Day 15

II The Age of The Patriarchs - 1967-1606 B.C. ~ cont.

B. Abram ~ cont.

6. Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah ~ cont.

b. Intercession for Sodom - Genesis 18:23-33

c. Angels visit Lot to warn - Genesis 19:23

d. Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Dead Sea formed - Genesis 19:24-29

7. Abraham and his family

a. Lies to Abimelech - Genesis 20:-1-18

b. Birth of Isaac (44th Gen) - Genesis 21:1-7; 1 Chronicles 1:34

c. Lot's daughters bare his sons, Moab and Benammi - Genesis 19:30-38

d. Conflict of Isaac and Ishmael - Genesis 21:13

e. Hagar and Ishmael cast out - Genesis 21:21

And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took her.  (Genesis 20:2)

I'm always amazed when I come to this portion of scripture...Sarah was not a 'youngster' though she died at the ripe 'old' age of 127 - she is about 90 here, give or take a few months.  I find it amazing that at her age the king would want to add her to his harem.  Father providentially protected and kept Sarah (and the king) from any mischief.

And unto Sarah he (the king) said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.  (Genesis 20:16)

Abraham lies - gets 1000 pieces of silver, Sarah gets rebuked....for obeying.  What is up with that?

rebuke - H3198 - A primitive root; to be right (that is, correct); reciprocally to argue; causatively to decide, justify or convict.

First usage of the word represented by H3198 is in Genesis 20:16, last usage in Habakkuk 1:12 and translated as correction.  Used in Genesis 24:44 as 'appointed out' which is speaking of Rebekah whom Abraham's servant prayed for God to reveal.

In Job 5:17 Behold happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the of the Almighty.

I have spent almost a year wrestling out the issue of headship, submission, covering etc.  Obviously the phrase "he is to thee a covering of the eyes" caught my attention and was in need of a tad more research.

covering - H3682 - From H3680; a cover (garment); figuratively a veiling.

• H3680 - A primitive root; properly to plump, that is, fill up hollows; by implication to cover (for clothing or secrecy).

I checked the commentaries - thought this one from Wesley was interesting:  "Thy brother is to thee a covering of the eyes - Thou must look at no other, nor desire to be looked at by any other. Yoke - fellows must be to each other for a covering of the eyes. The marriage - covenant is a covenant with the eyes, like Job's, Job_31:1."

Women can and do seduce with their eyes...I had not thought about how covering the eyes of a married woman would be beneficial.  The practicality in literally having the eyes veiled is not probable, though I do think women can and should guard their eyes.  I will have to think upon that a bit more.

Poole's commentary:  i.e. a protection to thee from the wanton eyes and attempts of others, whilst they know thee to be the wife of another man, and he such a one whom they reverence and fear; and therefore thou didst take a very wrong course to disown him, whereby thou didst expose thyself to great danger. Or, this is to thee, &c., i.e. this I give to thee to buy thee a veil, wherewith thou mayest cover thy face, as it is fit and usual for married persons to do. Compare Genesis 24:65; 1 Corinthians 11:3, 6, 7, 10.

I saved Gill's for last...I have read it several times...his turn of words in a particular phrase are somewhat vexatious.  I am pasting his commentary on just the phrase:

behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee; a protection of her person and chastity: so an husband, in our language, is said to be a cover to his wife, and she under a cover: thus Abraham being now known to be the husband of Sarah, would for the future be a covering to her, that no one should look upon her, and desire her, and take her to be his wife; and he would also be a protection to her maidens that were with her, the wives of his servants, that these also might not be taken from him: but it seems best to refer this to the gift of the thousand pieces of silver, and read the words, "behold, this is to thee (h) a covering of the eyes"; so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; for the words are a continued biting sarcasm on Sarah; as Abimelech twits her with calling Abraham her brother in the preceding clause, so in this he tells her that he had given him so much money to buy her a veil with, and to supply her with veils from time to time to cover her eyes, that nobody might be tempted to lust after her, and that it might be known she was a married woman; for in these countries married women wore veils for distinction, Gen_24:65; and so not to be had by another, nor would any be deceived by her; and not only was this money given to buy veils for her, but for her female servants also that were married, that they might be knows to be another's property; though this latter phrase "unto", or "with all that are with thee" (i), may be understood, not of persons, but of things, even of all the girls which Abimelech had given her while in his house; these he did not, take back again, but continued them with her, either for the above use, or whatever she pleased; and the following phrase:

That they might be known to be another's property?  In our 'modern' world, with our enlightened and feministic society, the thought of being someone else's property boggles my mind.  Whether it is true or not (in the eyes of God) I have not fully wrestled myself to any particular conclusion.  Praying that Father will guide and direct me in this area and give me understanding and wisdom to see it how HE sees it.

Feminism 101

Feminism 101 - What I thought I knew, what I found out to be true.

This journey started quite a while back - in reality in started before I was born - feminism - and I was simply riding the 'wave' of what it wrought, never questioning the status quo.  Going along, not because I necessarily agreed, but because I did not take the time or effort to question how things were, why they were the way they are, or how they got there.

Some of the questions I have begun to ask myself:  Where did it come from?  What is its agenda?  Where is it taking us?  Or worse, where has it left us?

I have spent a bit of time researching, not as thoroughly as I'd like, but enough to warrant calling out to my fellow sisters:  WE ARE IN DANGER.  Especially those within the body of Christ of drinking down the poisonous potion of feminism.  It is permeating womanhood - true femininity - we need to recapture what has been lost.  We need to stand firm for being a biblical woman - to learn and grow and share.

I am frankly amazed at how many in the feminist camps have no qualms about stating their positions and beliefs without any fear of reprisal or upbraiding.  There is nothing in their demeanor or attitudes that makes them question, at all, that their agenda is correct, they are speaking for all of womankind (I don't think so) and they have the best interest of females at the forefront of their plans (yeah, right!).

Let's take the standard questions that are asked by a feministic society and/or people in an attempt to gather converts into their camp:

1.  Do you support equal pay for equal work?

2.  Do you think girls should be encouraged to study math and science?

3. Do you think that women should be able to play sports if they want?

4.  Should abortion be available to save women's lives?

Most people, even Christians would answer the first 3 in the affirmative.  Many 'religious' or 'moral' folks would balk at #4.  I am anti-death - choosing death for someone is rarely a choice any human needs to make for another, if ever.

If the feminists were honest in their questions, they would really ask:

1.  Do you think mothers who stay at home are betraying women's progress and hurting their children?

2.  Should standards be lowered so women can serve in physically demanding military jobs alongside men?

3.  If not enough women are playing sports, should men's teams be eliminated so athletes on campus are evenly split between the genders?

4.  Should abortion be permitted on the eve of delivery?  Or at any time that the mother finds being pregnant is not 'convenient?'

I did not come up with these questions on my own, they are borrowed from a book, "Women Who Make the World WORSE."  In addition, I have several websites I am browsing and will pull information from there as well.  I will, when borrowing from others, try to give credit where credit is due and to give links so that others may explore and learn, grow and share.

I will continue this thread by examining the questions I have asked at the beginning...baby steps...piece by piece...examining and sharing.

Lord, You alone are merciful and gracious.  You have set forth in Your Word how men and women should treat one another, the roles and responsibilities You have for them.  Father, do not allow us to be impacted by the culture, to be swept along with its wave as it crashes and fails on the banks of fallen humanity.  Lord, gives us the wisdom, discernment and thirst to open up Your Word, to read, to understand, comprehend and implement what You have given.  Not to squash us, but to protect and provide for us.  Help us as women to fully embrace biblical womanhood, to reclaim that which has been lost, trampled, destroyed, mocked and ridiculed.  Lord, strengthen our hands to the work of reclaiming truly feminine.