The Story of Joseph

These are notes from Old Testament class, Sunday, November 25, 2007

We examined the early life of Joseph, noting his tattle-tailing on his brothers, his royal coat, and his dreams about his superiority over his brothers and his parents which caused great jealousy and hatred towards him. The brothers plotted to kill him but Reuben, the eldest, persuaded them to put Joseph in a pit instead. Reuben planned to rescue his brother and return him to his father, but his brothers sold Joseph into slavery. Several questions were discussed in small groups, including "In what ways is the soul of humanity it a pit?"

Please continue reading the story of Joseph in Genesis for further discussion next week.

Harrell

Twins, Part II

This wonderful painting depicts a very human drama in Genesis 27. Young Jacob, disguised in goat skins, trembles at the breast of his father as he engages in an act of deceit. Rebekah lurks outside the tent -- is she praying to God, or hoping her scheme will succeed? Isaac wears uncertainty on his face. He does not trust his touch, nor his ears, nor his eyes. But when Jacob leans close for a kiss, Isaac smells the outdoors on his clothing -- garb belonging to brother Esau, whom Jacob is impersonating. Finally convinced, Isaac gives his blessing.

The blessing differs from the birthright. The birthright has to do with wealth. Jacob has already taken advantage of Esau's hunger to get this, the greater and better portion of his father's estate. The blessing he seeks will give him a kind of endorsement as the head of the family; it is a conferring of the mantle of leadership. In taking this Jacob supplants Esau a second, and more painful, time. Now, not only his substance, but his place, are taken by his brother. That this is the more serious of the two dealings can be seen both in Isaac's violent trembling in learning of his error, and in Esau's palpable despair.

Read through chapter 33 for an account of the brother's lives after these events. We wondered if Jacob got what he expected. Certainly he himself experienced injustice in the household of his uncle Laban. After years of toil he is a successful man, with many children and much wealth; but the cost of attaining it has been a lot of frustration and fear. In the mean time Esau has moved on and is, himself, becoming a powerful and successful man.

In the midst of all this "life", full of human failing, passion, and redemption, God appears twice to Jacob. The first, early in his life, affirms God's covenant promise made to Jacob's grandfather. Later, as Jacob prepares to meet his brother, Jacob wrestles with an angel, is injured, and is given a new name and a new identity, "Israel". When Jacob and Esau finally meet again, they embrace as true brothers. Time has probably not healed the wounds, but perhaps the fulness of life and the greater will of God have 'supplanted' human failing.

How did God work through Isaac and Esau's weakness; in Rebekah's scheming; in Jacob's helpless passions and fear-driven life? The New Testament provides a perspective for us, if our lives feel like theirs: "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

For this week's class on November 25, please read Genesis 37-41, the first part of the tale of Joseph.

Twins

This week we began a two-week unit on Esau and Jacob. Read Genesis chapters 25-36 for an account of these twin brothers.

The tale of these twins is evocative. There is much plausible family dynamic and disfunction -- this feels very human and very real. We chose an inductive approach to this episode by asking a couple of questions: 1) Did you ever do anything shortsighted? If so, what was it, what were the consequences to you, and what did you learn? 2) Have you ever been taken advantage of by anyone -- or yourself taken advantage of another? If so, how, what were the consequences to you, and what did you learn?

Esau and Jacob would be recognized today as fraternal twins, since they are so different in appearance and temperment. Much is made of Esau's red hair, preference for red food, and even his passionate disposition. He is the kind of person who would quickly garner a nickname like 'Red'. He is also called 'Edom' which means 'red' and is a reference to the nation ascribed to his lineage -- a country known by it's prominant red rock and landscape. Jacob emerges from the womb holding on to Esau's heel, so he is given a name which means 'supplanter'. He seems born to trip others.

Esau's birthright was his as the first born. This means he should receive the greater and better portion of his father's estate. Why would he trade this for a bowl of stew? I related how famished I felt after a couple of days backpacking in poor weather. Wet, worn out, stressed by storms and cranky moose, nothing sounded so good to me as a steaming pot of lentil stew. If you've ever been in a state of trembling, starving exhaustion you might not care about anything but feeling fed, either. But Jacob certainly did take advantage of his brother; a kinder person would have just fed him, eh?

For next week finish reading through chapter 36. This covers the incident wherein Jacob, with his mother's help, steals Esau's blessing, as well, and all that comes of this. We will ponder what happens in each brother's life, try to see how God worked through this very human circumstance, and reflect on the story's meaning for ourselves.

Thanks for a great class & hope to see you Sunday morning, 10:00 a.m. in the sanctuary.

PDTA

Abraham and Isaac

These are notes from our class of Sunday, November 4.

We had a brief discussion on Abraham as a prophet and noted that this concept of prophet was a Northern Kingdom position, where the prophet not the priest was accredited representative of the Lord.

We discussed the exile of Hagar and Ishmael and the treaty with Abimilech. Related issues included the role of women and the justification of slavery.

The heart of the lesson was the Abraham/Isaac sacrifice story. We discussed two aspects of the story:

1. God moves in mysterious ways and sometimes we cannot initially understand them. Ultimately God's will is found to be consistent with the purest emotions planted in the human soul.
2. Message is that only an all-out religion is supremely real. Sooner or later each of us will be challenged with a situation where one must decide whether he/she is willing to pay the utmost price for what conscience compells one to do. Small group discussions focused on this issue.

Notes by Harrell Guard