Tag: Genesis 19

Just the Crackers

Posted on by jovial_cynic

But he urged them strongly, so they turned his way and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Genesis 19:3 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS, 2006)

It’s curious that the messengers of God ate the meal Abraham and Sarah prepared for lunch, but when they visited Lot, it is described differently.

According to the rabbis, the meaning of the text is that Lot prepared a great meal, just like Abraham did, but the messengers only snacked on the crackers. They abstained from the feast itself.

An Insignificant Number

Posted on by jovial_cynic
When Abraham asks God if He would spare the cities from destruction if there were 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, and 10 righteous people there, God says He will not destroy the cities if a requisite number of righteous people were present.

So what is the minimum number of people that are needed to prevent God from destroying a city?

We know that God will save a city on account of 10, because that’s what God said in Genesis 18:32. But how many righteous people were in the city? Is it just Lot? If so, does that mean that one righteous person not sufficient?

Actually, the text might demonstrate that one is all that’s necessary. One is sufficient.

If you remember, the region of Sodom and Gomorrah consists of 5 separate cities: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim, and Bela (that is, Zoar).

These kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
Genesis 14:2 (NIV)

Do you notice something interesting about Bela? Aside from having the nickname “Zoar,” the king of the city isn’t named. It sticks out, right? The rabbis say that the king of Bela isn’t named because the city is so insignificant that the king’s name wasn’t even recorded. It didn’t even matter.

But pay close attention: when we jump ahead to Genesis 19 when Lot is being rescued, where does he ask to go? He’s afraid he can’t get out in time, so he asks if he can go to the little insignificant town along the way. It’s Zoar, one of the 5 wicked cities!

Interestingly, God does not destroy it.

But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it — it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
Genesis 19:18-22 (NIV)

Perhaps Lot is the ony righteous person there. And with just one person, as insignificant as that may seem, God spares the city.

Perhaps the rabbis are right: “a single righteous person could save the rest of the world.”

To Know Us

Posted on by jovial_cynic
“To know” is the way sexual intimacy is described throughout the Bible, but Hebrew word means so much more than that. It also carries the meaning of “experiential knowledge.” It’s not just knowing about something, but it’s also having lived it out.

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Genesis 18:19 (KJV)

‎Here in Genesis 18:19, God says “I know him” about Abraham. It is יָדַע. Yadah.

‎This says so much.

In the previous chapter, where Abraham and God entered a two-way covenant, with God committing himself to Abraham and Abraham going through the commitment of circumcision, we see a change. God is now with Abraham, not merely next to him.

I think “yadah” is the key to understanding what’s happening in Genesis 18. Perhaps the text isn’t showing us three men/angels with one of them being God. I know it appears that way, because only two men show up in the next chapter, but I think something else is being shown to us.

Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the [b]oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.
Genesis 18:1 (NASB)

Perhaps Abraham sees three men, but he understands that God is there in the midst of them. That’s why Genesis 18:1 is written the way it is. It’s not a chapter heading. It’s a statement of awareness, given the new in-dwelling relationship with God.

The chapter continues with the interactions of Abraham and the men, and then in the middle, God just shows up again in verse 13.

But the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I actually give birth to a child, when I am so old?’
Genesis 18:13 (NASB)

I think the right reading of the passage is this: when one of the men asked about Sarah, Abraham understood it to be God’s words, and that these three men were messengers of God.

Later, when the men leave to investigate the city, God tells Abraham that He will go to the city, and that if the outcry is not true, He “will know.” It’s that same word: יָדַע. Yadah.

I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.”
Genesis 18:21 (NASB)

‎But also, if it is true, wouldn’t God also certainly know? Either way, He will experience it. But how?

What does it mean to be a messenger of God? We typically think of someone who is God’s spokesperson to humanity, but doesn’t a messenger bring a message back to God as well? Don’t they return with a report of what has happened?

This makes me wonder if the true reason only two angels show up to rescue Lot isn’t because the third one is God, and that God remained behind. Remember, as messengers, they all three represent God.

Perhaps one actually went ahead first before the other two… and suffered violence.

For we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
Genesis 19:13 (NASB)

The two angels who came to rescue Lot were on a mission to get him out of the city. The text says they were set to destroy the city, not because of the attempted violence against them, but because of the outcry. The cries for help.

And this is what God knew. It’s what God experienced.

A God who knows our suffering is a God who experiences our suffering. When God says He knows Abraham, I think he’s also telling us that He knows us: our wounds, our pain, the violence we have suffered.

And he’s inviting us to know him.

Hospitality

Posted on by jovial_cynic
There are debates over the reason for the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. Some point to the specific actions of the men involved in the story and see a link to homosexuality. Others point to Ezekiel, and the treatment of the poor and needy:

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, plenty of food, and carefree ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. So they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.
Ezekiel 16:49-50 (NASB)

I’m inclined to go with Ezekiel’s answer, because it’s written quite plainly. However, there’s another bit of context in Genesis 18 that lends to this view.

It’s given to us in the form of narrative contrast.

Look closely at Genesis 18:6-8:

So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.” Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.
Genesis 16:6-8 (NASB)

Do you know what “three measures” means? Some translations render it as “three seahs,” which is very helpful, because this is a specific unit of dry-measure, calculated by volume.

1 seah is about 7.7 liters. Or 1.75 gallons.

When you convert this into weight, based on how much grain weighs, you get about 10 pounds per seah.

So Abraham, who just said “let me get you a *piece* of bread” in verse 5 has Sarah whip up a batch of bread consisting of THIRTY POUNDS of flour.

And not just that!

It’s not as though Sarah had a bag of flour handy. Flour was only prepared based on immediate use, or else it would spoil faster. So she (and probably her servants) had to grind out thirty pounds of grain into bread-making flour right away.

And not just that!

The text says Abraham went and took a calf from the herd. Abraham didn’t offer breakfast leftovers. He had a cow slaughtered right then there. That’s some fresh BBQ!

And not just that!

The text says that Abraham was sitting at his tent door in the heat of the day. According to the rabbis, nobody was out and about in the heat of the day, and yet here is Abraham, sitting his tent door, LOOKING TO SEE IF ANYBODY WAS OUT THERE who might need food and water.

All this to say, we are shown a comically ridiculous display of hospitality and generosity, providing the most lavish spread of food and drink for these currently unidentified men who are not even named in the text. For the purpose of the story, they are STRANGERS.

We’re told by Ezekiel later that Sodom did not care for the poor and needy. We’re told in this chapter that there’s an “outcry,” or za’aq (זַעַק), which is the same word that describes Israel’s outcry due to their affliction in Egypt: The weak are being oppressed.

So what we see in Abraham is the contrast. It is the opposite of oppression of the weak. Abraham is wealthy and capable: his actions display how one should treat the travel-weary, the hungry, and the thirsty. And in verse 8, he stands with them.

This is righteousness.