Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Welcome to Week 2 of our one-year Bible reading journey! In case you’re wondering, today is Day 18 of our reading plan. 

We’re still working our way through Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew. As I said last week, I want to focus these mid-week messages on our Gospel readings since Sunday worship services will be based on our Genesis readings. However, there were some perplexing and (honestly) disturbing passages in Genesis this week that some of you had questions about, and I want to try to provide some context for you. So, first a passage from Matthew, then a look at Genesis. 

Matthew 7:7-11

In Matthew 7:8 (which is right in the middle of his Sermon on the Mount), Jesus says, “For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” At first glance, it may seem like Jesus is saying, “If you earnestly pray to God and truly believe that God is able to answer prayers, then God will give you what you pray for.” Unfortunately, such an understanding of Jesus’ words conflicts with so much of our lived experiences. How many times have we sincerely prayed for something and the outcome we were praying for didn’t happen? I think our disappointments with prayer are often because we misunderstand what Jesus means here.  

The entirety of the Sermon on the Mount is about the kingdom of God, and everything Jesus teaches us in this Sermon is trying to direct our attention to this kingdom. The “kingdom of God” is a metaphor for everything God desires and values. I think we will understand Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:8 better if we simply insert the phrase “the kingdom of God” into this verse: “For everyone who asks [for the kingdom of God] receives [it], and everyone who searches [for the kingdom of God] finds [it], and for everyone who knocks [on the door of the kingdom of God], the door will be opened.” 

God’s will is to form our hearts into the very heart of Christ. If bad things happened even to the incarnate Son of God, then should we expect our own lives to be different than his? In fact, Jesus even tells us hardship will happen in our lives just as it did in his life (John 15:20). The great promise that God gives to us is that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and as long as we trust him and seek to walk in his way, we will never be alone in whatever struggles we endure in life. What a comforting and strengthening thought! 

Now, on to Genesis.

Genesis 19

Just a warning, the following may be triggering for some people due to discussion of sexual violence. 

Some of you had some questions about the places where Lot’s daughters show up in this story. When the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are threatening sexual violence to Lot and his guests, why does it seem that Lot offers up his daughters in place of his guests (19:8)? My Hebrew professor from graduate school teaches that most translations of what Lot actually says here lose the sense of his meaning. Ancient Hebrew is so different from modern English that it’s difficult to communicate all the nuances of the language. If this passage troubles you, I invite you to imagine Lot responding to these violent men with an incredulous, sarcastic tone - because that’s what the Hebrew implies. In other words, he’s saying, “How dare you show up here to harm my house guests? You might as well be asking to harm my own children!” There’s a reason, that the mob outside his door then immediately changes their tone and says, “You’re right - now we are also going to harm you and your family!” 

After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, we then encounter an unsettling episode where Lot’s daughters contrive a situation with their father in which they try to carry on their family line through incest. We’re told that the children they have as a result of this action become the ancestors of the nations of Moab and Ammon. Incidentally, later in the history of Israel, the nations of Moab and Ammon would be fierce enemies of the Israelites. I think this story is included in Genesis 19 to make the point that our sinful actions sometimes continue to have negative impacts for generations and generations.

Genesis 22

The story of Abraham offering Isaac as a sacrifice is troubling and confusing. If you want to know what I think about this story, listen to my sermon about it from June 2020.

I hope some this context helps you understand these passages that we're reading. God is good and goes on this journey with us. I pray you encounter the Lord as you continue to read this week!

Peace to you,
Pastor Aaron