Reading this is bound to make some people mad.
You might be asking yourself after reading this “why would anyone be mad because of this? God is blessing his good friend Abram, who has faithfully served him for many years.” While that’s true, there is another side to the story. The land that God gave to Abram was already occupied by others. The Caananites and other descendents of Ham lived there. They had lived there for hundreds of years, and had built cities and developed the land. There were at least 9 kingdoms in the land, because that many are listed in this passage. Why would God give the land to Abram when others had worked so hard to develop it? Look back at Genesis 9 for the answer. Noah’s son Ham saw his father drunk and naked and joked about it. The other two sons treated their father with compassion and covered him up. When Noah woke up he discovered what had happened and placed a curse on Ham’s son….named Caanan. Noah said that Ham’s descendants would serve the descendants of the other two brothers. (Japheth and Shem). You will notice that Ham’s descendants are listed in more detail in Chapter 10 than the other two brothers. The reason might be that the author wants us to know who these people are that are being wiped out, and why Abram, and later Moses and then Joshua, and David, and the current president of Israel….have a right to claim the land. it seems cruel to our modern day sensibilities. The United Nations will tell us that it’s unfair, and the nations around Israel will restate their claims from antiquity. But all of that is nothing when you read this passage.
God has spoken, and the land belongs to the descendants of Abraham. It’s not our place to question that.
Abram wasn’t a perfect person. He let another man sleep with his wife because he was worried that he might be harmed. This testifies to his lack of trust in God, and his lack of faith that God would provide for him. Before this, Abram had built two altars where he thanked God for the promise that he would have many descendants. Now, just a short time later he is hiding because he thinks he will be killed before he has any children at all. Abram must not have truly believed what God said at first. Then again, that shouldn’t surprise us….we all make that same mistake.
The good news here is that God doesn’t give up on Abram, and He doesn’t give up on us. He is faithful to do what He has said that He would. Abram’s faith is built up by a series of events, successes in farming and ranching, and in battle. As Abram returns from defeating a king that 4 armies couldn’t defeat, he gives a tenth of the plunder to the king of Salem. You probably know that town by a different name: Jeru-salem. With God there are no coincidences. Abram gives a tenth to a priest that we never hear from again…until God through Paul explains the Jesus is a priest like Melchizedek, without beginning or end. (Linage, in Melchizedek’s case, and equals in Jesus’ case)
Even as Abram gropes to find his faith and serve the Lord God is revealing himself and laying the foundation for the coming of His Son, who would forgive all sins and restore all who were willing.
faithfully,
PR