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December 2

2 December


Genesis 15: 1-6

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield,  your very great reward]” 2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”


If you open your Bible at the very first  book of the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew, and read the first verse, you will find these words: “1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham. “ 

Think about that.  Here we are at the beginning of a time of preparation, pointing towards Christmas, the coming of Christ into the world and the promise of his coming again.  Here we are, holding firm to the idea of Jesus as the Son of God, and staring us in the face as we begin his story is his human genealogy, rooting him firmly in this world.  Of course, a Jewish genealogy of the time would take its bearings from the male line, so this genealogy is the genealogy of Joseph,  to whom God entrusted his Son, and right at the start of it is Abraham.  

One of the first things we learn about Abraham is that he and his wife are childless and that at the age of 75, God promises that they will have a child. What a hope!  It was hard to believe, and with every passing year,  it became more difficult, but still God persisted in his promise.  “ look up at these stars, countless though they are.  Your offspring will be as numerous” he told the old man, weary of waiting.  Yet, when the time was right, and Abraham was 100, Sarah gave birth to their son Isaac.

Advent is a time for waiting, something we are not always very good at. Our individual life span is limited and so we are in a rush, not recognising that the number of our years is but a blink in the eye of our Creator.  We wait for God, to act, to intervene, to send His Son once more.  When, O God? Is the world not ready?  And when we ask, God’s reply comes, ‘ When the time is right”