God's Dealings in Genesis and Throughout Scripture CFM through the HB 2/13/2022

 What is the theme of the Bible?

In the book The God of Israel and Christian Theology, Christian scholar R. Kendall Soulen describes how Christians have traditionally framed the Hebrew Bible in a way that today’s Latter-day Saints will likely recognize. The story of the Bible centers on the creation of earth, the fall of Adam, the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the consummation of all things at the end of the world–Christ’s second coming. 

This framing has historically sidelined the way Jews–both ancient and modern–have interpreted their own canon: an interpretation centered on the history of Israel and God’s instructions for living a good life. 

But Soulen offers an alternative view that doesn’t have the side effect of marginalizing the traditional Jewish reading of the scriptures. The theme of the Bible, Soulen says, 

is the God of Israel’s work as Consummator and . . . God’s work as Consummator engages the human family by opening up an ‘economy of mutual blessing’ between those who are and who remain different. God consummates the human family by electing it into an historical and open-ended economy of difference and reciprocal dependence, the identifying characteristic of which is the divinely drawn distinction between Israel and the nations. Jewish and gentile identity are not basically antithetical or even ‘separate but equal’ ways of relating to God. they are, rather, two mutually dependent ways of participating in a single divine oikonomia of blessing oriented toward the final consummation of the whole human family in God’s eschatological shalom. 

This pull quote I found in John Barton’s A History of the Bible is one of those explanations that needs an explanation of its own. I don’t know if this elephant is in your room, but “consummate” here isn’t some kind of metaphor of Jesus as bridegroom. It means to complete or perfect. Oikonomia is a Greek word roughly meaning “household management” and is the root-word of the word “economy.” Eschatology is the study of the end of the world and the destiny of the soul. Shalom  is Hebrew for wholeness, peace, and prosperity. 

If you’ve been to a Latter-day Saint Sunday school, I’m sure that the traditional Christian reading resonates with you. The church has long taught that the creation, fall, and atonement are the central pillars of everything else. But I think if you’ve read the Book of Mormon and other Restoration scriptures, Soulen’s suggested framing of the Bible isn’t far off from what we’re presented with there either. The title page of the Book of Mormon says that the work 

is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations

Here it is clear to me that the purpose of restoration scripture is to chronicle the “economy of mutual blessing” of both Jew and Gentile and to present Jesus Christ as the great gatherer and perfecter of “the nations” which remain distinct but are welcomed fully into a covenant relationship with God. It’s important therefore to embrace difference, even while we embrace the family of God as a singular unit through Christ. And it’s important to recognize that the dealings of God will be different for different groups. Different groups of people will bring different things to the table. 

This reminds me of something I read recently in the book Restoration: God’s Call to the 21st Century World by Patrick Q. Mason. Mason writes, 

Just as individuals are blessed with particular spiritual gives, so too are groups. THese gifts are given to particular communities to bless all of God’s children . . . As Latter-day saints, we need neither to retreat from our particular truth claims nor bludgeon others over the head with them. We can have confidence that we have been given talents that the Master wants us to use, not bury. At the same time, we can appreciate that he has bestowed talents on his other servants as well and has also commanded them to multiply their gifts. 

Which brings me to this week’s Bible reading. 

The Abrahamic Saga as God’s Distinct Dealings with People and Nations

Abraham

In genesis 12-17, we begin to read the story of Abraham, how he is commanded by God to leave Haran. He is promised the land of Canaan. He is promised numerous prosperity. He sees God in vision and begs for answers about the promise of prosperity that hadn’t seemed possible to fulfill. 

One of the most powerful parts of the story of Abaraham for me starts in Genesis 15:9. God asks for a particularly bloody sacrifice of several animals. Abram completes the sacrifice successfully and even magnifies his calling by making extra efforts to ward off birds of prey. Then a “terrifying darkness descended upon him” (verse 12). God tells him that his posterity will be “aliens and slaves,” opressed for 400 years. Only afterwards, long after Abraham’s death, will the promises made to the ancient patriarch finally be kept. This harrowing account both comforts and frightens me. I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels like God’s promises aren’t being fulfilled in my life. I’m glad to read an account of God’s love in the midst of all the required waiting, even his promise that Abram “shall go to [his] ancestors in peace” (verse 15). But I’m frightened at the prospect of God not showing the full evidence of his blessings until after my death. 

This is Abraham’s story, told very close to his perspective. But throughout it, we can see evidence of God’s dealings with others. 

Sarah

One important note before I get into God’s dealings with Sarah. I don’t think it’s right to assume that everything that the people in Genesis do–even prophets and patriarchs–is ordained of God. Unless a verse tells us that God commanded, then the actions of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Lot, and others are at best individual righteousness, but at worst mistakes and sins. 

One such action I think is unequivocally bad by Abram is his decision to have Sarai say she is his sister rather than wife and therefore be essentially purchased by Pharoh as a slave-wife (Genesis 12:11-16). While God doesn’t intervene (something I think is characteristic of how God deals with the consequences of other people’s choices), he does help Sarah, sending plagues which prefigure plagues sent to free Israel in the days of Moses (verse 17). 

Sarah makes her own bad choices. She “gives” her slave-girl Hagar to Abram as a wife, then she demands that Hagar’s status be degraded in the house of Abram. Her harshness drives Hagar away into the desert. 

But God deals mercifully with Sarai. He changes her name to Sarah, and blesses her with a son in her old age. 

Hagar

Hagar’s relationship with God is especially interesting to me. She is Egyptian and likely not a member of Abram’s faith. She is the victim of both Abram’s and Sarai’s unfair actions and the prevailing culture of the time–Abram and Sarai’s treatment her is right in line with the ancient Code of Hammurabi. 

When Hagar flees, she is met by the “Angel of the LORD” later revealed to be the God YHWH himself. In a verse I find extremely uncomfortable (16:9), the angel commands her to return to her life of sexual slavery in the house of Abram, to align herself with the very culture and people who have oppressed her. But somewhere in the wisdom of God, she is directed toward great blessings. 

As with Abram and Sarai, Hagar is promised numerous progeny (16:10). She receive a divine annunciation like future biblical women pregnant. The name Ishmael means “The Lord has heard,” symbolizing the ear of God open to this lowly slave girl in the desert. Perhaps most impactful of all, she is promised that Ishmael will be a “wild ass of a man” which was likely meant to signify that he would escape slavery into freedom, completely in control of his own destiny–this is especially meaningful in contrast to the aforementioned fate of Abram’s posterity for the following 400 years. 

Hagar names YHWH “El-Roi” which means “God of seeing” and was the name of the deity of “Beer Lahai-roi” the land where this story takes place. YHWH accepts that name without correction. 

A Concluding Word

God deals differently with all of these people, but he deals with them personally and mercifully. A reading I didn’t have time to get into this week is how different people and their stories are meant to signify nations and their origins, and I think that thinking of the text politically like that can help with some of the more icky parts. After all, we know extremely little about the historical figure Abraham, but we do know a lot more about the authors who wrote about him and the political climate around them and why they would frame different national originators in different lights. 

I like the idea of seeing the bible through the lens of God’s dealings within an “economy of difference,” and I hope you find it useful as well. If you have thoughts or even just got to the end, please let me know somehow. You can comment below, tell me on Facebook, or just message me. I'll keep writing these posts weekly because they help me synthesize my study each week, but I'm also curious if I'm reaching anyone.