Genesis 18-19
18:1-8 – What was it about them that told Abraham they were special visitors? How long did it take to slaughter and prepare a calf while they waited?
18:16-21 – Interesting, God talking to himself! Not unlike us, isn’t he? Interesting string of comments: “He will be great and blessed because I have chosen him so that he will keep my ways and do right so I will do what I promised.” God’s promise is an incentive to Abraham to do the right thing.
18:20-21 – Who was crying out against Sodom and Gomorrah? Abraham seems ignorant and the people of the two cities don’t seem to care, so who?
18:22-33 – Abraham searching out God’s heart, even challenging him – “Far be it for you …”. How much does he care about the righteous? But his questioning is born of both curiosity and respect – “I am just dust and ashes” Why didn’t he push it down to one? What if there were only one?
19:1-3 – Lot recognizes them immediately too. Was there no one else there or did they not recognize men from God?
19:4-11 – As a Dad of three girls I am appalled at Lot’s offering up his girls to save his guests! I cannot understand it. Why would he do such a thing. Perhaps nearly as appalling is the men’s refusal to take them in favor of trying to get to the guests! Surely this was a wicked town Begs the question as to why Lot would live there.
19:12-14 – I guess this answers the question about less than 10 righteous. Lot and his family were less then 10 (4) and God refused to spare the city. He did warn Lot, however, who even with his faults (living so close to sin, offering up his daughters as secks toys and permitting them to marry into this society) has the good sense to listen to the men.
19:15-17 – Well, not quite as much good sense as I thought! Look here though, God has mercy on him and drags him from a destruction that he did his best not to avoid. I can think of times when God has done something similar for me.
19:18-23 – After all that God sis to spare him, Lot asks to make it a little easier. Sounds like me too. “I know, God, that you sacrificed you son and all, but, being a disciple is hard …”
19:24-29 – It was for Abraham’s sake, not Lot’s, that God went to such lengths to save him. What an impact a righteous man can have on the heart of God that God will extend unwarranted favor to members of his family.
19:31-38 – Didn’t Lot wonder where the babies came from? No men around and they’re pregnant? Looking at his character, sadly, he may not have cared.

Genesis 15-17
15:4-6 – From doubt to being famous for his faith in 6 verses. Isn’t this how we should be? We should be able to look at the seemingly impossible and then see God’s promises and just believe.
15:8 – From doubt to faith to doubt again. THIS is more like how we are!
15:12-16 – Does God’s knowledge of the future circumvent man’s free will? (No one’s asked that before) What about His sharing of it with Abram? Did it influence Abrams path in life?
15:17-21 – I want more insight into God’s relationship with Abram. The scriptures start the story when they are already close. God makes amazing promises to Abram. What was it about him that led God to do that? One thing’s clear it’s a relationship of mutual respect. God even respects Abram’s fears in “How will I know …”
16:1-6 – Sarai’s lack of faith and Abram’s lack of backbone. I sometimes wonder if I have the strength to lead my wife in the times when her faith, character or convictions are weak. She’s a strong woman, when she is determined to go down a path I see as wrong, do I have the strength and courage (and love, really) to stand my ground and force the issue? I must, for her sake and ours.
16:7-16 – God comes to the rescue of Hagar. She was only a servant, had little material things and few rights – on the run to boot. But God heard her, and when Sarai and Abram let her down, God does not. He comes to her aid, but not perhaps as we would. Instead he tells her that her blessings are dependant on her obedience to a strange command – go back to your oppressor.
17:15-16 – God did not change his mind, even in their unfaithfulness.

Genesis 12-14
Well, not even a week into it and I’ve missed a day. I’ve been reading in the evenings, and last night, well, I failed to plan well I guess. Oh well, Saturday morning brings a new day, here’s my notes.
12:2-3 – Such a blessing comes from an ongoing relationship. I’d love to hear more about how that relationship had developed to this point.
12:10 – Fleeing to Egypt is a common theme. Abram, Isaac and Jesus as a baby.
12:11-16 – I don’t understand this selfish mindset. How could he watch his wife be taken by another man?
12:17-20 – In the end it has the opposite effect than desired. Now the Egyptians are angry at him.
13:3-4 – A symbolic lesson. He built an altar at Bethel and called on God. He left to go his own way, got caught in sin and then returned to God at Bethel. He didn’t set out to return to God, but that’s where he ended up. He returned mush richer materially, but poorer in his family I bet.
13:8-9 – Did Abram learn something from his time in Egypt? Now he puts Lot first, giving him dibs on where to settle.
13:10-13 – Lot chooses to flirt with sin. I sometimes think that my surroundings don’t matter much, but look at what trouble it got Lot into. He wasn’t looking for sin, per se, but he wasn’t concerned about staying away from it either.
14:1-3 – World War Zero, 4 kings against 5.
14:13 – “Hebrew” – he lived in Hebron.
14:13-16 – Is this the same meek, selfish man who entered Egypt in fear and deceit?
14:18-20 – The first recorded priest. Without the law, I wonder what that meant. One thing’s clear, there were other’s who loved and worshiped God who are never mentioned in Genesis. Melchizedek came with gifts for Abram, but Abram gave to him.
God’s Heart
Maybe I make to much of it, but God told Abram to go to the land He would show him. Abram went on from there to Egypt. God didn’t rush to stop him, but let him go to learn about life. God had made him a promise, a big promise. He didn’t reverse that promise, but in fact reaffirms it when Abram returns. God simply lets him go, putting the promise on hold until he returns. Does he know if he will or not?

Genesis 10-11
Tower of Babel and genealogy stuff. I often wonder what God wants us to get out of these ‘family line’ passages. Is there anything to learn here for us today? I always want to skip over these passages (and usually do, or skim them) but have the nagging thought that I’m missing something.
A couple of other points:
11:5 – God ‘came down to see’ the tower. He obviously knew about it or he wouldn’t have known to come down. It’s just interesting to me that the Bible states that he ‘came down’ to see it.
I’ve heard the tower of Babel passage used to show how powerful it would be if the church was unified. But God found this unity here a bad thing. So much so that he acted to destroy it. Was it just their motives that God found offensive? We’ve surely built bigger towers today than they were capable of them. Why did God destroy their efforts and does not do the same for ours?

Genesis 6-10
6:1-2 – Sons of God, daughters of men. Why the distinction?
6:3 – God says, “Enough with you guys!”
6:5-8 – Our sin hurts God, to the point here where he’s ready to throw in the towel.
6:9 – Again the distinction, Noah walked with God.
7:11-12 – I can remember a point being made about Noah’s perseverance, noting it took 100 years to build the ark. It says that he was 500 when his sons were born (triplets?) and 600 when the flood came, but it doesn’t mention when he started building.
7:17-23 – Can you imagine being in the ark, watching the waters rise. Were there men nearby, pounding to be let in? How hard it would be to ignore them, and face the realization of what just happened when the pounding stopped.
8:11 – 278 days under water and the tree is able to sprout a leaf?
8:20 – After what was surely a miserable year in the ark, Noah’s first thought is to give thanks to God.
8:12-22 – One man’s gratitude turns God’s heart to make such a long enduring promise. God is moved greatly by our own faithfulness and gratitude. Surely there have been times in the world since that have reminded God of the days of Noah. Yet he hasn’t broken His promise, he’s let us be as evil as we want.

Genesis 4-5
4:4-5 – It’s clear here that, even from the beginning, that it’s the heart that matters to God, not just obedience. It’s not clear what made Cain’s offering unacceptable.
4:7-9 – Notice how quickly Cain abandoned God’s advice about sin. Says something about his heart and his respect for God.
4:13-16 – God set Cain apart (protection), even in his punishment. Why? He certainly had every right & reason not to. What does that say about God’s heart and love for His people that he not only listened to Cain’s whiny & disrespectful complaint but He honored it! God went beyond the call to take care of Cain’s heart.
4:16 – What does “Out of the Lord’s presence” mean? They weren’t in Eden (paradise with God) anymore. Were there areas where God wasn’t or perhaps He was physically present near Eden and not so in other areas?
4:26b – Then they called on God’s name. Is the Bible making a distinction between physically with God an simply calling on His name? Pure speculation.
5:21-24 – Enoch ‘walked with God’. If the Bible is making such a distinction, it wasn’t because it was impossible. Enoch stands out in this list for that. His life is much shorter that the others. Was God sparing him from the toil and suffering of this world?

Genesis 1-3
The account of creations doesn’t seem to be precisely chronological. Verse 2 says that Earth was created ‘formless and empty’, yet day and night, defined by the relative positions of the Earth and Sun, isn’t created until Day 3. The sun is a day later. How was there ‘day and night’ before day 4? It’s hard to be literal here if you examine it too closely. It seems that to take a stand on a literal 7 day creation is problematic because of that. The clear thing is that God created. How he did it or for how long is more difficult.
1:30 – Were we all vegetarians in the beginning?
2:4-7 – Implies that man was before the plants (contrary to chapter 1) but v. 8 says that he put Adam in a garden.
2:9 – Two special trees.
3:1-5 – Satan did not use outright lies but half-truths, arguably more powerful.
3:10-13 – The blame game.
God’s heart?
Loved Man enough to give them access to the tree of life – eternal life.
Loves us enough also to give us the choice to not stay ignorant of the harsh realities of life – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But warns of the consequences of pursuing that path.
Protects the purity of Eden by removing Adam and Eve after they ate and knew of evil and might then bring into that special place.
Keeping them away from the tree of life could be seen as a blessing – With the knowledge of evil, eternal life could be a curse.
God wanted to shelter Man from sin, but not at the expense of free will.