Starting on New Year’s Day (well, technically, on New Year’s Ever), I switched from using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible reading to the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net”.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 16-18.

    Abraham is held up to us in the Bible as a man of great faith. Faith which we are called to emulate. While he was still Abram, he had sexual relations with Hagar in order to have a son. He did this at his wife’s prompting. Sarai wanted Abram to have a son, so she encouraged him to have sex with her servant Hagar. Abram followed her advice, despite the fact that God had promised him a son. Things did not turn out well for any of the people involved. All three thought they were entering into a consensual relationship, but it still ended badly. There is a lesson here for “polyamorous” individuals. It will end badly.

    When God renewed His promise to Abram, changing his name to Abraham and Sarai’s to Sarah, Abraham did not believe that he could have a son through Sarah at their advanced ages. He asked God to fulfill His promises through Ishmael. God told Abraham that He would bless Ishmael, but His promise stood; Abraham would have a son by Sarah. Here is where Abraham demonstrates his faith. He did not fully believe God, nevertheless he acted as if he did. In response to this latest promise, Abraham followed the instruction that went with it and circumcised himself, at the age of 100, and all of the men of his household. We are often called to do similar. There are times when, in our hearts, we do not fully believe God’s promises. Faith is doing the things which we would do if we truly believed, even when we have doubts.

    Every time I read this passage I am struck by two aspects of Abraham’s conversation with God about the destruction of Sodom. First, I am struck that Abraham bargained with God. It is OK to argue with God (not that Abraham was exactly arguing with God here). God was not offended by the argument which Abraham made. The second is how few righteous people it would have taken to save Sodom. God agreed that if He found 10 righteous people in Sodom He would not destroy the city. I do not know what the population of Sodom was, but sources I have seen suggest the population would have been between 500 and 1000 people. That would mean that 10 people would have been 1-2% of the population of the city. That is all it takes. If 2% of the population is righteous, God will not destroy a city/nation, no matter how wicked the rest are.