This week's reading is in Genesis 12-17. I will of course reward points for whoever wants to complete last week's reading and offer some brief comments on it as well. Although we are starting on Week 2 I will keep it as it was originally posted to not throw off the schedule. With the blog posting, all you need to do is three things:
1.) Confirm that you read it completely and were able to think about what you read. Scanning is not reading:)
2.) Offer some insight of what you read: "This is something I liked, this is something I haven't thought about, this is something I'm not sure about, this is something that seemed cool/strange, etc."
3.) What did these passages tell you about God?
Happy reading my Chaotic Cronies!
Brian
One of the verses that really stood out to me in this reading was when the Lord spoke to Abram and said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. – Genesis 15: 1. I think this verse is very true because God is our shield and our protector. He protects us from sin and Satan. Also when we do die God will reward us for following Him by giving us eternal life and letting us spend our eternal life with Him. So even though God made Abram leave his country when he was 75 and start somewhere else Abram faithfully obeyed God and was rewarded for it eventually by having many descendents and being the father of many nations. In conclusion, from this reading I learned that even though we don’t know what our future holds and why we are doing things that don’t make sense in the end it is all part of God’s plan, and that he will protect us. Trust God (Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future)
ReplyDeleteOne thing I did find interesting was how God changed Abram’s name from Abram to Abraham in Chapter 17 verse 5 after God declares him a father of many nations. I’ve never actually known that Abrahams name was changed until now.
I HEARD IT HAD TO BE POSTED BY 4.... I started reading at 3:55, not thinking it would take me that long. Forgive me, it took me a half hour. I'll time it better nxt week :)
ReplyDeleteI got kinda confused with different parts of the reading, but some parts of it stood out to me. Firstly, same thing as Sandra, i didn't even know his name was changed. I thought Abram and Abraham were two different guys. Guess not. I searched why God would change his name to that, when its already so similar and it said that names were a very big deal in ancient times. The meaning of a person's name often revealed a very important characteristic about him. In many cases, it was a symbol of what he stood for. In Hebrew, Ab means "father" and raham means "many."
Another thing i didn't know was how Old Abram was. He was 99 before he became Abraham.
Lastly, the one part about how Sarai was unable to have children, made me think.
"See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her."
I didn't realize that it was such a big deal. So many people now a day don't want kids at all, but in the Old Testament times, it was considered a tragedy for a couple to be childless. Children were seen as a sign of God's blessing. Without a son, there would be no one to carry on the family's name or take care of the family's property and possessions etc.
I also found it quite strange that Sarai's servant could not have refused the "sleeping arrangement" because female servants were expected to bear their master's children if the master's wife would not.
I learned that after by researching it, and it blew my mind.
Today is so different. We don't look at kids as a blessing from God, we look at them, as another person in the family. . . Strange