Genesis 49

Dear RTB’ers,

Jacob’s blessings on his twelve sons. We see Jacob’s most abundant blessings falling on Judah and Joseph. Why not Reuben, his firstborn? While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it. (Genesis 35:22) So Jacob bypassed Reuben. Why not Simeon and Levi? Go back to Genesis 34, where we read of the violence of their revenge on behalf of their sister, Dinah, and Jacob’s response to that episode: Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites…” (Gen. 34:30). We will see Jacob’s “blessing” on Simeon and Levi fulfilled later in the division of the Promised Land among the twelve tribes, “…I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.” (Gen. 49:7b) So, with these three set aside, Judah inherits the blessing of Jacob’s firstborn, the firstborn of Leah, and Joseph inherits the blessing of the firstborn of Rachel.

There’s so much more to be said about all this. Let’s discuss Judah and Joseph more at our next gathering on April 7.  

Blessings!

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See also: January 16 (2023) / Genesis 47-50

Genesis 47:13-48:22

Dear RTB’ers,

Two major stories in today’s reading: Joseph/Pharaoh now owns everything in Egypt – the livestock, the land, and the people – and Jacob places Joseph’s younger, Ephraim, before the firstborn, Manasseh.

Joseph now owns the land and the people, so it is his decision to settle the people in the cities and remove them from their land (Gen. 47:21). I suspect that his major motivation in doing this had to do with the efficiency gained in food distribution during the continuing famine, but that final result – separating the people from their land – makes for a very harsh, emotional reaction from the people. I saw this policy in action on my first trip to Slovakia in 1996. [Recall that the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.] Slovakia (actually, Czechoslovakia) had come under the “Iron Curtain” domination of the USSR in 1948 and had effectively been governed from Moscow. I was in eastern Slovakia, teaching in their second-largest city, Kosice, when we were taken on a tour of a “collective farm”. This farm was a dairy farm; I recall a figure of 10,000 cows on this farm. [By contrast, in the United States, most cow-calf operations are relatively small and have fewer than 50 cows though a few very large operations (with more than 1,000 cows) can be found. (https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/charts/107126/cow-calf-farm-sizes_768px.png?v=8986)] The people on this collective farm lived in five or six villages spread out on the farmland property and worked the fields and the livestock and did the milking. The Soviets had taken the land and the peoples’ devastation from that separation had been severe – as Carol and I learned more personally in a later trip to Czechia in 2010. So this is what Joseph has done with the Egyptians; he has become a (hopefully, benevolent) dictator.

As for Jacob placing Ephraim before Manasseh (Gen. 48:14-20), recall that Jacob had, himself, taken Esau’s birthright and blessing. My Study Bible stated that Joseph now received the birthright of the firstborn: “…I give you one portion more than your brothers…” (Gen. 48:22a, NASB). Over time we will see the ascendancy of Ephraim over Manasseh and, in fact, over all of the twelve tribes except Judah (and possibly Benjamin).

Blessings!

Genesis 46:1-47:12

Dear RTB’ers,

Carol and I have our Maryland daughter, Nancy here with us this week, together with her two children, Matthew age 6 and Isabelle age 3, so I may have some difficulty getting these early-morning post out. But Holy Week might be a good time for me to fall short – and the rest of you pick it up a bit, commenting/posting on what you are reading.

On March 29 we do not have any new readings – the STS schedule simply has us reviewing Genesis 37-50, essentially Joseph’s life. The second question for that day asks us to draw parallels for Joseph as a “type” of Jesus. So I will jump in ahead a bit with what struck me today as I read about Joseph reuniting with his father Jacob. Jesus had come from His Father and upon his death, Resurrection and Ascension He returned to His Father. As I read about Jacob embracing his son, Joseph after those many years separated, I was thinking about what a happy homecoming that must have been for Jesus and His Father! Your thoughts?

Blessings!

Genesis 45

Dear RTB’ers,

Joseph and his brothers, again. A few days ago I spoke of confession: Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; for that reason this distress has happened to us.” (Genesis 42:21) They had confessed their sin to one another. We are reminded of the power of corporate confession in James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

So the brothers have gotten this far with their confession to one another. And in today’s reading they see their sin standing before them, exposed with Joseph’s full knowledge. Now, however, finally, somehow they must confess their sin to their father – or not. Scripture does not tell us of the brothers’ confessing to their father, Jacob, what they had done. Recall that they had slaughtered a goat and bloodied Joseph’s robe, with a suggestion to Jacob that a wild beast had apparently killed Joseph. (Genesis 37:31-33) In today’s passage the brothers return to their father, And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” (v. 26a) No real confession in that statement. They could have kept their sin hidden: “I guess we were wrong about that wild beast killing him.” Possibly nothing was ever said about their selling Joseph to Midian traders. What really happened between the brothers and Jacob? We don’t know. Possibly this unconfessed sin festered in their lives?? All’s well that ends well?? Not according to the Psalmist: When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality failed as with the dry heat of summer. [Then] I acknowledged my sin to You, and I did not hide my guilt; I said, “I will confess my wrongdoings to the LORD”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:3-5) So, did the brothers (ever) confess? We’ll never know.

Blessings!

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See also: January 15 / Genesis 43:16-46:34

Genesis 44

Dear RTB’ers,

Joseph and his brothers, again. The bulk of today’s reading (Genesis 44:16-34) is Judah speaking to Joseph, recounting Jacob’s relationship with Benjamin and offering himself up as Joseph’s servant in place of Benjamin. He had made this offer to his father in yesterday’s reading (Genesis 43:9) and now he is following through.

Let’s look further at Judah. First, he is making this offer in fulfillment of the promise he made to his father, but also he is doing it out of the love he has for his father: …when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. So your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant, our father, down to Sheol in sorrow. (v. 31) Second, Judah has twin boys back home (Genesis 38:18b, 27-30) and is willing to abandon them forever, again on behalf of his father. Finally, although Benjamin surely would be proclaiming his innocence, Judah does not know the truth – and even if Benjamin is lying, Judah is willing to proceed with his offer, again because of the depth of love that he has for his father.

Although we have only Judah offering himself up in place of Benjamin, there is an obvious connection here with Jesus’ death. First, Jesus has given up His life for ours in obedience to His Father, “Not My will, but Your will be done.” (Luke 22:42) Second, with His death, Jesus is willing to separate Himself from His Father’s love for that one and only moment in all of eternity, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Finally, Jesus knows that we are sinners, that we have been lying to Him and to ourselves all our lives, but again it is His hatred of sin and the depth of His love for us: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) If Judah in his fallen humanity can offer up such sacrificial love on behalf of one man, how much more, how much deeper is Jesus’ eternal love for each and every one of us!

Blessings!

Genesis 43

Dear RTB’ers,

Joseph and his brothers, again. There is one character in today’s chapter who is seldom acknowledged, Joseph’s house steward. Yet, beyond the main characters (Jacob, the brothers, Joseph) he plays a key role as an intermediary. He is simply following Joseph’s orders: … he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house. (Gen. 43:16b-17) The story continues: And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house …So they went up to the steward of Joseph’s house and spoke with him at the door of the house… (Gen. 43:18a-19) The steward did as he was instructed, but he did it with a kind and gracious heart, saying “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” … [and he had] … given them water, and … given their donkeys fodder… (Gen. 43:23-24) Genesis 43:32b tells us exactly how gracious this house steward was:  and the Egyptians … could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. A couple thousand years down the road, we’ll see similar words and behaviors from other intermediaries:  …the angel Gabriel … said to her, “Do not be afraid…” (Luke 1:26, 30); … And an angel of the Lord … said to them, “Do not be afraid…” (Luke 2:9, 10) God at work, way back when, again later, then again and again, and still…!

Blessings!

Genesis 42

Dear RTB’ers,

Joseph and his brothers, again. Put yourself into the story today. I’m playing the part of one of the brothers. I go back to Genesis 37 where we sold Joseph into slavery and tricked our father into believing that he is dead. Now we’re being charged with spying the land and we’re defending ourselves. We put on humility, but even then part of our defense is an outright lie, “…one is no longer alive…” (Gen. 42:13b), spoken to that one who is, in fact, very much alive! We proclaim our strongest defense, “…we are  honest men…” (Gen. 42:11b) Laughable! Eventually we come to the fact that our horrible sin from years past has come to roost: Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; for that reason this distress has happened to us.” (Gen. 42:21) Finally, we admit that we are sinners.

Is this really a story from several thousand years ago? Or is this ourselves a few years back? Or just last year? Or last week? Or yesterday? Put yourself into your own story and bow down (Gen. 42:6b) to that One who is very much alive. Tell Him what He already knows. But unlike the brothers, don’t sugarcoat it. Put on real humility: confess and be forgiven. Thank you, Lord.

Blessings!

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See also: January 14 (2023) / Genesis 41-43:15

Genesis 41:14-57

Dear RTB’ers,

Joseph and Pharaoh. Joseph is living a yo-yo life. He’s up, he’s down, he’s up, he’s down, he’s up. He is his father’s favorite; he is hated by his brothers and gets sold off to Potiphar; he is in charge of all of Potiphar’s house and fields; he gets sent to jail; he is put in charge of his fellow prisoners and interprets their dreams; his hopes of release are dashed as he endures an “unending” prison sentence; he is released, interprets Pharaoh’s dreams, and becomes “prime minister” of all of Egypt. He’s UP!

So we might wonder about Joseph’s reactions to those ups and downs. Sadly, we see him prideful and arrogant with his multi-colored tunic and relating his dreams to his brothers and parents. Then we sense what must have been a change in spirit as he is put in charge of all that Potiphar owns. We see him take the moral high ground in response to Potiphar’s wife’s advances – and it costs him dearly with prison time. But it’s this time in prison where we see how Joseph dealt with his down times: But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed. (Genesis 39:21-23) The LORD was working in his life and in the lives of those around him – and Joseph recognized it: “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.” (Genesis 40:8b) He maintained his faith in God and had confidence in God working things out. So his down time was still “up”!

I suspect that many (if not most) of us have had our own yo-yo life. We’re up, we’re down, we’re up… What is our response to those ups and downs? When we’re up, do we give glory and thanks to God for all His provision? And equally important, when we’re down, do we look up? Wherein lies our hope, our confident deliverance? When we’re down, look up!!

Blessings!

Genesis 40:1-41:13

Dear RTB’ers,

Joseph, the interpreter of dreams. Today’s passages, with Joseph interpreting the dreams for Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and chief baker are setting the foundation for tomorrow’s reading where Joseph will interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. So, what to make of dreams? Joseph has the answer for the interpretation of dreams, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Genesis 40:8b) Knowing that, Joseph then accepts his role as God’s agent and speaks the interpretations that God has given him.

But what about the dreams themselves, those of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker and of Pharaoh? I’m sure that we can all agree that these dreams came from God, that they were all part of His plan for Joseph. But with all that, my human head asks about the two-year lapse between the chief cupbearer’s release and his remembering Joseph. I’m thinking about Joseph during those two years, already serving time for no wrong done, now hoping for his release. Was that a depressing time for him? And I think about the cupbearer, how when he finally remembered Joseph, how he must have been guilt-ridden for having forgotten Joseph for those two long years. The strange thing about those two years is that Joseph did not have a 730-day calendar in his head or on his wall. He didn’t know that he only had two more years to serve; he was in prison with no release date. What was he thinking during this time? What was his attitude toward God?

So, let’s go forward two thousand years, visiting Paul while he sits in prison, also not knowing his release date. What is he thinking during this time? What is his attitude toward God? Here are his words:

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

Philippians 1:18b-26

To live is Christ, and to die is gain. GLORY!!

Blessings!

Genesis 38-39

Dear RTB’ers,

Today, two contrasting stories of sexual relations in the Old Testament– Judah and Tamar, Joseph and Potiphar’s wife.

First, Judah and Tamar. Judah takes (marries) a Canaanite woman known only as the “daughter of Shua” (Genesis 38:2). Together they have three boys – Er, Onan, and Shelah. Years pass and Er marries Tamar. Er dies, leaving behind no children, so Judah sends his #2 son, Onan in to Tamar. But whenever he went in to her, …he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. (Genesis 38:9b) So Onan dies and Judah refuses to give his third son, Shelah to Tamar, fearing to lose him also. Tamar dresses as a prostitute, Judah goes in to her, she becomes pregnant by Judah and gives birth to twins. So in this story we have

1. Judah marrying a Canaanite woman
2. Onan refusing to “do the right thing”
3. Judah refusing his third son to Tamar
4. Tamar dressing as a prostitute, making herself available to her father-in-law, and
5. Judah having relations with this “prostitute”, his daughter-in-law.

So, can five wrongs make a “right”? Apparently so, in that one of the children from this Judah-Tamar relationship, Perez becomes one of King David’s forefathers and later, Jesus’ own ancestor. If God can bring a Messiah out of this sad state of affairs, what can He do with the things that we have messed up in our lives?

Now, Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, a bit less dramatic. Joseph does all the right things, does not go down that adulterous path that his brother, Judah took – and his “righteousness” puts him in jail. So much for “doing the right thing”, eh? Stay tuned…!

Blessings!