Context Always Matters

 A few years ago, I was in a Christian recovery group to gain support as I worked to overcome an eating disorder.  A guy, who was new to the Christian scene, started coming to group to deal with some issues.  One night as the pastor shared a devotional that included the gospel, the man blurted out, "That's crazy!" The pastor was not thrown by the gentleman's sudden outburst. He simply said something like, "Yes, God's love is crazy." He encouraged the man to express his thoughts and reactions freely, enabling him to understand exactly where the man was in his faith. I went home that night thinking of the times I, too, had found God's word confusing and had thought, "That's crazy." The first time it happened I was a ten-year-old who asked a Sunday male school who was teaching the class the Christmas story what a virgin was. I don't remember his answer, but I do remember his red face and discomfort with my question. 

Later on, I was a young mom when my husband and I were in an adult Sunday school class that was studying the Old Testament, and the circumcision of Abraham was discussed. I remember asking the teacher of that class why God would choose something like circumcision to be a sign of God's covenant to Abraham. Once again, I sensed great discomfort in the room at asking the question. And from that time the story of Abraham seemed to be a story that was shrouded in great mystery and the Bible continued to seem like a book with a bunch of disjointed stories in it.

But over the years, I have learned that context--the background and the culture--of the stories are what bring to light the continuity of the Scriptures and the rich truths contained in them. To explain what I mean, I will use Abraham's story, which when read out of context of culture and time period has some really crazy parts in it. When I was in the class as that young mom, I didn't know much about the culture Abraham and Sarah had grown up in. They came from the Ur of the Chaldees, which was a hot bed for polytheistic worship. One of the gods the region worshiped was a fertility god and acts of worship included sacrifices of children on alters. Just finding out these two things give a lot of clarity to their story.

When God introduces us to Abraham and Sarah, they are an old couple who had never been able to have children living in a society that placed a high value on fertility. It was in that state of infertility that God called them out of Ur and told them if they would relocate to a land He would provide, He would give them a child. They left Ur, believing God would provide them an heir. They didn't realize that God's plan for them included a season of waiting, which when one is already elderly did not make sense. In their waiting Abraham and Sarah had few lapses of faith, in which Sarah and Abraham began to try to figure out how to make God's promise come true. First, they thought it might be a young relative traveling with them and God said, "NO!" Then later Sarah offered Abraham her handmaiden so she could birth a child for them as was customary in those days. This complicated their lives, the lives of the child and his mother, and the generations that came after them. God visited them again and renewed His promise to Abraham and Sarah. Sarah laughed. Maybe she laughed at the absurdity of having a baby long after her menses had ceased or maybe she laughed because she had already waited so long, and nothing happened. Yet, God gave her grace and reiterated His promise as He challenged her laughter. And within the year she birthed a boy she delightfully named "Laughter" -- a reminder of both her unbelief and her joy that came through God's faithfulness.  

I understood the promise of the Messiah coming through the Abrahamic covenant a long time ago. But the question on my mind was, why did the Lord wait so long to give them a child? I wrestled with the question and overtime I came to believe that the answer lied in the context--the backdrop of their story. After the fall, people had moved away from the living God and had created many gods of their own and they offered sacrifices to those idols in an effort to gain things or to quench the anger of the gods when blessings were withheld. God, in His mercy, called Abraham and Sarah out of Ur to reveal to them the truth that He and He alone is the living God, the author of all life. By delaying Sarah's childbearing to a time that she was reproductively dead He was able to reveal to her and Abraham that He alone had the power to create life. And when we understand the details of their story it doesn't seem so odd that God would choose circumcision to be a sign of His covenant with Abraham. For with circumcision, Abraham was reminded every time he and Sarah were intimate that God is not only a covenant keeping God, and He is a life-giving God, 

The context, the backdrop of their story, also takes the mystery and confusion out of God telling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. I understood early on the testing of Abraham's faith, but I struggled with the why of it. Going back to the polytheistic religions Abraham and Sarah left, I came to believe God was giving Abraham a physical spiritual lesson by asking Abraham to do something with which he was familiar as child sacrifices were offered in his homeland. But the beauty of it was how God stopped him and provided him a lamb to sacrifice, pointing to Jesus who would be the ultimate sacrifice for us all. God introduced Abraham to grace by showing Him that His wrath for sin would be dissolved through the sacrifice He himself provided. Abraham and Sarah would be able to rest joyfully in God's promises and grace, not fearfully sacrificing their child to appease angry stone gods or to gain favor to have a long-longed for child. I love how God used the known to reveal what was not known to them.

Context often answers the questions of why about the stories written in a different time and a different culture. I can't help but wonder, if we miss some of the life lessons God might be trying to teach us by ignoring the context of our own stories--stories that He is penning. I also wonder if sometimes we might misapply what God says in one situation by not understanding the context of His direction. I love that we have a relationship with a God who walks with us, bringing to life His truth and grace through life lessons, which we can test against His written word. When the stories He tells in His Word or the events of our own lives seem disjointed and confusing, we would do well to remember that context always matters.          

         

Look for the Grace

 A couple of weeks ago our pastor covered the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac. When he first started teaching the passage, I felt an uneasiness in the pit of my stomach just like I had every other time I read the story. As a mom of five children, I could not imagine being asked by God to sacrifice them on an alter. I began to pray as I listened to the sermon and God impressed upon my heart the words, "Look for the grace." 

To see the grace that lies in this story, I thought back on Abraham's life and put it in its context. Abraham and Sarah had lived in a culture that worshiped fertility gods. While there, they struggled with infertility and any sacrifices they might have made to the stone fertility idols didn't result in any children. When Sarah was 65 and Abraham was 75 God called them to leave this culture and promised them a son and many offspring through him. They left for a new county, hoping in the child God promised. 

On their journey Abraham lied about Sarah being his wife on two different occasions. He did this because he was afraid He would be killed rulers who might want to take Sarah as their wife. He justified the lies and his lack of protection over Sarah by pointing out that she was a half sister. Both times God extended them grace by stepping in to protect Sarah from the men who took her into their homes.  

On their journey they grew tired of waiting on God to provide them with the promised child. First, Abraham wanted to adopt his nephew so his children could become his decedents. But, the Lord stepped in and graciously affirmed His promise again. The waiting grew long and Sarah, fearing she would never bear a child, took things into her own hands and offered  her handmaiden to Abraham to conceive a child for them. Then when Hagar got pregnant, she treated Sarah with contempt. Sarah dealt harshly with her and had Abraham send her away. God graciously intervened for Hagar and sent her back to Abraham and Sarah and then once again affirmed His promise. 

After eleven more years of waiting, God sent messengers to again affirm His promise to them. At this point Sarah was in her tent when she heard the promise spoken aloud. The post menopausal Sarah laughed in unbelief as she thought, "Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?" The messengers confronted both her laughter and her thoughts, telling them within a year they would have a baby. She denied laughing because she was afraid and yet God showed them grace in the face of their lies, their missteps, their manipulation, their unbelief, and their denial>> He brought Sarah's body back to life and she conceived Abraham's child and birthed Isaac when she was 90 years old. 

The waiting, as hard as it was had been God's grace at work. It had exposed their ungodly ways and had allowed them to become apart of God's story as He revealed that He alone is the author of life. He did what no stone idol could do, He created life in an impossible situation. 

That brings us to the uncomfortable part of their story. God told Abraham to take his beloved Isaac to Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering. The request may not have seemed all that odd to a man who had deep roots in a culture that offered children as sacrifices. Yet, we know they deeply longed for and waited a lifetime of years for Isaac. To be honest, the first time I read this story I was a young mom and a part of me wanted Abraham to stand up and argue with God or to at least come up with an alternate plan as he had done many times before. But Abraham was now a changed man and he quietly and firmly resolved to obey God. Abraham and Isaac leave the next morning and travel for three days. 

During that three days Abraham had lots of time to process and change his mind, but with every step he took he remained resolved to obey his God. Hebrews 11:17-19 gives us insight into his mindset, "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead." It still had to have been a difficult journey.

When they came to the place to which God had instructed them, Abraham built the alter and took the wood from Isaac and laid it out. He then bound Isaac and laid him on the altar. He took his knife to slaughter his son, but the Lord intervened and said to Abraham, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me." As Abraham lifted his eyes he saw there was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns and he took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. The Lord then tells Abraham, "...because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surly bless you, and I will multiply your offspring as the starts of heaven and the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." 

I think the first time I read this, it seemed harsh, but as I look for the grace in the story, I find it a sweet and tender story. I realize that God was testing Abraham and that the test not was set to prove something to God. It was set to prove something to Abraham, to Isaac and to us. By having Abraham go though this test, God graciously showed Abraham that his once floundering faith that tended to disappear in the face of fear had now matured and stayed strong in the face of this hard task. Abraham's faith was now based firmly on the words of His God. He had grown a deep resolve to honor and obey God who had given him a son. This faith trip was also an opportunity to grow Isaac's faith. Isaac who was big enough to carry the wood could have pushed back when it came time to lie down on the altar, but he, too, had a firm resolve to obey. When God had Abraham's story written, all of the missteps, the unbelief , and the lies were written for all future generations to see. But, in the telling of this part of the story, God shows us Abraham's strong faith and the resolved will of a man who now deeply loved his God.

There is a grace that runs deeper still. And that grace is a glimpse of the Father's heart towards us. This story foreshadows Jesus's story as He lived a perfect life we could not live so that all of our lies, our missteps, our manipulating ways, our denial, our self-protective ways, and our sin could be covered by the blood of Jesus. It was the Father who showed Abraham what it felt like to sacrifice a Son and it was Jesus who stood in the place of Isaac as He lay down His life for us. That day so long ago at the altar God showed us His grace is relentless, flowing from a heart that continually pursues us until we are brave enough to lean into the hard that we face and look for the grace,