Josh Benner

Tag: Bible

  • Abram and Lot. Studying Genesis 13

    Abram and Lot. Studying Genesis 13

    Genesis 13 begins with Abraham moving from Egypt into the Negeb. Abraham’s nephew Lot was absent from the previous event in chapter 12 and as chapter 13 begins, even Abraham’s possessions are mentioned before Lot. In chapter 13, we will see a significant confrontation between the patriarch in his nephew. 

    Genesis 13:1: 

    So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb. 

    In chapter 12, Abraham and his wife Sarah had traveled ot Egypt. It was there that Abraham became fearful for his life and concocted a misleading story where Sarah would tell Pharaoh that she was Abraham’s sister instead of his wife. 

    Pharaoh falls for the ruse. Perhaps unexpected by Abraham, but Pharaoh takes Sarah to be his own wife. Thinking that Abraham is Sarah’s brother, Pharaoh pays a bride price to him. 

    In Genesis 12:16, we see all that Pharaoh gave to Abraham: 

    for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 

    So because of the deception, Abraham is enriched. The Bible doesn’t condone that fact, it’s just recording what happened. Later in chapter 12, Pharaoh learns that Sarah is actually Abraham’s wife and banishes them from Egypt.

    Chapter 12 ends in verse 20: 

    And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had. 

    Notice that it says that they were sent away with all that he had, meaning all that Pharaoh had given him. So he’s traveling heavy in Genesis 13. 

    Genesis 13:2: 

    Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 

    Homecoming

    Abraham returns to the Negeb and it’s an area with which he was familiar. The passage reminds us that this was the palace where he had been an altar to the Lord after God had made his covenant promises to Abraham at the beginning of chapter 12. 

    Genesis 13:3-4: 

    3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.

    Too much wealth

    Abraham arrives back at Bethel much richer than he had been when he had left. And there’s a unique problem. Abraham and Lot each have so much wealth and such large flocks that the land where they’re staying isn’t big enough for the two of them. 

    13:5-6:

    5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together

    We see this same challenge in other places in the Book of Genesis, such as between Jacob and Esau in Genesis 36:6-8:

     6 Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. 7 For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.) 

    We don’t see conflict specifically from Abraham and Lot but we do see conflicts between their herdsmen. Genesis 13:7: 

    7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. 

    Ironically, Abraham and Lot are able to dwell in the land of the Canaanites and the Perizzites peacefully but they can’t coexist amongst themselves. And they’re family! 

    Making peace

    A situation that could have potentially gotten very contentious gets smoothed over by Abraham. 

    Genesis 13:8-9:

    8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”

    This event in chapter 13 is a striking contrast from Abraham’s actions in chapter 12. 

    In chapter 12, we see Abraham act out in fear and show a lack of faith as he worries that his life is at risk for his marriage with Sarah. 

    Here in chapter 13, we see the faith of Abraham as he allows Lot to pick the land first. Being the elder in the family, Abraham should have had the greater influence but he freely gives that up to keep the peace. We also see tremendous faith in dealing with the land. In spite of the promises of God, Abraham was willing to allow Lot to choose his land first. 

    It’s speculation, but perhaps a part of the change is that Abraham has returned to the land where the Lord had made the promise and where Abraham had built an altar to the Lord. Abraham is in closer proximity to the sacred place of the Lord. 

    The unpromised land

    10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other.

    -Genesis 13:10-11

    It’s hard to fault Lot too much. He was given first pick and so he picks the land that looks good to him. It makes sense. Ultimately, we will see that he did not pick the best land. Sometimes what appears to us to be good, isn’t what we thought it was. 

    Verse 10 talks of Lot seeing the land. It’s the same Hebrew word that gets used when Eve looks on the forbidden fruit in the garden. This verse also compares the land to a garden of the Lord. It’s using Edenic language. Lot has picked the land that looks like paradise, but the verse ends by foreshadowing Sodom and Gomorrah. 

    Sodom will be mentioned again in verses 12-13. This is an initial indicator that the land which Lot has chosen might not be so great. 

    12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord. 

    In verses 14-15, we see that the Lord has not forgotten Abraham. 

    14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.

    Abraham is standing in the land that God will give to him and his offspring. As Christians, we know the rest of the story. But try to think about it from Abraham’s perspective. He’s been told something incredible, and still just has the promise of God to believe in. During his lifetime, Abraham will only own a small piece of land in the Promised Land. But it’s not just about Abraham. It’s about the people who would inherit the land and the God who would fulfill that promise. 

    The Lord reiterates the promises that he had made to Abraham. Land but also offspring. Verse 16:

    16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.

    As the passage concludes, Abraham is moving about in the land the Lord has promised. 

     17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord. 

    What looked like it had the potential to be a significant crisis ends up being a display of God’s amazing grace and blessings. 

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  • The covenant with Abram. Studying Genesis 12

    The covenant with Abram. Studying Genesis 12

    In Genesis, we see three acts of divine judgment each followed by acts of divine grace. 

    We see the curse of the original sin which brings forth death but the Lord also makes a promise of ultimate victory to come from an offspring of the woman (Genesis 3:15). 

    The next major divine judgment is the flood where God wipes out the earth and all of its inhabitants, save for Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark. But then we also see this event followed by another divine blessing as the Lord makes his covenant with Noah. In this sense, Noah becomes like another Adam figure in a reconstituted world. 

    In Genesis 11, we see another major sin event: the Tower of Babel as a prideful world tries to build a monument to their own glory. The Lord brings confusion to the people in Genesis 11. But we are also introduced to Abram in that same chapter and it would be Aram through whom the Lord would make a great covenant. 

    In this sense, Abram too will be another Adam figure who is the father of a new humanity, a people of God and through whom the Lord will ensure divine blessings to the world and through whom he will bring the ultimate blessing of the Lord Jesus (Galatains 3:16). 

    In Genesis 11, Abram is introduced as a son of Terah. We’re also told that he has a wife named Sarai and that she is barren. This introduces a theme of barrenness that will also come up in numerous future Bible stories including with Rachel and Rebekah as well as with Hannah in First Samuel and with Elizabeth in the Gospel of Luke. 

    Genesis 11 ends by saying that Abram and his family had settled in Haran. 

    Genesis 11:31-32: 

    ​​31 Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran. 

    Genesis 12 hits the ground running with the Lord calling Abram away from the land where they had settled. 

    Genesis 12:1-3: 

    Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 

    The Lord makes three promises to Abram. 

    A great nation

    As Adam was the first man in the world, as Noah was the leader of a new world and the one chosen by God to be spared (along with his family), Abram is also uniquely positioned as the one man through whom the Lord makes this covenant. As Thomas Schreiner notes in the Short Studies of Biblical Theology of Covenant, the rest of the world was still opposed to God when he made his covenant promise with Abram. 

    As with all covenants in the Bible, it is totally at the initiative of God that the covenant is made. The Hebrew word translate for “covenant” is not found in Genesis 12 but it is found in chapters 15 and 17 in similar contexts of talking about the same promises. For that reason, it is appropriate to view chapter 12 as the beginning section of this covenant. 

    In verse 2, the Lord promises to make Abram a great nation. This promises will also be elaborated upon in Genesis chapters 15 and 17. The promise of being a great nation will imply two things. 

    In chapter 11, a kingdom had just fallen at Babel. But here, the Lord tells Abram that he will be a great nation. It’s because the Lord was establishing a nation that would be dedicated to him and set apart for the purposes of God. As Schreiner notes, “the word nation also implies offspring, for Abraham couldn’t be a great nation without offspring” (Covenant and God’s Purpose for the World, Page 43). 

    In chapters 15 and 17, the Lord would also promise that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars (15:5) and that Abram would be a father of many nations (17:4) and that kings will come from him (17:6). 

    Abram would also later be gold that his offspring would possess the gates of their enemies (22:17). This victory links the offspring of Abram ot the seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15 who would defeat the serpent. 

    In the New Testament, we see that this promise is fulfilled in Christ. 

    Galatians 3:16: 

    the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ

    We see a further elaboration of the political natures of God’s promise to Abraham. 

    Genesis 28:14: 

    Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

    And again in Genesis 35:11 where we see a furthering of the promise: 

    God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. 

    And all of this happens through a man and a woman who are barren and have no children when we’re first introduced to them! 

    Land

    God had also promised land to Abram. 

    Schreiner notes that if Abram is like a new Adam, then the Promised Land is like a New Eden. 

    In Genesis 15:18, we’re told of the parameters of the Promised Land: 

    18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

    They arrive in the land under the leadership of Joshua.  

    We seem to see a realization of these promises during the reign of King Solomon. 1 Kings 4:20-21: 

    20 Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. 21  Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. 

    We saw a picture of what God’s promises were supposed to look like but the people sinned and lost it. God was still faithful to his people. 

    Blessing

    Abram was told that he would be a blessing. Schreiner points out that the covenant was always intended to be a blessing for all of the nations, not just Israel. God would bless his people but also bring blessings to the world through his people. 

    In the New Covenant age, we see the blessings to the world through the gospel and as a result of the cross of Christ. 

  • Who is Paul? And why it matters. Studying Galatians 1:1

    Who is Paul? And why it matters. Studying Galatians 1:1

    The defense of the gospel

    I begin this post by asking you to consider two questions. 

    First question: who is Jesus? 

    Second question: who is Paul? 

    That’s the most important question that anyone can answer. Is he a good teacher? Is he a good philosopher? Is he a good idea? Is he a good role model? Is he a good man? Or is he the Lord who died for your sins? And the Son of God? And the king of kings? 

    But who is Paul? 

    While not as important to know Paul as it is to know Jesus, how you view Paul matters, and here’s why. Because how you understand Paul actually points to how you will understand Jesus. 

    A history of Pauline heresy

    When Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, we don’t know every single detail of background information but one thing seems pretty clear. 

    There were people undermining Paul to the churches in Galatia.

    Who is Paul? 

    He is an Apostle of Jesus Christ.

    Apostles were people who had personally seen the risen Lord in the early church and who were commissioned to lead the church. 

    1 Corinthians 12 lists offices in the early church:: 

    God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 

    The apostles are listed first in that list for a reason. They were the authority. 

    We also see this in Ephesians 4:11-12: 

    he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ

    In the Book of Acts, after the ascension of the risen Jesus, and with Judas out of the picture, the first thing the apostles do is appoint another apostle: Matthias. 

    The Apostle Stephen dies in Acts 7 and we see Paul later become an apostle. After that, we never see apostles being replaced. And again, as people who had witnessed the risen Jesus, and given the unique role of the apostles in the early church, I would argue that the office of Apostle died out in the age of the original apostles. 

    So as I said a moment ago, there were people who were undermining Paul and his apostolic authority. 

    People still do that to Paul. 

    Many liberal Christians undermine Paul’s writings as just his opinion and not scripture and therefore not authoritative. 

    Paul was one Christian giving his views on the scriptures and that’s no more inherently significant than any other Christian. 

    But that’s why the answer to my second question matters so much. Who is Paul? 

    Is he just some guy who has some thoughts about Jesus? Or is he a man who personally saw the risen Lord Jesus and was personally called by Jesus to be an apostle? 

    Two radically different views of who Paul is. 

    What you think about Paul matters to what you think about the rest of the New Testament. 

    So again, I ask you: who is he? 

    I believe that he’s called to be an apostle and that this was affirmed by the confirmation of the other apostles, by the history of the church, by the fact that the early church viewed his writings to have had apostolic authority, by the account of him having been a witness to the risen Jesus and the radical conversion he had from a persecutor of the church to a man who became a martyr for the church, and because of the signs and wonders the Lord enabled him to perform during his ministry. 

    And I think that’ll hopefully give some more background and meaning to these first verse of chapter 1. 

    Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 

    Paul wrote 13 letters in the New Testament. All of them begin with his first name. That was a standard letter writing practice at the time. In these ancient letters, you would start by naming the sender. It’s the first thing the reader sees. 

    As I’ve already discussed, Paul will affirm his apostolic authority. In nine of his 13 letters, Paul mentions his apostolic office in his opening. 

    But there are a couple of unique things about Galatians. 

    First, Paul doesn’t defend his apostolic authority in his other letters as fervently as in Galatians. He usually takes it as a given that the readers will accept that fact. 

    In Galatians, he says he’s an apostle: not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead

    Paul is an apostle because of a divine calling. It’s not because he says so, it’s not ultimately because the other apostles say so. 

    In the second half of chapter 1, Paul will again give an extended version of his early actions after coming to faith and a long defense of his apostolic ministry. There is no section in Paul’s letters where he goes into such great detail to explain why he is authentically an apostle. 

    And here’s why it matters so much in this letter. 

    When people are downplaying Paul’s authority, his writing, his teaching, then it makes it easy to also downplay his message. 

    Paul talks so much about being an apostle, not because he’s insecure. 

    Paul isn’t being vain. 

    It matters that they know, and that we know he’s an apostle of Jesus Christ because Paul has the message of the truth about Jesus Christ, that he is the Lord who has died for us and that God reconciles sinful people to Jesus because of Christ and Christ alone. 

    And so Paul so fervently defends his apostolic authority because he needs to defend the gospel itself. 

    And he will be pointing to the gospel even from this first verse. not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 

    Jesus has been raised from the dead and he has led to a paradigm shift in human history and in salvation history. Everything changes because of the cross and because we have a risen Lord.  

    And Paul will point to that gospel. Because that’s what this letter is truly about.

    In verse 2, Paul says: 

    2 and all the brothers who are with me, 

    To the churches of Galatia: 

    All the brothers. 

    Paul includes his associates in the opening salutation. We don’t know exactly who was with him when he wrote Galatians. But notice that he does not call them apostles. He calls them brothers, while Paul is an apostle. 

    And then he addresses his letter to the churches in Galatia. As we’ve discussed the last couple of weeks, this was the region to which Paul had traveled during his first missionary journey. He shared the gospel, many people came to faith, but there were also very many who were hostile to the gospel. In writing to the Galatians, there were people who sought to dilute or distort the true gospel and so Paul writes as a defense of the gospel. 

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  • The 3 sons of Noah. Studying Genesis 10

    The 3 sons of Noah. Studying Genesis 10

    Towards the end of Genesis 9, we are reminded of the three sons of Noah. 

    Genesis 9:18:
    18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.

    What follows (Gen. 9:19-29) is a story which involves these three sons and where we see a curse given on the descendants of Ham (through Canaan) and blessings given to Shem and Japheth. 

    In Genesis 10, we see the family genealogies of those three sons. 

    The list gives 70 names. At the end of Genesis, 70 relatives of Jacob would enter into Egypt. During his ministry, Jesus would send out 70 disciples to preach the good news (Luke 10:1-24). 

    Japheth

    Japheth’s line is given first. One thing about Biblical genealogies which give multiple familial lines is that the most significant family line tends to come last. While Japheth is blessed by Noah, his line is not as crucial to the continuing Biblical narrative. Just because this line isn’t as important to the story doesn’t mean it’s insignificant. 

    Ham

    The second list of names given is the cursed line from Ham. This family line includes several nations who would end up conflicting with Israel throughout her history. Among them, you have Canaan but also Egypt, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girghashites, and the Hivites. 

    Shem

    The final genealogy given is that of Shem which is the one that continues the line from Noah to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, and ultimately to Jesus. 

    Thanks for reading! 

  • Noah, his sons, and shame. Studying Genesis 9:18-29

    Noah, his sons, and shame. Studying Genesis 9:18-29

    After the covenant which the Lord makes with Noah, we see a scandal involving Noah and his three sons at the end of Genesis 9. 

    The story is introduced by reminding the reader of the Sons of Noah. They will come up again in the genealogies of Genesis 10.

    Genesis 9:18: 

    18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 

    The verse mentions the Canaanites, the tribe who will be an adversary of the Israelites for many generations. They’re introduced here but will be talked about at the end of this section and into chapter 10. This is also the first mention of the Caanaites in the Bible. 

    Genesis 9:19: 

     19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. 

    As Adam was the progenitor of the human race, from Noah and his sons, we will see a newly constituted humanity after the flood. This is continuing with the themes of creation and new creation in Noah’s story 

    Genesis 9:20-21: 

    20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.

    Noah is the only person in the Bible referred to as “a man of the soil.” 

    As Adam was given charge to work and keep the garden in creation, we see Noah keeping with the family business of working the vineyard. As an interesting side note, there are ancient mythologies which attribute the creation of wine to the gods, such as the Egyptian myth of Osiris or the Greek myth of Dionysus. The Bible points to wine as being cultivated by humanity. 

    The text says that Noah became drunk. It’s interesting to wonder if he knew the effects of the wine since cultivation of grapes was new. Noah might have survived being in the ark through the great flood, but a little bit the wine is too much for him. 

    The text mentions that he lay uncovered in his tent. 

    Genesis 9:22: 

    22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.

    For the second time in the passage, Canaan is referred to. 

    Verses 22 and 23 are a bit cryptic as to what exactly is happening. Throughout the generations, there have been various interpretations as to the extent of Ham’s sin against Noah. Some have thought that there was some sort of sexual sin involved agaisnt Noah or his wife. The text does talk about how Ham “saw” Noah and this language is sometimes referred to in the Bible as referring to sexual activity but it also just as likely refers to simply seeing something and that word alone cannot lead to the conclusion that Ham physically did something against Noah. 

    Another theory is that Ham castrated Noah. That may seem like a big leap in interpretations, and it is not the view that I hold. Part of the reasoning for this interpretation is that Noah has only three sons but cursed Ham’s fourth son (Canaan) and that Noah curses Ham’s fourth son because he was prevented from having a fourth son. 

    It’s impossible to know exactly the sin issue from what’s provided in the text, but I hold to the view that Ham dishonored Noah in a vulnerable time and then told his brothers about this and the heart behind that is why his actions were so grievous. 

    Genesis 9:23: 

    23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

    As Ham dishonored Noah, we see the other two sons covering up his nakedness. They walk in backwards to prevent seeing the nakedness of their father and bringing further shame. 

    In the following verses, Noah awakens and realizes what has happened. 

    Genesis 9:24-25: 

    24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, 

    “Cursed be Canaan; 

    a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” 

    Canaan is mentioned for the third time in the passage. Noah does not bring a curse upon Ham but upon his son. It is unclear as to why this happened. Canaan does in fact become a major rival of Israel in the Old Testament so the curse does prove to be true. 

    Is Canaan being unfairly punished? It’s another complication textual matter. The point of the curse is that it’s pointing to the offspring of Ham which is why it’s a curse given to Canaan. 

    There’s blessing and also curses as Noah calls for blessings on his other two sons. 

    Genesis 9:26-27: 

    26 He also said, 

    “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; 

    and let Canaan be his servant. 

    27 May God enlarge Japheth, 

    and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, 

    and let Canaan be his servant.” 

    The chapter ends, and the life of Noah ends in verses 28-29: 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died. 

    Parallels to Adam

    As has already been mentioned, Adam planted a garden and Noah planted a vineyard. 

    As there is a curse on humanity after the fall into sin, there is a curse (Gen. 9:25) as a result of dishonoring Noah. Both stories involve the shame of nakedness. Both stories lead to familial strife. 

    With the first sin, they eat the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden. With the sin against Noah, Noah is witnessed within his tent. Eve sees the fruit looks good for food. Ham sees the nakedness of his father (Shem and Japheth do not). 

    In this story, we see the continuation of human sin after the flood. 

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