GENESIS: Chapters 18 & 19

Chapter 18
Summary:	Abraham sat at the opening of his tent when he saw three men approaching him. He sprang to his feet to welcome them and insisted that they stop to rest while he fetched them some food and some water to soak their feet. Abraham ran back to his tent telling Sarah to make some cakes using her best flour, and then ran of to one of his shepherds telling him to slaughter the fattest calf he could find. He brought the three men some milk, cheese, and fresh veal and sat beside them as they ate. The three men asked him, "Where is your wife, Sarah?" To which Abraham replied that she was in the tent*. God then tells Abraham (God had taken the form of one of these three men - the other two being angels - to visit with Abraham) that he will give him and Sarah a son next year, which made Sarah who was overhearing the conversation laugh. God asked why Sarah was laughing and proclaimed that nothing was impossible for God, and repeated that Sarah and Abraham would be given a son next year. Sarah out of fear claimed that she didn't laugh, but God called her out on her lie. The three men then rose and began heading off toward the city of Sodom, with Abraham in tow. God debates on whether he should tell Abraham his plan, and then informs Abraham that he is headed to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah - as he has heard that the people there are utterly evil - and that he wants to know if those reports are true or not. While the two angels headed towards Sodom, God hangs back for a while with Abraham. 18:23 "And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" Abraham asks God whether he's going to kill everyone in Sodom, good and bad alike, adding to the question with what if he finds 50 good people in the city, would he not spare the city for their sake. Abraham notes that God would be treating both the godly and the wicked alike, and adding that the judge of all the earth should be a fair one. God replies and confirms that if he does find 50 godly people in Sodom he will spare the city. In an exchange sounding more like a Marx Brothers routine than a divinely written passage, Abraham haggles further lowering the number incrementally from 45, to 40, to 30, to 20, to 10, each time with God answering that he would spare the city if he found the said amount of godly people. God then went on his way to Sodom while Abraham returned to his tent.
Notes:	1.) It's unclear whether or not by this point if (or when for that matter) Abraham recognized the three men as being God accompanied by two angels. Abraham's nonchalant manner seems to imply he may have understood by this point, but the meal offering seems bizarre in this context.
Thoughts:	There's a lot of strange things going on in this chapter that are puzzling. As noted above in my footnotes, exactly when does Abraham realize that the three men he sees walking towards him are in fact God accompanied by a pair of angels? If he does recognize them from the onset, why does he choose to feed them and fetch some water for their feet? If he doesn't catch on right away does he figure it out when God asks where Sarah is? If not, why doesn't he inquire as to how this man knows his wife's name? What about Sarah's reaction considering she overheard at least part of this conversation, if not all of it? As far as has been shown in Genesis so far Sarah has never spoken to God directly, so how did she figure out who these "men" really were? The other troubling thing is again we have another paradox with God not being omniscient and omnipresent as he is physically scoping out the city of Sodom to figure out whether the reports(?) he's heard about the wickedness of the people is true or not. The "Marx Brothers" routine also poses a problem in the context of the flood story when we have to assume that at least one - if not many - infant and/or child existed during the time, and Abraham makes an outstanding point as to what would be the purpose (and the fairness) of treating the "godly" (or innocent) the same as the "wicked" (or the guilty)? To take things to an even more literal level, God also stated that Noah was the only righteous person alive. So did he not spare some of the wicked by sparing Noah's wife, Ham, Shem, and Japheth - thereby treating some of the wicked the same as Noah, the only godly one?
Chapter 19
Summary:	The two angels arrived at the gates of Sodom that evening and Lot was sitting there while they arrived. When he saw them he stood up to welcome them and invited them to stay the night with him at his home. Although the angels declined, Lot persisted until they agreed and made a great feast for them when they arrived. When the meal was over and they were preparing to retire for the night they found that Lot's house had been surrounded by all the men of the city - young and old alike. The Sodomites shouted to Lot demanding that he bring out his two guests, as they wished to rape them (the angels). 19:8 "Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof." Lot stepped outside to talk with the townsfolk and shut the door behind him. Lot tells the men to leave his two guests alone, and that he will offer up his two virgin daughters for the townsfolk for them to do what they wish to, but begs for the Sodomites to leave his guest alone as they are under his protection. The Sodomites refused to be swayed and threatened to do worse to Lot than with the two house guests. As they lunged at Lot and started to break down the door, the angels pulled him into the house, bolted the door behind him, and blinded the Sodomites to prevent them from finding the door. The angels instructed Lot to get his family out of the city as they explained to Lot their intentions to destroy the city as commanded by God. Lot rushed out to warn his daughter's fiancees, but the young men didn't believe him. At dawn the angels became urgent towards Lot to take his family and flee, and when he hesitated they grabbed the hands of Lot, his wife, and his daughters and rushed them to safety telling them to flee for their lives. The angels told them to flee to the mountains and to not look back towards the city. Lot protested fearing disaster in the mountains and pointed to a small village off in the distance, begging for the angels to let him go there instead. The angels agreed to let Lot and his family escape to the village, which from that point on was named Zoar, meaning "Little City"). God then rained down fire and flaming tar upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, utterly destroying them along with other cities in the plains, eliminating all life - people, plants, and animals alike. Lot's wife was apparently unable to resist the temptation of looking back towards the city and in retaliation, God turned her into a pillar of salt. Abraham awoke early in the morning and rushed out towards the place where he had spoken to God previously and looking across the plains, witnessed columns of smoke and fumes where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah once stood. Afterwards Lot left Zoar fearing the inhabitants there and fled to live in a cave with his two daughters. Lot's oldest daughter complained to her sister that there wasn't a man anywhere in the area that their father would let them marry, while adding that their father would also be too old for having children soon, and hatched a plan to get their father drunk and rape him so that (hopefully) their blood line would continue. So they proceeded to get their father drunk enough to have sex with the older daughter and not remember the experience, while the younger girl did the same the following night. Both girls became pregnant and gave birth to their father's sons - Moab, the son of the eldest daughter became the ancestor of the Moabites, while Benammi, the son of the younger daughter became the ancestor of the Ammonites.
Thoughts:	There's no question that there is quite a lot to digest here in this chapter. On perhaps suggestion from and the relation to Abraham, we are lead to believe that Lot is the only true virtuous man in the entire city of Sodom. He invites and insists that our angelic travelers stay the night with him and prepares an enormous feast for them in celebration. However, while it is the author's intention to make Lot look honorable and godly by protecting his angelic company, the ball gets dropped completely when we read that he's willing to offer up his own virgin daughters to the sex crazed mob outside. His own daughters. Who are unmarried. Virgins. To every man in Sodom. To do what ever they want to them. Now I can just hear the religious apologists chiming in here, with "You have to understand that things were very different back in biblical times, and that things like beating pregnant women, men being misogynist pigs, women being considered property, and having (as well as beating) slaves was perfectly acceptable 3,000 years ago." Quite frankly, despite the fact that I find all of the above mentioned pretty sick, I think any rational person has to draw the line at a father offering his two virgin daughters to a pack of sex-crazy rapists. Perhaps you can theorize that maybe Lot offered his daughters up for a free-for-all as perhaps he knew that the townsfolk outside were only interested in raping men, but still - God turns Lot's wife into a pillar of salt for simply looking back at the destruction of the cities, and completely disregards Lot's deplorable solicitation of the virginities of both of his daughters to a pack of rapists? Back to Lot's wife, I find it awfully strange that neither Lot or his daughters turned back after noticing that mom was no longer running beside them and possibly become turned into pillars of salt themselves. Finally the chapter winds down with a bit of rape, incest, and drunkenness on behalf of Lot's daughters who somehow manage the near impossible task of getting a man drunk enough to sustain an erection, be able to ejaculate, and not remember anything in the morning - two nights in a row!

GENESIS: Chapters 14 & 15

Chapter 14
Summary:	War has broken out amongst the following: Amraphael - king of Shinar Arioch - king of Ellasar Ched-or-laomer - king of Elam Tidal - king of Goiim vs. Bera - king of Sodom Birsha - king of Gomorrah Shinab - king of Admah Shember - king of Zeboiim King* of Bela (later called Zoar) The kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela mobilized their armies in the Siddim Valley. For twelve years they had all been subject to King Ched-or-laomer, but decided to rebel in the thirteenth year. A year later King Ched-or-laomer and his allies arrived and the slaughter began. King Ched-or-laomer and his allies prevailed over the following tribes at the places indicated: The Rephraim in Ashteroth-karnaim The Zuzim in Ham The Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim The Horites in Mt. Seir, as far as El-paran at the edge of the desert They then swung around to Emmishpat (later called Kadesh) and destroyed the Amalekites and also the Amorites living in Hazazan-tamar. The rebel armies unsuccessfully attacked King Ched-or-laomer and his allies at the Siddim Valley. As they fled some of the armies of Sodom and Gomorrah slipped into tar pits, while the rest escaped to the mountains. The victors plundered Sodom and Gomorrah, carrying off their wealth and food before heading back home - taking with them Lot and all he owned. One of the men who escaped came and told Abram the news. 14:14 "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan." When Abram learned of Lot's capture he gathered together the slaves born to his household (318 in all) and chased the retiring army as far as Dan, successfully attacking them and chasing the fleeing army to Hobah, north of Damascus. Abram recovered everything: his nephew Lot, the loot that had been taken, all the captives, and all of Lot's possessions. As Abram returned from his strike against King Ched-or-laomer and his allies, the king of Sodom came out to meet him, and King Melchizedek of Salem (Jerusalem) brought him bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram and Abram in turn gave him a tenth of the spoils. The king of Sodom told Abram that he just wished for his people to be returned and that Abram could keep the stolen loot from the city of Sodom. Abram tells the king of Sodom that he has promised God that he will not take so much as a single thread from the city of Sodom, but tells the king to share the loot with Aner, Eschol, and Mamre - whom Abram calls his allies.
Notes:	1.) This king is not named.
Thoughts:	It seems a little odd to me that King Bera of Sodom is portrayed as humble in this chapter considering the description of the inhabitants of the city of Sodom to be "unusually wicked" in the previous chapter, however I think it's written that way to show moreover how unselfish Abram is supposed to be in contrast. It also seems strange that Abram is able to amass a small (presumably untrained) army of 318 that is able to defeat the trained armies of King Ched-or-laomer and his allies, but I think the point that is trying to be conveyed is that God was on the side of Abram and his militia.
Chapter 15
Summary:	God speaks to Abram in a vision and tells him not to be afraid, as God will defend him and bestow great blessings upon him. Abram complains to God asking what good are all these blessings to him when he has no son to inherit his wealth, mentioning that someone "undeserving" in his household might instead inherit his wealth. God assures him that he will in fact have a son to inherit his wealth and brings him outside to look at the stars in the sky. He then shows Abram the stars and claims that the number of Abram's descendants will be as difficult to count as the stars in the sky. God reminds Abram that he brought Abram out of the city of Ur and gave him this land forever. When Abram asks how he can be sure that God will in fact give it to him, God tells him to gather up a three year old heifer, a three year old goat, a three year old ram, a turtle dove, and a pigeon, and tells him to slay them all and split them all down the middle except for the birds. After doing so, Abram shoos away the vultures who try to feed off the carcasses. That night as Abram goes to sleep, God comes to him in another vision, this time a vision of terror and darkness. God tells him that although his descendants will indeed inherit this land that they will first be enslaved in a foreign land for 400 years. However, God continues on saying that he will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end Abram's descendants will come away from their slavery with great wealth. 15:18 "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:" Continuing on, God says that the people will return to this land as the wickedness of the Amorite nation living here now won't be ready for punishment for another 400 years. Abram apparently wakes up and sees a smoking fire-pot and a flaming torch pass through the halves of the animal carcasses. God makes a covenant with Abram telling him that the land from the Wadi-el-Arish to the Euphrates River will belong to Abram's descendants, and lists these nations that will belong to them: Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.
Thoughts:	The most interesting thing I find here is God's apparent sense of clairvoyance, and it almost begs the question of whether it is actually God foreseeing the future or if he is simply guiding it that way. However, God specifically predicts that the Amorite nation won't be ready for punishment (meaning that they probably haven't sinned enough yet) for another 400 years. Now the problem I have here with God's apparent clairvoyance is that it makes the genocidal flood seem rather senseless when Abram would still be born through Noah's lineage and could have inherited the same land without all the world wide death and destruction. It also seems to make the Adam and Eve story even grimmer if God apparently has the power to see the future and willing knew that Adam and Eve were doomed from the beginning. Also of note, this is the first time God specifically calls for an animal sacrifice, and a pretty gory one at that.

GENESIS: Chapters 12 & 13

Chapter 12
Summary:	After Abram's father Terah died, God tells Abram to leave behind his country and his people to go to a land that God has picked out for him. He tells Abram that if he does, Abram will become the father of a great nation, will be famous world-wide, and will be a blessing to others. So Abram, now aged 75, does what he's told and brings his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot along with him too. He also brings his cattle and a bunch of slaves that he had gotten in Haran, and finally arrives in Canaan. Traveling through Canaan they set up camp at an oak tree in Moreh. God appears to Abram and tells him that he is going to give this land to Abram's descendants and Abram builds an altar to commemorate God's visit. Abram leaves and travels south to a hilly area between Bethel (on the west) and Ai (on the east). He makes another altar and prays to God, before heading off to Negeb, pausing frequently along the way. At the time there was a terrible famine, so Abram heads off to Egypt to live. Before entering Egypt, he tells his wife Sarai to tell people that she is his sister, fearing that an Egyptian might be tempted by her beauty to kill Abram and take Sarai for himself. When he arrives in Egypt he finds that he was right about the Egyptian people being entranced with Sarai's beauty, and once word got back to the Pharaoh, the Pharaoh took Sarai back to his palace for himself. The Pharaoh in return gave Abram gifts of sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels, and slaves. 12:17 "And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife." God, however, none too pleased about Sarai being held in the Pharaoh's palace sent a terrible plague amongst the Pharaoh's household. The Pharaoh then summoned Abram and asked him why he had pulled this rouse* about saying that Sarai was his sister instead of his wife. He tells Abram to take Sarai and get out of town, and Abram (along with his family and possessions) is escorted out of the kingdom by armed guards.
Notes:	1.) Not specified as to how the Pharaoh figured the deception out.
Thoughts:	This short chapter basically serves to set up a rivalry between God's chosen people and the evil Egyptians. Abram and his descendants will have further and more dramatic encounters with the Egyptians later on in the story.
Chapter 13
Summary:	After getting kicked out of Egypt, Abram and his family head back north to Negeb, and back further north to his old campsite between Bethel and Ai to worship God. 13:13 "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly." Both Abram and Lot had become rather wealthy with lots of cattle and slaves and found that the campsite couldn't support both Abram and Lot's flocks, so fight broke out amongst the slaves who were shepherding their flocks. Abram tells Lot that the fighting has to stop and offers to split the land up between them. Lot takes a piece of land along the Jordan River and parts company with Abram, who stayed in the land of Canaan. Lot settled on the outskirts of the city of Sodom, whose inhabitants were unusually wicked and sinned against God. After Lot was gone, God told Abram to look in every direction he could and said that he would give all this land to Abram and his descendants, and ensured that he would have many descendants. He tells Abram to explore the new land he has given him, and Abram sets up his tent towards the oaks of Mamre (near Hebron) and builds an altar there.
Thoughts:	Another short chapter that sets up two different stories for Abram and Lot, and unfortunately doesn't leave much to discuss here, except to affirm that God still doesn't seem to take much issue with slavery and that he's already not very happy with the Sodomite's behavior.

GENESIS: Chapter 11

Chapter 11
Summary:	Apparently all mankind spoke a single language at this point, until a group of people started colonizing eastward into the land of Babylon. The people who lived there began talking about building a great city with a huge tower reaching to the heavens. Apparently, God is none too happy to see the people all working together with political and linguistic unity, thinking that if they accomplish this unity that they'd become too smart for their own good*. God decides to put a stop to this by giving the people a bunch of different languages to prevent them from working together in unity - as they wouldn't be able to communicate with each other. 11:1 "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech." Basically, God scattered them all over the earth with different languages, and it is noted that the city of Babel got it's name, meaning "confusion". The rest of the chapter rattles of some names and ages of Shem's descendants: Shem: His son Arpachshad was born two years after the flood when Shem was age 100! Died at age 600*. Arpachshad: Born two years after the flood. Was 35 years old when his son Shelah was born. Died at the age of 458*. Shelah: Was 35 years old when his son Eber was born. Like his father, died at the age of 458*. Eber: Was 34 years old when his son Peleg was born. Died at the age of 464*. Peleg: Was 30 years old when his son Reu was born Died at the age of 239*. Reu: Was 32 years old when his son Serug was born Like his father, died at the age of 239*. Serug: Was 30 years old when his son Nahor was born. Died at the age of 230*. Nahor: Was 29 years old when his son Terah was born. Died at the age of 148*. Terah: By the time Terah was 70, he had three sons: Abram, Nahor*, and Haran. Haran: Had two sons: Lot and Iscah. Had a daughter named Milcah. Died young (age unspecified) and was outlived by his father Abram: Married his half-sister Sarai. Sarai was barren and gave Abram no children*. Nahor: Married his niece Milcah (Haran's daughter) after Haran's death. Later took his son Abram, grandson Lot, and daughter-in-law Sarai and left Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. However, they stopped instead at the city of Haran* and settled there. Died at the age of 205*.
Notes:	1.) Seems to serve as a justification for stopping the spread of knowledge, or in other words, God seems to think people were becoming too smart for their own good. 2.) These are not typos. These are the actual ages listed in the bible. 3.) Not to be confused with Terah's father also named Nabor. 4.) Not to be confused with Terah's son Haran. Haran as mentioned here is the name of a city. 5.) Technically true, yet see chapter 17.
Thoughts:	The beginning of this chapter is in fact very interesting, disguising itself as an explanation for the reason behind the multitude of languages mankind speaks. The really telling part however is God's motives which seem to be saying that people really shouldn't think too hard or deeply, and that many minds working together develop knowledge and wisdom which apparently God doesn't care much for either. In this context it's more clear to why such events as the Dark Ages occurred where religion felt that man "knew too much" and put a halt to it. The biggest problems I personally have with religious beliefs is that they often put a halt to critical thinking. I find this dangerous and more over the real causes of war, killing, and censorship in the name of religious dogma. Taken alone, the Tower of Babel story seems to serve as a silly and harmless fable for why humans have so many languages, but upon closer inspection is really more about God acting out as the "Thought Police". The rest of the chapter is similar in respects to chapter 5 in that it's simply listing various people and their ages. However, an interesting thing occurs amongst a few of these advanced ages, being that a few of the descendants of Shem share similar attributes of their fathers: Arpachshad and Shelah both had sons at the age of 35 and both died at the age of 458, and Peleg and Rue also died at the same age of 239. Also of note is that the life spans of the people are dropping rather quickly towards more reasonable (but higher than any recorded human ages) levels. Shem outlives his son Arpachshad by a "mere" 42 years; while Eber outlives his son Peleg (who dies at age 239) by 191 years; and Serug outlives his son Nahor by a "mere" 52 years.