Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Abram

The story of Abram/Abraham is fascinating.  How could God take a jerk (based upon his willingness to hide behind his wife in Egypt) and bless the entire world through him?  But there is a piece of him that you have to admire. ( letting Lot chose the better ground rather than quarreling)  Throughout the Bible, we Christians are reminded of our responsibility to take the "high road" in our relationships with others and the world.  We are to be a people who seek after unity in the body even if it means sacrificial behavior (goodness, doesn't that sound like Jesus) on our part.

Just because it is so soon after Christmas, I am again reminded of a theme in the Bible of how many times God uses a pagan world to protect his plan.  Abram goes down into Egypt as a protection against famine.  Joseph is sold into slavery and goes down into Egypt to emerge as a nation.  The baby Jesus goes down into Egypt and is protected from Herod.

Notice in Chapter 14 how Abram gave 1/10 of the spoils of war to Melchizedek.  I think this is the 1st mention of the tithe.  A lot of folks believe that Melchizedek is the introduction of Christ as a person into the biblical narrative.  I don't know what to think about it.  Do you have any thoughts on the person of Melchizedek?

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