Genesis: Gift of Heirs

The final gift I want to look at in Genesis is the gift of offspring. Though children are considered a blessing from God, they are given through the natural process of conception and generation. In other words, if the nature of the individuals trying to have a child is not damaged, there is no reason to suppose that they will not eventually have one. So, since generation is a fundamentally natural vital operation, it can be difficult to understand each child as a gift from God and not simply a natural result of God's creation. Of course, being in the modern world, we are much more easily tempted to separate the work of God from the work of nature than they were in ancient times. Every problem with the natural world has a scientific  explanation, and the medical sciences seek to fix these problems with procedures and technology that restores or repairs natural deficiencies. The more ultimate question of why nature is sometimes broken does not surface nearly as often as the unchecked hope we have in being able to fix the brokenness when it appears. In the ancient world, when nature does what it ought to do, it is a sign of God's blessing --- and when it doesn't, it is considered a curse. One of the most terrible curses is sterility, especially the sterility of a woman. It goes directly against the command of God to “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth...”

So when we look at the cases of sterility in Genesis we are faced with something traumatic and incomprehensible. Sarai is sterile, but God has made it clear to Abram that he would give the promised land to his descendants.[footnote:Gn. 12:7.] And God further clarifies that it will be Abram's own son who will be his heir.[footnote:Gn. 15:3.] Sarai is convinced at this point that in order for God's promise to be fulfilled, he must take a different wife --- Sarai is convinced that the Lord has prevented her from having children. Abraham even laughs at God when God says that He will give him a son by Sarah. But this promise is made after God changes their names. Sarai --- my princess --- becomes Sarah, which means “princess for all” --- no longer belonging to Abram alone.[footnote:Pentateuch avec Rachi. I: La Genèse, p. 97 v. 15 comm.] Sarah will not be fruitful for Abram alone, she will be fruitful because of a special gift of God, and not by mere
natural capacity. This child, Issac, is a miraculous conception in the womb of a woman who was sterile. With the change of Sarai's name comes the opening of her womb. And the name of her child will be a constant reminder of how surprising and miraculous the conception of this child was. The Lord gives the true heir not just through Abraham, but through Abraham and his wife Sarah. God reveals that the true lineage passes by the true spouse. The one who will inherit the fullness of God's promises to Abraham must be born of his true spouse.

We could summarize what God has done for Abraham by looking at the witness given by his servant. Laban hears from Abraham's servant, who has come to bring a wife back for Issac --- Rachel --- the extraordinary things the Lord has done for Abraham. At the end of his witness, the servant says that the Lord, “Has given him (Abraham) all that He has.[footnote:Gn. 24:36.]” In other words, the Lord has shown to Abraham and Sarah the act of giving.[footnote:Rashi: Genesis, 151.] The Lord has held nothing back in this gesture. The Lord has given all the goods of the earth, the goods of land, and of posterity, to Abraham. And Abraham ends his life with the same generosity, the same act of giving: “Abraham gave everything he owned to Issac.[footnote:Gn. 25:5.]” Abraham did not split up his possessions among all his children, which shows that the gift of God is not simply material --- it cannot be divided up into pieces. Rabbi Nehemia said while commenting that verse, “[Abraham gave Issac] the gift of hereditary blessing. The blessings of the Lord are yours to give to whom you please: be a blessing.[footnote:Gn. 12:2.]”[footnote:Rashi: Genesis 159.] God gives to Abraham to make Abraham a gift for humanity. And the gift (blessing) given to Issac by Abraham is nothing less than the gift of God.