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January 6 + Daily Notes & Readings

DAY 6

How does it feel to read several chapters of the Bible every day?

I hope these notes have been helpful so far.  They're intended to be a small point of reference for you.  If you'd like to go further in your reading, consider using a Bible commentary.  I'd recommend using one so you don't feel overwhelmed.  How about John Wesley's Explanatory Notes.

You're well into the second half of Genesis.  So, watch this video and see if it helps give you a better understanding of what's happening in the book.



DAILY READINGS

Genesis 19-21 and Psalm 6

DAILY NOTES

Genesis 19:1-3
  • Lot's actions reminds us of Abraham's hospitality.  Abraham waited at the tent's entrance.  Lot waiting at the city gate.  Both, presumably, looked for those wandering in the desert.  Both bowed to the ground as the welcomed the men.  Lot asked the 2 angels (or men) to stay with him, and he makes them a meal.  Some commentaries point out that some of Lot's actions do not meet the high standards of Abraham's actions in the previous chapters.
Genesis 19:4-11
  • Lot is going out of his way to extend hospitality to the strangers.  The men of Lot are ready to go out of their way to bring complete shame to them.  
  • While trying to maintain the honor of his guests, he dishonors his daughters by offering them in the strangers' place.  That dishonor is reciprocated by the end of the chapter.
    • Lot calls the men of Sodom his brothers, while shaming his daughters.  
    • Also, Lot would not have offered his daughters to the men if this passage was merely trying to illustrate the "evil of homosexuality."  
  • This must be a good door.  It is shut twice on the men of Sodom, keeping them at bay both times.
  • The men of Sodom don't appreciate being called "wicked" by someone who has come to them as a stranger (alien) himself.  Think about how we don't appreciate taking criticism from the new guy at the office, or the newly married in-law.  They haven't been around long enough to have the right to make judgments against us.  
Genesis 19:13
  • Although we just caught a glimpse of the wickedness of the people (just the men?) of Sodom, the outcry that has come before the Lord has not been explained.  
Genesis 19:14
  • They think Lot is joking.  This made me think about how we jokingly step away from someone who should be expecting lightning to strike them in moment.
Genesis 19:17
  • They are to escape the impending destruction.  "Do not look back" foreshadows what will happen to Lot's wife.  Both will have a hard time following instructions.
Genesis 19:31
  • Did Lot's daughters believe there were no men on earth?  Did Lot not tell them God was destroying only the city (the Plain cities)?
Genesis 20:1-2
  • Here we go again with the tell-them-you're-my-sister guise.  We learn in 13 that this is a plan they had agreed to follow through with wherever they went.  It's crazy for us to think that this practice of someone merely taking a woman as his wife (as a second, third or 34th wife) on a whim, without any discussion or consent was something that is a part of the story.
Genesis 20:7
  • Abraham is labeled a prophet.  We don't typically associate him with the prophets.  Moses is seen as a prophet, too, and we forget that.  Perhaps we need to examine our ideas of who and what prophets are and what they're role is in our faith.  How would you define what a prophet is?  Have you known any?
Genesis 20:8
  • I wonder if we are being asked to consider Abimelech as a righteous person.  What reason would he have to explain to his servants what had happened?
Psalm 5
  • "And watch"  I love the idea of the psalmist pouring his heart out to God in the morning and spending the rest of the watching for what God would do.  He was expecting God to act because he knew what God was like.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

It can be tempting for us to explain away some of the strangeness and faultiness of biblical characters.  Don't.  Don't take away from who these people are, or who they were.  The Bible doesn't try to avoid their imperfections or tidy up their messes.  Let the stories be messy, confusing, and get mad when you read about abuse, dishonor and evil.

Stay blessed...john
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