Men in the Bible: A Man with Little Foresight And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of…
Men in the Bible: A Man with Little Foresight – How short-term advantage led to long-term captivity
And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains. Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. – Genesis 14:8-12
We are still considering the personality of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. If there is any indication that all we had earlier shared about him was true, particularly his immaturity as well as lack of wisdom and foresight, that was validated in the scenario that played out in our reference passage today.
Lot thought he was being smart by choosing the prime land for himself and leaving his uncle, Abraham, with the not-so-attractive second best. He could have allowed his uncle to choose first, but he took that privilege onto himself. He impetuously chose where he wanted to settle, leaving Abraham to contend with the seemingly lesser option.
However, the incidents that ensued afterwards only revealed how unwise he was, as what he considered a land of peace and abundance was only a troubled land. Despite the lush green that he saw, which made him decide to settle in that part of town, the settlement was only a time bomb waiting for the right time to blow off, and blow off it did not long after Lot settled there. A more grounded person would have known better.
For Lot, however, he only went to camp with trouble because not long after settling, a long-brewing war broke out among the kings in that region, and even though he was not part of the skirmish, Lot and all his assets were taken captive by the rampaging kings.
No doubt, when he was choosing that place to stay, he must have thought that he had hit a jackpot. But that turned out to be a calamity. He must have thought he would become abundant and prosperous in his new location, but he only became a captive instead. All because he lacked foresight. We should not be like him.
Cain: The First Angry Man and His Poor Choice of Emotion
And the Lord…did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?” – Genesis 4:4-6
We are continuing our exploration of the person and character of Cain, the son of Adam and Eve. Today, we will be considering his emotional constitution; he was an angry man. In fact, he was the first (hu)man in recorded history to be described as angry and sad, the synonym for a fallen countenance.
As we had read earlier, Cain got himself into this rather undesirable position because he was not deliberate in his relationship with and service to God. While his brother, Abel, went out of his way to pick the choicest among his produce as sacrifice to God, Cain did not observe such diligence. Rather, he probably chose the worst of the pack among his livestock for the sacrifice he was offering to God, which must have angered God so much that He in turn rejected both Cain and his sacrifice.
The mistake that Cain made then is easy to make nowadays when most of what we know about God is what we hear in religious gatherings, not from a disciplined study of His ways in His word. Cain probably assumed that since God was not there to see him, he could get away with just giving Him whatever he wanted. After all, it was of his own volition that he wanted to offer this sacrifice to God, not because God Himself asked for an offering.
He must have gotten wiser later when God rejected his hapless offering and dismissed him from His presence. This divine rebuttal made Cain very angry and sad, such that it showed in his expression and attitude. It is interesting to note that even his father, Adam, who was let down by his wife in the fruit-eating saga, did not become angry at her or divorce her on account of this. Or what offense was worse than the one Eve did, pressuring her husband into eating the forbidden fruit, and by so doing incurring the wrath of God?
But, Adam, even while he must have been disappointed at the turn of events and felt aggrieved by the punishment God meted out to him, he did not become angry as to cast away his wife or maltreat her for what she did. Instead, he maintained a mature disposition and even christened her a good name.
However, in the case of Cain, he reacted poorly to rejection and went down in the annals of history as the first man to be labeled as angry and sad; a poor choice of emotion indeed. Instead of asking himself some hard questions, why God would accept his brother’s offering and reject his own, he chose the easy route of anger and the path of least resistance of sadness.
Anyone can easily get angry and become sad when things are not working their way. But it takes a higher level of consciousness to choose peace over anger, joy over sadness, and a positive attitude in response to a negative development. Cain was just like most of us in this regard, and it cost him badly.
Men in the Bible: Adam – A Man with A Large Heart And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. – Genesis 3:20…
Men in the Bible: Adam – A Man with A Large Heart
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. – Genesis 3:20
After the displeasure and rebuke of God to Adam, his wife and the serpent, an experience that must have been so terrifying for them and left them with regrets and sorrows, the first account we read about the couple was Adam naming his wife. He called her Eve, which means ‘life’ or ‘living’. He named her so because she would be the mother of all living.
This singular act on Adam’s part tells us a lot about his character. He was large-hearted and forgiving. Although he might have been displeased with his wife for landing him in trouble with God in the first place, he did not dwell on that for too long. He accepted his fate and moved on from his mistakes rather than dwelling therein.
Moreso, and quite interestingly, when he was to christen the woman whom some might have labeled his nemesis, he named her in line with her future potential and not according to her past mishaps. He christened her Eve (life, living) because she would become the mother of all life. He did not call her “Error” because she was the downfall of man. This speaks volumes about Adam’s character and maturity as a person.
Someone less mature would have kept blaming the woman for bringing so much misfortune on him at every opportunity. In case it did not occur to you, Adam was the one most hard done by on account of their disobedience, as the verdict God handed him was arguably the harshest of the lot:
“Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
– Genesis 3:17-19
Imagine someone just hearing himself cursed this way and then dismissed with a matching insult as a man of gutter, as that was what the statement “For dust you are, And to dust you shall return” means.
Imagine hearing such a demeaning statement and then going on to label the person who led him to commit such a monumental mistake with a good name. There was no chivalry greater than that. For this, Adam deserved much respect.
Men in the Bible: A Fool in Wealth and a Rich Man Without Wisdom
Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock… So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” – Genesis 13:5-9
The man in the Bible we are considering today is Lot, the nephew of Abraham. Lot is one of the classic cases of a fool in wealth. There is an African slang used to describe someone like him, “money-missed-road!” Unfortunately, that was how we first became acquainted with Lot in the Bible. as a rich dumbass.
For context, our reference passage today gives an insight into how Lot acquired his wealth. He became rich through his close association with and attachment to Abraham. Wherever Abraham went, Lot followed him. Even when he came of age and could have struck out on his own, he was still closely attached to the proverbial strings of Abraham’s apron. He went with him from Haran to Canaan, to Shechem, to Moreh, through Bethel and Ai, then to Egypt, and back to Canaan. He was that clingy.
Abraham, too, was quite accommodating of him as he felt a sense of responsibility to Lot, who was the only child of his late younger brother, Haran. Therefore, Abraham practically raised Lot and provided for his welfare from the time his brother died. This obviously paid off for Lot eventually as he became wealthy through the generosity and connection of Abraham, his uncle. He amassed so much wealth that even his own livestock and his herdsmen were rivalling his uncle’s own in number and contending with them for grazing and sustenance. It was at this point that we started seeing how immature a person Lot was.
Firstly, when the row between his herdsmen and Abraham’s herdsmen became a public nuisance, he did not do anything about it. Rather, he kept mum. Although the Bible did not tell us what his stance was, whether he supported his own staff publicly or covertly. Yet, he did nothing about the issue; thus, he became complicit in the rudeness of his herdsmen to Abraham, his uncle and benefactor, as silence means acquiescence.
Moreover, it was Abraham himself who took the initiative for peace by first reaching out to Lot to appeal to him not to let the brewing rancor between the two sets of herdsmen cause a rift in their family. Yes, Abraham demonstrated wisdom and maturity by making the first move. But so did Lot exhibit his immaturity and folly by waiting for his uncle to make the first move.
Note, however, that at this time, Lot was a wealthy man, having a large number of livestock and many people working for him. However, these did not alleviate his immaturity and lack of wisdom. Yes, he was rich, but he was a dumbass. Yes, he was wealthy, but he was also unwise.
It is a good thing we also know how Lot acquired his wealth. It was not through his own personal genius or innovation but through association with his uncle, the generosity of his uncle, and the connection of his uncle. You can then imagine the level of disregard he exhibited in this scenario. Is it that he did not know what to do? There have always been many like him around since the beginning of time who are rich in assets but poor in common sense.
Men in the Bible: How Not to Be A Father And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was…
Men in the Bible: How Not to Be A Father
And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside…So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren.” – Genesis 9:20-22,24-25
Having considered the terrible mistakes made by Ham, the second son of Noah, in turning his father’s nudity into a topic of gossip and joke, it is apt for us to look at the scene from another point of view so as to make our lessons from this scenario more balanced. In that regard, we shall be looking at the man Noah as an example of recklessness and how not to be a father.
After surviving the flood and being the privileged person to lead the new world order that God started with the human race at that time, Noah did well by picking up a new vocation as a farmer. Perhaps it was the giddiness of his first harvests, which must have been bumper, or something else, Noah indulged himself by drinking from the wine harvested in his vineyard. That is not bad in itself as one is meant to enjoy from his labor. But he did it to the point of reckless abandon such that he threw caution to the wind, cast his clothing aside, and was stark naked in the tent.
Considering that tents in those days were not as structured as our modern housing, with proper roofing, doors, and other items for privacy, it was reckless behavior on the part of Noah to indulge himself to this extent. He might as well have debauched himself outside the tent in the glare of the public. Noah put his family members in a difficult position by not exercising more self-control or being more discreet with his indulgence.
Secondly, by this time, Noah was already a grandfather. That meant he not only had a wife of his own, but his sons also had their own wives and children as well. So, what could Noah be thinking by throwing caution to the wind this way? Yes, he was the patriarch, but any of his grandchildren could have been the ones to walk into his tent with the intention of spending time with grandpa.
Moreso, what example was Noah setting for his own sons and his grandchildren by drinking wine so excessively to the point of stupor. He certainly did not cover himself in glory in this regard. He was careless, reckless and irresponsible. To make it worse, his hubris led to the downfall of one of his sons. That is certainly not how to be a father.
Further, after Noah came to his senses and the realization of what his son, Ham, had done, what he did next was even more shocking. Instead of rebuking his errant son sharply for his immaturity or correcting him in love, he rather placed a curse on him. Worse still, he did not curse the son directly; he placed a generational curse on the son of the son! In other words, he cursed his grandson! What kind of man curses his own grandchild?
Even worse, Canaan, the grandson he cursed, knew nothing about what his own father had done. So, Noah only cursed an innocent child. He did not have the ball to curse his own son, perhaps because he did not want to witness the manifestation of his curse while he was still alive. Still, he had no scruple in cursing his own grandson, an innocent boy, and that with an eternal curse that he would forever be a servant of servants, was the height of irresponsibility. That means Canaan and his own descendants would not just be servants to masters but would be servants to the servants of masters. That was relegating Canaan and his entire lineage to the very dregs in societal order.
What a man! What a father! What a grandfather Noah was! This is certainly not the way to be a father or a grandfather to boot. A right-thinking (grand)father corrects his (grand)children in love, not condemn them; he blesses them, not curse them. Noah was the opposite of this. We all can learn how not to from him.
Another lesson we can learn from God is His disposition to a balancing act. He is not a God of extremes. Even though some who profess to follow Him go to extremes in His name or make extreme claims on His behalf, extreme is not a label that one can pin on God. He balances the acts.
Understanding God: He is Not Moved by Sentiments
Another lesson we can learn from the personality of God is that sentiments do not move Him. Therefore, He cannot be deceived into making a wrong judgment or call, as humans tend to do.
Understanding God: He is A Creator
He is a Creator. This is not to be interpreted loosely, particularly in the light of our contemporary use of the word. God is the ultimate Creator, as He created all things, even the ends of the earth (Isaiah 40:28).
Understanding God: God of the Beginning
There is no better way to begin this journey of exploring the people and entities in the Bible than to start with God. He is not just the beginning but is the origin of all things.
Women in the Bible: A Paragon of Beauty
What made Sarah’s beauty so compelling that kings and nations took notice? Explore the deeper layers of grace, favour, and mystery surrounding one of Scripture’s most unforgettable women — and discover why her story still provokes wonder today.
Men in the Bible: A Man of Ambition and Adventure
Terah may not have reached Canaan, but his courage to start a life-changing journey laid the foundation for Abraham’s destiny. Discover how ambition and bold steps mark a life of significance.
Men in the Bible: An Impetuous and Impudent Man
A revealing glimpse into a man whose choices exposed deeper issues of character, showing how hastiness and entitlement can quietly shape a destiny, and why his story still speaks to us today.
Men in the Bible: A Man with Little Foresight
Sometimes what looks like a smart choice can hide the seed of a mistake. This reflection from Scripture invites us to think again about how foresight — or the lack of it — shapes a man’s story.
Men in the Bible: The First Man to Tithe
Before laws, temples, or traditions, one man honoured God with his substance. Abraham’s tithe was not commanded, demanded, or enforced. It flowed from reverence.
Fathers in the Bible: A Destiny-Shaping Father
What makes a man a truly aware father? Discover how one man’s prophetic foresight shaped his son’s destiny and changed generations forever.
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