Seder 14: Gen 16---Sarai and Hagar

As Genesis 16 opens, Abram and Sarai have lived in Canaan for 10 years. Abram is 85 years old, Sarai is 75, and they have not been able to have children.  God has promised that Abram will have many descendants, and they have faith in this promise (Gen 15:3-6).  But God has not told them who the mother of Abram's children will be.

The wait is difficult.  In that culture, a woman who could not have children was seen as a failure, and a woman of means would sometimes decide to have children through a surrogate wife.  Abram and Sarai eventually decide to try to have a child through Sarai's servant Hagar (Gen 16:1-3).

Their plan succeeds, but success comes with some consequences, beginning with strife between Sarai and Hagar.  Polygamy always ends up causing problems, as we see in several examples in Genesis.

The book of Genesis reports what happened, with the narrator casting no explicit judgments upon the actions of Abram and Sarai.  Some commentators have noted possible implicit judgment in the parallels in language between Abram and Sarai in Gen 16 and Adam and Eve in Gen 3.

Gen 16:2--"...And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai."

Gen 3:17--"Because you have listened to the voice of your wife...."

Gen 3:6--"...she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband..."

Gen 16:3-- "Sarai...took Hagar...and gave her to her husband..."

In general, God tends to give us a lot of opportunity to try things and learn from the consequences of our actions.  This is one example.

Overall, God was committed to working through Abram and Sarai in his plan to restore blessing to the world.  The choices Abram and Sarai made could be incorporated into that plan.  In particular, Hagar could be a part of that plan if she was willing to submit to Sarai (v 9).

Seder 12: The Mysterious Melchizedek

At Abram's triumphant return from his victory over the eastern invaders, he was met by Melchizedek, who was both king of Salem and "priest of God Most High."  Melchizedek blessed both Abram and God Most High and provided food and drink for Abram's men.  Abram expressed his thanks to God by giving to Melchizedek a tenth of the wealth that he had brought back (Gen 14:18-20).

It is generally agreed that Salem in Gen 14:18 is another name for Jerusalem.  We see this name used, for example, in Ps 76:2.  Also, there was later a ruler of Jerusalem with the name Adoni-zedek, a name very similar to Melchizedek (Joshua 10).

Despite the similarity of their names, Adoni-zedek did not have the connection with God Most High that Melchizedek had had.  In fact, Adoni-Zedek organized a coalition to oppose Israel's ally Gibeon and was later executed by Joshua. 

Adoni-zedek translates to something like "my lord is Zedek" or "my lord is righteous."  Since Adoni-zedek was a king, his lord may well have been a deity.  Scholars believe that there was a Canaanite deity named Zedek who was considered to be a champion of righteousness.  (For further discussion, check out episodes 166-167 of the Naked Bible Podcast).

Melchizedek translates to "my king is Zedek" or "my king is righteous."  In Melchizedek's case, his king was apparently God Most High, and he may have known God as "the righteous one."

Gen 14:18-20 tells us just enough to arouse our curiosity.  Here was an early Canaanite king of Jerusalem who was also acknowledged by Abram as a priest of the true God.  Josephus (at the end of War 6) would later write that Melchizedek was the founder of Jerusalem and served at a temple there.

Melchizedek is mentioned once more in the Old Testament, in Ps 110:4.  In Psalm 110 David records words spoken by God to someone he refers to as "my lord".  Jesus would later identify David's lord as the promised Messiah (Matt 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44) and used Psalm 110 to explain to the sages of his day that the Messiah was much more than just a human descendant of David.  Hebrews 1:13 cites Ps 110:1 as one of a number of instances in the Psalms in which God is addressing Jesus the Messiah.

In Ps 110:4, the LORD, still addressing David's lord, says, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

It is interesting to consider how David might have thought about Ps 110:4.  It may be that after David took Jerusalem from the Jebusites, he thought of himself as following in the footsteps of Melchizedek.  For example, during the celebration that accompanied the bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, David king of Salem  took on a kind of priestly role and "blessed the people in the name of the Lord and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins (1 Chron 16:2-3).

The author of the book of Hebrews builds on Ps 110:4 in Heb 5,7 to bring out what it means for the Messiah to be a priest "according to the order of Melchizedek".  He argues that Melchizedek's priesthood didn't depend on Melchizedek's ancestry. Melchizedek was a priest of God because God said that he was.  The Bible says nothing about his ancestry, or about anyone succeeding him in his priesthood.  So Jesus, even though he was from the tribe of Judah rather than the priestly tribe of Levi, could be this type of priest---again, because God proclaimed him to be in Ps 110:4.

Furthermore, the author of Hebrews argues that Melchizedek comes before Levi, so his priesthood is in fact superior to the Levitical priesthood.  This kind of priesthood is therefore appropriate for the Messiah.

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on June 6, 2020, David Waddle reflected further on this subject.

Seder 12: Gen 14---Abram Rescues Lot

In Gen 13:14-18, God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abram and his descendants.  But no one had yet informed the four Mesopotamian rulers who would invade sometime later (Gen 14:1-12).

Those rulers had been requiring the five cities of the plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar) to pay them an annual tribute.  When those five towns decided they were tired of paying, their overlords determined to make the trip of several hundred miles and collect the tribute personally.

The invaders came south through what is now Jordan on the road called the King's Highway, subduing all the peoples they passed on the way (and perhaps collecting additional tribute).  Later, in the fortieth year of the Exodus, the Israelites would come north on that road and claim these areas for Israel (Num 21).  Perhaps those Israelites were encouraged by the exploits of Abram recorded in Gen 14. 

After trouncing the cities of the plain in a one-sided battle, the army from Mesopotamia left with a substantial amount of booty, including Abram's nephew Lot.  Taking someone from Abram's family proved to be a crucial error on their part.  When Abram heard what had happened, he set out in pursuit with "his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them" (v 14).

The size of Abram's party is the only such figure given in the chapter, so it is not so easy to put into historical context.  What we know about populations at that time suggests that 318 was a pretty respectable number, showing how much Abram had been blessed.  Abram's army was probably comparable in size to those of the five cities of the plain, so Abram was in some sense a "king" himself.

On the other hand, Gen 14:1-12 emphasizes the strength of the invading force, which was probably substantially larger than Abram's forces.

The 318 is also an unusually precise figure, so there has been some speculation about its significance.  An article published in 1969  (S. Gevirtz, "Abram's 318", Israel Exploration Journal, Vol 19, No. 2, pp 110-113) points out that 318 is the sum of all the prime numbers between seven and seven times seven (7+11+13+17+19+23+29+31+37+41+43+47 = 318).  This is a fun fact but probably not relevant.

One midrash observes that 318 is the total of the numbers associated with the Hebrew letters in the name of Abram's chief servant, Eliezer (Gen 15:2) and suggests that Abram and Eliezer pursued Lot's abductors all by themselves, just the two of them.    There is no hint of this in Gen 14, but the midrash does underline an important truth:  It does not matter how small Abram's army is.  What  matters is that God is with Abram.

Abram and his trained group of 318 caught the Mesopotamians by surprise and recovered what the invaders had seized, including Lot.  When Abram returned victorious, he established himself as a regional power.  Would be now require tribute from the cities of the plain?  No, he decided that he would steer clear of local power politics and make clear that he placed all his trust in the true God to provide for him (vv 21-24).

In his EBC commentary on Genesis, John Sailhamer notes that Abram could be said to have followed the principles for warfare against distant nations later laid out in Deut 20.  He had

• not been afraid of a larger army (Deut 20:1).
• taken only trained men ready for battle (Deut 20:5-9)
• taken spoil from the distant nations (Deut 20:14).
• not taken spoil from peoples in the promised land and stayed separate from them (20:16).

Sailhamer suggests that Abram in some sense had the Torah written on his heart, providing a possible explanation for Gen 26:5.

Seder 11: Gen 12-13--The Promise in Peril

At some point after Abram and Sarai arrived in the land of Canaan, they left during a time of severe famine and sought refuge in Egypt.  Fearing that the Pharaoh would have him killed in order to add Sarai to the royal harem, Abram pretended that Sarai was just his sister, not his wife.  Pharaoh then proceeded to add Sarai to his harem (Gen 12:10-16)

Abram's deception put his wife in great danger and jeopardized the future of his family.  But God intervened, striking Pharaoh with plagues because he had abducted Sarai.  Pharaoh then reprimanded Abram and threw them out of Egypt (vv 17-20).

In this episode we see an example of how God would deal with people according to their treatment of Abram's family.  Pharaoh threatened that family and suffered as a result.  We also see that God's promise to Abram depends upon his grace, not upon Abram's goodness.

This passage in Gen 12-13 also foreshadows the later Exodus.  Abram and Sarai travel to Egypt during a time of famine, as Jacob would later.  They are in danger there, as the Israelites would later be enslaved.  Pharaoh suffers plagues, as Egypt would later.  Abram and his family are thrown out of Egypt with great wealth (12:16; 13:2), as the Israelites would be later.  And Abram then journeys by stages (13:3), as the Israelites would on the Exodus (Num 33:1).  The repetition of exodus themes in the Bible sends the message that God is consistent.  As he has acted in the past, so he will act again in the future.

Back in the land of Canaan with increased wealth, Abram and Lot needed to spread out to provide more room for their flocks.  The strife among their herdsmen (13:7) foreshadowed later strife between Israelites and Moabites.  Lot chose to go east to a fertile area near Sodom and Gomorrah, a move that looked good at the time.  But as has been the case so far in the book of Genesis, people run into trouble when they head east in a direction away from the Promised Land. 

Here some have seen an analogy between Gen 13:10 and Gen 3:6.  In Genesis 3:6, Eve saw that the forbidden fruit looked good and gave it a try.  In Genesis 13:10, Lot saw that the Jordan Valley looked good and decided to go there.

Abram acts as peacemaker, reminding us of Matt 5:9.

After Abram and Lot parted ways, God reaffirmed the promise of the land (13:14-17).

Seder 10: Gen 12:1-9---the call of Abram

After the Tower of Babel rebellion, God focused his plan to bring blessing to all mankind on the family of Abram.  Calling Abram to separate from country, clan, and family, God made these promises:

1. "I will make of you a great nation"  This promise is striking, since up to this point Abram had no children.
2. "I will bless you"---in land, livestock, precious metals, and human labor in addition to offspring.
3. "and make your name great"--in contrast to the people at Babel, who wanted to make a name for themselves.
4. "you will be a blessing" (or perhaps, "Be a blessing!") People would make blessings in the name of Abraham.  ("May you be like Abraham.") Others would be blessed by a relationship with his family--e.g., Laban, Potiphar.
5. "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse."  God would deal with nations based on their treatment of his family.  
6. "in you all families of the earth shall be blessed"  Abram's family would be a vehicle for blessing the nations.  Christians see this blessing carried out especially through the coming of Jesus the Messiah--see Gal 3:8-9, 14, 29.  

There is some question about the proper translation of the final clause of Gen 12:3.  The ESV translation ("in you all families of the earth shall be blessed") is the traditional rendering of the clause in the passive voice, followed by the Septuagint (and thus the New Testament), Sirach 44:21, Targum Onkelos, and the Vulgate.

It can also be given a reflexive translation ("in you all families of the earth shall bless themselves"), as mentioned in the ESV footnote.  The meaning of this translation would be similar to number 4 above.

In a sense, both translations lead to the same result, as Richard Middleton has pointed out. As is pictured in prophecies like Zech 8:20-23, people who seek to be blessed like Abraham will also tend to seek the God of Abraham, which will lead to blessing.

Middleton also explains that there is a strong tradition in both Judaism and Christianity that Abram's family has a special mission to bring blessing to the nations.  We see this in the prophets in passages like Isa 42:6 and Isa 49:6.  This understanding is also reflected in Jewish traditions about Abraham as an evangelist.

One such tradition is based on Gen 12:5, which mentions Abram, Sarai and Lot traveling with "the people they had acquired in Haran".  Literally, the verse speaks of "souls that they made" in Haran.  The rabbis interpret this as a reference to converts that they had made, based on the idea that someone who has taught another about the true God is considered to have in some sense "made" that person.