The official 90 day Bible challenge

Today was really fun for me, I feel like I came away learning a lot here. I started at Gen. 18 and went through 29. Here's my notes on it...

18:12-15 Sarah laughs at the Lord and then denies it immediately afterwards out of fear. Have you ever had a moment like that where you felt like something is so out of hand that even the Lord God couldn't fix it and it's laughable to think about it, only to realize that God is bigger then that situation and can help, and then you feel silly for laughing?

When the angels came to Sodom and stayed with Lot, the people who lived there surrounding the tent with intention to rape the 2 men. I thought it was amazing first how wicked those people were, and second how willing of a servant Lot was, to offer his two daughters to protect those men (I don't think at that point Lot knew they were angels, not sure though). And Lot losing his wife to the Lord's judgment, because she looked back, I can't imagine how that would be to turn and see your wife as a pillar of salt.

Sticking with Lot, both his daughters got him so drunk that he had no idea what was going on, and they both laid with him and got pregnant. What I found interesting about this is that God used that as a blessing. I'm sure He looked at this situation and was not very happy with how these daughters went about doing things, but it just goes to show that the Lord can use any situation, good or bad, sinful or righteous, to work for the greater good and to bless those who love Him. It reminded me of Romans 8:28.

In my Bible, it said that Jacob's name literally meant "Supplanter." I thought the Supplanter of these forums might enjoy that

I don't quite know what to make of the relationship between Jacob and Esau. They both seem to be just full of mistakes and bad ideas.

Isaac employs Abraham's strategy of calling his wife his sister to avoid death. It makes me wonder, and from the reading it seems apparent, that if he did claim her to be his wife, and she was beautiful, they would kill him for her. I can't imagine cities so brutal like that, but none of the kings seem to deny that they would have, so it must have been a real concern. On the other hand, the Lord prevented those kings from taking the men's wives on all those occassions, so while it might have seemed like a dirty trick by Abraham and Isaac, God was the one in control of that situation and He again used that all for good.

I learned about how faithful God is, and how faithful man can be. Here is how God was faithful, at least in the parts that stuck out to me the most: He provided Abraham with a son. When asked to sacrifice the son, after Abraham proved his faith, the Lord provided Abraham with a ram to sacrifice instead, He was faithful in showing Isaac's servant to Rebekah in exactly the way that was needed, He even comes to Isaac and tells him not to fear, that He is with him because of Abraham. He's so faithful to Abraham that He appears to his child to make sure that child knows what's going on and that the promise will be kept!

Abraham's faith is so strong that he is willing to sacrifice his only son from Sarah. I can't imagine even considering that, but that's how strong his faith is, and it goes to show how great faith will be rewarded! On a side note, the place where he sacrificed the ram, he named it, "The Lord Will Provide." That's the best name for a place ever I think, I love that our God provides for us!

Okay I don't want to ramble too much more. I want to leave this on a romantic note, I must be feeling lonely or something, but this is the verse that stuck out the most to me.

Genesis 29:20, "So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her."

I can't imagine working for 7 years just to be able to make a girl my wife, but his love for her was so strong that he toughed it out and it didn't even seem like all that much to him... How sweet is that

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Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.

"This is my prayer in the desert. When all that's within me feels dry. This is my prayer in my hunger and need, my God is the God who provides. This is my prayer in the fire. In weakness or trial or pain. There is a faith proved in more worth then gold, so refine me Lord through the flame!" Hillsong United - Desert song

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"If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change".

Eve;
I was thinking the same thing when I was out walking and thinking about this some more. Well that Sarai didn't trust God. And I don't think you're wrong at all.. your thoughts make very much sense.

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Originally Posted by Nilla

Eve;
I was thinking the same thing when I was out walking and thinking about this some more. Well that Sarai didn't trust God. And I don't think you're wrong at all.. your thoughts make very much sense.

Sara is accused of being an unbeliever because she laughed, but Abraham was rotfl

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What version of the Bible is everyone using? I started with the KJV, but switched
to the NCV (New Century Version) for it's readability. Here's the online version:

New Century Version (NCV Bible) - Version Information - BibleGateway.com

God Bless!

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"Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly" -Sanctus Real

I'm using a NKJV

__________________
Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.

"This is my prayer in the desert. When all that's within me feels dry. This is my prayer in my hunger and need, my God is the God who provides. This is my prayer in the fire. In weakness or trial or pain. There is a faith proved in more worth then gold, so refine me Lord through the flame!" Hillsong United - Desert song

I'm using the NIV and sometimes The Message.

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In Genesis 18:16-33, I find it amusing that Abraham barters with God concerning the amount of "righteous" people that had to be present in order for the town to be saved. heh.

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I've always found this a little hard to believe. Not that Lot impregnated his daughters, but that he was so drunk he didn't "perceive when they lay down or arose" but still managed to do the deed. Perhaps it is possible to maintain an erection and spill seed when you are unconscious, I wouldn't know.

If he was semi-conscious, how could he *not* have known? When I was young I was at a party and me and this girl I just barely met were both very drunk and we *tried* to have sex. It didn't work so well - lol. But it wasn't as if I didn't know then or the next morning what transpired and who it was with.

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אחת השבתות
=
μια των σαββατων

Central to the covenant of I AM.
John 8:24 for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

Light. It illuminates a path. It can blind. Three in Scripture are defined by it. Lucifer -"light bringer", the law(Proverbs 6:23), and Jesus Christ. Whom will you trust?

Without going into details, I can personally attest to this being fairly possible. He might have had some idea that something bad might have happened, but not a clear enough idea to realize the severity of it or act on it.

__________________
Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.

"This is my prayer in the desert. When all that's within me feels dry. This is my prayer in my hunger and need, my God is the God who provides. This is my prayer in the fire. In weakness or trial or pain. There is a faith proved in more worth then gold, so refine me Lord through the flame!" Hillsong United - Desert song