also as sojourning in Gerar. The word “sojourn,” which is used also of Abraham’s stay in Egypt (Genesis 12:10), contains the word ger or “foreigner,” and really means that he lived there as a foreigner. Gerar itself must have been a city of importance in the time of Abraham, since it is described as under a king named Abimelech (Genesis 20:2).”

Finegan, Jack. In the Beginning; a Journey through Genesis. [1st ed.] ed., Harper, 1962. p. 89.

Genesis 20 links:

Abraham- last minute rescue
Door to disaster

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, January 12, 2021

GENESIS in Jeff’s library

Genesis 19

Genesis 19:1 That evening, the two agents came to Sodom, and Lot was living at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the land.

Genesis 19:2 He said, “Notice my lords, please turn aside to your slave’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you can get up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.”

Genesis 19:3 H urged them persistently, so they followed him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Genesis 19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people from every part of the city, surrounded the house.

Genesis 19:5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may get to know them.”

Genesis 19:6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shutting the door after him,

Genesis 19:7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.

Genesis 19:8 Notice, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

Genesis 19:9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came as a guest, and he has become our judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot and approached intending to break the door down.

Genesis 19:10 But the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door.

Genesis 19:11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

Genesis 19:12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place.

Genesis 19:13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before Yahveh, and Yahveh has sent us to destroy it.”

Genesis 19:14 So Lot went out and warned his bridegrooms, who were going to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, because Yahveh is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his bridegrooms to be joking.

Genesis 19:15 As morning dawned, the agents urged Lot, and this is what they said, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be swept away as the city is punished for its sin.”

Genesis 19:16 But he dawdled. So, the men held him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand strongly, Yahveh being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

Genesis 19:17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your throat. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, or else you will be swept away.”

Genesis 19:18 But Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords.

Genesis 19:19 Notice, your slave has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great covenant faithfulness[1] in saving my throat. But I cannot escape to the hills, or the disaster will overtake me and I will die.

Genesis 19:20 Notice, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there – is it not a little one? – and my throat will be saved!”

Genesis 19:21 He said to him, “Notice, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city to which you have referred.

Genesis 19:22 Escape there quickly, because I can do nothing till you arrive there.” That is why the name of the city was called Zoar.

Genesis 19:23 The sun had risen on the land when Lot came to Zoar.

Genesis 19:24 Then Yahveh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahveh out of the sky.

Genesis 19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what had grown on the ground there.

Genesis 19:26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a standing pile of salt.

Genesis 19:27 Then Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahveh.

Genesis 19:28 And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, noticed the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

Genesis 19:29 When God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham’s prayer and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Genesis 19:30 Now Lot had moved from Zoar and was living in the hills with his two daughters because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So, he lived in a cave with his two daughters.

Genesis 19:31 And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the land to enter us after the manner of all the land.

Genesis 19:32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will have lie with him, that we may preserve seed from our father.”

Genesis 19:33 So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He was not aware when she lay down or when she arose.

Genesis 19:34 The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Notice, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you lie with him so that we may preserve seed from our father.”

Genesis 19:35 So they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him and was unaware when she lay down or when she arose.

Genesis 19:36 This is how both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father.

Genesis 19:37 The firstborn gave birth to a son and called his name Moab. He is the ancestor of the Moabites people today.

Genesis 19:38 The younger also gave birth to a son and called his name Ben-Ammi. He is the father of the Ammonite people today.

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[1] חֶסֶד = covenant faithfulness. Genesis 19:19; 20:13; 21:23; 24:12, 14, 27, 49; 32:10; 39:21; 40:14; 47:29.

Genesis 19 quotes:

“There is some bitter irony in this scene: The girls are obliged to have sex with their father who previously felt obliged to sacrifice them to the sexual lust of the Sodomites. First too many men, and now none at all.”

Loader, J. A. A Tale of Two Cities: Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament, Early Jewish and Early Christian Traditions. J.H. Kok Pub. House, 1990. p. 45.

” Though Lot was a success in Sodom, it does not appear he was very successful as a husband or father or at influencing those around him toward the Lord.”

Moody, Edward. Ministering in a Changing Sexual Landscape: A Guide to Helping Those with Sexual Issues. Randall House Publications, 2015. p. 9.

“So the revisionist approach to Genesis 19 … is twofold. With Boswell and Bailey, some deny that homosexuality was involved at Sodom. Rather, the issue was inhospitality. Others … affirm that homosexual rape or violence was involved at Sodom, but they do not regard this as evidence for universal condemnation of homosexual acts.”

DeYoung, James B. Homosexuality: Contemporary Claims Examined in Light of the Bible and Other Ancient Literature and Law. Kregel Publications, 2000. p.33.

Genesis 19 links:

Abraham- seeing smoke
Cave people
leaving the city
OBLITERATE THE OBSTACLES
Protecting those within
soul searching
swept away
Taking judgment seriously

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – June 1, 2015
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, January 10, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, January 11, 2023

GENESIS in Jeff’s library

Genesis 18

Genesis 18:1 And Yahveh appeared to him near the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.

Genesis 18:2 He lifted his eyes and looked, and noticed three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the ground

Genesis 18:3 and said, “O Lord,[1] if I have found favor in your sight, do not disregard your slave.

Genesis 18:4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,

Genesis 18:5 while I bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on – since you have passed by your slave.” So, they said, “Do as you have said.”

Genesis 18:6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it and make cakes.”

Genesis 18:7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and exceptional, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly.

Genesis 18:8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them. And he stood beside them under the tree while they ate.

Genesis 18:9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “Notice, she is in the tent.”

Genesis 18:10 Yahveh said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.

Genesis 18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old. Many years had happened. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.

Genesis 18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, and this is what she said, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, will I have this pleasure?”

Genesis 18:13 Yahveh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really give birth to a child, now that I am old?’

Genesis 18:14 Is anything too tough for Yahveh? At the appointed time I will revisit you about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Genesis 18:15 But Sarah denied it, and this is what she said, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. He said, “No, because you did laugh.”

Genesis 18:16 Then the men stood up, intending to leave there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham walked beside them to send them off.

Genesis 18:17 Yahveh said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,

Genesis 18:18 since Abraham will surely become an influential and mighty nation, and all the nations of the land will be blessed in him?

Genesis 18:19 Because I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahveh by practicing righteousness and justice, so that Yahveh may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

Genesis 18:20 Then Yahveh said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave,

Genesis 18:21 I will go down to verify whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”

Genesis 18:22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before Yahveh.

Genesis 18:23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Genesis 18:24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it because of the fifty righteous who are in it?

Genesis 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous experience the same as the wicked! Far be that from you! Will not the Judge of all the land do what is just?”

Genesis 18:26 And Yahveh said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

Genesis 18:27 Abraham answered and said, “Notice now, I have dared to speak to Yahveh, I who am but dust and ashes.

Genesis 18:28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

Genesis 18:29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.”

Genesis 18:30 Then he said, “Oh now, let not Yahveh be hot with anger, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.”

Genesis 18:31 He said, “Notice now, I have dared to speak to Yahveh. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.”

Genesis 18:32 Then he said, “Oh now let not Yahveh be hot with anger, and I will speak again just this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

Genesis 18:33 And Yahveh went on, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

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[1] אָדוֹן = Lord, lord. Genesis 18:3, 12; 23:6, 11, 15; 24:9, 10, 12, 14, 18, 27, 35, 36, 37, 39, 42, 44, 48, 49, 51, 54, 56, 65; 31:35; 32:4, 5, 18; 33:8, 13, 14, 15; 39:2, 3, 7, 8, 16, 19, 20; 40:1, 7; 42:10, 30, 33; 43:20; 44:5, 7, 8, 9, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 33; 45:8, 9; 47:18, 25.

Genesis 18 quotes:

“This episode in Genesis 18 can also be viewed as a literal fulfilment of Jesus’ words on the Day of Judgement, ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in’ (Matthew 25:35). Yet is it not our privilege to be able to do precisely the same? For whatever we do for the least of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we do for him (Matthew 25:40). Hospitality is a great and necessary Christian grace and one that is highly productive of fruit for God’s kingdom.”

Stephen, Jonathan. Theophany: Close Encounters with the Son of God. Day One Publications, 1998. p. 85.

“After each test Abraham’s faith becomes stronger. In Genesis 18 we have wonderful evidence of this fact. Here Abraham becomes the great prevailing intercessor for his back-slidden nephew, Lot.”

DeHaan, M. R. Adventures in Faith: Studies in the Life of Abraham. Kregel Publications, 1996. p. 58

“Out of the destruction brought on by sin, God saves Lot because God remembered Abraham (see Genesis 18:22-33). To remember is not just to recall something. Remembering also involves action and commitment either on God’s part (see, for example. Genesis 8:1; 9:15; Jeremiah 31:34) or on the part of human beings (see Micah 6:5; Deuteronomy 9:7). God remembers Abraham by showing mercy and grace, so that, after all, the righteousness of one may affect the fate of another.

Hinton, Linda B. Genesis. Abingdon Press, 1994. p. 67.

Genesis 18 links:

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – May 30, 2015
Maranatha Daily Devotional – May 31, 2015
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, January 11, 2021
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, May 30, 2024
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, January 9, 2019

GENESIS in Jeff’s library

Genesis 17

Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old Yahveh appeared again to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be irreproachable,

Genesis 17:2 so that I may make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you greatly.”

Genesis 17:3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God spoke to him, and this is what he said,

Genesis 17:4 “Notice, my covenant is with you, and you will be the father of numerous nations.

Genesis 17:5 No longer will your name be called simply Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a noisy crowd of nations.

Genesis 17:6 I will make you exceedingly productive, and I will make you into nations, and kings will issue from you.

Genesis 17:7 And I will institute my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for a permanent covenant, to be your personal God and to your seed after you.

Genesis 17:8 And I will give to you and to your seed after you the land you wander,[1] all the land of Canaan, to permanently possess, and I will be their personal God.”

Genesis 17:9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.

Genesis 17:10 This is my covenant, which you will stay with, between me and you and your seed after you: Every male among you will be circumcised.

Genesis 17:11 You all will be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and you all.

Genesis 17:12 He who is eight days old among you will be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from an outsider who is not of your seed,

Genesis 17:13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, will surely be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh to signify a permanent covenant.

Genesis 17:14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that throat will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Genesis 17:15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you will not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah.

Genesis 17:16 I will bless her, and what is more, I will actually give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Genesis 17:17 And Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Genesis 17:18 So Abraham responded to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”

Genesis 17:19 But God said, “Certainly,[2] Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you will call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his seed after him.

Genesis 17:20 Regarding Ishmael, I have heard you; notice, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will father twelve princes, and I will make him into an influential nation.

Genesis 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

Genesis 17:22 When he had finished talking with him, God left Abraham.

Genesis 17:23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him.

Genesis 17:24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

Genesis 17:25 And his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

Genesis 17:26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised.

Genesis 17:27 And all the men of his household, those born in the household and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

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[1] מָגוֹר = wander, wandering. Genesis 17:8; 28:4; 36:7; 37:1; 47:9.

[2] אֲבָל = certainly. Genesis 17:19; 42:21.

Genesis 17 quotes:

“These covenants were made to be never ending, eternal, perpetual, and age-abiding. They were to continue to be in effect forever. However, in the promises, sacrifices and seals of these everlasting covenants there were elements that could not last forever because of their temporal nature. For example, the Abrahamic Covenant is spoken of an everlasting covenant and the seal of it, which is circumcision, is also spoken of as being everlasting (Genesis 17:13). However, the New Testament declares that the external expression of the seal, the circumcision of the flesh, was fulfilled and abolished at the cross. Therefore only the internal and spiritual reality of the seal, which is circumcision of the heart, can be everlasting. Likewise, the animal sacrifices of the everlasting covenants could never be eternal. Only through the once-for-all sacrifice of the Son of God could the principle of covenantal sacrifice be everlasting though the external form was fulfilled and abolished (Genesis 15; Hebrews 10). Though having temporal elements everlasting covenants are legally binding and remain in effect for eternity.”

Conner, Kevin J, and Kenneth P Malmin. The Covenants: Edenic, Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Palestinian, Davidic, New, Everlasting. Updated and revised ed., City Bible Publishing, 1997. pp. 7-8.

“On this occasion, God’s mind is made up. The point is vividly expressed when God says Sarah “is going to bear you a son.” More literally, God says she “is bearing you a son” God speaks as we do when we say, “I’m coming,” when actually we are still finishing reading the newspaper. We mean that we are committed to coming and that we will definitely be there soon. And God indicates a commitment to Sarah’s having this baby; he will definitely be there soon.”

Goldingay, John. Genesis for Everyone. First ed., Westminster John Knox Press, 2010. p. 12.

“The idea, here in Genesis 17, seems to be the expression of settling, arranging or formalizing the covenant. Here the Lord takes steps in order to fulfill the covenant and seals it with a perpetual ordinance.”

Neilands, David L. Studies in the Covenant of Grace. Presbyterian and Reformed, 1980. p. 2.

Genesis 17 links:

GENESIS in Jeff’s library