{"id":767,"date":"2013-03-15T11:15:32","date_gmt":"2013-03-15T15:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=767"},"modified":"2013-03-15T11:15:32","modified_gmt":"2013-03-15T15:15:32","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementscript-ga-type-textjavascript-ga-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=767","title":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">  var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-25646250-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);  (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text\/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:\/\/ssl' : 'http:\/\/www') + '.google-analytics.com\/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();  <\/script>  <\/heat> Isaac, Abimelech, and Rebekah &#8211; Held on Sunday, March 10, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Personal Note on Posting Timeline<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Despite my best intentions, I did not post the session held on Sunday March 3, what follows is my post for our session held on March 10 with a brief review of the discussion from the previous week.<\/p>\n<p><b>Gen. 26: 06 \u2013 11: Isaac, Abimelech and Rebekah<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Review<\/b><\/p>\n<p>A topic of our discussion that caught my attention emerged from v. 3, \u201cThe Lord appeared to him [Isaac] and said: \u2026\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure how others imagined this verse in the concrete but I believe that there are two comments worth noting. First, God\u2019s appearance is an experience that emerges on the inside of us; we cannot \u201csee\u201d God with our eyes.\u00a0 The biblical author gives expression to that event in clearest terms possible, God appeared and talked. For we believers there is no doubt that God was involved in the historical life of these patriarchs, in the history of the Israelites.\u00a0 But secondly, that doesn\u2019t mean that the \u201cappearance and the talk\u201d have to be imagined as visual and auditory.\u00a0 Any effort to give expression to these events falls short of the actual experience; for the experience overwhelms, lives one moved, awed, even fearful.<\/p>\n<p>To reflect on the different ways to read \u201cThe Lord appeared to him and said \u2026\u201d can change how we read, understand, recognize the meaning of, not just this one verse, but the entirety of the Book.\u00a0 What our faith affirms is that God was involved in the actual history of the Israelite people, as Christians, that the very Word of God became flesh, and finally that God continues to be involved in the whole of human history.\u00a0 The Bible changes the very meaning of human history and it is that change in meaning that is being communicated in the author\u2019s words.<\/p>\n<p>I would love to hear what your understanding of the previous two paragraphs is and what your opinion on that understanding is.<\/p>\n<p><b>Background of 26: 06 \u2013 11: Isaac, Abimelech and Rebekah.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The very format of our conversation has changed.\u00a0 A new pattern has emerged.\u00a0 I might make a general comment on the passage we are about to read.\u00a0 For example, in this passage, I made two comments:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>This account is third time, twice with Abraham and now with Isaac, that they, in order to protect their lives, say that their wife is their sister. But this account has some important differences.<\/li>\n<li>These stories of Isaac strongly mirror similar stories in the life of Abraham.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Once I offer a few general remarks, we read the passage.\u00a0 It is at this point that the structure of our conversation has changed.\u00a0 Once the characters of the entire passage have been identified I have begun to ask questions about specific verses within the passage.\u00a0 This change will be reflected in the structure of my posting as well.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s begin with a reading of the passage: 26: 06 \u2013 11: &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/25\"><b>http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/2<\/b><\/a><b>6<\/b><b><\/b><\/p>\n<p>We quickly identified the characters.\u00a0 Isaac, Rebekah, the Philistines, especially the men and the King, Abimelech.\u00a0 Tim pointed out a significant character not present, God or The Lord.<\/p>\n<p>V. 06: We learn that Isaac settles in Gerar.\u00a0 Although I don\u2019t know the geography of the land at the time of either Isaac or the author, Isaac basically is traveling south toward Egypt, so Gerar is located somewhere between where he started his journey and Egypt.<\/p>\n<p>V. 07: The men of the area question Isaac about Rebekah.\u00a0 There is so much of the culture of the day assumed in this, and really most of the verses of the bible.\u00a0 It\u2019s learning to hear the cultural assumptions that allow a more meaningful hearing of God\u2019s word. The verse seems to assume that killing a husband to have his wife is just part of the life.\u00a0\u00a0 It also seems that this verse, although it appears after the birth of Esau and Jacob, assumes a time prior to the birth of the two boys.<\/p>\n<p>Heber was struck by these assumptions.\u00a0 Although killing another man so as to have his wife is not as much a part of our culture as it was then; still men and women too are not stopped by the fact that who they are attracted to is married.\u00a0 Wooing occurs, divorce follows, and remarriage happens.\u00a0 There are differences for sure but there are also commonalities.<\/p>\n<p>Heber talked about the Mormons having more than one wife.\u00a0 It was important to correct any misunderstandings.\u00a0 Although polygamy existed in the past and there might be some Mormons who attempt to live that today, the Mormon church has a disavowed such practices.<\/p>\n<p>V. 08: Isaac and Rebekah have settled in at Gerar.\u00a0 The king just happens to look out his window and is able to observe a behavior between Isaac and Rebekah that would not have occurred if they were brother and sister.<\/p>\n<p>At this point in our conversation Faryl defined what Abimelech saw as PDA.\u00a0 Now I had no idea what she meant.\u00a0 Do you?\u00a0 We spent a bit of time helping me and others to understand Faryl\u2019s term; revealing the change in language and culture that occurs in our own lifetimes let alone in the life time of scriptures.<\/p>\n<p>Vv. 09 \u2013 10: In these verses Abimelech and Isaac begin to work out what has happened.\u00a0 What seems obvious is the communal nature of their culture and the sexual dynamics.\u00a0 Abimelech exclaims, \u201cHow could you have done this to us!\u201d\u00a0 Note that for Abimelech what Isaac did could have had repercussions on his entire people, \u201cus\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would have taken very little for one of the people to lie with your wife \u2026\u201d What is the cultural significance of \u201cvery little?\u201d How different is that from today\u2019s culture, even though they are separated by thousands of years?<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026 and so you would have brought guilt upon us.\u201d\u00a0 Again we can hear the communal nature of the times.\u00a0 The guilt was not merely on the men who might have taken Rebekah but on the community as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>This brought out the social nature of moral behavior.\u00a0 Family members bringing shame on their entire family may not be as prevalent as it was even a generation ago, but it still occurs and certainly was part of the memory of some of our group.<\/p>\n<p>V. 11: Abimelech is deeply concerned not to \u201cabuse\u201d either Isaac\u00a0 or Rebekah and pronounced the death penalty for any members of his kingdom that does.<\/p>\n<p>We noted a couple of things that were different in this story when compared to the previous two.\u00a0 First God is simply not part of the conversation.\u00a0 I leave that fact to your own reflection.\u00a0 Also Rebekah is not taken in by Abimelech as was Sarah.<\/p>\n<p>The hour and a half flew by.<\/p>\n<p>Your comments, observations, questions are welcomed.\u00a0 See \u201ccomment\u201d link below<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Personal Note on Posting Timeline Despite my best intentions, I did not post the session held on Sunday March 3, what follows is my post for our session held on March 10 with a brief review of the discussion from &hellip; 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