27 "Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot."
Genesis 11
Lot is Abraham's nephew as inferred from the above verse of the book of Genesis. The following verse is more specific:
5 "And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, ... "
Genesis 12
Now that his identity is clear, I have some thoughts and questions about the man Lot. Lot was discussed from chapters 11 to 19 of the book of Genesis.
Abraham was pleased to raise Lot after his father's demise, and Lot prospered by reason of his association with Abraham. It should be noted that God made no mention of Lot when he instructed Abraham to leave his people (12:1).
Now, Lot was a rich man. He was so rich that the land couldn't contain him and his uncle, Abraham and they had to part ways. Here are my personal thoughts...
I think the land was big enough for both of them. I felt Lot should have put his herdsmen in order. He should have warned them not to quarrel with Abraham's herdsmen. They're his guests, remember. Abraham catered for them since they all enjoyed the grace upon Abraham. But Lot did nothing about his unruly herdsmen. Abraham in his humility and meekness decided to find a solution and asked Lot to choose the part of the land he would like to dwell in. Lot wasn't smart enough to decline, but in apparent greed chose the best parts to relocate to. I felt Lot should have humbly declined and respecting Abraham's age, rather suggested that Abraham should hand to him any portion of his choice.
It's interesting to note that these events occurred between them as ordinary humans. God wasn't the person that asked them to separate. He merely watched as they tried to sort themselves out. But God saw what Lot did and hear what he told Abraham as soon as Lot had moved to the juicer part of the land:
14 And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Genesis 13
I say, Lot made a huge mistake. It turned out that all that glittered wasn't gold. But God gave Abraham the whole world, which included the land that Lot chose for himself.
Lot started having troubles. The first was that he dwelt amongst stubborn folk, who were depraved. Their stubbornness bought war upon them and Lot fell victim. Abraham had to go to war because of Lot, just to rescue him from his captors. Again, God didn't ask him to go to war, but he just did it because of his nephew.
This showed that Abraham clearly cared about the young man in spite of the way Lot treated Abraham.
Lot continued to live among them despite their worrisome way of life. Their depravity was so much that God had to personally pay them a visit. We know the rest of the story.
Many people may not realise this, but Lot lost all his wealth, which included all his servants and slaves and herdsmen (the same that quarrelled with Abraham's, leading to their separation in the first place). He only saved his immediate family. His sons-in-law didn't make it. The wife also. The only reason Lot survived was because God knew that Abraham cared about him (19:29).
I'm not certain that Abraham was aware that Lot survived the inferno. This is because, even though God saved Lot, it's not recorded that Abraham was informed. Knowing how much Abraham cared about Lot, he would have sought him out if he had any idea that there was a possibility of Lot's survival.
Now, my questions: why wasn't Abraham informed of Lot's survival?
Why didn't Lot seek him out? Lot apparently knew how to reach Abraham. Was he ashamed of being regarded as a poor man since he had lost all he had? He knew Abraham would still pity him and take him back.
Why didn't Lot investigate the source of his daughters pregnancies? He said so himself that they were virgins (19:8). Since their promised husbands died in the flames, I felt he should at least ask about the source of their pregnancies.
It is possible Lot had compromised his standards. Even though he didn't partake in or practice their customs, they had rubbed off on him and he began to see them as normal (see 2 Peter 2:7-8 ).
The idea of incest is distasteful to the average human being. For the daughters of Lot to even consider it (for whatever excuse they gave), it suggests that it may have been a common practice in Sodom, alongside homosexuality, rape, etcetera.
In summary, Lot made a Lot of wrong choices and it cost him dearly. He entered Sodom as one of the wealthiest men in that region, but ended up in a cave. He then faded from relevance, when he had the opportunity of being named alongside Abraham.
I hope we've learned a lesson or two from this article.
32 "Remember Lot's wife."
Luke 17.
Monday, 12 January 2015
Sunday, 4 January 2015
The Genealogy of Adam
"This is the book of the genealogy of Adam..."
-Genesis 5:1[NKJV]
I've often wondered how many of his great grand children Adam saw. A detailed study puts all into perspective. The following information was gleaned from the book of Genesis from chapters 5-7. Here goes...
Adam lived a long time. He saw his grand children till about the 8th generation. This excludes Cain and Abel. The official reckoning begins from Seth.
Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old.
Enos(h) was born when Adam was 235
Cainan (Kenan) was born when Adam was 325
Mahalaleel was born when Adam was 395
Jared was born when Adam was 460
Enoch was born when Adam was 622
Methuselah was born when Adam was 687
Lamech was born when Adam was 874
Just imagine the beauty of it. Several generations of gray haired men alive at the same time, each seeing their father(s) and son(s).
Adam saw his children to the 8th generation.
Adam died at the age of 930. At this point,
Seth was 800 years old
Enos was 695
Cainan was 605
Mahalaleel was 535
Jared was 470
Enoch was 308
Methuselah was 243
Lamech was aged 56 as at then (small boy, lol).
When Lamech was 113 years old, Enoch was taken (this was 57 years after Adam had died). I try to imagine the shock and commotion his disappearance caused.
Lamech was the father of Noah.
Noah was born when Lamech was 182 years old (this was 126 years after Adam died and 69 years after Enoch was taken). He didn't meet Adam and Enoch, he only heard stories of them. He met the rest of his ancestors.
By the time Noah was 500 years old, he had borne three sons who had married wives. This was the point at which he received the mandate to build an Ark because of the wickedness in the world. He spent 100 years in building it.
I wonder what Methuselah and Lamech thought about him as he laboured away day in day out.
Non of the ancestors witnessed the flood.
Adam died 669 years before the flood
Enoch left 612 years before the flood
Seth died 557 years before the flood
Enos died 459 years before the flood
Cainan died 364 years before the flood
Mahalaleel died 309 years before the flood
Jared died 177 years before the flood
Lamech died 5 years before the flood
Methuselah died in the year the flood came, when Noah was 600 years old.
-Genesis 5:1[NKJV]
I've often wondered how many of his great grand children Adam saw. A detailed study puts all into perspective. The following information was gleaned from the book of Genesis from chapters 5-7. Here goes...
Adam lived a long time. He saw his grand children till about the 8th generation. This excludes Cain and Abel. The official reckoning begins from Seth.
Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old.
Enos(h) was born when Adam was 235
Cainan (Kenan) was born when Adam was 325
Mahalaleel was born when Adam was 395
Jared was born when Adam was 460
Enoch was born when Adam was 622
Methuselah was born when Adam was 687
Lamech was born when Adam was 874
Just imagine the beauty of it. Several generations of gray haired men alive at the same time, each seeing their father(s) and son(s).
Adam saw his children to the 8th generation.
Adam died at the age of 930. At this point,
Seth was 800 years old
Enos was 695
Cainan was 605
Mahalaleel was 535
Jared was 470
Enoch was 308
Methuselah was 243
Lamech was aged 56 as at then (small boy, lol).
When Lamech was 113 years old, Enoch was taken (this was 57 years after Adam had died). I try to imagine the shock and commotion his disappearance caused.
Lamech was the father of Noah.
Noah was born when Lamech was 182 years old (this was 126 years after Adam died and 69 years after Enoch was taken). He didn't meet Adam and Enoch, he only heard stories of them. He met the rest of his ancestors.
By the time Noah was 500 years old, he had borne three sons who had married wives. This was the point at which he received the mandate to build an Ark because of the wickedness in the world. He spent 100 years in building it.
I wonder what Methuselah and Lamech thought about him as he laboured away day in day out.
Non of the ancestors witnessed the flood.
Adam died 669 years before the flood
Enoch left 612 years before the flood
Seth died 557 years before the flood
Enos died 459 years before the flood
Cainan died 364 years before the flood
Mahalaleel died 309 years before the flood
Jared died 177 years before the flood
Lamech died 5 years before the flood
Methuselah died in the year the flood came, when Noah was 600 years old.
Friday, 4 April 2014
He Was Human Too
"But the fact is, it was our pains he carried--[our] disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures."
Isaiah 53:4 [MSG]
The pain was excruciating.
This time, it drew fresh tears. He opened his eyes and barely saw through his hazy vision.
Dusty sweat trickled down his brow and into his eyes, stinging them.
He could hear the chaotic chatter at the background, someone mentioned his name in a statement and he tried to listen.
The next blow fell on his back and distracted his thoughts...
His body was in a great mess: His skin hung loose at different points where the razor-sharp pieces of metal ripped his flesh, and flies struggled to perch on the raw wound.
He had lost so much blood.
He was still losing more...
He was thirsty.
He asked himself again if he deserved to be thus punished- he could have simply disappeared.
Or unleashed a legion of his able bodied warriors.
All he needed to do was say a word. One word.
He remembered the slaps he received, the sharp pain that shot down his spine as the thorny crown was forced to sit on his head, the sight of the whip with sharp pieces of metal and bone attached.
And the mocking faces of the soldiers.
He remembered his Father.
He thought of the people he was supposed to represent.
He remembered how often his Father talked about his plan for their redemption and their future fellowship with Him.
This strengthened his resolve.
"For their sake", he muttered, "I'll do it for their sake".
The scheduled 39 strokes was almost done and he sagged as the last one hit him.
My Jesus!
Jesus was also human. He felt pain and joy. He was also tempted, but did not sin.
If you have "missed it", do not run away from God because He loves you and wants to help you to overcome.
And Jesus, "...since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted."
Hebrews 7.18 [NLT].
Isaiah 53:4 [MSG]
The pain was excruciating.
This time, it drew fresh tears. He opened his eyes and barely saw through his hazy vision.
Dusty sweat trickled down his brow and into his eyes, stinging them.
He could hear the chaotic chatter at the background, someone mentioned his name in a statement and he tried to listen.
The next blow fell on his back and distracted his thoughts...
His body was in a great mess: His skin hung loose at different points where the razor-sharp pieces of metal ripped his flesh, and flies struggled to perch on the raw wound.
He had lost so much blood.
He was still losing more...
He was thirsty.
He asked himself again if he deserved to be thus punished- he could have simply disappeared.
Or unleashed a legion of his able bodied warriors.
All he needed to do was say a word. One word.
He remembered the slaps he received, the sharp pain that shot down his spine as the thorny crown was forced to sit on his head, the sight of the whip with sharp pieces of metal and bone attached.
And the mocking faces of the soldiers.
He remembered his Father.
He thought of the people he was supposed to represent.
He remembered how often his Father talked about his plan for their redemption and their future fellowship with Him.
This strengthened his resolve.
"For their sake", he muttered, "I'll do it for their sake".
The scheduled 39 strokes was almost done and he sagged as the last one hit him.
My Jesus!
Jesus was also human. He felt pain and joy. He was also tempted, but did not sin.
If you have "missed it", do not run away from God because He loves you and wants to help you to overcome.
And Jesus, "...since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted."
Hebrews 7.18 [NLT].
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
What's In A Shout?
"But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee."
-Psalm 5:11
Oftentimes, while in church, we hear the worship leader, or whoever is at the pulpit say, "Give the Lord a shout!"
I often wondered why one must shout, and I usually thought one can just worship God quietly. 'Must we shout and disturb everybody?' No, we mustn't disturb everybody, but there is a time to shout. These instructions often come by the spirit, and it's a note of victory to shout, whether it be a victory one already realised, or, a potential one.
There are many instances in Scripture where God's people were instructed to shout. The most popular one is the story of Joshua, the Israelites and the great walls of Jericho, where the children of Israel shouted on cue and brought down the great walls of Jericho. I'll not go into that one.
From our opening verse, the psalmist instructs those that trust God to rejoice and express that joy with a shout. He gave a very interesting reason, which is, "…because thou defendest them …"
God is our defense, and we can with this knowledge, shout out to him in joy when faced with a challenge, and see him work on our behalf. It has worked several times in the past, and still works because we still serve the same God, and he has not changed.
There is a story in the Bible, from the 13th chapter of second book of Chronicles that inspired this piece. Abijah, the grandson of Solomon had just been made king in Judah following the death of Rehoboam his father. Now, Jeroboam the rebel leader who led the rebellion of Israel from the kingship of David's lineage, was king over the rest of Israel. He came to fight against Abijah and Judah. Abijah set the battle in array, but stood in a hill and preached to Jeroboam, trying to let him see his error and also to convince him to give up the fight. But while Abijah spoke, Jeroboam set an ambush against Judah, to rout them from behind.
It's interesting to note that Israel had twice the number of soldiers that Judah had, 800,000 vs 400,000.
Abijah suddenly realised what was happening, and the battle was already against them. Listen to what happened next:
14 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.
15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.
What a great victory! Not only did they defeat Jeroboam, the same Jeroboam never recovered from that defeat.
What's the lesson here? For me, whenever there's a challenge, I'll table it before God and give a shout of victory, because God is my defence!
"Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee."
Isaiah 12:6.
-Psalm 5:11
Oftentimes, while in church, we hear the worship leader, or whoever is at the pulpit say, "Give the Lord a shout!"
I often wondered why one must shout, and I usually thought one can just worship God quietly. 'Must we shout and disturb everybody?' No, we mustn't disturb everybody, but there is a time to shout. These instructions often come by the spirit, and it's a note of victory to shout, whether it be a victory one already realised, or, a potential one.
There are many instances in Scripture where God's people were instructed to shout. The most popular one is the story of Joshua, the Israelites and the great walls of Jericho, where the children of Israel shouted on cue and brought down the great walls of Jericho. I'll not go into that one.
From our opening verse, the psalmist instructs those that trust God to rejoice and express that joy with a shout. He gave a very interesting reason, which is, "…because thou defendest them …"
God is our defense, and we can with this knowledge, shout out to him in joy when faced with a challenge, and see him work on our behalf. It has worked several times in the past, and still works because we still serve the same God, and he has not changed.
There is a story in the Bible, from the 13th chapter of second book of Chronicles that inspired this piece. Abijah, the grandson of Solomon had just been made king in Judah following the death of Rehoboam his father. Now, Jeroboam the rebel leader who led the rebellion of Israel from the kingship of David's lineage, was king over the rest of Israel. He came to fight against Abijah and Judah. Abijah set the battle in array, but stood in a hill and preached to Jeroboam, trying to let him see his error and also to convince him to give up the fight. But while Abijah spoke, Jeroboam set an ambush against Judah, to rout them from behind.
It's interesting to note that Israel had twice the number of soldiers that Judah had, 800,000 vs 400,000.
Abijah suddenly realised what was happening, and the battle was already against them. Listen to what happened next:
14 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.
15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.
What a great victory! Not only did they defeat Jeroboam, the same Jeroboam never recovered from that defeat.
What's the lesson here? For me, whenever there's a challenge, I'll table it before God and give a shout of victory, because God is my defence!
"Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee."
Isaiah 12:6.
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Alvin Collum York
I recently watched a movie, 'The Leatherheads' that made me read about Alvin York. Portions of that movie was (loosely) based on him. Googling him, I found his info on wikipedia.
The introductory notes, "Alvin Cullum York (December 13, 1887 – September 2, 1964) was one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132 others." got my attention, and I thought, 'only a man with the Holy Spirit can do this', cos it was so much like what David did.
In case you don't know, the medal of honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government.
My suspicion of his Christian background was confirmed as I read further. The online encyclopedia had the following to say about a violent drunk who gave his life to Christ: "Despite his history of drinking and fighting, York attended church regularly and often led the hymn singing. A revival meeting at the end of 1914 led him to a conversion experience on January 1, 1915."
When asked by his divisional commander, General George B. Duncan, in 1919, to comment on his war feats, he said "A higher power than man power guided and watched over me and told me what to do."
As incredible as this seems, it's a true life story. Read more here.
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