Day 6: Trust in the Lord

 Today's reading: Genesis 12 & 13, Job 1 & 2, and Proverbs 1:1-7.

I. In today's reading, we begin in Genesis. Abram is an old man, seemingly of some wealth already, who is called by God to leave the ancient city of Haran (in modern Turkey) to the land of Canaan (modern Israel). In the previous chapter, he had already relocated from the ancient city of Ur (in modern Iraq) to Haran, where his father died. God promises to greatly bless him, make a great nation from him, and that through him "all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (12:2-3). This story is remarkable in itself and shows the trust that Abram placed in God. He was an old man at the time, yet he left behind all that he knew to undertake a long journey to a foreign land, trusting in God to keep him safe and fulfill what must have sounded like incredible promises to him. He wasn't a Jew, for such had not been founded yet, and may have been something of a pagan, judging from the area he was in at the time. Yet God, for some reason that only He fully knows alone, had other plans for Abram and his family.

Upon entering Canaan, he sets up altars at Shechem and Bethel, no doubt to make sacrifices to the Lord. Yet Canaan was in the midst of a famine, so he journeyed on even in his old age to Egypt! It's there that we learn, in an interesting episode, that even this patriarch isn't free from the sin of deceit. Fearing that he would be killed so Pharaoh could take his beautiful wife, Sarai, he lies and says that she is his sister (a half-truth; 20:12) and not his wife. We then have a foreshadowing of sorts of the events of Exodus. Pharaoh's household is plagued by the taking of another man's wife as his own, which he later discovers. Interestingly, he doesn't kill Abram for this deceit but banishes him, with all the goods he had already given him! He and Lot travel from the Negeb back to Canaan, but are forced to split up since "the land could not support both of them dwelling together" (13:6-7). Lot goes to the Jordan Valley, a choice that will figure in tomorrow's reading. In fact, the Ignatius Bible states in the footnotes that:

Abram and Lot divide their company and go their separate ways. The point is that Lot, of his own free will, chooses to put himself outside the land of promise and into a land of moral corruption (near Sodom, 13:12). (p. 75)

Today's reading in Genesis ends with God repeating His promises to Abram, which include that Canaan will also be given to him (13:14-17). 

II. In Job, we get a remarkable story. Job is a wealthy man with a great family. Satan is allowed to test his loyalty to God through various sufferings that remove the man's wealth, kill his progeny, and leave his body covered in sores (1:13-2:8). It's not clear to me why God would allow Satan in this amazing scene (1:6-12) to do this, even when his bitter wife calls on him to curse God for all this. He refuses (2:9-10). The Ignatius Bible states in the footnotes:

Although the Adversary exercises authority over Job's well-being, he is entirely subordinated to God, for he can exert his influence only within the limits that God allows (Job 1:12; 2:6) (CCC 391, 395). (p. 790)

I also like this from BIY Companion, Vol 1:

When Job is afflicted with great loss and suffering, his response is not to curse God but to worship him... This is our call. Life is not always going to make sense, but we know God is always present. The Lord is faithful and steadfast, even when we are not - and he calls us all to belong to him. (p. 18) 

Today's reading in Job ends with a visit from three friends of Job's, who had come to "condole with him and comfort him" (2:11). 

III. In Proverbs, we are given a small portion of the first chapter, just verses 1-7. Personally, I think it should have been more, but will "trust the process," so to speak. I did like how it ended with this marvelous verse:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

    fools despise wisdom and instruction. (1:7)