The commands of God are meant for life.

Last week we looked at the first command of God in the Bible called a mitzvah.

And it's in the Garden of Eden story, when God invites humans into the abundant life of the garden.

And he tells them, eat up, enjoy.

But he also teaches them how to discern good from bad.

And to do that, they need to learn to listen to his voice.

Today we'll look at the second time the word command is used in the Bible.

It's in the story of Noah and his instructions to build an arc.

And this command is also about finding and preserving life.

Make a box, cram it full of life, go into the box, stay there, and you will stay alive.

So the ark is presented as a little Eden refuge.

So in the first command, Adam and Eve fail.

But in the second command, Noah succeeds.

And this leads us to the third person to get the command of God, Abraham.

And Abraham's response is, well, complicated.

Sometimes he does the command, and sometimes he sort of does them.

So Abraham's story is really giving us an in-depth portrait now.

He does the command, so it does lead to the preservation of his life and a lot of blessing, but also he doesn't do it completely.

And that leads to also a bunch of heartache now. So it's like a third

variation on a human relating to God's commands. All of this leads up to God giving Abraham a seemingly

impossible command. Surrender back to God the life of his son. And when Abraham obeys this command,

it doesn't lead to death.

...