Day 005 - Genesis 12-14

The story of Abraham (or Abram as he is known as at this point) begins or at least it begins for us the readers. For Abram 75 years of his life have happened and all we know about that is that his dad was called Terah and he married a woman called Sarai at some point in that time. One of the fascinating things about the Old Testament is that mostly we get just glimpses of peoples lives and major events, but it's difficult to get a handle on what there day to day lives were like. Couple that with the fact that we're separated from the events by thousands of years and a radically different culture and there potential for much misunderstanding. At the same time there are aspects of human nature that shine through recognisably that hint at a universal experience of life and the God that created it.

So God appears to Abram and tells him to go to another land where his descendants will one day live and he promises to bless him. It's very easy to focus on Abram's shortcomings and mistakes, but it's easy to miss here his faith in action. There is no record of Abram questioning God at this point, he just takes him at his word and goes. It's a challenge to me as I consider the times that I've said, "yes, but..." to God when the better thing would be to just go and do.

We do hear of Abram's mistakes though shortly after when he ends up in Egypt and pretends that his wife is his sister. It's very easy to criticise Abram for being such a muppet, but what struck me this time round is the way that God intervenes to rescue Sarai from the terrible position that she finds herself in. God obviously has a plan for Abram and Sarai's lives and this isn't it.

By the end of this passage Abram has grasped the fact that God alone is who he should be relying on and giving glory to when he refuses any loot from the king of Sodom. In spite of knowing this he doesn't always act as if it's true and tomorrow we'll see some of the consequences of that...