The Meaning Of Life

I do not mind confessing this at all, but I am so thankful to be finished, for now, with the Book of Job. As I said, I’ not a smart man and I find it extremely difficult to understand. And that is something you may face if you embark on a journey to study the Bible, a lack of understand. And it may be so daunting that you give up. I urge you not to give up, to keep moving forward. I was on my third read of the Bible before I found myself understanding it better, and actually becoming interested in what would unfold next.

I’ve never been one who found any particular study in school interesting, but the World History that is contained in this book is truly, truly knowledge that I crave. Perhaps that is not something internal, perhaps it is simply a blessing from God, that He has sparked a desire in me to come closer to Him.

1Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country,
From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.
2I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

Abram came from the land of Ur, which in my research, was in the southeast of Persia, now modern day Iraq. Despite illustration that show Abram, or for that matter, any Biblical character as being caucasian, it seems reasonable that Abram was dark skinned. And skin color isn’t important and we tend to focus on it too much. But I totally agree with my wise sister who said, there are no white people and there are no black people, we’re all just different shades of brown. So it’s good to get a mental picture of how things were, as best we can.

Why did God choose Abram? Moses doesn’t say, and Moses is credited with writing the Book of Genesis. It’s possible Abram was an upright citizen, someone who worshipped God. Keep in mind that thousands of years had passed since Adam and Eve. And in their generation or should I say, lifetime, Cain killed Abel, then was banished and went off to start multiplying with his descendants, so not everyone in the world was good. Or it may have been possible that Abram was a part of Gods plan all along. Any of those choices, considering how God will act in the future, are viable. However, I believe God is all knowing, I believe He knows what the future holds, and I believe it is all a part of God’s plan.

3I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

That right there, tells us that Abram was chosen by God to be the next leader of His people, perhaps another attempt at creating a perfect world. Abram obviously, as we all are, was a direct ancestor of Jesus. Was Abram sinless? Nope. Like everyone else who descended from Adam and Eve, we’re all born into sin.

4So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the [a]people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as [b]the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.

If you heard the Voice of God today, telling you to quit your job, sell your home, take all of your possessions, and move to another town, would you do it? Could you do it? It was clear that God spoke to Abram, and Abram obeyed. Unconditional love for God; God told him what to do and Abram obeyed.

Then again, could we hear the voice of God? Are we listening? Abram didn’t have television, radio, the internet, Tik Tok, YouTube (one of my sins), or other distractions that we have to occupy our mind today. Perhaps if we made an attempt to limit those distractions, and spent more time studying God’s word, maybe we could hear Him. I’m sure He speaks to us, we’re simply not listening.

Make sure we don’t take the word “obeyed” and perceive it that God was a tyrant, that He was demanding, that we had to obey Him to avoid some kind of punishment. That is not the way God works. God is loving. We are his children and he loves us very much, in the same manner as our Earthly fathers love and care for us. But just as we obey the wishes of our Earthly father, out of love and respect, we are expected to love and follow God’s commands.

7Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your [c]descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the [d]South.

One of the reasons why the land of Israel is so desired, as it was explained to me, is that it is in a direct path between Asia and Africa, and almost the only navigable path between mountains and desert. So when God chose this land to start anew, He knew it was going to be fruitful, and economically superior.

10Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. 12Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that [e]I may live because of you.”

Ever told a half-truth? That is what Abram apparently did; Sarai was a half-sister to him, but she was still his wife as well.

14So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

17But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” 20So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

Here are some questions I have. Pharaoh had to have known who God was, because somehow he found out that Sarai was Abrams wife. Did God talk to Pharaoh? Did God sent the message in a dream? Just how did Pharaoh find out?

And obviously Pharaoh had respect for the Lord because he didn’t want any further doings with Sarai for fear of the wrath of God. So at one time, it is obvious that Pharoah knows God and is in awe of Him. But obviously we know that that will change somewhere down the line.

And the gifts Abram received may have been the first of Abrams great weath.

This is the beginning of the pople, not only in Israel, but the entire Middle East.