The One Year Bible: Questions in Genesis

 

Hagar and Ishmael: My favorite story in the first half of Genesis

This year I'm embarking on a new spiritual journey.  I've decided to read the Bible through in a single year.  I got the idea from my friend Lisa who recently got a One Year Bible.  I found an online One Year Bible and began my journey on the January 2.

I've read the Bible through several times, but it's always taken me a long time--like years to do it.  Reading this way is a different experience.  I think it's easy to miss a lot of the "big picture" of the Bible when you only read it in snippets.  And I suspect that many of us mostly read the Bible that way--in carefully  selected verses with a tidy little lesson or message attached, or in chain referenced Bible studies with proof texts designed to lead us to certain theological conclusions.  When we read this way it's easy to see what we want to see and gloss over what we don't.  We can skip over the more problematic passages--maybe not even realizing they are there at all.

But here's the thing about the Bible. It's no Max Lucado devotional or Amazing Facts Bible Study.  If it were a movie it would be rated R for graphic violence, sexual situations, nudity, and adult themes.  It's not a book for children.  It's rough, vivid, frank, and foreign. It is jarring at times, and for a good reason.  We are reading a document that was written over thousands of years by and for people of a very different culture from our own. Oh and let's not forget we're not reading it in the original language either. I think one of the most dangerous things we can do is assume that the Bible was written with our cultural lenses, modern understanding, and use of language and interpret it accordingly.

This is not to say that the Bible is then without value.  It's a very modern attitude that says if it's old it's of no use. I find the Bible a seemingly endless treasure chest. I find new things all the time.  But I do think that we need to approach the Scriptures with greater humility.  Not just the "God said it, I believe it" type humility (an attitude which doesn't really seem that humble), but the humility that says "I  am not always sure what God  is saying here, but I trust Him."  We need to be especially careful about drawing strong conclusions about what the Bible says when those conclusions paint God in a negative light or  when those conclusions conveniently support our preexisting biases and cause us to feel-- regretfully and "lovingly" of course--compelled to condemn marginalized people in the service of "truth."  I wrote about the dangers of certainty and the value of uncertainty back in 2014 in entry entitled The Uncertainty Principle.

So I  have this idea that I'd like to post an entry once a week with reflections on my reading from the past week.  I'll be honest and admit I'm not sure I can keep up with this (though if I could do an entry every three days for the first six months of the pandemic, this ought to be easy) or if I want to (I don't want to end up having my devotional time become more about planning the next blog post than communing with God).  We'll see how it goes.  

For now, here's a few thoughts on the reading for the January 1-7, which covers Genesis 1-23 (with some side trips to 1 Chronicles. The One Year Bible is chronological, so the ancestry lists later in the Old Testament are included here also).

I think the answers you find in Genesis depend on the questions you're asking.  Certain answers will pop into the foreground, while others fade into the background, seemingly less important. For Jews, Genesis is the origin story. It answers the questions of where they came from and why they are here--as a people and as a faith.  For Christians, Genesis is backstory. We look for hints and clues to the coming Messiah, stories that foreshadow Jesus.  For the skeptic, Genesis is is just story.   They may be looking for the flaws and holes, the logical inconsistencies--and there are plenty.

No matter how what question you bring to Genesis, in my view if you're reading it right, you'll come away with perhaps more questions than answers.  And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed having a lot of questions in the spiritual arena is perhaps safer than being sure you have all the answers.

The Highlights of the first half of Genesis:

• Creation
• The Fall
• The Flood
• Abraham

What stood out to me:

• The cultural theme of childbearing for women. It was a big deal.  To not have a child in that culture was the worst possible thing for a woman. And some women went to extreme measures to ensure they got those children (See Lot's daughters). 
• The cultural theme of hospitality and treatment of strangers. The great crime of Sodom and Gomorrah seems to be their utter disregard for and willingness to mistreat strangers, and Lot is clearly seen as a hero for being willing to do whatever it takes to protect the guests in his home even if it means sacrificing his daughters. (There are a whole LOT of problematic aspects of the story of Lot). 
• Abraham like most Biblical characters is flawed and complex.  If we are to hold him up as an example, it's not because he was this perfect guy, but because of his trust in God and willingness to go where God led him.
• I'm not sure that Genesis, at least so far, is a great place for guidance on marriage or sexual behavior. "Biblical" principles on these subjects based on just Genesis (which yes, I know we don't base it on one book) would seem to include concubines and incest in emergency situations. There are many more stories about heterosexual behavior than that one mention of  potential same-sex gang rape and I wouldn't suggest we follow any of those examples.

What spoke to me:

• The story of Hagar, Sarah's servant, who gave birth to Abraham's first son, Ishmael. This is perhaps my favorite story that I read this week. I like that Hagar, though not considered to be the mother of the "son of promise" was not forgotten by God. She called Him "The God Who Sees Me" and her son's name means "God Hears." Twice, Hagar was sent away and twice God found her in her extremity and let her know that she was seen.  God makes it clear that He is the God of the forgotten as well as the chosen. 
• Abraham and Isaac on the mountain. I wrote about this difficult story and how I made peace with it way back in 2007.  You can read it here. The short version is that the point of this story isn't Abraham's obedience (though he did obey) but his trust (which is why he obeyed).  And the lesson about God isn't is His arbitrary commands (though He did command), it's about His provision (which the command enabled Him to demonstrate in unforgettable fashion).

That's all for now.  I'll post more later as my journey through the Bible in one year continues.