Visitors and Messangers

Who were the three visitors who came to Abraham's tent in Genesis 18?  Abraham must have known they were divine messangers.  When he sees them he bows low to the ground.  He commands Sarah and his servants to lay out food before them, and treats them as his honored guests.  There is no mention of their names, or where they come from.  We only know that Abraham noticed these three men standing close by his tent after the Lord appears to him.

During their meal, one of the visitors announces that Sarah will give birth to a son within the year.  Sarah over hears this and laughs. (It isn't surprising then that Isaac's name means laughter) After the meal is over, God reveals his plan to destroy Sodom and Gemorrah.  As Abraham pleads for the lives of the innocent, two of the visitors who shared the meal with Abraham, now referred to for the first time as angels, enter the city of Sodom. What happened to the third visitor?  Was he an angel too?

I did some research online and found mixed results.  Many medieval and renaissance paintings depict the third visitor as God himself.  Other scholars see the visitors as three angels, the third one not being mentioned in Genesis 19 because his one role was prophesying the birth of Isaac. I feel the real importance lies in that this is the first time they are mentioned in Scripture.  They also play an extremely active role in the story.  They may appear as men, but the way Abraham and Lot interact with them proves their divine nature.

Though Lot does not know these men, he also greets them by bowing down to the ground.  Once they enter the city of Sodom, Lot insists that they seek shelter in his home rather than sleeping in the town square.  He also prepares a meal for them, at which time they east unleavened bread ( the first time this recurring them is seen in Scripture)  The cruel townspeople surround Lots house, threatening to break down the door in order to have sex with the angels.  I was unable to understand God's need to destroy Sodom until I read this passage.  It's hard to come up with anything more sacrilegious then sexually assaulting an angel.

"Look I have to daughters who have never slept with a man.  Let me bring them out to you and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come for protection under my roof."~ Genesis 19:8  When I first read this passage, the feminist in me became incredibly angry.  I momentarily lost all of my respect for Lot's moral character.  But after reading it over and meditating on it, I remembered that Lot had no sons, which means that his daughters would have been his most precious assets.  Their lives and their purity would have been extremely important to him as their father.  His daughters' safety would have normally been his number once concern.  Reading it over once more through the eyes of Lot, rather than with my own feminist 21st century mind, I realized this statement speaks more to the divinity of the angels than it does about the degradation of women.  A girl's virginity would have been considered the most important and pure thing.  A father would want to protect it above all else.  But the angels are so divine, pure, and full of light that his daughters' innocence does not even compare to that of these divine messengers. Lot will protect the angels at all costs.

What he doesn't understand is that the angels are their to protect him. He does not understand their power until the evil townspeople break down the door, and the two angels strike them all with blindness.  They had in fact been sent to deliver Lot and his family out of the city.  Through these two divine men, God is able to keep his promise to Abraham that he would save the righteous from the city. 

I have always believed in angels, and I love that they take such an active role at this point in Scripture.  It inspired me to read more about these divine beings and their role in our religious and spiritual lives.  I am very excited to get to know God's messengers better as they are introduced to us in our journey through the Bible. <3

Wife of a Prophet

 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." ~1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I do my best each night to write down my schedule for the following day.  I keep my calendar close by my bed and before my husband turns out the light I will jot down a list of "to do's."  My to do list includes errands and tasks to complete for my business. I will also block out a section of the day for quality time with my son.  Sundays are marked "God +Family."  Then there is always the all important "Me Time."  It's the best way I have found to help me manage my spiritual life, family life, and business life.  And in this juggling act, I also have to make time for my marriage.

My husband's cousin Rebecca gave me some good advice at my wedding reception.  She told me that being a mom was important, but to always remember to give my husband the time and commitment he deserves.I have to admit that on my wedding day that seemed like a given.  Now that we have built a life together, I see how work, kids, etc. can sometimes get in the way of our time together.  My husband works hard all day to support us in the short term, while I do my best to build a business that will allow us to thrive in the long-term.  When we get home, most of our time is devoted to our son.  It's easy to forget that we need to get back in touch with what brought us together in the first place, our romantic love for one another.

Our dreams are so big.  Bigger sometimes than what even our families can see for us.  We yearn for the day when we can have our own place, buy a nice car, have another baby.  But living in the moment is just as important.  Appreciating and trusting one another now should come first and foremost. 

Sarai is a role model for me as a wife.  She followed her husband on this pilgrimage to an unknown land which God had promised to her husband.  She left the city of her birth to travel through a strange country.   She followed her husband and supported him when God promised him that he would be the father of many nations.  That must have been so frightening for her, knowing that she was barren.  Sarai sacrificed her own emotions when she offered Hagar to Abram in order to provide him with a son.  She went against every jealous instinct inside her heart in order to make her husband's vision for the future come true.  In the moment in which she made that decision, she sacrificed her own well-being for her husband's dream.  Is there any love more pure than that? 

As we know, her decision eventually lead to bitterness between both her and Hagar. For, as my grandmother would say, we cannot build a strong house on a bad foundation.  She did not believe that she could bear a child as an older woman.  In fact she even laughed when the three angels visited Abraham and told her that she would have a son within the year.  Even after God changed her name to Sarah, and promised her that she would be the mother of Isaac, she had a hard time believing in God's promise.  This fault makes her more human to me.  She struggled with her faith as we all do.  And even though it may have taken decades,  God finally brought Sarah and Abraham's dream to reality with the birth of their son Isaac. 

The love story between Abraham and Sarah is an example to my husband and I, and to all married couples, of what love truly is and should be within a marriage.  It is also a tale of Hope.  Nothing is impossible with God.  And if we continue to serve him in all that we do, and we continue to trust in him, our dreams will come to fruition.  Let our marriages be unselfish relationships of complete and total love.  Let us not forget the base romantic relationships on which are families are made. <3

A Note on Easter

Conversion has been a process for me.  Even after I came back to the church, I made some great mistakes.  I continued to stumble and fall.  But when I look back, even to a year or two ago...I have come a long way.  This year my relationship with God has grown exponentially.  I've learned that believing is not enough.  Belief is just the first step of many.  If we are Christian, than we must do as Christ did.  Walk as He did.  Love as He did.  Sacrifice as He did.

In the past, I prayed mostly to God or to Mary.  I did not feel as connected to God the Son as I did God the Father.  Though God blessed me with many things to be thankful for as I grew up, I also dealt with many adult issues at a young age.  God the Father was a comforting figure.  I could rest in Him.  My problems seemed so big.  Too big for a little girl like me.  But to Almighty God they were less than dust.  I could surrender my struggles to Him, and all would be taken care of.  However, it was not until this year that I began to truly understand the importance of Christ.

As an adult, I am attracted to the story of Jesus because of his humanity.  He struggled as I do.  As all of us do. He suffered more than any of us will ever have to, and was courageous in the face of great evil.  I get emotional when I think of Jesus' agony in the garden of Gethsemane.

"'Father if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.' An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."   Luke 22:42-44

Knowing that he experienced a greater fear than we will ever endure, died, and conquered the grave so that we may live forever gives me unspeakable love for my Lord.  Knowing that he lived, laughed and loved as we do makes him seem more tangible and reachable.  I used to wonder why Easter is considered the highest holiday in the Catholic church.  Though Christmas is holy because it marks the birth of the Savior, Easter is the fulfillment of his purpose on Earth.   This is the first year that I have come to fully realize that.

When "The Passion of the Christ" first came out in theaters a few years ago I didn't see it because I thought it was more important to make a movie about Jesus' life than the manner in which he died.  Looking back now, I feel much differently.  Being God, Jesus could have saved himself.  He could have run or hid, or denied the accusations of the high priests.  He could have stayed away from Jerusalem as his apostles had begged him to do.

But he didn't

There is a reason he allowed himself to go through that pain, and to rise again.  And because his death and resurrection were part of God's plan, it is important for us to understand what he went through.  Though we will never grasp that experience fully, we must do our best to know his sacrifice.  For everything that he sacrificed was for us.  To ignore that, is to ignore His love.  Therefore, I would encourage you to read the last few chapters of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John this week.

As we mourn over the final hours and the death of Jesus over these next few days, so will we celebrate his resurrection this Sunday.  I wish you all a wonderful and happy Easter, as well as a reflective and spiritual final few days of Lent.

God Bless!