090513: Genesis 17-19

notes by Dolphinitefantasy

Genesis 17
1. Change of name = change in a person due to the covenant made.
2. Most quoted phrase: "You will be the father of many nations." (17:4)
3. The covenant
What God will do for Abraham
- Fruitful (includes having lots of children and prosperity)
Ex. Father of nations, Kings will come from you, Whole land of Canaan
- This covenant is everlasting (continues down to his descendants / generations)
- God will be their God.
What Abraham will do for God
- Keep the covenant.
- Sign of covenant = Every male among you shall be circumcised.
*This is similar to American vows are based on Jewish wedding.
The vows state....This is what she would do for him, this is what he would do for her.
And then they sign the contract.
4. Why Circumcision?
- God said so.
- Man only (women just have to uphold the covenant) because men are in charge of the households
- Good for hygiene (decreases UTI and viral / bacterial transmission)

Genesis 18-19
1. Things will happen, even it you don't believe. But do not doubt God's power.
2. lord = master, one who has power over you.
my lord = a sign of respect
Lord = God
3. Three = divinity.
One is God. Who are the other two? The bible doesn't specifically say, but judging from Genesis 19, I think the other two are angels.
4. Abraham pleads for Sodom
- God is patient. God listens to Abraham's pleads. (And things changed because of Abraham's pleads)
- somehow God hear about the outcry of the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah and God will go and find out.
- God spared at least 4 people, possibly 6 people.
- The English word, sodomy & sodomize, comes from the perversions of Sodom.
- Two lessons:
Lot tried to avoid the wickedness by offering his daughters = > homosexual is not okay
Angels did not let them rape the daughters (made them blind) = > rape is not okay
- God remember's Abraham's plead. He also understands it is not about sparing the city, but sparing the righteous people.
- Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back. Why? Note that she was not necessarily punished for not listening to God, but rather God warns us against danger. By not listening, we put ourselves in danger, and thus punish ourselves. Thus we should do as God say because God said so.
Two ways to look at this:
Her heart is not pure (disobedience). Looking back is a sign of longing for the city.
She was not righteous. (Note that she would have been fine if she got to the town and then look at Sodom. Just not when she was running away from Sodom.)
- Is it possible to be raining burning sulfur? The mechanism is possible (ex. volcano), but the possibility of all this occurring at the same time is very low.