The Women of Genesis, Part One

At the beginning of this year, I contemplated setting a goal of reading the entire Bible in 2011.  And then I decided not to.

What??  Why would I not pursue such a lofty goal?  Very simply, it's because I wanted time to linger over the Word, to let it speak to me, and then to pause to meditate on it.  When evening comes and the boys are in bed and I pull out my Bible, if something in the very first chapter I read grabs my attention and commands me to sit up and take notice and change my life, I don't want to feel the pressure to set that golden nugget aside so that I can race on and finish my four-or-so chapters a day.  Don't get me wrong:  I think there are definitely times when it's extremely valuable to read the entire Bible in a short amount of time.  It's particularly helpful, if one has never done it, to read the whole thing in order to gain an overview of the big picture of God's plan, from Genesis to Revelation.  I highly commend those who set such a goal--and I commend even more highly those who actually accomplish it.  ;-)

However, for right now, I want to linger as I read, to absorb the truth therein, and to be changed by the best love letter ever written.  That is my goal.

Back in November, I started reading The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order, not so much for the narration but for the chronology.  I have enjoyed it tremendously.  As anyone who has sought the Lord over a period of years knows, there are dry times: times when it feels like a burden to pick up a Bible and read, times when it seems as if prayers can't get through the roof to reach God's ear.  I've had those times, but I've also had times of refreshing:  times when the Word seems alive and I'm able to connect with it and with the people described in the pages so vividly, times when prayer flows freely and joyfully and I'm certain of God's ear being tuned to my heart.  For whatever reason, I'm in a stage of freshness right now; and the Bible has been a delight to me during the past few months.

I chose to start in Genesis, a logical starting point; and I planned to read straight through the Bible in chronological order, no matter how long it took me.  I'm still in Genesis. :)  But I've taken a few detours though, jumping ahead to other books that caught my attention for one reason or another.  The first one I read was 2 Timothy, mostly because of a sermon I heard back in December in which the preacher, Tony Williams, read from 2 Timothy 4:1-8 and said, "See yourself as sitting in the departure lounge."  That intrigued me, and I paused in my Genesis reading to devour 2 Timothy.

The next diversion came in the form of a verse Marie quoted at the end of this post.  It led me to Malachi, and I sojourned for a time in that book of strong convictions and beautiful hope.  Then back to Genesis.

Now that I'm reading The Book of God by Walter Wangerin, I'm dashing through the Old Testament in his novel form which is really enjoyable (but of course, not like reading the Bible itself); but as I read his words, I find myself needing to drop everything and grab the Bible to see what it really says.  :)  So I'm pulled away from Genesis to hop merrily through other books:  2 Samuel, Amos, Isaiah, etc.  I have many things I could write about the things I've been learning--especially about King David and his bloody reign--and maybe I will someday.  But what I really wanted to write about today is The Women of Genesis.

Ah, these women!  The mothers of mankind, they define for us what it means to be female.  Although there are as many ideas about womanhood as there are women alive today, a few characteristics are common to (almost) everyone's definitions:  companionship, beauty, allure, softness, nurturing.  Are these not at the heart of a woman?

Take beauty, for instance.  How do we know that we're supposed to be beautiful?  In the animal kingdom, it's the male who's the attractive one.  The male cardinal has the bright red feathers, the male lion grows a mane to be proud of, the male mallard sports flashy, shiny feathers.  So why are humans different?  Why is it that little girls, from a very young age, love to make themselves look pretty?  My boys don't care a fig if their hair is standing up crazily or their clothes don't match; they'll dash out of the house without a second thought of their appearance.  I've heard this may change during the teen years.  ;-)  But regardless, anyone can observe that there are innate differences between boys and girls, between men and women; and they are differences that go all the way back to the book of Genesis.

It occurs to me, as I read through Genesis here in the winter of 2011, that the men found in that book are most often described by their character or their occupation.  For example...
~ Genesis 4 - Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
~ Genesis 4 - ...Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock...Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.
~ Genesis 6 - Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time.
~ Genesis 10 - ...Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth.
~ Genesis 17 - Your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
Unless I'm mistaken, we're not given a physical description for any of those men...and not for many of the other men mentioned in the first book of the Bible either.  Three exceptions come immediately to my mind, and there may be more, but the ones I can think of now are Esau being described as red and hairy, Jacob being called smooth-skinned, and Joseph being noticed by Potiphar's wife because he was well-built and handsome.

But these women, the matriarchs of Israel!  It's a different story with them, as physical beauty comes to the forefront of the story.
~ Genesis 12 - Abram says to Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are," and, in fact, she's so beautiful that Abram fears for his life, thinking that he might be assassinated so an Egyptian can marry his wife...indeed, "the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman.  And when Pharoah's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace."
~ Genesis 20 - Amazingly, this happens again!  This time it's Abimelech, king of Gerar, who wants to marry her.  But do you know how old she was at this time?  90 years old.  She must have been some kind of beautiful to have attracted that kind of attention and inspired that kind of desire when she was 90!!
~ Genesis 24 - Rebekah is described as "very beautiful" (and importantly, her purity is described in two ways, so as to emphasize her absolute righteousness in that area).
~ Genesis 29 - Perhaps the most striking passage as related to physical appearance is found here, "Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful.  Jacob was in love with Rachel...So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her."
*Sigh!*  Oh, to be loved like that!

I can't write about this and not think of the book Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge.  Confession time:  I haven't read the whole thing.  I started it and nearly got a concussion from nodding my head so violently in agreement with what they wrote, so I decided to lay it aside before I did further damage to my brain.  ;-)  One of these days I'll return to it...and maybe even finish the whole thing!  :)

When I sat down to write this peaceful, rainy afternoon, while Shav is in his crib and Jeff has the three older boys in town, I wasn't intending to go this direction with my thoughts; in fact, I had something else entirely in mind that I've learned from The Women of Genesis.  However, thoughts are unpredictable and sometimes they amble off in an unexpected direction--at least, mine do--and sometimes my fingers have to scramble to keep up with them.  Maybe in another post, my thoughts will amble back in the direction I was intending to go!

For now, it's time to turn my attention to making supper before my hungry tribe gathers.  I think a pot of Mother's Potato Soup will do nicely.  :)