Abraham Meets a Priest (Gen 14)

In Genesis 13, Abram and his nephew Lot go their separate ways.  In chapter 13, Lot has to be rescued; it won’t be the last time.  And then something really weird happens; Abram is blessed by a priest named Melchizadek.

One may wonder what’s so strange about being blessed by a priest in the Old Testament.  Happens all the time, right?  Well, almost all the time.  Time is the very problem, or to be more precise chronology.  If we’re reading straight through the first 14 chapters of Genesis, then as far as we’re concerned there has not been a priest yet.  Moses will not be born for several hundred years.  The Law has not been given, Aaron and his sons have not been ordained as priests, and there is no temple nor tabernacle.  We identify Abram as the first man of faith, and as far as we are aware he is the only human being alive who believes in the one God.  Then we meet Melchizadek.

Melchizadek is the king of Salem, and also the priest of God Most High.  He blesses Abram, and Abram gives to him a tenth of all that he possesses.  The word tithe literally means a tenth.  How did Abram know to do that?  Who made Melchizadek a priest?  How did these two realize they believed in the same God, or did they realize?  It may strike the reader as odd to encounter such a priest, but it apparently doesn’t bother Abram.  Did he find it odd?  This is another one of those cases where the Bible doesn’t answer all our questions.

It gets worse.  Melchizadek will be mentioned once more in the Old Testament: Psalm 110.   This reference is prophetic of the New Testament messiah; he will be a priest after the order of Melchizadek.  The book of Hebrews is going to be all over Melchizadek, including quoting the 100th Psalm.  Just like the brass serpent or the Passover lamb, he appears as a type of Christ.  It’s an obscure reference early in the Old Testament, and could be easily missed in a hurry; but in proving that Jesus is God and the messiah, Hebrews just keeps coming back to it.  I see a couple of lessons we can take from this.

First, Abram was not the only person of faith.  Up until Melchizadek, he is the only one we know.  The religions of the ancient world were polytheistic, often responding to and based on things in nature.  Abram may have thought he was alone, just as Elijah did at one point.  He was not alone.  The second lesson is that God has a plan.  Hebrews 7 craftily points out that Aaron was indirectly blessed by Melchizadek, since he was still in Abram’s loins.  He may be something of a mystery to us, but is definitely part of God’s plan.  Finally, Abram is clueless to so much of what is going on.  This is the final lesson, in that we have no idea yet either how much God is doing around us or in our lives right now that we are clueless about.   We don’t even know what we don’t know.  Relax though; refer to lesson 2.

Abraham, Man of Faith (Gen 12 – 15)

It will take a few posts to deal with Abraham. When we first meet him in Genesis 12, he is Abram. In his culture, as with many cultures other than our own, names are associated with meaning. Abram basically means “father” in Hebrew, whereas God would later call him Abraham, or “father of many.” It is Abram’s belief in God’s promise that makes him the first man of faith.

The Tower of Babel (Gen 10 & 11)

When studying any ancient text, the Bible included, it is important to keep in mind that ancient authors did not write the way we do.  They did not think the way we do about narrative.  Narrative story telling, involving a plot that consistently moves forward through time, is relatively new in the great scheme of things.  The novel is as recent as the European Renaissance.  Simply put, the writings of Moses were never meant to stand up to the literary criticism of our time.

The Flood (Gen 6-8)

The flood story is found in Genesis 6-8.  Begin by reading those passages.  Here is ESV and KJV, or visit Bible Gateway for more options.

In Gen. 6:5, we learn that God was displeased with the wickedness of men, and that the “intentions of his heart was continually on evil.”  God was so upset with how wicked evil his creation had become, he decided to wipe them out. 

Cain and Abel (Genesis 4)

Let me first apologize.  This post was originally to be titled “The First Murder,” but there’s more to Genesis 4 than that, and I had not done my homework at that time. 

Begin by reading Genesis chapter 4 (ESV, KJV).  In the Introduction to Genesis, I tried to make this point clear: the Bible will not answer all of our questions.  This chapter raises some good ones.  A quick glance will immediately reveal issues, and I will be upfront about 2 things: 1) We do not know where Cain found a wife.  Was she his sister?  Did God create wives for Adam and Eve’s children?  The first is more likely, but to the author of Genesis these details were unimportant.  2) Why do the two brothers make sacrifices in the first place? 

The Fall (Genesis 2:4 – 3:24)

Humanity’s fall from grace is recorded in Genesis 2 and 3 (ESV,  KJV). 

The first thing one will notice when reading Genesis 2 is that the creation of man and woman is being described for the second time.  The first mention of their creation was to place the event in the order of Creation Week.  Beginning with 2:4 we get a much more detailed account of exactly how the creation of mankind took place.  This is, after all, our story.

Creation Week (Genesis 1:1 – 2:3)

Begin by reading Gen. 1:1 – 2:3.  The English Standard Version (ESV) has been linked, but read whichever version you feel comfortable with.  Bible Gateway  has many versions online (20 in English). 

The supreme omnipotence of God is presented to us in the first verse of the Bible.  God created the universe and all that is in it ex nihilo, or from nothing. 

Introduction to Genesis

The Book of Genesis will not answer all of your questions.  For that matter, no book of the Bible will, that’s not the nature of scripture (link to The Bible, Uses and Misuses).  Genesis does not tell us, for example, where Cain found his wife.  I like to ask my students if Adam and Eve had belly buttons, just to get them thinking.  Genesis is not a science book.  If God had thought we needed a science book, he would have given us one.  The Bible was given to express a particular message.  The most basic message of scripture is that we need a savior.