Good afternoon, everyone! I hope you are doing well on this celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany.
Today's readings put us in a very interesting part of the book of Genesis. Here are my thoughts for today:
1) "The LORD appeared... behold three men were standing opposite him." Is it just me, or does this seems to imply that the LORD appeared as three men? I don't want to read too much into the text, but that does have a Trinitarian ring to it. Again perhaps that is reading too much into the text, but it certainly sounds like this could be a hint at God's Triunity in the Old Testament.
1a) Notice also that Abraham's name is changed when God institutes the covenant of circumcision with him in Genesis 17. I missed noting this yesterday. Names are huge in this culture, for they told something about the person. Abram "Exalted father," becomes Abraham "Father of a Multitude."
2) Abraham's hospitality seems to be one of the major points in this chapter. Notice how well he attends to the strangers. This attitude of hospitality was (and still is) a major part of their culture. It is also something that is commended as a virtue in the Christian faith, especially considering Jesus taught us that when we do something for a brother or sister in need, so also we've done for him. In many ways, I find it sad that we've lost this virtue - perhaps because of the inherent selfishness and materialism of our generation. How could we recover a hospitality to the stranger in our lives or in our faith?
3) Sarah laughs. The three men/the Lord brought a message to Abraham that his wife would bear a son. Yesterday, God told Abraham this and he laughed at God. Now Sarah hears this news and she laughs at God. The big deal? He's 100 and she's 90. They're old. That's a big deal. It may seem that God is calling us to do something unconventional; nevertheless, "Is anything too difficult for the LORD?" No, in fact, "with God nothing is impossible" (Luke 1:37).
4) Sodom and Gommorah - not the place to be. A very wicked city. The messengers were sent to see if the place was really as bad as everyone said it was. It's destruction was indeed at hand, but the Lord states would spare it if even ten righteous persons were there. Notice then as we move into chapter 19 that it changes from three to two angels. I don't know what that's about. Nevertheless, Abraham's nephew Lot lived in Sodom, and when the messengers come upon him, he begs them to stay with him rather than in the square of the city. Again, notice the good hospitality.
5) So what was the sin of sodom? Was it sodomy? Well, if we're going to define sodomy as a sin, then it must be based on what is actually being considered a sin. What the men of the city want to do is to commit an act of rape. They want to violate the dignity of these messengers against their will. That is sodomy - a non-consentual act of homosexual rape. And by the way, the word "sodomy" is a 16th century invention; further, the word "homosexual" is a 19th century invention. Neither of these words appear in the original texts. I point that out not because I think the Bible supports the homosexual practice (because I cannot see how it does), but rather because of the way we've allowed our English translations to color our interpretation of the text in a way that prevents our understanding. The problem here is that this texts is used as a prooftext against homosexual practice generally by saying that Sodom was destroyed because they were, among other things, gay.
But that simply isn't the case; the sin of sodom is more complex than that. You see, what looms large all over this incident is the lack of hospitality shown by the people of Sodom, in contrast with the righteous hospitality of Lot and Abraham. The proposed act of homosexual gang-rape was only the icing on the cake and a symptom of a larger problem. This is Ezekiel's contention in Ezekiel 16:49-50, where the sin of sodom is named as being, "She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and did detestable things before me." Consider Jude in the New Testament, who says that the men of Sodom went after "strange flesh." This probably has more to do with the fact that they wanted to sleep with angels, which was considered detestable elsewhere in Genesis.
Now I'm not saying anything about the moral quality of the homosexual practice at this juncture (so don't misread me); all I'm saying is that we have to read the original context and the biblical context, which makes the sin of Sodom out to be a great act of inhospitality, pride, arrogance, gluttony, and other detestable acts (including the gang-rape).
Also, Lot offers up his daughters - that's very troubling to me. I think the point of that was to show he was more willing to have the honor of his daughters violated than to have the honor of a stranger under his roof violated. This doesn't strike our culture well, but then again, perhaps we've gone so far the other direction that we would not even offer a stranger a place to stay with us. I'm not suggesting you give your daughters up to an over-sexed mob either, but I'm just saying, we really need to reconsider this passage well for our own lives.
6) Then of course the fire and brimstone come, and Lot and his wife are told to flee. Actually, they have to be drug out of the city - as if the Lord's vision wasn't enough warning! After being told specifically not to look back, she did and she turned into a pillar of salt. I read somewhere that one rabbi believes the word "she" refers back to "the city" and not Mrs. Lot had become a pillar of salt. I don't know how plausible that is, considering Jesus' command to "Remember Lot's wife." Why else would he say that unless something had happened to her. She becomes a reminder that once we've left our life of sin, we must never look back upon it; when we do, we will be enticed back into it and our lives destroyed because of it.
7) Then the whole thing with the daughters sleeping with Lot - that's just creepy and twisted. I don't know what that's about. But then again, this is how the Israelites described the origin of nations whom Israel despised. Whatever it is, it's pretty strange.
8) Isaac - the son is finally born. He is named Isaac, which means "she laughs." I find that pretty amusing. And God does the impossible - a 90-some year old woman gives birth to a child. Why do we question God so much in our lives? Why do we fail to trust Him? In the end, God is always faithful to His promises - sometimes we have to be patient long enough to see how.
I think that's enough for today. God bless!
- Pastor Nathan
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