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The huge steel walls were rising above her. A ring of white surrounded her, Little isles of white dotted the plain about her: barren patches of desolation with no living thing in sight. Her reflection warped, caving up across her in the steel with alien-life features. Stuck inside...
Sarah's Grave
In 1981, Dr. Seev Jevin, Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, forced
himself through a narrow opening in the underground grave chamber of the
Machpela cave, where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were believed to be buried.
He did this under strict observation by the Islamic...
†. Gen 23:10b-11 . . saying: No, my lord, hear me: I give you the
field and I give you the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the
presence of my people. Bury your dead.
Ephron's generosity was no doubt sincere, but merely one more formality
towards closing a deal on the property. Not...
I’m a dark seeker, creature of the night.
I scream and run when exposed to light.
Here, cloaked in darkness, you cannot see
The filth and the sores that plague me.
Yeah, I know that they’re killing me inside
But I don’t want others to see them so I run and hide.
Though the remedy is always...
†. Gen 23:1-2a . . Sarah's lifetime-- the span of Sarah's life --came to
one hundred and twenty-seven years. Sarah died in Kiriath-arba--
now Hebron --in the land of Canaan;
This is the only woman in the entire Tanakh for whom an age is given at the
time of her death. Isaac was 37 at this...
†. Gen 22:12a . . And he said: Do not raise your hand against the lad,
or do anything to him.
There are some who feel that the angel stopped Abraham at this point
because he misunderstood the instructions God gave to him back in verse 2;
which were: "Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom...
†. Gen 22:9b . . Abraham built an altar there; he laid out the wood;
This was a place where, apparently, Abraham had never worshipped before
because he had to build an altar.
Did the lad perhaps begin to feel dread and fear at this point just like Jesus
felt on the night he was arrested?
†...
†. Gen 22:6b-7 . . He himself took the firestone and the knife; and
the two walked off together. Then Isaac said to his father Abraham:
Father! And he answered: Yes, my son. And he said: Here are the
firestone and the wood; but where is the sheep for the burnt
offering?
Oops! That's kind of...
†. Gen 22:2d . . on one of the heights that I will point out to you.
Precisely where the land of Moriah was, and the specific height God chose,
is impossible to tell for sure. Abraham knew where the land was but he
wouldn't know the exact spot until he got there. It's just as well to keep it a...
.
Rabbis are quite divided as to the true meaning of Gen 22:2. Some
feel Abraham was supposed to kill Isaac, and some feel he wasn't. There are
some who feel that the angel stopped Abraham at this point because he was
making a big mistake-- that Abraham misunderstood the instructions God
gave to...
†. Gen 22:1a . . Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test.
This particular section of Scripture deals with an ancient incident known in
sacred Jewish literature as The Akedah (the binding of Isaac). The Akedah
portrays the very first human sacrifice ever performed in the Bible by...
†. Gen 21:22a . . At that time
While Hagar and Ishmael were busy setting up a new life for themselves, a
seemingly trivial event occurred in Abraham's life. I don't have any idea why
Genesis records this incident. It doesn't seem to mean anything.
†. Gen 21:22b . . Abimelech
It is very...
Hey everyone, here’s my pitiful attempt at writing some humour.
Just enjoyed my days off. This time I had Sunday and Monday off. Yes, now do any of you know about Mondanitis? Because I suffer from it big time! And that’s my topic. I am to prove that I suffer from Mondanitis.
Mondanitis tends...
†. Gen 21:17a . . God heard the cry of the boy,
I don't think Ishmael, at near eighteen, was bawling his eyes out like a little girl. Rather; his "cry"
was a plea for help. Exactly what he said is unknown. But God heard him and responded. I
strongly suspect that in those seventeen or so years...
Got a grim smile on my lips.
Wearing a stoic face that doesn’t fit.
They tell me it’s no use, what was will be.
Nothing changes, tis like the tides of the sea.
They told me the signs, what was going to happen,
Still hung on, even as the hurricane was shaping.
Got stung, should’ve got the message...
†. Gen 21:13 . . As for the son of the slave-woman, I will make a
nation of him, too, for he is your seed.
Abraham certainly must have been worried what would become of Ishmael;
so God reassured him his boy would be just fine.
I think it's significant that God didn't refer to either Hagar or...
†. Gen 21:9 . . Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had
borne to Abraham playing.
At this point, Ishmael was around 17 or 18 years old. (cf. Gen 16:16, Gen
21:5, Gen 21:8)
It's hard to tell what kind of sport Ishmael was involved in. Some feel that
he, the firstborn son, was picking on...
†. Gen 21:1 . . God took note of Sarah as He had promised, and God
did for Sarah as He had spoken.
Because God's predictions are sometimes slow and long in coming to pass,
people are often inclined to scoff at what He says and lose confidence in His
testimony. God told Noah that a flood was...
†. Gen 20:9a . .Then Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him:
What have you done to us? What wrong have I done that you should
bring so great a guilt upon me and my kingdom?
There were no Divine prohibitions at this time against adultery; yet
Abimelech's ancient culture believed it to be...
†. Gen 20:4b . . He said: O Lord, will You slay people even though
innocent?
Right about now ol' Ab is scared to death; so he mounts a feverish defense
to save his hide. This man is highly motivated, and by no means ignorant of
Abraham's god. He knows exactly who He is; and no doubt informed of...