First, it is clear that God takes the initiative here. Reading our text closely, several things beg for sermonic attention. It is God’s way of salvation through Christ. “One for all” is the theme of this series of readings. Then comes “the Man Christ Jesus,” the one Mediator between the one God and the whole human race (I Timothy 2). Ingeniously, the RCL has chosen to follow that line in this season of Lent-Adam, Abram, Moses, David, Ezekiel, the Servant of Isaiah-each God’s man for the hour. I say “beginning” because Abram is the first in a long line of mediators, ending with Jesus. “Is humanity doomed to be always the victim of ‘The Babel Syndrome?’ That is, from now on will human beings be condemned to be scattered (i.e., unable to live in community) and confused (i.e., unable to communicate)?” The call and blessing of Abram are the beginning of God’s response to the “Babel Syndrome.” The calling of Abram is the grace following Babel. In fact, as I will explain in more detail in a moment, the calling and blessing of Abram were God’s direct response to the sin of mankind at Babel.įrank Spina points out that there is a pattern in Genesis 1-11-sin, judgment, and then grace. No, Abram comes from the nations who were scattered by God at Babel, as Chapter 11, particularly verses 27-32, show us. It’s not as though Abram came from nowhere, like the mysterious Melchizedek later in Genesis. While I reject that simple distinction, it is definitely true that Genesis 1-11 has to do with humanity in general, while the following chapters focus on the chosen people beginning with the sudden and inexplicable election of Abram. Sometimes it is alleged that the primeval history is not really history, just myth. We need to be careful with that distinction. Chapters 1-11 are called primeval history, while chapter 12 to the end of Genesis is salvation history. Indeed, all scholars point out that this story marks an important transition in the book of Genesis. Thus, the human race is not terminated, although we see again and again that the “soul that sins shall die.”īut God keeps intervening in grace even after his judgment, never more spectacularly than in this simple story of one man and his wife. Interestingly, and thankfully, each successive downward movement by the human race is met with a gracious act of God. The early chapters of Genesis show us the steady downhill slide of humanity beginning with the Fall in Eden, with some terrifying secondary falls along the way-Cain and Abel, the increasing depravity of humans resulting in the massive cleansing of the Flood, the building of Babel resulting in the scattering and confusion of the nations.
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