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By several different names, Shechem was an important city in ancient Israel.  In fact, Shechem is quite important today under the name of Nablus in the so-called West Bank.  Archaeologists disagree as to the exact location of the ancient city and whether the various cities built there are really different or were really just new manifestations of the same place.  It is for them, not us, to have these discussions.  But it was and is an important place. In the book, Birth of The Holy Nation, volume 1, we encounter Shechem as the original settling place of Abram when he first arrived in Canaan.  In volume 2, we will spend time there with Jacob and his sons.  Still later, when the Israelites had returned from Egypt, they went to a location between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerazim to renew their allegiance to the law of God.  These two mountains just happened to be near Shechem.  In the New Testament there was a woman of Samaria who encountered Jesus at a well near Sychar.  Sychar was one of the names given to the place of Shechem.  It’s interesting that the woman had come to the well of Jacob for water when she encountered Jesus.  For this encounter, He had placed himself at a well that had been dug by Jacob the [...]

So, where did Eve come from?  We know that she was the wife of Adam from the time she came into the world.  But really, where did she come from?  Our usual explanation is that she was made from a rib taken from Adam.  The Hebrew word here (beitzah) may not actually mean rib.  It may mean only a bone of some sort.  It may only mean a non-specific “part.”  In any event, it is clear that something was taken from Adam, so that Eve could be given to him as his spouse.  But let’s look a bit deeper. One question that we might consider is whether the part that was taken from Adam was a “regular” part of the man.  For example, if God did take a rib from Adam to make Eve, then did He supernaturally replace that rib?  We really don’t know, nor does the text help us a whole lot.  Other than the possible translation of beitzah into rib, we cannot identify the part in question.  Then, there is the question of the method of removal.  How did God remove the part?  We know that He opened Adam up in some manner.  Whatever the manner was, it was not fatal. Do you think Adam was simply born with an extra rib on one side?  In that case, God [...]

We know that the man Abraham, first named Abram, fathered quite a number of sons during his life.  In fact, over ten of them are named in the Bible.  There can be no doubt from the biblical record that Ishmael, for example, was born quite some time before Isaac. However, when God spoke to Abraham regarding the sacrifice of Isaac, He referred to him as Abraham’s only son.  How odd. If one were a first son, then one could possibly be an only son.  However, given the fact that Ishmael was born to Abram some fourteen or fifteen years before Isaac was born makes Isaac neither “first” nor “only” in the category of sons of the patriarch.  Most of us don’t believe that God is either a liar or a fool.  But, in chapter 22 of Genesis, God spoke to Abraham and required him to go to a certain place and there sacrifice his “only son.”  So, let’s get that straightened out if we can. On a certain night about a year before the birth of Isaac, God had come to the man named Abram and had given him very explicit instructions concerning a particular covenant.  He – God – was formalizing a covenant of a very particular and unique nature that night.  That covenant involved the future of [...]