Abraham's Blessing and Bangladeshi Tea

Having Tea on the Train

I was having devotions with my mom, via Skype, and as we read I realized something that made the Bible come to life like never before. And it only came to life this way through the cultural lens of my life here in Bangladesh. So I thought I would share it with you, so that you may also experience the Bible, the Story of Abraham, and the culture of Bangladesh in a new way.

Please turn with me to Genesis 17 and 18. (ESV is quoted below.)

Starting in Gen. 17: 15

15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

Bangladesh's famous 7 Layer Tea

This is the amazing start to the promise, the covenant God made with Abraham. There are many commentaries, articles, and speakers who have talked about how Abraham laughed and the miracle about Sarah’s age to give birth to a child. But I want to jump to something not often looked at. Verse 20, I underlined “As for Ishmael, I have heard you.” Just a few verses before Abraham pleaded with God to allow Ishmael to be the one through whom God would make a great nation (Isaac was not yet born), and God said ‘no’, but even though He said ‘no’, He also ‘heard’ Abraham’s plea and blessed Ishmael. As Christians, we are blessed through the promise passed through Isaac, but the descendants of Ishmael were also blessed, in a different way, in wealth and numbers, and you would know them as Muslims. Islam came from the line of Ishmael, in the Qur’an it talks about Ishmael being the blessed son on Abraham and then follows his line of decedents, where Christians follow the blessed line of Isaac. This is some important background information for you, but not the main point of what I discovered today.

Let us continue in chapter 18:

1 And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3 and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

Wow! I might as well have underlined the entire section. I know you are thinking, “What Emily? Abraham had some guests over and fed them.” First of all, it was the LORD! and as for the rest, I will break it down for you.

Tea Stall

It is hot in Bangladesh. I mean really HOT. Averaging 95 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit at midday.  So as Abraham ‘sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day’ there was not much else to do during this time. I understand this. When it is that hot all you can do really is sit in the shade, usually napping or resting. From my window, I can see the women of our compound sitting in the shade at high noon doing each others hair, or laying in their houses under the fan. Men might be sitting in tea stalls having a cup, chatting, but definitely not moving much. It is too hot!

Tea Stall

In this heat-induced sleepiness Abraham looked up and “When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth.” Now we don’t do much running at high heat here, but remember Abraham was a nomad, if someone was at his tent they were coming to see him. In Bangladesh, when we are out walking, in town or in the villages, people are always stopping and inviting us in. If someone comes to our compound they are invited in. And if it is someone you respect (an elder, or older relative) you “pronam” which means you touch their feet when you greet them. Abraham was meeting the Lord, so he did more than “pronam”, he threw his face into the dirt in reverence and respect. “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.” He invited them in.

“Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet,” when looking at this verse we often think of Jesus washing the disciples' feet as an act of service. In Bangladeshi culture, you take your shoes off at the door not only to someone’s house, but to the church, the mosque, even a small shop or store. It is dusty here, DUSTY and muddy. You take off your shoes out of respect for the area you are walking into. But as we all wear flip-flops, our feet are often very dusty. Now we don’t wash each other’s feet but you do wash your feet as often as you can, I do almost every time I walk back into my house after being out.

Next Abraham says “while I bring a morsel of bread”. This makes me smile because read the rest of the section. Not only does he have Sarah make some bread he “ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them.” He put together an entire feast! If you visit someone’s house in Bangladesh, they will serve you tea. But not just tea, tea and fruit or biscuits or cake, sometimes all three. And if you are there near a meal time, you will be fed and fed well. It does not matter how rich or poor the family you are with, they will give you the best they have. Abraham killed a calf for his guests. They would not leave hungry. And what did Abraham do while they ate? “And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.” He watched them eat, at the ready to meet any needs they might have, he did not eat with them, because he wanted them to eat their fill and he would take what was left, not even once thinking about himself.

This confused and frustrated me so much in Bangladesh, until this morning when I realized how Biblical this culture is. When at someone's house the hostess will invite you in and then be busy getting your tea and making your food. You are usually left in the room alone (if only the hostess is there) while she prepares everything, maybe 5 or maybe 20 minutes. The visits here are not just a quick stopover. It takes time. Time that my Western self thought was being wasted, “why can’t they just hurry up?” or “I don’t even want tea!” until today when I saw how Biblical it really is. How everything they do here is out of respect and love for the guest at their home.

Bangladesh Tea Gardens

So why did I bring up Ishmael in the first part of this revelation? Because Bangladesh is a Muslim country. And Islam is not just a religion, it is an entire culture, that started that day God promised to bless not only Abraham’s line through Isaac, but to also bless the line of Ishmael. This is was how Ishmael was raised, and that culture has been carried on from generation to generation for thousands of years, to where here in Bangladesh being served a cup of tea, is not because you like tea, it is because you are being blessed by your hostess’s love for serving you.

So next time I am in the Director of the Passport and Visas office and twenty people come and go in the 2 hours I am there, and he serves each and everyone a cup of tea, I will not complain that “this is taking soooo long” but instead think of Abraham serving the Lord in the heat of the day and be blessed that my life is the collision of the two blessing the Lord poured out upon Abraham’s two sons.

Having 7 Layer Tea