Then one of them said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." – Genesis 18:10

Today's Scripture Reading (September 29, 2024): Genesis 18

We like to make comparisons. And we do it in various situations. Comparing two items was the foundation of an advertising series when I was growing up. It was called the "Taste Test." Offer Coca-Cola drinkers a blind choice test between Coke and Pepsi and see which one they pick. According to Pepsi, most Coke drinkers chose Pepsi, "The Taste of a New Generation." I have to admit that I had problems with the Pepsi Challenge. First, the drink was often served at room temperature, meaning neither of the soft drinks tasted very good. Second, I am not convinced that the taste test works. How much can you really tell from a sip of a carbonated beverage? There was also not an insignificant amount of pressure to pick Pepsi, at least if you wanted to be in the running for inclusion in the upcoming commercial. The taste test was also not offered by an independent arbiter but by Pepsi employees who had a horse in the race (i.e., they wanted Pepsi to win).

But it is not just our choice of soft drink in which we make comparisons. And one of our tendencies is to compare ourselves with other people. And that is usually a deadly endeavor. After all, there will always be people who are better than us, richer than us, or more talented than us, just as there will always be people who are worse than us, poorer than us, or less gifted in some way than we are. But that doesn't stop us from making the comparison and feeling the pride or the depression about whatever the result of the comparison might be.

The Bible also likes to make comparisons. Sometimes, these comparisons are apparent. John the Baptist in the New Testament is often compared with the Prophet Elijah from the Hebrew Bible. Although it is never mentioned, Joseph, the one with "The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," according to Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, is often described as a type of Christ., comparing the favorite son of Israel (Jacob) with Jesus.

Genesis 18 and 19 need to be read together because many comparisons are being made here that we often miss. One comparison is Abraham's hospitality to his visitors with the inhospitality. But another critical comparison is the one between the child of promise, who would be born to Abraham and Sarah, and the children of incest, who would be born to Lot and his daughters. The story of the child of promise opens up the tale at the beginning of Genesis 18. It would be a tale of incest that would close out the story in Genesis 19.

One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. Let's get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father" (Genesis 19:31-32).

So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father (Genesis 19:36).

One way seemed right to God, although Abraham and Sarah almost missed the opportunity. The other seemed right to humans, even though it was about as far from godly as any human decision could be.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 19