847.) Genesis 41

“Pharaoh’s Dream” fractal art by contemporary American artist Doug Harrington

Genesis 41  (NRSV)

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream

After two whole years,

The royal butler forgot about Joseph, and Joseph remained  in prison for two more years.  What good was God building into Joseph’s soul during this long wait?  During the times we think God isn’t doing anything, He is doing the work most important to Him: developing our character and transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ.

Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, ²and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass. ³Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke.

⁵Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. ⁶Then seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them. ⁷The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream. ⁸In the morning his spirit was troubled; so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

⁹Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my faults today. ¹⁰Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard. ¹¹We dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. ¹²A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each according to his dream. ¹³As he interpreted to us, so it turned out; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”

¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was hurriedly brought out of the dungeon. When he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. ¹⁵And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

¹⁶Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

To God be the glory!

cows grazing on the banks of the Nile

¹⁷Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile; ¹⁸and seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. ¹⁹Then seven other cows came up after them, poor, very ugly, and thin. Never had I seen such ugly ones in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰The thin and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows, ²¹but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had done so, for they were still as ugly as before. Then I awoke.

^22″I fell asleep a second time and I saw in my dream seven ears of grain, full and good, growing on one stalk, ²³and seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouting after them; ²⁴and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. But when I told it to the magicians, there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. ²⁷The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, as are the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind. They are seven years of famine.

²⁸It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. ³⁰After them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land. ³¹The plenty will no longer be known in the land because of the famine that will follow, for it will be very grievous. ³²And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.

³³Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man who is discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years. ³⁵Let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

Joseph shows both his boldness and his gift of administration. No responsible leader would present such news without also suggesting a plan to meet the coming crisis.

Joseph’s Rise to Power

³⁷The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. ³⁸Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find anyone else like this—one in whom is the spirit of God?”

³⁹So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. ⁴⁰You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”

. . . thus making Joseph the straightest man in the Bible, since Pharaoh made a ruler out of him . . . hahaha . . .

⁴¹And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴²Removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph’s hand; he arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³He had him ride in the chariot of his second-in-command; and they cried out in front of him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁴Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Thus Joseph gained authority over the land of Egypt.

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Music:

“Song of the King (Seven Fat Cows)” from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  If you have not seen this musical, get a copy — it is a lot of fun!

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Harvest in Egypt, from the tomb of Sennedjem, Thebes, ca. 1200 BC.

⁴⁶Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷During the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. ⁴⁸He gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it. ⁴⁹So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance—like the sand of the sea—that he stopped measuring it; it was beyond measure.

“Grain bins in a spring wheat field” photograph by Dave Reede

⁵⁰Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. ⁵¹Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” ⁵²The second he named Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my misfortunes.”

From his Egyptian wife, Joseph fathered Manasseh, whose name means “forgetfulness.” This was because God made Joseph to forget all the previous pain and trial in his life. His second son is Ephraim, which means “fruitfulness,” because God made Joseph fruitful in Egypt.

We can’t be doubly fruitful until we are also forgetting. In his book The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis described hell as a place where no one forgets anything, remembering every slight, every cruel exchange of words, every wrong ever done to them, and everybody is utterly unforgiving. But in heaven all these things are put away because all things have become new.

Joseph did not forget the faith of his fathers even though he rose to great glory in Egypt and had an Egyptian wife. As a sign of this, his children were given Hebrew names, not Egyptian names.

–David Guzik

⁵³The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end; ⁵⁴and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country, but throughout the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.”

⁵⁶And since the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world.

“Joseph, Overseer of the Pharaoh’s Granaries” by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1874 (Dahesh Museum of Art, New York City)

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Simple Secrets of the Kingdom
Study 17 — The Mission of the New People of God

When something good happens to us in the church we want others to know.  We have a message to share.  The purpose of the new people of God is to tell others what Jesus has done for them. These people are witnesses to the good news they have seen and heard. Jesus has commanded the new people to go into all the world and bring everyone His message of good news.  Click here for AUDIO or VIDEO.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Harrington.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/phar-dream-fractaljpg1.jpg?w=450

cows and wheat watercolor.   https://sincetimebegan.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/pharaohs-dream.gif

cows.  http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3275/2600906207_820c4d70b8.jpg?v=0

wheat.   http://www.infiniteunknown.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/wheat-beautiful.jpg

ruler.  http://iruler.net/ruler_0_10.jpg

Egypt harvest.  http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/egypt/images/harvest.jpg

Reede.   http://www.davereedephoto.mb.ca/photoslg/wheat_spring_tiger_hills.jpg

Alma-Tadema.    http://www.daheshmuseum.org/collection/gr/collection/almatademal/almatademal_1_enlarge.jpg

846.) Genesis 40

“Joseph Interprets the Butler’s and Baker’s Dreams in a Prison” by Alexander Ivanov, 1827 (The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg)

Genesis 40   (NRSV)

The Dreams of Two Prisoners

Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt. ²Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined.

The butler was in charge of Pharaoh’s wine.  The baker was in charge of Pharaoh’s food.  They were imprisoned because they offended their lord, the king of Egypt.  It is difficult to tell if it was in a minor or a major way.  Considering how the account will develop, it is probable there was a plot to murder the Pharaoh (perhaps by poisoning).  But we never lose sight of the over-arching reason: whatever external reason they were sent to prison, they were really there to meet Joseph.

–David Guzik

⁴The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he waited on them; and they continued for some time in custody.

from Whispers of His Power,
by Amy Carmichael

Joseph was in prison.  His feet were hurt with fetters, his heart was hurt by injustice and unkindness.  But none of these things prevented him from helping others.

The story that follows shows how full of kindness his service must have been.  Joseph must have done more than his bare duty.  We do not go for sympathy to those who have been cold and uninterested in our affairs.  We avoid them.  The butler and the baker went to Joseph sure of his loving, self-forgetful sympathy.

It makes us think of Another whose feet were hurt, and His hands and His side, and far more His loving heart.  Out of the midst of His pains He thought of others, only of others.

Matthew 27:42:  He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  More and more these words seem to sum up His life on earth.

Lord Jesus, who left us an example that we should follow in Thy steps, help us to follow.  Let us forget self in service.  Give us Thy love that, loving others, loves them to the end.

⁵One night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own meaning. ⁶When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled.

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Reflection:

Do I notice when the people I am with are troubled?  Do I ask them about it, and try to help them however I can? Am I willing to put the needs of others above my own?

Galatians 6:2 (NIV)

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

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⁷So he asked Pharaoh’s officers, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?”

⁸They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.”

And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

⁹So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, ¹⁰and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and the clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹²Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days; ¹³within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.

In only three days, the cupbearer will know if Joseph was correct or not.

¹⁴But remember me when it is well with you; please do me the kindness to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this place. ¹⁵For in fact I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”

¹⁶When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, ¹⁷and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸And Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; ¹⁹within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you! —and hang you on a pole; and the birds will eat the flesh from you.”

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Music:

Kings/Pharaohs and birds — The US Navy Chanters perform “Sing a Song of Sixpence” from Five Childhood Lyrics by John Rutter at the 1995 ACDA National Convention in Washington, D.C.

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²⁰On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹He restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand; ²²but the chief baker he hanged, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.

²³Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Again Joseph is forgotten.  But hang on, Joe!  There is light at the end of your tunnel, and God is going to rescue you in a way you cannot now begin to imagine!

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All people God uses greatly, He first prepares greatly.  Are we willing to endure the greatness of God’s preparation?  God orders both our steps and our stops.

Proverbs 15:33 (New International Version)

The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom,
and humility comes before honor.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Ivanov.   http://www.abcgallery.com/I/ivanov/ivanov2.html

Joseph dressed in red.    https://sincetimebegan.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/joseph-baker-butler.jpg

Ratner.  http://www.ratnermuseum.com/includes/images/photos/bible/bible-45.jpg

845.) Genesis 39

“Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife,” by Guido Reni, 1631 (Pushkin Museum, Moscow)

Genesis 39   (NRSV)

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

Captain of the guard:  The idea behind this title means “chief of police,” or probably more precisely, Potiphar was head of Pharaoh’s “Secret Service,” his personal security force.  He was a highly trusted official in the government of Egypt.

–David Guzik

²The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. ³His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. ⁴So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.

How easy it is for us to complain to God that He put us in a terrible or difficult place.  Yet God’s will is that we trust Him to bless us and make us successful (as He measures success) wherever we are.  The point is not the comfort and ease of our lives.  The point is our obedience in being conformed to the image of Christ through the circumstances we encounter.  We can be certain that God will be faithful to us in all things.

⁵From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. ⁶So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.

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Proverbs 14:27 (New International Version)

The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
turning a man from the snares of death.

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Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking.

Joseph’s appearance is of special note.  The Bible only calls two other men beautiful: David (1 Samuel 16:12) and Absalom (2 Samuel 14:25).

⁷And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?

⁸But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. ⁹He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

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Reflection, a story:

“Rabbi, what can I do to silence the voice of temptation,” asked the man. When the rabbi replied that this voice might never be silenced, the man exclaimed, “But it’s driving me crazy. Is there any advice that can help me overcome it?”

“Ah, overcome it,” mused the rabbi, “Overcoming the voice is not hard at all. There is one magical word and when you say it, the voice is instantly overcome. It doesn’t go away, mind you. It rarely ever does that, but it can be overcome.”

“A magical word that will deliver me from the brink of temptation? Please share it with me,” the man begged.

The rabbi smiled and firmly replied, “No.”

“Why not? Please, I beg you.”

“No,” repeated the Rabbi. Crestfallen, the man turned to leave — when the rabbi softly explained that word “no” was, in fact, the magical word.

–from Countering the Voice of Temptation, by Lazer Gurkow.

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¹⁰And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her.

“Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife,” by a Christian artist in Thailand, Sawai Chinnawong, 2004.

¹¹One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, ¹²she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.

“Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife” by contemporary New York artist Richard McBee.

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Hebrews 13:4 (English Standard Version)

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

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Music:

“Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin;
Each vict’ry will help you some other to win;
Fight manfully onward; dark passions subdue;
Look ever to Jesus, He’ll carry you through.”

This song was written by Horation R. Palmer in 1868.  It is sung by Ramona Campbell.

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¹³When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, ¹⁴she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; ¹⁵and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.” ¹⁶Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, ¹⁷and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; ¹⁸but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.”

¹⁹When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” he became enraged. ²⁰And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison.

Potiphar went easy on Joseph because he suspected his wife’s role in the matter.  The anger aroused may have not been directed towards Joseph, but against the wife for manipulating him into a situation where, to save face, he had to dismiss the man who made the whole household run well.

–David Guzik

²¹But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. ²²The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. ²³The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

The dominating theme is that Joseph succeeded because of the blessing of God:

• The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man (Genesis 39:2)
• His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand (Genesis 39:3)
• The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had (Genesis 39:5)
• But the Lord was with Joseph (Genesis 39:21)
• The Lord was with him (Genesis 39:23)

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Romans 6:15-18 (New Living Translation)

Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.  Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you.  Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.

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Book:

Bruce Feiler: Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land through the Five Books of Moses (Book II, Chapter 1 “On the Banks of the Nile”).

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Reni.  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Joseph_and_Potiphar%27s_Wife.jpg/506px-Joseph_and_Potiphar%27s_Wife.jpg

Voulez-vous.   http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g72/stolen1985/sleeping.jpg

Chinnawong.  http://www.omsc.org/art-at-omsc/sawai/joseph-potiphar-thumb.jpg

McBee.   http://www.fadingad.com/potifar.jpg

844.) Genesis 38

“Tamar and Judah” — a spicy interpretation by Emile Jean-Horace Vernet (1789-1863)

Genesis 38   (NRSV)

Judah and Tamar

It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and settled near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. ²There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; he married her and went in to her. ³She conceived and bore a son; and he named him Er. ⁴Again she conceived and bore a son whom she named Onan. ⁵Yet again she bore a son, and she named him Shelah. She was in Chezib when she bore him.

It isn’t hard to see the sons of Israel rapidly and willingly being corrupted by their Canaanite neighbors, and what the future will bring if they continued in that land. God had a plan to bring them out . . .

⁶Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar. ⁷But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.

⁸Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother.”

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Matthew 22:24 (New International Version)

“Teacher,” the Sadducees said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him.”

This was done so the dead brother’s name would be carried on. But also it was so the widow would have children to support her. Apart from this, she would likely live the rest of her life as a destitute widow.

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⁹But since Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, he spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went in to his brother’s wife, so that he would not give offspring to his brother. ¹⁰What he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also.

Onan refused to take this responsibility seriously. He was more than happy to use Tamar for his sexual gratification, but he did not want to give Tamar a son he would have to support but would be considered to be the son of Er.

¹¹Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up” —for he feared that he too would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

One can understand Judah’s hesitancy to give his last son as a husband to Tamar.  He may have wondered — Was she the cause of the death of his sons?

¹²In course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died; when Judah’s time of mourning was over, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

¹³When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” ¹⁴she put off her widow’s garments, put on a veil, wrapped herself up, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. She saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him in marriage.

Tamar didn’t have the option of just finding another man to marry. She was under the headship of her father-in-law Judah, and he had to give her a husband. He determined whom and when she could marry.

“Tamar, Judah’s Daughter-in-law” by Marc Chagall, 1958

¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶He went over to her at the road side, and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

¹⁷He answered, “I will send you a kid from the flock.”

And she said, “Only if you give me a pledge, until you send it.”

¹⁸He said, “What pledge shall I give you?”

She replied, “Your signet and your cord, and the staff that is in your hand.”

“Judah and Tamar” School of Rembrandt, ca. 1650-60 (Residenzgalerie Salzburg)

So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹Then she got up and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰When Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to recover the pledge from the woman, he could not find her. ²¹He asked the townspeople, “Where is the temple prostitute who was at Enaim by the wayside?”

But they said, “No prostitute has been here.”

²²So he returned to Judah, and said, “I have not found her; moreover the townspeople said, ‘No prostitute has been here.’“

²³Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, otherwise we will be laughed at; you see, I sent this kid, and you could not find her.”

We see how carefully and shrewdly Tamar planned this.  Now she has proof of Judah’s actions in the signet, cord, and staff, proof that Judah will be unable to deny.

²⁴About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the whore; moreover she is pregnant as a result of whoredom.”

And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.”

²⁵As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “It was the owner of these who made me pregnant.” And she said, “Take note, please, whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.”

²⁶Then Judah acknowledged them and said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not lie with her again.

Judah acknowledges his guilt in not taking proper care of his daughter-in-law, and in sleeping with her.

²⁷When the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb. ²⁸While she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a crimson thread, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother; and she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore he was named Perez. ³⁰Afterward his brother came out with the crimson thread on his hand; and he was named Zerah.

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Matthew 1:1-3 (New International Version)

The Genealogy of Jesus

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar . . .

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TAMAR
by Joyce Carr Stedelbauer

I, Tamar, am not proud of what I have done,
you must understand … not proud of what I have done.
A desperate situation and I was justified.
You ladies alone today have other options –
savings – jobs – an acceptable place in society.
I was an outcast, a foreigner, twice widowed.
My father-in-law, Judah, son of Leah and Jacob,
reluctantly promised his youngest son
to care for me, as Hebrew law provided.
Judah reneged on his word – marriage or care,
would have let his son’s memory die with no heir.
I had no other choice.

Drying tears, I painted my eyes with kohl,
my mouth red with berry juice,
plaited ribbons in my hair,
humbling myself to sit near the city gate
with other ladies of the night.
It was degrading, a miserable experience,
I prayed as I waited ….
Judah came along as if he owned the road.
Smiling shyly at him – he turned –
hesitated but a moment –
came back to me.

Armed with the law of protection,
I demanded his ring before he took me.
Some months later he denied my claim
until I held out the dishonored ring.
Judah crumbled like a clod of dirt on the road.
Somehow out of His infinite goodness
God allowed me to birth twins sons
from the house of Judah, Messiah’s branch,
and the rest is His Story.

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Music:

We read the strange story of Tamar and Judah remembering that God loves us not because of what we do — but because of who He is.  It’s all grace.   “Grace”  sung by Michael W. Smith.

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Simple Secrets of the Kingdom
Study 16 — The Church, the New People of God

The church is made up of those who are called out of darkness into the light of Christ. People who have been saved by grace want others to share this power for imperfect people. This fellowship of forgiven sinners is a community built on the foundation of the promises of God.   And this is not a perfect community of people but instead a group of imperfect people who live under grace, trusting the power of the Lord Jesus to work in them.  Click here for AUDIO or VIDEO.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Vernet.  http://www.womeninthebible.net/images/1.9B-2_TAMAR_Tamar_and_Judah_Horace_Vernet.jpg

Chagall.  http://www.davidsongalleries.com/artists/chagall/chagall-22475_tamar.jpg

Rembrant school.  http://www.residenzgalerie.at/uploads/tx_csimageexplorer/0570_Rembrandtschule.A5Augeheller_01.jpg

843.) Genesis 37

Genesis 37  (NRSV)

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. ²This is the story of the family of Jacob.

Here begins one of the remarkable life stories of the Bible and all literature.   James Montgomery Boice has written:  “He was loved and hated, favored and abused, tempted and trusted, exalted and abased. Yet at no point in the one-hundred-and-ten-year life of Joseph did he ever seem to get his eyes off God or cease to trust him. Adversity did not harden his character. Prosperity did not ruin him. He was the same in private as in public. He was a truly great man.”

–David Guzik

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. ³Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age;

Jacob’s parents played favorites with their two boys, and now Jacob plays favorites with his sons.  Neither family functions happily as a result.

and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.

I have read that the Hebrew phrase here translates as “tunic of many colors” but means a long-sleeved robe.  Such a robe indicated a life of privilege and status.  A working man could not function in such a garment.

⁴But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

“Yosef” by Israeli artist Orna Ben-Shoshan, 2003

⁵Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. ⁷There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.

⁹He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

“Joseph’s Dreams” by contemporary Floridian artist Susan Govatos

¹⁰But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?” ¹¹So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

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Luke 2:51 (New Living Translation)

Then Jesus returned to Nazareth with his parents and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart.

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Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers

¹²Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. ¹³And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” ¹⁴So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.

He came to Shechem, ¹⁵and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” ¹⁶“I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’“

So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. ¹⁸They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. ¹⁹They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.”

²¹But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” ²²Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him” —that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father.

“Joseph is Sold by his Brothers” by Raphael, 1518 (The Vatican)

²³So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; ²⁴and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed.

“Joseph is sold by his brothers” by Friedrich Overbeck, 1816 (Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin)

²⁸When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

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Matthew 26:14-15 (New Living Translation)

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests  and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.

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And they took Joseph to Egypt.  ²⁹When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. ³⁰He returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone; and I, where can I turn?”

³¹Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. ³²They had the long robe with sleeves taken to their father, and they said, “This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.”

A heartless way to bring the news and an unconscionable lie.

³³He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s robe! A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” ³⁴Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵All his sons and all his daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father bewailed him.

³⁶Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

Egypt was a large and thriving kingdom for at least a thousand years before Joseph came. The Egyptians were wealthy and had massive natural resources. They were educated and had no real enemies at the time. When Joseph came to Egypt, some of the pyramids already looked old and the Sphinx was already carved. But in God’s eyes, the most impressive thing about Egypt was that Joseph was now there.

–David Guzik

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Art:

Joseph’s Bloody Coat Brought to Jacob, by Velazquez Diego, 1630, now in Monasterio de San Lorenzo, El Escorial, Spain.

http://history.hanover.edu/courses/art/veljos.jpg

Music:

“Coat of Many Colors,” written and sung by Dolly Parton; how a Bible story helped her through a difficult time in her childhood.

on DVD:

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. With Donny Osmond, Maria Friedman. 1999.

Joseph. Starring Ben Kingsley, Paul Mercurio.  1995.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Joseph’s colorful coat.  http://www.holytrinityglencraig.org/Images/Joseph.gif

Ben-Shoshan.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/gen-37-ben-yosef.jpg?w=450

Govatos.  http://susangovatos.com/websites/SusanGovatos/works/7836_195035m.jpg

Raphael.  https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/josephsold.jpg?w=450&h=326

Overbeck.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Friedrich_Overbeck_003.jpg

Sphinx and pyramid.   http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Giza_Plateau_-_Great_Sphinx_with_Pyramid_of_Khafre_in_background.JPG

842.) Genesis 36

Esau of stew-for-birthright fame.

Genesis 36   (NRSV)

Esau’s Descendants

These are the descendants of Esau (that is, Edom). ²Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah son of Zibeon the Hivite, ³and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth. ⁴Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau; Basemath bore Reuel; ⁵and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

⁶Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his cattle, all his livestock, and all the property he had acquired in the land of Canaan; and he moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob. ⁷For their possessions were too great for them to live together; the land where they were staying could not support them because of their livestock. ⁸So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.

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Hebrews 12:14-17 (New International Version)

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

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⁹These are the descendants of Esau, ancestor of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir. ¹⁰These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz son of Adah the wife of Esau; Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹¹The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹²(Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. ¹³These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau’s wife, Basemath. ¹⁴These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah son of Zibeon: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

Edom is shown in bright red. The darker red shows the area of Idumea, from Jesus’ time.

Clans and Kings of Edom

Edom and the Edomites are mentioned some 130 times in the Bible. They were an important group of “neighbors” to Israel.

• When the Israelites came through the wilderness to the Promised Land in the time of Moses, the Edomites refused them passage through their land (Numbers 20:21). This was a source of great discouragement for the nation (Numbers 21:4).
• Even so, God commanded special regard for the Edomites among Israel: You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother(Deuteronomy 23:7).
• In the days of Saul, Edom was made subject to Israel (1 Samuel 14:47), and David established garrisons there (2 Samuel 8:14). But later, in the days of Joram, the son of Ahab, the Edomites became independent of Israel (2 Kings 8:16-22).
• Several of the prophets spoke about and against Edom, including Jeremiah (Jeremiah 49:17-18) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 25:12-14).
• Herod the Great — the one who tried to kill the young child Jesus — was an Edomite.  From the time Islam conquered the Middle East, the region has been virtually unoccupied, except for a few Bedouins and military outposts. It had been brought to nothing, as Obadiah had prophesied (the entire book of Obadiah records an extended prophecy against Edom).

–David Guzik

¹⁵These are the clans of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the clans Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, ¹⁶Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the clans of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Adah. ¹⁷These are the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: the clans Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the clans of Reuel in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹⁸These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: the clans Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the clans born of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. ¹⁹These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their clans.

²⁰These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the clans of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. ²²The sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. ²³These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. ²⁴These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon. ²⁵These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah. ²⁶These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ²⁷These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. ²⁸These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. ²⁹These are the clans of the Horites: the clans Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ³⁰Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the clans of the Horites, clan by clan in the land of Seir.

³¹These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites. ³²Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah. ³³Bela died, and Jobab son of Zerah of Bozrah succeeded him as king. ³⁴Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king. ³⁵Husham died, and Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king, the name of his city being Avith. ³⁶Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah succeeded him as king. ³⁷Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates succeeded him as king. ³⁸Shaul died, and Baal-hanan son of Achbor succeeded him as king. ³⁹Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, and Hadar succeeded him as king, the name of his city being Pau; his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Me-zahab.

⁴⁰These are the names of the clans of Esau, according to their families and their localities by their names: the clans Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴²Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³Magdiel, and Iram; these are the clans of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their settlements in the land that they held.

Romans 9:13 (New International Version)

Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Today’s passage is in Genesis 36, covering the generations of Esau’s children.  I continue to be focused on understanding what G-D means when He says, “Esau have I hated” as I listen to this passage.  Let’s see: 

• Esau fathered numerous sons with his three wives (and we can safely assume that there were numerous daughters among his progeny, as well; daughters who are not mentioned because they did no remarkable acts that would cause them to be remembered specially AND because, in that culture, they would have been counted in the families of their husbands estates when they married out of their father’s household).
• He is forced to move away from his brother (Israel), not because of smoldering resentments or family feuds, but simply because the land cannot support all of the people and livestock produced by the brothers.  Sounds like a good problem to me!
• His sons and grandsons became kings and leaders of clans.  They built cities and developed territories — the local equivalent of nations in their time.
• It seems they didn’t know the God of their great ancestors (Abraham and Isaac), or if they did, they turned away from that faith.  Again, I note that we are never told that G-D ever spoke with Esau.  The lands that they settled and developed were the highly productive lands of Canaan, which Israel’s descendants would later come to take by force, despising the pagan practices of their distant kin in that place and acting upon the direction they received by special revelation without ever questioning the logic or rightness of their actions.

This thing that the Bible describes as hatred looks like something completely different from what we think of as humans when we use the same word.  We think about punishment when we use the word hatred.  It’s not clear to me that G-D meant any such thing when He chose the word.

To an astounding degree, we humans continue to be guilty of the sin of Esau, just the same as the descendants of Israel were when they entered the land beyond the Jordan in the lust of conquest.  We are more intent upon satisfying our appetites and needs than we are on preserving the peace and well-being of the whole family of humankind.  We will sell off our future and all of the incumbent responsibilities/privileges in order to enjoy the satisfaction of our present impulse.

Strangely or not, every problem that plagues our 21st century world can really be traced back to this same type of offense at its root. 

Only Jesus found a different way to deal with human need and impulse.  He didn’t take, He didn’t clamor, He didn’t assert His rights, He simply trusted Abba God to make things come out right.  Granted, I believe He knew His calling and God’s plan when He took His stand, but there He stood.  And even in that knowing, I find guidance.  If I am not equally assured of the unshakable commitment of Abba God in my choice, then I want to exercise discretion until that comes. 

I can’t find another authentically altruistic model anywhere, however much I watch for one.

–Cat Bismuth

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Music:

Are we not “Lost in Wonder”  by all of what Jesus has done for us?  By Martyn Layzell, a Curate at Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican Church in Central London.

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Simple Secrets of the Kingdom
Study 15 — Suffering and Glory

Usually we try to avoid suffering, but in Romans 8 we find that God uses our sufferings as an opportunity for His power to be glorified in our disappointments.  He works it together for our good.  In addition — and this is an awesome thought! — we are being prayed for by the Trinity.  The Spirit, the Father and the Son are all interceding for us.  Click here for AUDIO or VIDEO.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Esau and the stew pot.    http://dailycat.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/artworkesau3.jpg

map.    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Edom.PNG/200px-Edom.PNG

841.) Genesis 35

Genesis 35   (NRSV)

Jacob Returns to Bethel

God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

After the horrible episode in Shechem, God calls Jacob to return to Him.  God tells Jacob to build an altar, to turn away from his own way to God’s way.

²So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your clothes; ³then come, let us go up to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”

After Jacob makes the decision to purify himself and return to God’s will, he tells his family to do the same.  We remember that Rachel had stolen Laban’s gods; did the poor example of the mother influence her children for wrong-doing?

⁴So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak that was near Shechem. ⁵As they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities all around them, so that no one pursued them.

Oh, the joy and the freedom of knowing that, by the gift of grace, you are right with God!

⁶Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, ⁷and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.

⁸And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So it was called Allon-bacuth.

Deborah must have been dearly loved.  The name means “Oak of Weeping.”

⁹God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. ¹⁰God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he was called Israel. ¹¹God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. ¹²The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” ¹³Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him.

¹⁴Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. ¹⁵So Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

So Jacob returns to God.  He repents and worships God.  God blesses him, reminding him of the promise given to Jacob’s grandfather Abraham and repeated to Jacob’s father Isaac.  The offering shows Jacob’s gratitude for God’s lovingkindness.

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Reflection:

Where have you been when God has spoken to you?

What have you done to commemorate it, and to worship?

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Music:

“Here I Am to Worship.”

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The Birth of Benjamin and the Death of Rachel

“Birth of Benjamin and death of Rachel” (The Vatican, Sala dei Patriarchi)

¹⁶Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid; for now you will have another son.” ¹⁸As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Ben-oni (“son of my sorrow); but his father called him Benjamin (“son of my right hand”).

The right side was associated with greater strength and honor, because most people are right handed. Benjamin therefore has the idea of “son of my strength” or “son of my honor.”

The idea is expressed in passages like Exodus 15:6: Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces.

The Lord is our strength and honor, as in Psalm 16:8: I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

God’s strength and honor are for us: My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63:8) Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me (Psalm 138:7).

Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, the position of strength and honor, and we sit there with Him! If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1).

–David Guzik

¹⁹So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), ²⁰and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day.

Rachel’s Tomb, photograph from the 1860’s

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 (King James Version)

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die.

Rachel’s Tomb, current photo.

²¹Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. ²²While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard of it.

Through their sin, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi “disqualified” themselves from the high calling of Abraham’s blessing. It will be up to the fourth son, Judah, to bring forth the Messiah.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.²³The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

²⁴The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁵The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali.

²⁶The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

The Death of Isaac

²⁷Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had resided as aliens. ²⁸Now the days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years. ²⁹And Isaac breathed his last; he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

“Faith,” from Bethel Church, Rock Hill, SC.   http://www.bethelrockhill.org/images/faithtitle.jpg

Vatican frescoes.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/birthbenjamin_5.jpg?w=450

right hand print.   http://www.clker.com/cliparts/c/5/1/6/1194984651288787994right_hand_print_benji_p_01.svg.med.png

Rachel’s Tomb, old.  http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/rachels-tomb-pictures/rachels-tomb-1860s-earthly-footsteps-of-man-of-galilee.jpg

Rachel’s Tomb, now.  http://www.rachelstomb.org/fortress1.jpg

840.) Genesis 34

Genesis 34   (NRSV)

The Rape of Dinah

I offer this sad story to you without interruption.

Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the region. ²When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the region, saw her, he seized her and lay with her by force. ³And his soul was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the girl, and spoke tenderly to her. ⁴So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl to be my wife.”

⁵Now Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his cattle in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came.

⁶And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him, ⁷just as the sons of Jacob came in from the field. When they heard of it, the men were indignant and very angry, because he had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.

⁸But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The heart of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him in marriage. ⁹Make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰You shall live with us; and the land shall be open to you; live and trade in it, and get property in it.”

¹¹Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor with you, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹²Put the marriage present and gift as high as you like, and I will give whatever you ask me; only give me the girl to be my wife.”

¹³The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. ¹⁴They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵Only on this condition will we consent to you: that you will become as we are and every male among you be circumcised. ¹⁶Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people. ¹⁷But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”

¹⁸Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. ¹⁹And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his family. ²⁰So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, ²¹“These people are friendly with us; let them live in the land and trade in it, for the land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters in marriage, and let us give them our daughters. ²²Only on this condition will they agree to live among us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³Will not their livestock, their property, and all their animals be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will live among us.”

²⁴And all who went out of the city gate heeded Hamor and his son Shechem; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

Dinah’s Brothers Avenge Their Sister

²⁵On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city unawares, and killed all the males. ²⁶They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. ²⁷And the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. ²⁸They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. ²⁹All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and made their prey.

³⁰Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites; my numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.”

³¹But they said, “Should our sister be treated like a whore?”

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Music:

Dinah does not speak at all in this chapter.  One Jewish tradition has it that, after this event,  Dinah never spoke another word for the rest of her life.  For Dinah and all those who are suffering and without a voice:   “He Knows My Name”  by  Maranatha Singers.

Books:

The Red Tent, by Anita Diamont, 1997. A story of the women in Jacob’s household, told from Dinah’s point of view.

The Son of Laughter, by Frederick Buechner, 1993. Jacob looks back on his life and his family.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved

Images courtesy of:

Stop Rape poster.   http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w111/MOE_harrypotter_fan/Men%20can%20stop%20rape/mencanstoprape5.jpg

839.) Genesis 33

“Oh, my brother!”

Genesis 33   (NRSV)

Jacob and Esau Meet

Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. ²He put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. ³He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother. ⁴But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

“The Reunion of Jacob and Esau,” by Italian painter Francesco Hayez, 1844 (Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo, Brescia, Italy)

⁵When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down; ⁷Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down.

⁸Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor with my lord.” ⁹But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” ¹⁰Jacob said, “No, please; if I find favor with you, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God—since you have received me with such favor. ¹¹Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have everything I want.”

Esau says, “I have enough.”  Jacob says, “I have everything I want.”  They have the right attitude!

1 Timothy 6:6 (New International Version)

Godliness with contentment is great gain.

So he urged him, and he took it.

In that ancient culture, one never accepted a gift from an enemy, only from a friend.  To accept the gift was to accept the friendship.

¹²Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go alongside you.” ¹³But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me; and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.” ¹⁵So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “Why should my lord be so kind to me?”

¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the place is called Succoth.

Jacob Reaches Shechem

¹⁸Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram; and he camped before the city. ¹⁹And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for one hundred pieces of money the plot of land on which he had pitched his tent. ²⁰There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Upper: Jacob negotiates the purchase of the field in which he had pitched his tents. Lower: Jacob told of the rape of his daughter Dinah. Nave mosaics from the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome.

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Music:

Take My Hand, Precious Lord, recorded by Elvis Presley in 1957.

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Simple Secrets of the Kingdom
Study 14 — No Condemnation for Those in Christ

One of the greatest chapters in the Bible begins with a powerful promise that because you are in Christ, you are not condemned.  This is the work of the Holy Spirit who sets us free from captivity to the law of sin and death. Once our lives were controlled by the pull of that force field but not any longer.   But thanks to God, our mind can now be set on the work of the Spirit and not on the Flesh.  True freedom!  Click here for AUDIO or VIDEO.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Jacob meets Esau, black and white.     http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/Pictures/Treasures%20of%20the%20Bible%20(Genesis)/images/scan0026.jpg

Hayez.  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Francesco_Hayez_061.jpg/350px-Francesco_Hayez_061.jpg

Mosaics.   http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Rome%20&%20Central%20Italy/Rome/Rome_Churches/Santa_Maria_Maggiore/Santa_Maria_Maggiore_Nave_Mosiacs/Nave_Images/800/S16-Jacob-May05-DS2885sAR800.jpg

838.) Genesis 32

“Jacob Wrestling with the Angel,” by Gustave Dore, 1855.

Genesis 32  (NRSV)

Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him; ²and when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called that place Mahanaim.

Jacob Sends Presents to Appease Esau

³Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, ⁴instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have lived with Laban as an alien, and stayed until now; ⁵and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’“

⁶The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

⁷Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies, ⁸thinking, “If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company that is left will escape.”

⁹And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good,’ ¹⁰I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.

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Reflection:

But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
–Matthew 8:8

Mary said, “The Lord has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.  The Mighty One has done great things for me.”
–Luke 1:48-49

Our unworthiness.  God’s love and faithfulness.  The favor of the Mighty One.  How do they all fit together in our lives?

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¹¹Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him; he may come and kill us all, the mothers with the children. ¹²Yet you have said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of their number.’“

¹³So he spent that night there, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, ¹⁴two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶These he delivered into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between drove and drove.”

¹⁷He instructed the foremost, “When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ ¹⁸then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.’“

¹⁹He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him, ²⁰and you shall say, ‘Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.’“ For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹So the present passed on ahead of him; and he himself spent that night in the camp.

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Proverbs 18:16 (New International Version)

A gift opens the way for the giver.

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Jacob Wrestles at Peniel

“Jacob Wrestling the Angel,” by contemporary American artist Karen Laub-Novak.

²²The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. ²⁴Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

“Battle of Jacob and an Angel” by Jan Spychalski, 1946 (National Museum, Poznan, Poland)

²⁵When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.

from This Day with the Master,
by Dennis F. Kinlaw

BROKEN VESSELS

It is God who wrestled with Jacob.  God is always the initiator in our liberation.  And before he blessed Jacob, he touched Jacob’s thigh.  God has to break a person before that person will surrender.  The Christian community really ought to talk more about surrender than about consecration, because human beings resist God to the end and then must ask him to break the resistance and take control of their lives and hearts.  God broke Jacob so he had a crippled leg, and then God came and began to bless him.

I never knew a person who was filled with the Holy Ghost who did not have some brokenness in him.  We want to stand straight and be self-contained and poised, but God cannot use us or bless us when we are in that position.  He wants to break us so that instead of our own power, we have the Holy Spirit’s power.  Are you willing to be broken for him?  This is the toughest of all battles, but it determines whether we will be free or in bondage.

We need to have our own Peniel where we meet Jesus face-to-face.  We must see ourselves for what we truly are.  We must cry out to God for heart cleansing, and we must let him come and fill us with His Spirit.  We must allow him to break us so he can make us into prevailers, conquerors, and overcomers.

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Music:

The Oslo Gospel Choir and “All to Jesus I Surrender.”

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²⁶Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.”

But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”

²⁷So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

²⁸Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.”

²⁹Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”

But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.

³⁰So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” ³¹The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. ³²Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.

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Lord, I cannot let Thee go,
Till a blessing Thou bestow:
Do not turn away Thy face,
Mine’s an urgent, pressing case.

Dost Thou ask me who I am?
Ah! my Lord, Thou know’st my name;
Yet the question gives a plea
To support my suit with Thee.

Thou didst once a wretch behold,
In rebellion blindly bold,
Scorn Thy grace, Thy power defy:
That poor rebel, Lord, was I.

Once a sinner, near despair,
Sought Thy mercy seat by prayer;
Mercy heard, and set him free:
Lord, that mercy came to me.

Many days have passed since then,
Many changes I have seen;
Yet have been upheld till now;
Who could hold me up but Thou?

Thou hast helped in every need;
This emboldens me to plead:
After so much mercy past,
Canst Thou let me sink at last?

No, I must maintain my hold;
’Tis Thy goodness makes me bold;
I can no denial take,
When I plead for Jesus’ sake.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Dore.  http://www.cyberhymnal.org/img/j/a/c/Jacob%20Wrestling%20with%20an%20Angel,%20by%20Gustave%20Dore.jpg

Novak.   http://www.washingtonartsgroup.org/images/May%202003%20Russia%20Images/Novak-Jacob%20Wrestling%20the%20Angel.JPG

Spychalski.   http://artyzm.com/e_obraz.php?id=1749

hurting thigh.  http://www.chanorthopaedics.com.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Piriformis_Syndrome.jpg