Dive In: Questions

If I gave you two tools for deeper Bible study, they would be to read the Bible regularly and to ask good questions.

Questions are important. Scriptures are not diminished by our hard question.

I’ve been puzzling over Terah lately. Join me on a journey in Genesis 11. Take a moment to read Gen 11:26-32.

We see a pattern in the last half of Genesis 11, with each descendant of Shem getting two verses. You can almost cut and paste the names into the template. But the pattern is broken when we get to Terah? Why?

We meet three of Terah’s sons as well as a nephew and two daughters-in-law. Why? I know that Abram occupies several chapters in Genesis, but why are Haran and Nahor mentioned? Why do we need to know the wives’ names?

Why are we told that Terah intended to move to Canaan? Did he leave Ur because he grieved over his son? Why did he stop at Haran? Did he name Haran after his deceased son?

Why did Nahor stay behind? Why did Lot go with Terah?

Is Terah mentioned anywhere else in scripture? What can we learn from those passages?

As you ask questions and notice details, you’ll form a theory. Hold theories loosely because as more information from the Bible is revealed, the theory may need to be tweaked or even tossed aside.

Here’s a theory I have regarding Terah. I think he left Ur because he grieved his son’s death and established the town that he named after his son. He intended to go to Canaan but did not.

Take a look at a reference to Abraham (formerly named Abram) in Isaiah:

look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was but one,
and I blessed him and made him many.

Isaiah 51:2

Notice the words “when I called him...” Abram was called to Canaan; Terah was not.

Why not?

Joshua 24:2 tells us that Terah worshipped other gods, as did Abram and Nahor at that time, while they lived across the Euphrates. Abram had a spiritual awakening. God spoke to him, inviting him to go. But God prevented Terah from going into Canaan.

Terah may have longed for Canaan – perhaps to flee memories of a lost son -but could not complete the trip. God kept him out, for God intended for Abraham to go there, as the faithful son of God, not as the idolatrous son of Terah. Notice that God called Abram to leave his country, people and father’s household to go to the land. (Gen 12:1) God separated Abraham from Terah. The death of one son, Haran, foreshadowed the separation of a second son, Abram.

By spending several verses on Terah, we are torn from the cadence of a lineage to the beginning of God’s family. Our attention moves from a formal list to a family torn by grief and idolatry. We see the eventual separation of Terah and Abraham. Genesis 12 begins a new story, one focused on Abram and his family rather than all mankind.

And it began with Terah, who was separated from his son in God’s plan.

Questions are vital to our understanding of a pericope. Choose a passage and ask many questions, looking carefully for details and inquire why.

Marriage: God's faithfulness

I had a nightmare once at 18, where I woke up with heart pounding and sweat pouring. In my dream, I was 28 and unmarried. I could imagine nothing worse and consoled myself with the fact I had 10 years. Surely I’d find a husband by then.

Did I tell you I was a late bloomer?

I was well past 28 before God opened that door. But this isn’t a story about loneliness or defeat, but about God’s faithfulness.

The year before I married, I met a nice Christian man. We dated, we laughed, we went for long walks on the lakeshore. I thought, finally.

God said, end this relationship.

I’m ashamed to say that I argued with God for two months. I was sure that I was giving up children at very least if I obeyed. Perhaps I’d find a husband some day but it’d be too late for children.

But you know that weight that comes from disobedience? Either you get so numb you quit noticing or you finally do what you’re told.

I finally followed. The break came in December, making it a hollow holiday season.

Then Matt called, asking if he could stop by to talk to me. A tiny ember of hope glowed. Maybe he was calling about a date?

No. His parents, who had moved in with him to care for his children, had been in a car wreck while on a holiday trip. He had to bring them home. Could I stay with his children while he was gone?

Sure. I knew then I had reached the end of it. I couldn’t even tell when a guy was going to ask me out. I knew the gift of singlehood was mine.

If you were here last week, you know the end of the story. After the rescue mission, he called me again. And this time, we did set up a date.

Today I have a precious husband and six wonderful children, all of whom call me “Mom.” I treasure the family God gave me. God was faithful to me and his path was better than any of my plans. As always.

For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you.

Deut 4:31

The comment circus update

I am going to be compiling the comments from Saturday's Comment Circus
into a report later this week. If you haven't commented yet, sign up
and give us some insights. I have been encouraged by the remarks.
Thanks for your wonderful words!

Comment Circus

I’m a great listener. You may not know this because I seem to do all the talking here at Sumballo, but I want to listen today.

I want comments. More than that, I want to hear your heart. So here’s the deal. I’m going to ask a simple question. I want a one-sentence answer from you. Now it is a challenge sometimes to land that airplane in one sentence and I don’t care if you use comma splices and semicolons (after all, Paul could stretch a sentence over a couple of hours) but try to hold your answer to one sentence.

I’m very curious to see how many comments we can gather, mostly because I want to hear your thoughts. Here’s an incentive: if we get more than 15 comments, I promise NOT to e-mail each of you an extra barn kitten. (we have plenty....) However, if we miss our goal, be very careful opening attachments with a .cat extension.

Invite your friends to come over. I’d like to compile these into a Sumballo article soon, so the more, the merrier.

Here’s the question: For you, why follow Jesus?

Post your comments. (and post your blog address so I can visit). I’m going to post mine soon. And I’m anxious to listen for a little while.

Friday Five: Servant

Five comments on a servant:

It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. Mt. 10:25

Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations. Mt. 12:18

No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Lk 16:13

At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' Lk 14:17

But made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Phil 2:7

And a few servants:

Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs. Romans 15:8

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God- Romans 1:1

Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. Heb. 3:5

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. James 1:1

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, 2 Peter 1:1

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, Jude 1:1

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, Rev 1:1

Guarding the temple

Jack’s background didn’t hinder him much anymore because he’d found God. Well, it wasn’t an awful background anyway because he’d found God as a boy and really hadn’t done much wrong before that. You know, kids will be kids.

He’d gone through the ranks at his church. He’d written a spiritual resume once, just out of curiosity. He had done nearly every job in the church and knew his spiritual gifts, because he’d done the questionnaire in Sunday school.

His witnessing plan was to let his light shine. He had no moral issues. His youthful longings were behind him now. He didn’t even speed, so that his values could witness to the state patrol as he drove by.

When the committee was formed to clarify worship rules, Jack was there. He did not want to sanctuary desecrated. The rules – er, guidelines – were printed in the bulletin so there would be no misunderstandings.

· No loud noises in the sanctuary.

· No food or drinks. (He scowled when his daughter Sarah asked whether communion counted or not.)

· No magazine reading during the sermon.

· Babies crying longer than 45 seconds needed to be taken out.

· No talking during the hymns.

· The offering must be in an envelope, to preserve privacy.

· Kids must not be in the sanctuary without an adult present.

· Adults were defined as over 21.

· Teenagers must not question their fathers on bulletin rules.

Actually, Jack didn’t put that last one in but Sarah kept pestering him about the biblical basis for his rules, er, guidelines - and he didn’t have time to look up any verses. He was busy crafting the rules – er, guidelines. Besides, he didn’t know where to look. What, Leviticus?

Jack was frustrated when attendance at church began to slide. What was with people’s priorities anyway? You have to make sacrifices. He had, after all.

Sarah had come back from a youth conference and asked him how close he felt to God. He e-mailed her his church resume to illustrate. When she asked him the last time he’d talked to an unbeliever, he sent her the bulletin rules – er, guidelines. She just didn’t get it. Neither did unbelievers, for that matter. Once they got their priorities right, they’d be in church and needed those rules – er, guidelines.

A Pharisee: devout, moral, value-centered, above and beyond the law.

John Newton said, “The closer you get to God, the harder you are on yourself and easy on other people. The farther you are from God, the easier you are on self and harder on others.”

Jesus told a parable about “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” (Luke 18:9)

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 18:14

Turning back

I once sat in a Sunday school class where one woman fretted. “What should I say to these teenagers who are wearing a cross when I know they aren’t believers?”

There was an uneasy rustling as the others worried. They should confront but didn’t want to.

You know what I think Jesus would have said to that teenager? I think he’d have said something like, “Tell me about that cross you’re wearing. Why do you wear it? What does it mean to you?”

And I think he’d have eventually turned the conversation around: “Let me tell you what it means to me.”

I think he’d have used that cross as a tool to interact with the person, hear their heart and show them truth, like he did with the Samaritan woman at the well and so many others. He loved them and interacted in ways they could understand.

Churchianity wants to protect the cross as a symbol of their pure beliefs. We need the cross on our churches, on our neck, on our cars. It is a symbol of our separateness.

If you don’t regularly read A Small Scribble, you need to read the last couple of posts. Kate is tackling a topic that gets me raving. I call it “churchianity.”

What’s being discussed at Kate’s site is how many in the church today disdain the arts unless images are in familiar, comfortable modes. Do you have a nightlight with an angel on it? Do you have your plastic nativity scene? Do you have a fish on your bumper?

The discussion at Kate’s site asks how we interact with art that doesn’t have a cross or a glowing angel but explores new ways to communicate God’s truths. While those in the church are polishing their church symbols, a world outside is dying without wrestling with God. The church looks irrelevant with its old-fashioned secret language and obscure signs.

What have we done? In our rush to protect our purity and our separateness, we have morphed into mediocrity. Christian movies are usually corny. Christian literature is usually predictable and patterned after the hot-selling secular stuff. Christian art usually has symbols, not ideas.

I tend to identify myself as a follower of Jesus because even the word “Christian” speaks of legalistic mediocrity to today’s culture. What have we done?

How do we turn back?

Kate has some wonderful links at her site. I’d like to compile those and more. If you know authors, artists, movies, whatever that rise above the modern day Christian fluff, would you get those to me? I want to put a list on the sidebar, a place where we can all check out artists going deeper.

E-mail me (see my link at the top of the right hand column) or leave a comment with names and/or links.

This is an important issue for us as followers of Jesus. We have been commanded to go into the world and we must speak a language the world can grasp.