I just finished reading Genesis, and I'm already trodding through Exodus. Working part-time and caring for an active one-year-old is pretty time-consuming, but I hope to beat the Israelites in their (spoiler alert) 40-year trek through the desert to the Promised Land.
If you read my Review of Job, THANK YOU! These blog posts are not a commentary on each book of the Bible. I am not qualified for that. Instead, they are my thoughts and takeaways put to paper, or keyboard, rather.
I don't know about you, but it's easy for me to miss the ways God is speaking and ministering to me through His Word. Though, the problem is often a matter of expectation rather than reality. How do I expect God to speak to me through His Word? How do I want God to minister to me when I pray and read the Bible?
I usually want something immediate and explicit, clearly connecting to my particular situation and feelings. However, that's not often how God meets me in His Word. Hearing from God often involves me consciously or unconsciously meditating on a verse, concept, or attribute of God for days. From here, I can begin to discern what God is teaching me.
Can you relate?
The Schemers and the Weepers
A major thread of Genesis follows the line of Abraham, the family who receives God's blessing and promise of fruitfulness and greatness. This promise passes from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob and eventually to the Israelites.
God has covenanted Himself to them. By His word, He promises them the blessings of the Garden. They will multiply and fill the earth, blessing the nations and uniting them under the Name above every name. His Word could be trusted.
But, over and over again, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob scheme to take hold of the promise that was already given to them*. They sleep with their slaves, they steal their brother's birthright, they deceive their blind father, and they lie to kings. They are the schemers. Still, God stays faithful to them and His plan for redemption.
Another thread weaves through the Book of Genesis. This is a minor thread of all the people outside of the promise. These are the people who are not part of the direct line of blessing or who don't seem to be -- Hagar and Ishmael, Esau, Leah, and Tamar, to name a few.
Often, they are the ones who are deceived. They are the people who are unseen or disregarded. They are the people who don't receive the greater blessing. They are the weepers. Sometimes, they are also the people who seem to understand God's nature more than those in the line of Promise.
The God Who Sees
There is no doubt that God meets both the schemers and the weepers throughout the narrative. Even after Jacob steals Esau's birthright and is on the run, God meets him in a dream to reaffirm his promise to Abraham and Isaac, and now Jacob.
"The Lord was standing there beside him saying, 'I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying. Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.'" (Genesis 28:13-15a, emphasis mine)
Jacob's response is one of surprise, as if he didn't know God was with Him all along. Even with such a clear and tangible experience of God's presence and promise, Jacob will continue to scheme his way through life until God wrestles him in Genesis 32:24-32.
It's as if Jacob doesn't know he is down and desperate until he is forced to be desperate, forever walking with a limp.
Hagar and Ishmael
In stark contrast is the story of Hagar. From the beginning, she is outside of the line of blessing and enslaved by Abraham and Sarah. She has no resources of her own to scheme her way to blessings. She is at the mercy of a couple who is as broken in spirit as she is in status.
There seems to be no reason for God to listen to or acknowledge her. However, the angel of God (or God Himself) meets with her twice in the most desperate situations. After Hagar becomes pregnant by Abraham (by Sarah's request), Hagar flees to the desert to escape Sarah's mistreatment (Genesis 16:1-16). The angel of the Lord meets her at a spring because He has heard her cry of affliction.
In the second scenario, Hagar is sent into the wilderness with Ishmael and a waterskin. Hagar has nothing to do when the water runs out but to leave Ishmael under a bush to die (Genesis 21:8-21). The angel of God hears Hagar and Ishmael's cries again. He provides rescue by revealing a well and again affirming His blessing.
Kindness in the Cracks
Meditating on the stories of Esau, Leah, and Tamar, you can find other examples of God meeting outsiders with kindness, wisdom, and blessing in the lowest places, in the cracks of their story. I don't think any of these men or women had to wait for their most desperate hour to call on God, but God's response to them illustrates His heart for His people and the trustworthiness of His character.
In the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel, you even find out that the blessing was threaded through the line of Judah (Leah's third son) and Perez (Tamar's son) instead of the expected Joseph (first son of Rachel, the wife Jacob loved) and his sons.
So, those who seemed to be outside of God's blessing actually become the line through which God blesses the whole world with His Son, Jesus.
Meditation
On the days when my heart is numb or I'm filled with doubts because the world is too complicated and I can't make sense of it all, I ask God to help me see His kindness in the cracks of my day.
When has it been easy to smile or laugh?
Where do I see beauty?
Can I remember a time God met me in my need?
Can I pray for God to meet me in my need now?
Who can I call for prayer or encouragement?
Where has my weeping turned to scheming?
How can I receive the blessing that God has already given to me?
For more on Genesis, check out:
BibleProject, Genesis 1 Visual Commentary - learn how the Creation narrative becomes a pattern used throughout Scripture
*Wresting God for a Blessing - learn more about the theme of blessing and curse in Genesis
GABRIELLE WENOS
Wife, mama of Byron, and inconsistent writer.
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