build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth” (Gen. 11:3–4)
“The elements of the story are timelessly characteristic of the spirit of the world. The project is typically grandiose; men describe it excitedly to one another as if it were the ultimate achievement—very much as modern man glorifies in his space projects.”14 Their expressed purpose being to make a name for ourselves, and provide security within the confines of their habitation.
Appraising the situation, the Lord decided to confuse their language, so as to discourage their presumption. This resulted in their aborting the effort, and being scattered throughout the world. Recalling the observation, “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth, and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:26–27).
With the patriarchs. It was said of the patriarchs that while they were men of faith, they were not always faithful. It is perhaps for this reason that it seems so easy to identify with them. In any case, they constituted a new phase in salvation history.
The Lord instructed Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). The prospect was not inviting on two counts. First, he was to take leave of familiar surroundings, and the security and sense of belonging associated wit his people and father’s household. Second, he would be thrust into an alien environ, along with uncertainties and potential risks these involved.
Conversely, “I will make you a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” He would be blessed in the process, protected from his adversaries, and become the means of universal blessing.
“So Abram left,” in obedience to God’s directive. He “traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.” This was presumably a sacred tree, in keeping with the practice of traditional people—in this instance, the Canaanite.
The Lord appeared to Abram, and informed him: “To your offspring I will give this land.” So Abram erected an altar at that location. After which, he continued on to Bethel, and again built an altar. Thus laying claim to God’s promise.
The word of the Lord subsequently came to the patriarch, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward” (Gen. 15:1). “The negative imperative appears here and on other occasions, as with Isaac (26:24) and Jacob (46:3). With the passing of time, it came to serve as formula for encouragement, having been tested and not found wanting. As elaborated the shield implies his protection, and great reward his provision.15
Some time later God again addressed Abraham (Abram). “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love and go to the region of Moriah,” the Lord instructed him. “Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about” (Gen. 22;2). In retrospect, “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death” (Heb. 11:19).
As the patriarch reached for his knife to slay his son, an angel protested: “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son. Your only son.” Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. Accordingly, he sacrificed the ram instead of his prized offspring.
“So Abraham called the place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’” In anticipation that God would make provision for those who put their trust in him.
Now Isaac’s wife Rebekah gave birth to twin boys: Esau and Jacob. The former became a skilled hunter, while the latter was more retiring. Once when Jacob was cooking stew, his brother came in from the open country. “Quick, let me have some of that red stew!” he exclaimed. “I’m famished!” (Gen. 25:30).
Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “The firstborn received a larger portion of the inheritance; according to Deuteronomy 21:17, the firstborn received a double share. Jacob, the master manipulator, perceived that Esau was too exhausted to value something as abstract as birthright over tangible food at the moment.”16 Moreover, one gets the impression that he had been anticipating such an opportunity.
“Look, I am about to die.” Isaac protested. “What good is the birthright to me?” So he sold his birthright under oath to his sibling. Soliciting the critical comment, “So Esau despised his birthright.”
Fearing for his life, Jacob fled to his uncle Laban. When he had reached a certain place, he stopped for the night. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and angels ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, who declared: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendents the land on which you are lying. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land” (Gen. 28:13, 15).
So the patriarchal period continued to run its course. Employing manifestly imperfect means to achieve God’s redemptive purposes. While in different circumstances, drawing from a righteous resolve.
With the exodus. Now the Israelites fled famine to Egypt, where they remained for an extended time. A new king, unfamiliar with Joseph, who enjoyed a cordial relationship with those in authority, ascended the throne. So that he was less amenable to their tenuous situation. “Look,” he alerted the populace, “we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country” (Exod. 1:9–10).
So he put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. Then the ruler instructed some helping Hebrew women who gave birth to kill the male offspring. But the midwives feared God, and excused their failure to comply. Then Pharaoh set forth a public proclamation, insisting; “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” With the intention that the latter would be assimilated. Which amounted to genocide.
“Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months” (Exod. 2:1–2). When she could hide him no longer, she placed the child in a papyrus basket and put it among the reeds. His sister stood at a distance to see what would transpire.
When Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, she saw the basket and had one of her servants retrieve it. Seeing the crying child, she felt sorry for him. Enlisting the help of his sister to recruit a Hebrew woman (His mother) to nurse the child, she adopted him when older. She named him Moses, derived from the verb meaning to pull out.
One day, when Moses had matured, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his own people. Assuring himself that there was no one watching, he killed the oppressor and hid his body in the sand. When Pharaoh heard of this, he determined to have Moses killed. But the he fled to Midian to escape Pharaoh’s wrath.
There he married and was tending the flock of his father-in-law when he saw a burning bush that was not consumed. “What actually did Moses see: Was it a supernatural
