Genesis 20-22
First Use of "Worship" in the Bible
Psalm 5:1-4 Do You Watch for the Answers?
1.”Give ear to my words, Yahweh. Consider my meditation.2.Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God; for to You do I pray.3.Yahweh, in the morning You shall hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before You, and will watch expectantly.4.For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can't live with You.“Observation
5:2-3.If God is our King, doesn't it make sense to check in with Him in the morning and see what He has to say about your day? Do you actually believe that God will answer you? If so, do you watch for it?
Application
Bring your To-Do list before God every morning. Instead of a check, put a cross next to the item you did with a Power Assist. Or keep a journal or prayer list so you can develop a track record of God's faithfulness.
Prayer
My King, here are my plans and requests for the day, anything You want to change? OK, I'll be on the lookout for how You're going to answer. Amen.
Proverbs 2:1-6 Wisdom is Not an Accident
1.“My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;2.So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;3.Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;4.“If you seek understanding like silver, and search for it like hidden treasure,5.Then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and you will discover the knowledge of God.”6.For Yahweh gives wisdom. Out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.Observations
2:1-6.Accepting and applying ourselves to understanding God's revelation is the prerequisite to understanding Him. If we don't grasp the fear of God, we don't know Him.
Note the verbs (action words) indicating what we must do to get wisdom.
2:4-5.
The gems never lie on the surface; you have to dig for them. The digging impresses Truth more deeply on our minds (and working up a Bible Study sweat keeps us out of trouble).
Application
A good way to store up the commands is to memorize them. When was the last time you memorized a verse?
Prayer
God who formed the world by Your word, I will treasure everything You've said. Amen.
Genesis 20-22 The First Use of "Worship" in the Bible
[Skip ahead below to Genesis 22 for a BIG chapter on Worship if you're short on time.]
Genesis 20 More Righteous than Abraham and Sarah
1."Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South...2.Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.3.But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken. For she is a man’s wife.”4.Now Abimelech had not come near her. He said, “Lord, will you kill even a righteous nation?5.Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister?’ She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands have I done this.”6.God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her.7.Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.”8.Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared.9.Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!”10.Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?”11.Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’12.Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.13.It happened, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”14.Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him.15.Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you.”16.To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated.”17.Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children.18.For Yahweh had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife."Observations
20:1-13.God communicates with Abimelech, a non-Israelite with a clean heart and hands, who fears and obeys God impressively. Abe is up to his old tricks of self-preservation, even though he saw how God could protect in the last chapter. God could even send angels just as He did for Lot. Abe actually endangers the promise of Sarah bearing his son, but God overrules his folly. God gives Abimelech the choice of obeying. (Well, He did apply a little persuasion with promised consequences.)
20:7. So now Abe's a “prophet”? First use of the word in Scripture; ditto the Hebrew word for intercessory prayer (although bargaining for righteous folks in Sodom is intercessory action).
Application
Fearing man more than God leads to foolish actions.
Prayer
God Who Intervenes, may I fear You more than anyone or anything on earth. Amen.
Genesis 21 Laughing and Weeping and Swearing
1."Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken.2.Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.3.Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.4.Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him..5.Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him.6.Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.”7.She said, “Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”8.The child grew, and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.9.Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.10.Therefore she said to Abraham, “ Cast out this handmaid and her son! For the son of this handmaid will not be heir with my son, Isaac.”11.The thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son.12.God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your handmaid. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For from Isaac will your seed be called.13.I will also make a nation of the son of the handmaid, because he is your seed.”14.Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.15.The water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.16.She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of the child.” She sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.17.God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.18.Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him in your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”19.God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the bottle with water, and gave the boy drink.20.God was with the boy (Ishmael)...21.He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.22.It happened at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.23.Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.”24.Abraham said, “I will swear.”25.Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.26.Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this thing. You didn’t tell me, neither did I hear of it, until today.”27.Abraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant.28.Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.29.Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves mean?”30.He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.”31.Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because they both swore there.32.So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.33.Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God.34.Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days."Observations
21:1.God does what He promised, despite the dismal prospect of their age, causing laughter at the incongruity. Isaac's name means “he laughs.”
21:9.
There are lots of parallels with Israel's experience in this chapter. The theme of separation for the sake of blessing continues. Freeing a slave and her child deprived them of any inheritance rights according to Mesopotamian law. See Digging Deeper for Paul's use of this passage in Galatians 4.
21:19.
Sometimes the solution to our problems are right in front of us, but while fixating on the problems, we don't see the solution until God opens our eyes.
21:22.
Even though Abe wasn't perfect in his dealings with Abimelech, God's purposes in separating and blessing Abe so others could be blessed is being realized. A lesson for both Israel and us. The covenant between Abe and Abimelech sets the stage for peaceful influence on one's neighbors.
Application
Make a break with anything that will mess up your blessing; make friends so others seek God through you.
Prayer
Everlasting God, I praise You for being so faithful to keep Your promises. May I keep the ones I've made to You. Amen.
Genesis 22 Worship is Response to Revelation
1."It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.”2.He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”3.Abraham rose early in the morning...went to the place of which God had told him.4.On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off.5.Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will WORSHIP, and come back to you.”6.Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together.7.Isaac spoke...where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”8.Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together.9.They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood.10.Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.11.The angel of Yahweh called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.”12.He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”13.Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.14.Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.”15.The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of the sky,16.and said, “I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,17.that I will bless you greatly, (in blessing I will bless you) and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies.18.In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice”.Observations
22:5.This is the first time the English term “Worship” is used in the Scripture, although sacrifices were offered previously, and Abe was falling on his face (Hebrew word for worship) before God a few times earlier. How did Abe worship? By obediently Responding to the Revelation God had given him. Abe demonstrated that God was worth more than what was most dear to him, and by withholding nothing, glorified God as Worthy of all. When God reveals His glory later on, people respond to that revelation by doing push-ups (face on ground). He reveals himself in answering prayer and saving His people, the response is praise and thanksgiving. He reveals His will, we do it. The essence of Worship is Response to Revelation, starting with cognitive understanding, expressed by our volitional will in sacrificial obedience, and culminating in emotional joy, because we know we are pleasing to God (in choosing what is best). How do you think Abe felt about obeying?
See Digging Deeper for how Abe used logic to come up with the concept of Resurrection.
22:12.
Note how Fear of the Lord enters into obedience.
22:17.
Double Blessing!! That's how the Hebrew text reads (using the Piel intensive, intentional form of the verb twice). As a result of his sacrificial, God glorifying obedience, God increases the promised blessing. Since chapter 12, God hadn't talked to Abe about the blessing part of the promise. Now that Abe passed the test perfectly, God adds a plus to the A = A+.
Application
How are you at Responding to God's Revelation? Did you score well on any tests lately?
Prayer
O God of tests and double blessings, unite my ambitions to fear Your name above all in this world, and show that You are Worthy of all glory, by my unreserved, mind, heart and soul obedience. Amen.
Digging Deeper
Genesis 21:9 Paul uses this passage in Galatians 4:21ff to argue against NT believers succumbing to Jewish pressure, and submitting themselves to the ceremonial requirements of the Jewish law (e.g., Galatians 3:10; Galatians 5:2). He sets up an analogy: Hagar, a slave has offspring according to the flesh, and represents the law (through Ishmael there is no eternal inheritance); Sarah, a freewoman, has offspring according to the promise (through which comes the eternal inheritance).
The promise of heirship/inheritance comes from God, through Sarah's offspring, (Isaac, and eventually the freedom Christ offers), not through the bondage of the flesh (desire for the temporal), represented by Hagar, and keeping the external law to get one's value from men.
Galatians 5:1 Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don't be entangled again with a yoke of bondage....13 For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don't use your freedom to indulge the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.
Genesis 22:5 I love this verse, not only for the insight it gives into worship and blessing but because of the little words at the end of the verse. “We will come back.” On the three day journey, Abe reckoned the resurrection, even though there was no such thing in history. How did he do it? Hebrews 11 gives a little insight into his thinking.
Hebrews 11:17 "By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son;18 even he to whom it was said, "In Isaac will your seed be called;" 19 concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead."
Abe knew two things:
- God told him he'd have grandkids through Isaac.
- God told him to sacrifice Isaac (as in kill and burn totally).
How do those two pieces of Revelation harmonize? "Well," reasoned Abe (Greek=logizomai to think, reckon, reason, from which we get “logic”), “if God said I'd get grandkids from Isaac, then Isaac needs to have kids. He can't do that if he's gone up in smoke. But God also said send him up in smoke. So, God's gonna have to give him back to me, somehow.”
The fact that God had “supernaturally” given Isaac to Abe in the first place might have made it a little easier, but still, it's impressive reasoning, born out of his faith in God's promises. Faith is not a “leap in the dark,” but a “step into the light of God's Revelation.”
God in a nutshell: He intervenes on behalf of His people and His plan, while still letting people reap the consequences of their actions; He is Worthy of all that we hold dear; He doubly blesses those who give Him their all.
Us in a nutshell: Not omniscient, but capable of passing God's tests; responsible to respond to Revelation and rewarded for doing so, enhancing God's reputation (glorifying Him); capable of reasonable faith in what God has revealed.
Where to go for more
Truthbase.net
Worship in Truth or Tradition
Keep the Faith (Why folks lose their faith at college)
Faith Use It or Lose It
Faith Actuates God's Promises (Two Parts- second link is a little fussy)