Kelly - Genesis 26

I realize that there was a famine in the beginning of this chapter - but Isaac BECAME rich? He inherited all that was Abraham's. And Abraham had had so many flocks and servants that he and Lot had had to part ways in order to find enough room for - as Jordan put it - all their stuff.

So when this chapter explains that Isaac became rich - and that the king became threatened by his power and asked him to leave, we must be talking about a very rich and powerful man.

Which leads me to wonder about God's activity. So many times in the Bible God uses the weak, lowly, outcast. Here God is basing all of the story to come on a very powerful man.

In the Old Testament God uses David the shepherd, Ruth the alien, Noah the drunkard. And here, Isaac the extremely wealthy and powerful.

In the New Testament God uses the fishermen, the tax collectors, and the loose women. But God also uses Paul the educated orator who is both Jew and Roman citizen.

In Luke we talked about wealth as an evil in itself - what liberation theologians call God's "preferential option for the poor." Here we see a little more of what Calvin would later build on - God's preferences are shown in worldly successes - if you are faithful, God will reward you in this life as in the next.

The mixture of both viewpoints does not help me much as I try and figure out who God is. But it does remind me that we are called to use all that we have and are for God's purposes - be we lowly or powerful. The power and wealth we have are tools - nothing more.