Bible in 90 Days - Day 2 (Genesis 17:1-28:19)

Lord God,

help us turn our hearts to you

and hear what you will speak,

for you speak peace to your people

through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

—based on Psalm 85:8

Genesis 17 is key in that here God establishes his covenant with Abraham. A covenant is a relationship sealed with a promise. God promises to make Abraham into the father of nations, and he promises to be the God of Abraham and his descendants. As the story unfolds we will see that God includes us in that covenant as well (Galatians 3:6-9, 29).

I love the concept of ancient “fast food.” Abraham says to Sarah, “Quick! Make some bread with 22 quarts of flour!” I could make about 25 loaves of bread with that much flour. Then Abraham runs to choose a calf, butcher it, and cook it up. For three visitors. That puts a whole new spin on what good hospitality is.

From the list of the family line of Shem in Genesis 11:10-26, we see that the first children are generally born when the father is around 30 years old. Abraham is born to Terah when he is 70 years old. There must be a story behind that number, especially when we see a pattern with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Rachel.

Gen 11:30 “Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.”

Gen 25:21 “Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.”

Gen 29:31 “When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”

What could it mean that God’s promises of fruitfulness are fulfilled out of barrenness? It doesn’t only happen with bearing children. In Gen 26:1 there is a famine that causes Isaac to move, and in that barrenness verse 12 says that Isaac harvested 100 times what he sowed because God blessed him. Fruitfulness out of barrenness. But then we read that Abimelech exiled him because of that. So Jacob goes to the wilderness and finds a well of fresh water there. In Hebrew it says he found a well of living water. It makes me think of God establishing Israel as his people when they leave Egypt, but using 40 years in the wilderness to shape them. It makes me think of how God shapes us. If you keep your eyes for this, you will see it is a major theme throughout the Bible.