Several times yesterday, as I looked at the Scriptures, I came across admonitions about marriage in unexpected places, and now, this morning it happened again. So, I looked up 'put away' and right away I saw some things that struck me. The first use is in Genesis 35:2 when Jacob told his household to put away the strange gods that were among them. But, before that, the crappy search engine brought up something interesting in Genesis 21:14, Where Abraham sends Hagar away. Now, Hagar was a servant and the reason Abraham was sending her away, along with his son, Ishmael, was because Ishmael was the feeble attempt of Sarah (Abraham's wife) to 'obey' God within the limits of her understanding. She was getting old, and the promise of God to her and Abraham for a son, had not come to pass, so she figured out how to do the only thing she could think of to fix it. Under Hammurabi's Code, if a woman was barren, it was legal for her to have a child by her servant. The servant, Hagar, became her surrogate and gave birth to Ishmael. Years later, when God did what He said He would do, and Sarah, herself, gave birth to the son of promise, although she was 90 years old, Hagar was there, mocking. So, she asked Abraham to send her away. There is so much in this story! First, God does not need our help! If HE actually said He's going to do thus and so, He will do it. We are often tempted to think we need to step it up, that it's taking too long, that we're SUPPOSED to DO something. But, that is not the case at all. We are required to wait. When it is impossible for us, God will get the glory! Secondly, applying the law to spiritual things brings forth death. The letter killeth but the spirit giveth life. The son that Hagar birthed is still here...ISIS is STILL claiming that the birthright is theirs! This illustration is very important for our spiritual understanding. But, back to Gen 35. After Abraham, came Isaac and then Jacob. In Jacob, we see a man whose name means 'deceiver', and his mother, Rebecca, do the very same thing. They knew what God had said, that Jacob would get the birthright, but they thought they needed to 'help'. Jacob is revealed as a man with very little faith. It wasn't until he was between the proverbial 'rock and a hard place' that he wrestled with the Lord, finally coming to the conclusion that all his cleverness and manipulation could not save him. God had intervened and saved him from the wrath of his father in law, but his brother, Esau, was coming with 400 men and the possibility that none of his family would escape drove him into the arms of a Mighty God, who's answer was to permanently cripple him. Jacob learned a lesson that night...he would know that God was the only One who could keep him safe. But, even then we find his household full of idols! In Gen 34 Jacob scolds his sons for the murders they committed in the surrounding communities as they 'avenged' the rape of their sister. God said ,you're in the wrong place...go up and dwell in Bethel, (the house of God!) So, Jacob is cleaning house in the 35th chapter! Now, here is one of the Patriarchs. He has weak faith, his house is out of control, and full of idolatry right under his nose. He says, "Put Away" the false gods. How much more can we be idolatrous, out of control, and out of order, even though we hear from God, or God is dealing with us, or God has been merciful to us? This is what is happening today. We have aligned ourselves with God, but we don't believe Him. If the civil laws around us will serve our desires and the world around us says it's OK, then we do what we want to do, instead of waiting on God. We fill our houses with the idols of the day. Ungodly ideologies, ungodly pastimes, and ungodly behaviors. It's interesting to me that when God speaks about how it was in the days of Noah, He says, Mat 24:38, "For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark". That doesn't sound so bad does it? The Scriptures also say, 1 Corinthians 10:6-8, "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand". And Genesis 6:5, "...God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually". What we think is not what God thinks. When our attention is on this world and on ourselves, He calls it evil. What can we do? RUN to Him! As fast as you can, every time you realize you are doing it. ASK Him to show you IF there is any wicked way in you.. He will correct us, He will lead us in the way everlasting.
