Oh Glorious Weed

 

Tending to my garden of flowers soothes me and lifts my spirits.  I just love the Orange King Zinnias - they are tall and prolific and burst with color, so I couldn't believe it when I read that zinnias were once considered a weed and that orange is the least pleasing flower color.....such beauty from an unfavorable weed.  No matter, I love them, just as the Lord looks at this least pleasing, common woman and proclaims His love toward me.  

As a believer, I have wrestled with predestination and the inevitable question, "do I actually have a choice?" and if I don't, then "am I just a puppet?"  I have come to peace by realizing that I cannot understand the ways of God - I am limited as I walk step by step on this journey; I cannot comprehend eternity due to the constraints of time and capacity.  If God, who created time, is outside of time, than, yes....my journey is predestined.  But part of my journey is that crossroad where I have a choice to walk one way or another.  How can these concepts be reconciled?  Only by the infinite God.  

As I worked in my garden and listened to Chuck Smith, the Lord blessed me with a little glimpse in Genesis 24-26 of the reconciliation of these seemingly opposed points. 

As Abraham, now living as a stranger in the land of Canaan, faced death, he sent his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac from amongst his land and people.  The servant questioned Abraham with all the "what ifs."  Abraham, undeterred, stood on the promises of God and told the servant, "don't worry!  just do it, and if God doesn't provide this way, then you're clear from this directive."  Knowing only that he was headed to Abraham's land, the servant obeyed.  Upon reaching a well, the servant prayed to God, "I stand here by the well of water....let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink and she shall say, Drink and I will give thy camels drink also:  let the same be she that thou hast appointed..."  Of course, Rebekah, showed up and said exactly that.  The servant, I'm sure blown away by this direct answer, with trepidation asked, "uh, whose daughter are you?" inwardly praying she was Abraham's kin.  She said, "I am!  Come lodge with us!"  The next morning Abraham's servant, anxious to run back home with the good news and Isaac's prospective bride,  said, "ok, let us go now!"  But the bride's mother and brother cried, "no!  let her stay a few more days, 10 at least!"  I certainly would have said the same, "No, don't take my daughter away just yet!!!"  But the servant was anxious - and I suspect the mother and brother thinking Rebekah would agree to delay, said, "ok, we'll let HER decide.  If she's willing, fine."  But it's interesting that they didn't say to Rebekah, "will you go with this man NOW."  They just said, "Will you GO with this man?"  

So here's Rebekah, a perfect picture of the reconciliation of predestination and free will.  Behind the scenes, Rebekah had no clue that she was being sought after.  The servant had no clue that Rebekah was who he was seeking.  The servant went in obedience to his master.  Rebekah went to the well to satisfy her thirst.  When the servant offered her the marriage proposal, she said she was willing.  Could Rebekah have said no?  Probably.  But she didn't because God DID have a clue - He had been behind the scenes all along, drawing her to the well to accomplish His purpose.  This wasn't serendipity; this was God's divine appointment.  I've heard over and over again from believers, how after they believed, they saw every incident in their prior lives as being drawn to Him (the well).  I suspect unbelievers will also see that same thing on the day of judgement.  Yes, I heard, but.  Yes, I went to Sunday School, but.  Yes, I read the bible, but. 

Then Chuck Smith mentioned that Esau's name meant "hairy" and Jacob's name meant "heel catcher" - named for something noticeable happening at their births.  Esau "came out red, all over like a hairy garment," and Jacob, Esau's twin,  at birth grabbed hold of Esau's heel.  For some reason the sequence of the birth of Israel hit me - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.  The Old Testament is full of pictures of the Christ who was to come.  First we have Abraham, the father of the nation, like God, a picture of God our father.  Then we have Isaac, Abraham's son, like Jesus, God's own son.  Genesis 25:5 is an obscure little verse that creates a vivid picture of the relationship of God the father and Jesus.  It reads, "and Abraham gave ALL that he had unto Isaac."  Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:18, "ALL authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."  Then Jacob, next in my sequence, is the heel catcher.  In Genesis 3:15, we read one prophetic action of the coming Messiah, - "and you will strike his heel," and in 1 Cor. 15:25, we see, "For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet."

So when we say, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob....we are seeing God's plan of salvation in this simple little sequence of names.  God the Father, giving all power and authority in heaven above and earth beneath to His only son, Jesus Christ, who will deliver the crushing blow to sin.  

God's word is like that onion skin.  Peel it back, layer upon layer.  Let it bring tears.  Let it sweeten your appetite.  Let it make you thirsty.  Let it transform a garden of undesirable weeds into a splash of glorious color.