I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the unnamed women I wrote about a couple months ago. I don’t have another post to add to the series right now, so it’s nothing like that. I’m thinking about how purposeful God is. Every part of scripture is there for a reason – nothing is fluff or filler or without meaning. God is about order and displays this in all He says and does. Well, maybe not when it comes to the platypus. That’s one that really stumps me. But if God is so purposeful and is all about order, why were the names of those women omitted?
Perhaps their names would have drawn attention away from the purpose of their encounters in scripture. Maybe it simply wasn’t about that part of their identity. But it did get me thinking in another direction. There’s probably just as much purpose and order in the inclusion of information as the exclusion.
Genesis 4:1-24 tells us the account of Cain and Abel. Cain murdered his brother, was defiant in his lack of remorse, and his descendants did not live beyond the flood (Genesis 6-9). So, what is the purpose of including the names of Cain’s descendants? God had every right to strike Cain down the moment he murdered his brother, but instead God showed him grace and mercy. What was His reasoning? Perhaps to give Cain time to repent. His first son was named Enoch – means dedicated, consecrated. To Enoch was born Irad – means fugitive, runner. Irad was the father of Mehujael – means destroyed by God. But then we come to a shift. Mehujael named his son Methushael – Man of God.
What if this is God’s way of telling us that Cain eventually repented? Being one of the first humans to be born, they lived a lot longer than now. Cain probably had a lot to share with his offspring – he might have even told them about times he talked with God. Wouldn’t it be an awesome testament to God’s faithfulness if we get to meet Cain in Heaven? God is so very patient with us (II Peter 3:9), and He’s always showing new depths of His love for His children.
I’ve read through genealogies in scripture, the verses that go on forever detailing measurements and amounts, and I trained myself to skip over them to get to the good parts. I know I’m not the only one to have done it. Now, on the other hand, it’s like a treasure hunt. But has anyone been stumped by the good parts because it simply doesn’t jive with who you know God to be? Who Cain and his descendants likely discovered God to be?
Details included sometimes come across as normal and we tend to skip over them. Names today don’t often mean much on the surface, but when we take a look below, we might just see something beautiful.
In Acts 9:1-19 (please take a moment to read it), Saul is on his way to zealously persecute the followers of Jesus (in the name of the Lord) but comes face to face with grace instead. He becomes blinded and is helped to a home in Damascus where he stayed for three days (interesting detail in the number of days). God sends to him a man named Ananias. His name means God has been gracious. Saul was extremely well-known for persecuting any who followed Jesus. He was the definition of self-righteous. But He wasn’t seeing things the right way.
But when Saul’s sight was restored, what should he see? Or rather, who? Ananias – God has been gracious. Imagine it: he opened his eyes for the first time in three days following an encounter with Jesus and the first thing he sees is God has been gracious.
It’s so beautiful – the intensity of God’s love for us that is displayed when we look a little deeper at the included details. I didn’t know what Ananias’ name meant till I heard it and then confirmed it by looking it up for myself. But I recalled the name Ananias from a different story. Take a moment to read Acts 5:1-16.
This is like the earth opening up and swallowing people whole all over again, isn’t it (Numbers 16:32-35)? But God does not change. He is either loving or He isn’t. He is patient or He’s not. God is about order and purpose (platypus excluded). So why does He seem to extend grace and mercy to Cain, to Saul (before he became the Paul we all know and love, he took pleasure in killing Christians), but not to this Ananias and his wife, Sapphira?
There is beauty in the details. There’s order and there’s purpose.
I think the name Sapphira is beautiful. It means exactly what many would guess it to mean: sapphire. Okay, so what? The what I want to know is really a why. Why is she named when any of the six unnamed women I wrote about went unnamed? They were shown grace and mercy and Sapphira dropped dead on the spot because she lied. Why was the inclusion of her name so vitally important? Sometimes we have to dig a little deeper.
There’s quite a scientific process and explanation, but suffice it to say, sapphires form deep underground with the right minerals under extreme pressure and temperatures. For someone who is not scientifically inclined (yes, that’s me), this tidbit didn’t help me out a whole lot. But then I looked it up from a biblical perspective.
…and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Exodus 24:10 NASB
This is the first mention of sapphires in the Bible. This moment is not just any fleeting moment in time. This moment is full of order and purpose… and is so very heavy. Just three verses before (three, interesting) was the moment that the Israelites vowed to obey all that was written in the book of the law. They entered a covenant they would never be able to keep. They claimed to be able to do all that was required without relationship. They would earn their own righteousness through obedience of the law. And they saw the God of Israel.
Guys, the law is perfect and holy. I don’t want anyone to think that I hate the law, but the law was never going to bring us life because we could never follow it perfectly. Just look at II Corinthians 3:1-9 – the law brings death (because we fail), but the Spirit brings life (because He never fails). The purpose of the law was to shine a spotlight on our need for our Savior. And just as a side note, unless you were born a Jew, the law that God gave to Moses (and the more than 600 added) was never for you.
If the law brings death, but the Spirit brings life (because of God’s grace) – what happens if you mix them together?
Perhaps this is the reason for the name inclusion. Sapphira’s name is significant. She represents the law. She represents the ridiculous notion that we can earn our salvation by following the law. And when grace and law are mixed, then it’s no longer grace that saves us. When grace and law are mixed, it will always lead to death.
Cain became angry with his brother because God was pleased with Abel’s sacrifice. Cain wasn’t giving his best which reflects the state of his heart. Abel on the other hand, offered to God from his heart. He brought the firstlings and the fat portions. Abel brought the goods, motivated by love. And Cain was jealous. Perhaps it was anger that his self-effort wasn’t up to par with his brother responding in love. Then again, there are details that we haven’t explored.
The name Cain means acquired or possessed. Eve named him this with very little imagination – she acquired a manchild with the help of the Lord (Genesis 4:1). Maybe Adam would have been a bit more creative – he did name the platypus. But Eve may have redeemed herself (no pun intended) with the name of her second child. Abel means passing; breath or vapor. Isn’t the Holy Spirit also associated with breath?
“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4 NASB
The Spirit gives life. If Ananias and Sapphira had trusted God and followed the leading of the Holy Spirit, they wouldn’t have held back. But they were operating in their own strength and presenting in their own efforts. They were still operating in self-righteousness, and it led to their death. I don’t ever want to be someone who presents to God all the works I did in my own strength – with my own breath. I want my life to be one lived in faith (Romans 14:23), being led by the Holy Spirit and as a response to love.
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.” Mark 2:21-22 NASB