Okay, so before I got into this whole read-the-Bible-in-one-year-and-blog-about-it project, I’d thought I’d long since come to terms with the fact that the Bible was written by men. I thought I’d accepted the fact that it was written a long time ago and, as a result, was unlikely to depict women the way I might expect. I’d thought I would tolerate the subversion of women throughout the text and be able to move on.
Well, I was wrong.
In fact, I’ve decided to dedicate this post to the treatment of women in Genesis 19-21. In these chapters, there are three crazy stories–each involving women. I promise to me good tomorrow; today, please excuse my rant.
I’m going to begin with the last of the three chapters because its subjects were introduced earlier. A few chapters ago, Abraham and Sarah had discussed Sarah’s inability to give Abraham a child. (Of course, it’s her fault!) Sarah suggested that Abraham sleep with Sarah’s servant, Hagar, who, as a result, gave birth to Ishmael. Then, by a blessing from God, Sarah gets pregnant with Abraham’s son. After Sarah gives birth to Isaac, she tells Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael so that the latter will not share in Isaac’s inheritance. Hagar and her young son are sent out into the desert, where Hagar expects to see Ishmael parish. He survives by God’s hand.
See, it’s an awful story! Perhaps I haven’t read far enough, but there was not (yet?) a consequence to Sarah’s actions. It was by her suggestion that Hagar got pregnant, and then she was jealous of Hagar’s child. It seems like each of the stories in Genesis has some sort of moral, and I’ve yet to find the moral to this one. Oh, and then there’s Abraham’s practice of describing Sarah as his sister when they travel so that she can sleep with the ruler of the land and his life may be spared. Don’t worry; he’s compensated with livestock and slaves and silver.
Genesis 19 deals with Sodom and Gomorrah. Now, like many people, I already knew that Sodom and Gomorrah were the “evil” cities and that the chapter regarding them was the first mention of homosexuality in the Bible. As a lesbian, I’d been fully prepared for the mentions of the gay villagers; what I had not expected was the treatment of women in that chapter. When the Lord and two angels visit Lot’s home, the Sodomites knock on Lot’s door, asking him to send the visitors out so that they may have sex with the men. Lot answers their knocking by telling them that they must not “do this wicked thing.” He then goes on to say that he has two virgin daughters. Lot says, “Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them.”
‘What you like with them’? Yes, neighbors who will soon burn for your sins, please, don’t sleep with these men; sleep with my daughters instead! And, are there any women in Sodom?
So, then, after Lot and his daughters escape from Sodom, they hide in a cave. Years pass, and the two women despair that they haven’t slept with men. So, they conspire to get their father drunk and then sleep with him. They follow through with their plan, one girl on each of two nights.
Are they punished for tricking their father into sleeping with them? (Keep in mind that when Ham just saw his father, Noah, naked, Ham was disciplined.) No, silly. The women are rewarded for their actions by birthing sons.
But, what do I know? If anyone has any related information that would help to clarify the moral ambiguities in these chapters, please comment.
Happy Twelfth Night! :^)
Alex
Who ever said that it had to make sense, but let me try anyway. Women are the corruptible part of mankind, at least that’s the message reiterated in the Bible – from the temptress (Eve) to the prostitute (Mary Magdalene). Even the Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare. The commonality in these portrayals is that they were all written by men.
Well, you nailed it about these chapters being awful for women (and just about everyone else involved too.) If I were to summarize as to a “moral” it would be that “true faith is living without scheming.” Since he parted ways with Abraham, Lot moved closer and closer to Sodom, likely because of the promise of prosperity. I’m sure he was aware of the risk that living there posed to his family and his daughters. Abraham schemed by lying (for the second time) about his wife being his sister and got exposed by a pagan king (for the second time). Those don’t seem like big consequences, but for the only God-honoring man on the planet at the time, it must have stunk. Sarah schemed by trying to get the prophecy fulfilled outside of God’s promise and heartache for all was the result.
God’s desire is for us to know Him and trust Him. But most of the time I try to control things (scheme) to bring about the result that I think will be better for me, faster, more comfortable or easier. Trusting God is so difficult. And I wouldn’t put it past myself to take the same actions of Lot, Abraham and Sarah. May 2013 be a year when I trust Him more.
LOVE the premise behind this blog! Will look forward to hearing more from you!
Thank you for your kind words and for your insight. I can agree with your interpretation of the lesson behind these stories, and I think it fits well with the chapters that follow, particularly Abraham’s test (in which he is told to sacrifice Isaac). Moreover, it is often this urging to trust and obey God out of fear (as the consequences may be dire) that worries me, so I am probably more inclined to miss it than I am to miss other messages. I really struggle with the fear factor. I live in a very religious community, and I have definitely been instructed to follow and obey God “or else,” but that doesn’t feel right to me. (I imagine that many Christians avoid this sort of thinking, as well.) I know that that’s not what you’re saying, but I think that, in my mind anyway, the trust that is demanded in these stories is related to that sort of conditional relationship. It’s so very different from the agape love we hear about later…
Just musing… Thanks again! :^)
http://askthebigot.com/2013/01/09/trusting-my-heavenly-father/
Thanks for stirring the pot and helping me formulate my thoughts with your post above!
I always get a bit of a kick out of the way Genesis and many parts of the OT are written. They just sort of show are “heroes” doing incredibly stupid things with no explaination (wait until you read about Samson). But a common theme throughout the Bible is that God doesn’t pick perfect people, most of them are complete f%$k ups, which makes me feel better about myself at anyrate. The treatment of women is brutal but also it was brutal time. Not that I’m making any excussed for that treatment. Some of my favorite Bible stories are about some of the women who sort things out on their own. My favorite being the story of Tamar in Genesis 38. I think women did what woman have always had to do in their circumstances and that’s try to manipulate the situation. I don’t mean that in a negatime way. It sucked to be a woman in most of the history of the world. Men need to feel powerful and subgegating women has always been a first choice for dealing with that. Rachel’s fault was was being dishonest and not trusting God, but her son went a long with it. Just like Adam and the fruit. Eve had to be tempted by the serpent. Eve said, “eat this” and he did. Who’s the weaking sex. There are some awesome women in the Bible and I think you’ll enjoy their stories. Sorry to be longwinded.
Thank you for your comment! If we were on Facebook, I’d definitely hit the “like” button; I agree with so much of what you said, and I appreciate your declaration that the common theme is that God doesn’t pick the “gold star” Christians. I’m definitely looking forward to meeting Tamar in a few more chapters.