David Mapugilo
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ABRAHAM
MODULE 5: Abraham Surrenders His Sons
SESSION 20: Abraham Endangers Sarah Again
Genesis 20:1-22:19 deals with the unresolved tension over the promised seed. Avraham chooses deception once again, so Avimelek acts as his own intercessor. The Hebrew Bible regularly critiques its own human heroes, providing a realistic portrait of the people…
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ABRAHAM
MODULE 4: SESSION 19: A Flood of Fire
God’s angels deliver Lot from destruction, but Lot still wants to choose his own version of safety. Later biblical authors invoke Sodom and Gomorrah as icons of God’s swift and total judgment on human injustice, immorality, and violence. The episode with Lot and his daughters is the origin story of…
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ABRAHAM
MODULE 4: SESSION 18: Lot Delivered From Destruction
Lot imitates his uncle’s righteous hospitality but from a compromised location. The text paints an ambivalent portrait of Lot’s character. In their sexual violence, the men of Sodom mirror and invert the illicit union of Heaven and Earth from Genesis 6. The biblical authors craft this…
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ABRAHAM
MODULE 4: SESSION 17: Abraham Intercedes for Lot
When Yahweh enlists a covenant partner, he consistently chooses to limit himself to act in and through his covenant partners. Sodom and Gomorrah are described with vocabulary from all the previous stories of violence and injustice, and they become emblematic of these themes throughout the…
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ABRAHAM
MODULE 4: The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
SESSION 16: Abraham, Sarah and Yahweh at the Tent
Avraham’s meal with God and the two men puts a redemptive twist on the seeing, taking, and eating of Genesis 3. Sarah’s womb is compared to Eden, which expands a growing network of related images—including the ark, the garden, and the…
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ABRAHAM
MODULE 3: SESSION 15: The Covenant of Circumcision
Hagar plays out an an inverted prelude to the exodus. As an Egyptian slave fleeing oppression at the hands of Avram and Sarai, she meets God’s mercy and blessing in the wilderness. Both Hagar and Avram face a de-creation and re-creation moment in this narrative—Hagar in wilderness and…
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Great summary!
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ABRAHAM
MODULE 3: SESSION 14: The Oppression of Hagar
In tragic irony, Avram and Sarai’s oppression of Hagar, whose name means “the immigrant,” comes right after God tells Avram that his descendants will be oppressed immigrants. Sarai’s desire to be “built up” through Hagar is a distorted echo of God “building” the woman in Genesis 2. The text…
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ABRAHAM
MODULE 3: SESSION 13: God’s Covenant with Abram
In the narrative logic, faith leads to right standing with God, and doubt leads to covenant. A covenant, though a beautiful expression of God’s mercy, is not the ideal. Yahweh seals the covenant alone, binding himself to bear the responsibilities of both parties.
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ABRAHAM
MODULE 3: SESSION 12: Seed Like Stars
Like the human in the garden, Avram is naked with only God as his source of delivering help. God credits Avram as righteous in right relationship—when Avram ceases his scheming and simply trusts God’s promise. God’s promise to make Avram’s descendants like the stars evokes both their vast…
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Power of trusting in God’s promises with no natural hope. Thanks
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ABRAHAM
MODULE 3: The Seed and the Covenant
SESSION 11: The Genesis 1-11 Melody Repeats
The Avraham story is built on the structure of the repeating melody of Genesis 1-11. Knowing this structure helps us understand when the authors are making intentional shifts to emphasize or subvert expectations. The story cycle pivots on the…
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