Echoes

     

 

    The bible does something interesting.  In the new testament we see Jesus fulfilling old testament scripture.  He is constantly drawing from it in his teachings, but also validating it in his actions.  This also happens throughout the old testament.  You have events and people that seem to echo one another throughout scripture.  More than prophecy, it's like there is a pattern or patterns being followed.  A good example is Abraham taking his son up the mountain to be sacrificed before God stops him and provides him with a goat instead (Gen 22).  It's a common belief that this is a representation of Jesus riding into Jerusalem before the priests gave him to the Romans to be crucified.  It was also prophesized by Zachariah.
    It's amazing how these things line up, but it isn't the only time this happens.  The bible does this constantly.  Continuing with the Abram (Abraham) example, he is called by God to leave his father's lands and go west to a land that God will give him.  His nephew Lot goes with him.  Then a series of familiar events take place.  There is a famine and they go to Egypt to escape it then they leave and return to Bethel.  This seems to mirror the brothers of Joseph coming to Egypt to escape famine, and the Israelites subsequent return in exodus.  Sound farfetched?  How about when Lot takes in the angels and feeds them a feast of unleavened bread before being forced to flee Sodom?  That sounds like Exodus, when God tells the Isrealites to take only unleavened bread before fleeing Egypt.  Lot is also told to flee into the mountains to escape destruction, a recurring theme throughout scripture.  The story seems loaded with meaning that references future events, but then it gets even stranger as it begins to make comparisons within itself.
    In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abram is sitting in the door of his tent when the Lord appears before him.  Similarly, Lot is seated in the gate of Sodom when the angels appear to him.  Both men give them hospitality, shelter, water to wash their feet, and food.  On the other hand Abram tells them to rest beneath a tree, but Lot, fearing for their safety in the streets, brings them into his home.  Sarai laughs when God tells Abram they will have a son.  Lot's son-in-laws laugh when he tries to warn them of coming danger.  Sarai tries to lie when God calls her out.  Lot's son-in-laws accuse him of lying when he tries to wake them.  God and his angels come down to judge the cities on the plain and Abram tries to save them.  Lot is accused of being a judge by the men banging at his door.  The differences are as profound as the similarities.
    Again, things seem to be following some kind of pattern.  It makes you wonder what parts of it you're missing.  What's the significance of only two angels appearing to Lot instead of three?  Is what Lot's daughters did to him connected to his willingness to give them to the men trying to reach his guests?  Could it have been circumvented if he stayed in Zoar?  Lot didn't trust God to keep is word that he wouldn't destroy Zoar.  Could the sinful ending have been a result of this final failure of faith?  
    I don't even know where to begin with Lot's wife.  There are plenty of interpretations of the story.  All of them make sense on some level, but none of them feel comprehensive.  It's all too big to fully wrap your head around.  There are more examples I didn't include.  I kept coming up with them as I wrote this, and I'm sure there are more throughout the bible.  The book is like one of those science fiction paradoxes where the inside is much larger than it is outside.