Every one of us, before we saw the world, we were nourished in the hands of our families. Our families are the ones who taught us the basic principles that we value in our lives. That is why, it is also good to discover how God took care the families in the Bible, especially the family of Abraham, which God chose to fulfil His promise. Let us find out in the writing of Kathleen S. Nash the answer about this account.
Nash’s writings on this explore how the elements of home, protection and prosperity shaped the families and relationships of Abraham and Sarah, Hagar & Ishmael, Rebecca & Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and even Joseph. Abraham and Sarah left their comfort zone of once having a home to being homeless in obedience to God. They braved the way going to Canaan, the land of God’s promise. But being there, “Abraham and Sarah did not settle into a permanent home… They travelled from place to place… They also lived in the land of the Philistines.” It is because before they reached Canaan, there were settlers already there. But in spite of this, God did not abandon them. Through the people that they have met along their journey, God’s presence was still visible to them because God used these people to help them in order to survive. As I reflect on this, God does not just give everything to us. We need to face the hardships of life even though we do not know until when these hardships would last. But in the end, God’s presence will always be visible to us. It will never depart us because God will never abandon us and God knows His plans for us. All we need to do is to trust Him.
About Hagar and Ishmael, even though we know that Abraham abandoned them, God still cares for them (those people outside the chosen ones). “Hagar received divine assurance from God that her child would become a great nation.” Nash, implied. If we would reflect on this, it could be true that God is a God of fairness. He is not just concerned about His chosen people but He is equally concerned with those unchosen ones because all of us are equally created by Him– in His own image and likeness. With this, I believe that no matter what we are, what color/ race we have, what status in life we are into, or even the gender, God loves all of us.
Regarding Isaac and Rebecca, “Isaac received the promise that the land in which he is living will one day becomes homeland for him and his descendants.” Rebecca also, marrying Isaac, left her security to fulfil the promise of being the mother of the great nation. But above all these, “Isaac lived in Canaan by the graciousness of another, through Abimelech, the King of the Philistines.” Same as Abraham and Sarah, though God promised them the land of Canaan, still they are resident aliens of the place.
Between Esau and Jacob, “Jacob’s deceptions threaten family unity… Jacob played on the weakness of his older brother, Esau and won from him his birthright.” This incident gave way for Jacob to escape from the revenge of his brother, Esau and was sent back to Rebecca’s homeland. We could see how betrayal can ruin a family’s relationship and harmony which would definitely not the will of God for a family. Also, regarding Joseph, “Like Jacob, he also caused division on his family… Joseph embittered his brothers by his dreams of domination and his reporting of the misdeeds of his brothers to their father, Jacob… Like Isaac, Jacob favored one son over the others.” This also gave way for his brothers to take revenge from him which made to be successful when they cast him into a pit.
Reflecting about all of these, we realized that God is indeed a fair and merciful God. Sometimes, He would let us suffer in order to realize the mistakes that we have done and also for us to change our wrong doings. Having read this writing of Nash, it illuminated our minds that we must also be just to other people as God is just. In terms of family relationship, respect and faithfulness is very important. These virtues will not just make every member to be righteous but these would also make the good relationship lasting forever.
By: Jeffrey E. Loma
