An Acceptable Fast: An Adult Lenten Study Session 2—Genesis 15:1–18 and Psalm 27 Take the long view. incurring the righteous indignation of another neighbor-‐‑ ing king, just when the long-‐‑awaited child was about The Old Testament passage for the second week of Lent to be conceived in Sarah’s 90-‐‑year-‐‑old womb. What she comes from much earlier in ancient Israel’s story. Abram thought of her husband, whose record with women was and Sarai were ancestors of Moses and all the Israelites somewhat less than stellar, we can only guess. he brought from Egypt. A major theme throughout their story is that of patience, or taking the long ǰȱȱ¢ȱȱȱȱ ȱ ¢Ȭęȱ¢ȱ ȱȱȱȱȱȱęȱȱ promises God repeatedly made them. Genesis ŗśǰȱ¢Ȃȱęȱȱȱ¡ǰȱȱ¢ȱ in their story, before the two were renamed by Abraham didn’t always do this badly. Like that of most God and became Abraham and Sarah. ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Abram and Sarai We can know the past, but we can no longer affect it. the good land to his nephew Lot, the time he rescued Lot from kidnapping by foreign kings, and the time he tried to intercede for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. There were his generous dealings with potential in-‐‑laws and neighboring landowners. Whatever we see him doing, it’s not always the wisest or the bravest thing, but it is gener-‐‑ ally understandable, often well-‐‑intended, and occasionally ǯȱȱȂȱȱȱȱȱ¡ȱȱ for God to choose. He doesn’t compose songs or wisdom sayings, teach disciples, heal the sick, build a temple, or lead a nation, and he’s certainly no early feminist. Many readers Once he gave his wife Sarah to the Egyptian Pharaoh, ęȱȱȱȱȱ¢ȱȱ¢ȱȂȱ claiming she was his sister. The Pharaoh’s indignant seem nobler, smarter, or more altruistic than ordinary peo-‐‑ response was to send him away. Once he gave up on ple. They give us hope for us. Their story illustrates repeat-‐‑ Sarah’s fertility and slept with her maid Hagar. This epi-‐‑ edly the trusting words of today’s Psalm 27:13–14: sode is one of many that call into question notions that I believe that I shall see the goodness of the ќџё ȱ ěȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ in the land of the living. in those days taking a second wife to produce an heir was Wait for the ќџё; acceptable, if emotionally complicated. And then there be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the ќџё! was the second time that Abraham gave Sarah away, In the 175 years of his life, Abraham must have done a lot of other things. But much of what we see him doing in the brief chapters that tell his story is waiting. Or, often, not waiting. In Genesis 12:1–3 he is told by God that his descen-‐‑ ȱ ȱȱȱȱǯȱȱȱ¢Ȭęȱ¢ȱȱ ȱȱȱȱǯȱȱȱǰȱȱȱ¡¢ǰȱ God says that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands on the shore. Sometimes he seems to accept this and move on. Other times, he tries to short-‐‑circuit the waiting, and only confuses things. An Acceptable Fast: An Adult Lenten Study, 2 1 Copyright © 2013 www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com Permission given to the purchaser to copy this page for use in class. lines, and knotholes. Whoever wants to work with some-‐‑ thing uniform will not choose wood, but a fabricated material like metal or plastic. A woodworker’s challenge is not to make something uniform from something organic, but to work with what is there, deciding just how to cut to make the best aesthetic and functional use of the tree’s ¡ȱ¢ǰȱȱȱȱȱȱȱǯȱȱ job of an interpreter is likewise not to ignore Scripture’s knotholes, but to work with what is there. So I’ll suggest something we can do with the four generations/four cen-‐‑ turies knothole. My suggestion doesn’t remove the dis-‐‑ crepancy, nor even speculate about its origin, so it will not satisfy historical curiosity. But it’s one approach to ȱ ȱȱȱěȱǯȱ Genesis 15:1–18 ¢ȱȱȱȱ¢Ȃȱ¡ȱȱȱŗśǰȱȱȱ-‐‑ ken to Abraham three times, always on the same subject of the numerous descendants who will inhabit the land. Ȃȱ ȱ ȱ ¡¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȂȱęȱȱȱȱŗŘDZŗȮřǰȱȱȂȱȱȱ ȱȱȱ ¢Ȭęȱ¢ȱȱ¢ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ęȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ŗśǯȱ ȱ ȱ usual speech by God announcing the many descendants Abraham will enjoy, Abraham believes. But then as God elaborates further, Abraham asks, “How am I to know?” ȱȱȱȱȱęȱDZȱȱǰȱȱǰȱȱǰȱ ȱǰȱȱȱǯȱȱĴȱȱȱȱȱ two, the deep sleep and terrifying darkness, the smoking ęȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ Ěȱ ȱ ¡ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢¢ȱ ȱ ǯȱȱȱę¢ȱȱȱǰȱȱȱ is not anyone’s ordinary life, not even Abraham’s. And ȱȱȱȱȱ¡ȱȱȱȱȱ ȱ ȱę¢ǰȱę¢ȱȱ¢ȱȱȱȱ ȱȱȱȱěDZȱ Three Time Horizons In this passage we meet three time horizons. Two are given in the passage: First, and closest to Abraham, we hear of the fourth generation, which is surely imagin-‐‑ able—Abraham nearly lived to see his great grandchil-‐‑ dren. Second, we hear of his descendants four hundred years hence, a time as unimaginable for Abraham as it would be for us today, picturing our own descendants four hundred years from now. How often do we envi-‐‑ sion our descendants even one century ahead? ȱěȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱǰȱ and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. (Gen. 15:13–16) The third time horizon lies beyond the passage, but is evident to us. When we ourselves read this story, we stand at a distance from Abraham, our spiritual ances-‐‑ tor, not of four generations nor of four centuries, but of nearly four thousand years. In the midst of all the smoke and carcasses, what catches readers’ eyes is a numerical discrepancy. In verse 13 God says Abraham’s descendants will be oppressed as slaves in a foreign land for four hundred years. But in verse 16 God says that they will come back in the fourth generation. This discrepancy has occasioned centuries of creative interpretation. Ancient rabbis writing in the ȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ if the descendants repented of their sins they would be returned in four generations, but if not, in four hundred ¢ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡-‐‑ tions, suggesting that “generation” simply means a span of time, or that “four generations” refers to something other than what it self-‐‑evidently means elsewhere. Others imagine that the editor compiling the story knew diverse traditions and didn’t wish to choose one over another. From Abraham’s own vantage point looking forward, the ěȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ěȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ through which the story has passed to us, even four cen-‐‑ turies are relatively brief. Though our vision is vague and our knowledge scant, still we can look back several mil-‐‑ lennia more clearly than Abraham or any of his contem-‐‑ poraries could possibly look forward even a few years. When we think about the past and future, there is irony in two realities that mirror each other. First, we can ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ěȱ ǯȱ ȱ Ȃȱ change what people did long ago to bring us to the world we know now. Second, by contrast, we can’t know the ǰȱȱ ȱȱȱȱěȱȱ¢ȱ¢ȱȱ ¢ȱ ȱ The Bible is like an old tree that a woodworker fashions may or may not see. It’s only because we can look back ȱǯȱȱȂȱȱȱ Ĵȱȱȱ¡ǰȱ at what we cannot change, at decisions and actions that An Acceptable Fast: An Adult Lenten Study, 2 2 Copyright © 2013 www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com Permission given to the purchaser to copy this page for use in class. made the world what it is now, that we have a model for thinking about ourselves through the eyes of future gen-‐‑ erations. We are not conscious of our successors, but they will remember us and how we shaped their world. Judith Nies relates the story of the uniting of the vari-‐‑ ous warring tribes that comprised the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) confederacy before the whites arrived, a con-‐‑ federacy that some historians think provided models as the revolutionaries planned the colonial federation. A Huron visionary named Deganawidah, known as the ȱĴȱȱ ǰȱȱȱ ȱȱȱȱȱȱ-‐‑ Peacemaker, enlisted the aid of a powerful Onondaga ate into the future. We can’t determine the choices that orator named Hiawatha, and the two of them traveled 1 ȱȱ ȱǰȱȱ ȱȱȱĴȱȱ from tribe to tribe outlining a vision for peace. The con-‐‑ create the world they will live in, the opportunities stitution that ensued says, in part: and limitations with which they will live. During what In all of your deliberations in the Confederate Council, became the Revolutionary War, some of my own ances-‐‑ ȱ¢ȱěȱȱ ȱǰȱȱȱ¢ȱĜȱǰȱ self interest shall be cast into oblivion . . . . Look and lis-‐‑ ȱȱȱȱ ȱȱȱȱǰȱȱ ten for the welfare of the whole people and have always alongside of them, most of the tribes of the Haudeno-‐‑ in view not only the present but also the coming gener-‐‑ ǰȱȱȱ¢ȱȱ¡ȱǯȱȱ-‐‑ ations, even those whose faces are yet beneath the sur-‐‑ nists fought for their own independence from a foreign face of the ground—the unborn of the future Nation.2 power. But when they acquired the land, they van-‐‑ quished those who were its earlier inhabitants, pushing This vision, far outreaching the drafters’ own day, them farther and farther west. became known as care for the “seventh generation.”3 Not just care for the fourth, our great-‐‑grandchildren whom we can imagine, but for their great grand-‐‑ children. To take the long view is to choose actions for which our great-‐‑ grandchildren’s great-‐‑grandchildren will thank us, and to refrain from actions that will diminish their lives; to take care in the present for people The name of the state I live in, Indiana, preserves the ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ŗŝŜřȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ĝ¢ȱ in a future far from imaginable by those living. Taking reserved the region it had acquired from France that care so that those looking back, who cannot change their lay between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mis-‐‑ ǰȱ ȱ ęȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ sissippi River for Native Americans. But after the vast ȱȱ¡ȱȱǰȱȱȱ¢ȱȱ land was ceded to the revolutionaries, it was gradu-‐‑ ǰȱȱ¡ȱȱȱȱȱ ǯ Living the Long View To take the long view is to choose actions for which our great-grandchildren’s greatgrandchildren will thank us, and to refrain from actions that will diminish their lives. ally carved into states whose names recall their original residents: near Indiana is Michigan (from a Chippewa word for “great water”), Ohio (from an Iroquois word for “great river”), Kentucky (from the Iroquois, possibly meaning “meadow lands”), Tennessee (from “Tanasi,” the name of a Cherokee village), Illinois (from Algon-‐‑ quian, “warriors”), Wisconsin (a French corruption of an Indian word whose meaning is disputed), Iowa and Missouri (both given tribal names), and Minnesota (from a Dakota word meaning “sky-‐‑tinted water”). What if ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ě¢ǰȱ ęȱ ȱ ȱ live with those whose places and names we have taken as our own? Could we have found peace? Could we all have been enriched by Native American knowledge, as the Bible itself was enriched by a variety of traditions? An Acceptable Fast: An Adult Lenten Study, 2 Building Our Legacy At the 1992 international environmental conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a twelve-‐‑year-‐‑old Canadian child named Severn Suzuki spoke up, bringing her hearers to tears as she begged decision makers to consider the welfare of children and their children, to give to, rather than to rob from, future generations.4 In the midst of the greed and competition that continue to inspire individ-‐‑ uals, businesses, and whole countries to trade the long ȱȱȱ¡ȱ¢ǰȱȱ¡ȱǰȱȱ¡ȱ ¢ȱǰȱȱ¡ȱȱ¢ǰȱǰȱ with our deep historic roots, must consider how we might live generously toward those who are yet to be born, toward our own descendants. 3 Copyright © 2013 www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com Permission given to the purchaser to copy this page for use in class. Trees are our legacy from ages past and our donation to the future. The reformer Martin Luther is credited with saying, “Even if I knew that the world would end tomor-‐‑ row, I would still plant an apple tree today.” I recently Ĵȱȱȱȱ ȱǰȱ ȱȱ ȱ ȱȱ ȱȱȱȱȱ¡-‐‑ ȱȬȱęȱȱȱȱȱȱǰȱ and timbering wisely and sustainably by preserving the ȱȱȱȱ¢ȱȱěǯȱ ȱȱȱǯȱȱ ȱ ȱȱȱȱȱ-‐‑ ply the goal itself, but our own souls. Toward the end of his memoir A Time to Plant, Indiana homesteader Kyle Kramer writes, “I try to keep in mind Wendell Berry’s ¡DZȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ ȱȱȱěȱȱǰȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ improvement of the farmer’s mind and character—and, I would add, the quality of his or her relationships.”5 His patient approach calls to mind the psalmist’s words: I believe that I shall see the goodness of the ќџё in the land of the living. Wait for the ќџё; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the ќџё!” Just as we may voice daily gratitude for the nourish-‐‑ ment we cannot create on our own (see session 1), we may witness our inheritances from past generations as occasions for thanksgiving—healthy trees; fertile soil; clean air; spacious parks; sound buildings, bridges, and roads; as well as the growth of knowledge, wisdom, ȱǯȱȱ¢ȱȱȱȱȱęȱ ȱ ȱǯȱ¢Ȃȱ¡ȱ ȱȱȱ Dzȱ ȱ ȱ ěȱ ȱ ¢ǰȱ ǰȱ and disenfranchisement; the debts our forebears left us; ȱ¡ȱȱ ȱěȱ ȱȱ¢ȯȱ of these present challenges to us. But they also serve as reminders of the importance for us to keep our descen-‐‑ dants in mind. In the long run our momentary pleasures ȱĴȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱǯ About the Writer Patricia K. Tull is Professor Emerita of Old Testament at Lou-‐‑ isville Presbyterian Seminary and the author of several books and Bible studies, including Isaiah 1–39 in the Smyth and Helwys Bible Commentary Series. Endnotes 1. ȱȱȱěȱȱǰȱȱȱȱǰȱ ȱ caring for our personal futures and caring for genera-‐‑ tions yet to come. The spiritual discipline of patience ȱȱ¡ȱȱ¢ȱȱ ȱȱȱȱȱȱ long-‐‑term goal, whether that goal is training for a race, ȱȱǰȱĴȱȱǰȱȱȱǰȱ or saving for retirement. In such a discipline, even our failures can, like Abraham’s, contribute to wiser under-‐‑ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ them. As we acquire goals that transcend generations, ȱ£ȱȱȱĴȱȱ¢ȱ ȱȱ An Acceptable Fast: An Adult Lenten Study, 2 2. 3. 4. 5. 4 Judith Nies, Native American History: A Chronology of a Culture’s Vast Achievements and Their Links to World Events ǻ ȱ DZȱ ȱ ǰȱ ŗşşŜǼǰȱ śśȮśŜǯȱ ȱ ǯǯȱ Constitution’s debt to Haudenosaunee principles was acknowledged by Congress’s Concurrent Resolution 331 on October 4, 1988. “Constitution of the Iroquois Nations: The Great Binding ǰȱ¢ ȄDzȱȱȱĴDZȦȦ ǯ .org/cons/iroquois.htm. ȱ ǰȱ ȱ Ĵǰȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ “Our Responsibility to the Seventh Generation: Indige-‐‑ nous Peoples and Sustainable Development” (Winnepeg: International Institute for Sustainable Development, ŗşşŘǼǰȱĴDZȦȦ ǯǯȦȦȏǯǯ Her speech, labeled “The Girl Who Silenced the World for śȱǰȄȱȱȱȱȱȱDZȱĴDZȦȦ .youtube.com/watch?v=TQmz6Rbpnu0. Kyle T. Kramer, A Time to Plant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, and Dirt (Notre Dame, IN: Sorin Books, 2010), 158. 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