Yet To Be Titled

Adam and Eve in a garden paradise, yet they rebelled? God walked with them and if they had any disappointments of complaints they could speak directly to Him. What were they thinking?

In Genesis 3 we see exactly what God was thinking. Sadness over the broken relationship and perhaps a touch of anger? "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." Adam and Eve made their choice out of freedom and found that it came now with new limitations. There was now distance between themselves and God and Philip states that every quiver of disappointment in our own relationship with God is an aftershock from their initial act of rebellion.

CHAPTER 7 - THE PARENT

God did not cast off all His creation after Adam and Eve rebelled. Yes the disruption in Eden changed the world forever and destroyed intimacy between them but the story goes on. Now God and human beings had to get used to each other. Man would break all the rules and God responded with individual punishments. As a parent of two I understand the concept. When Adam sinned, God shows up and explains that all creation would have to adjust to the choice that he, Adam had made. Then in the next generation of mankind, murder is introduced to God. God goes directly to Cain and says, "Listen! Your brothers blood cries out to me from the ground." God then applies a punishment to fit the individual. And that was not the end. Man continued to make choices that displeased God to the point of having a broken heart. The next statement leaves no room for guessing as to how God felt. "The Lord was grieved that He had made man on earth, and His heart was filled with pain."

As a result what God created, God destroyed. The joy of Genesis 1 vanished under never ending waters of a flood. The flood established the minimum level of relationship. Party one, God agrees not to obliterate party two, man. God in giving that promise, limited Himself. God was now in the position of the parent of a runaway teenager. He forced Himself to become the waiting father. The story of the Prodigal Son illustrates this role better than any I could tell.

If it was God's intention to have a mature relationship with FREE human beings, He certainly met with a series of rude setbacks. God the Father of creation trying to relate to man as mature adults and mankind acting like runaway children.

Then in Genesis 12 there is a change in God's direction. He steps in not to punish but to set in motion a new plan for human history. Simply put it appears as though God, instead of trying to restore the whole earth at one time decides to pioneer a settlement of people. "Abraham, I will make you into a great nation, with many people bearing your name, and from that nation I will bless all peoples on earth." And from that declaration the father of this new nation becomes the first example of a person severely disappointed in God. Abraham had miracles. Abraham entertained angels in his home. Abraham dreamed mystical visions of smoking fire pots. But one problem. After the revelation from God, there came silence - long years of bewildering silence.

"Go claim the land I have for you, " God said. But Abraham found Cannan dry as a bone, its inhabitants dying of famine and to stay alive Abraham fled to Egypt. "You'll have descendants as countless as the stars in the sky," God said. At age 75 Abraham still envisioned the tent filled with the sounds of children playing. At 85 Abraham worked out a backup plan with a female servant. At 99 the promise seemed ludicrous and when God showed up to confirm it, Abraham laughed in His face.

God seemingly had dangled a carrot and then watched a barren couple advance toward old age. What kind of game was or is He playing? What does He want from us? It appears as though He simply wants faith. He wanted Abraham to believe when there was no reason left to do so. Out of that faith came a child named Isaac which means "Laughter." Abraham did not live to see descendants as countless as the stars in the sky, but he and Sarah bore one child who preserved the memory of absurd faith.

Did God fall short in His promise? Descendants as countless as the stars in the sky. You only have to read on to see that God fulfilled His word, but not in the timeline that I would have placed on the promise. I would have expected it in Abrahams life time in order for me to consider it a promise kept. My mistake! The promise did not come with details as to when. The how was given. Abraham and Sarah would bear a child and they did. Abraham at 99 years old and Sarah at 90 years old got the ball rolling. It beagn when Abraham learned the lesson God had for him. The bible says, "God wanted faith." Abrahm learned to believe when there was no reason left to believe.