Genesis 42-46 - Joseph Reunites With His Brothers

Ready for another lesson about names? Today we'll be talking about Joseph, which means "Jehovah has added," or in a more general sense (the word in which Joseph is derived from (yâsaph)), "again." How appropriate is this name for Joseph? Well, let's see...
**Just as a quick note; the italics in the following instances are for emphasis only and not the original word or text.

He told his brothers not just once that he was going to rule over them (Genesis 37:5-8), but he does so, however inadvisably, again a little later (Genesis 37:9-12).

Again and again, Potipher's wife would make a pass at Joseph only to be rebuked, until of course she hatched the devious plan to grab his cloak and make false accusations against him. In doing so, Potipher of course believed his wife; and again it seemed as though Joseph's life would end in a deep pit of despair (Genesis 39).

However, again, God brought him up from the pits of despair and brought him into a position of power and prestige (Genesis 41).

As the brothers turn to Egypt to buy food, Jacob again favors one son and leaves him behind (Genesis 42:1-5). Just as they left Joseph in captivity to be left to the whims of those around him, so again they leave another one of their own behind, Simeon, to be left to the whims of those around him (Genesis 42:12-25). They then returned home to again tell of a brother's ruination (Genesis 42:29-38).

Again, Joseph tests his brothers to see if they've learned their lesson in compassion and repentance by making sure that Benjamin stays put in Egypt while telling the others to go tell Jacob of another son's demise (Genesis 43-44:17). Thankfully, they seem to pass this test (Genesis 44:18-34).

And here is where the cycle breaks. In a 'reveal' to rival any detective solving a crime or shocking twist at the end of a movie, Joseph tells his brothers who he is. Needless to say, they're shocked beyond belief and could very well be afraid for their lives considering the shift in power from their days of youth to now. And instead of fear and trembling, they go back home with great joy to tell their father that Joseph is indeed alive (Genesis 45-46).

With that in mind, can you identify with these cycles? How often are stuck in a never-ending cycle that brings us nothing but trouble? Do you continually work to the bone to 'provide for your family,' when what your family needs most is you and your time? Do you find yourself saying you will stick to a budget only to once again find you have overspent and need help covering the bills? Do you have a sin that you continue to commit even with all the intentions of breaking that sinful cycle? Sin is something we commit again and again and again with no hope of breaking out of by ourselves.

Yet, much like Joseph reassures his brothers and tells them, "Come near to me, please...do not be distressed or angry with yourselves...you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have...now your eyes see that it is my mouth that speaks to you" (Genesis 45:4-5, 10, 12)...

So our heavenly father is gracious and welcomes us back through his son, Jesus Christ! He, much more graciously than Joseph even could utter, reassures us and says "Come near to me, please...do not be distressed or angry with yourselves...you shall be near me."

Genesis 37, 39, 41 - God Prospers Joseph

During our Jr. High Youth Gathering last weekend, one of the sectionals talked quite a bit about Joseph and this passage in particular. Our presenters made the case that even though Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, God had a plan for him (which was nearly derailed by Potipher's wife and this led to the real topic of the sectional on sexual purity), and that God has plans for you too. What's the well-known verse? God has plans to "to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). Other than the fact that this verse is taken out of context 99% of the time (it's talking to the Israelites in exile and God reaffirming his promise to them to bring them back... not the average joe looking for direction on which house to buy), the idea of prospering has bugged me for the last number of years.

Now that I'm done passive-aggressively ranting in the opening paragraph... I did some digging, and it's been neat to kinda see these words and how they do not mean what they think they mean.

Let's look at our two sentences with the English word, 'prosper' in them:

"The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did" (Genesis 39:2-3).

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (Jeremiah 29:11).

First, let's think of what our English word 'prosper' means.
- FreeDictionary says: "to be fortunate or successful, especially in terms of one's finances; thrive."
- Merriam-Webster says: "to become very successful usually by making a lot of money."
- And the Google definition: "succeed in material terms; be financially successful."

Do you see a common theme? In English, 'to prosper' is to be well-off financially first, and then perhaps some other good things such as a family, kids, etc afterwards. This has totally wrenched the meaning away from our texts!

Looking at our Jeremiah text first, the Hebrew word (that our translators horribly mis-translate here in my opinion), is shâlôm, which means so much more. Shâlôm is the Hebrew word for completeness; to be completely at peace; to be in harmony with the world and with each other. It's so complete, no one can really describe it. So what God says to the Israelite people is not that they will prosper materially, but that they will know the full peace of God when he restores them back to their homeland.

Now with that common misperception out of the way, let's focus on how Joseph prospered. The Hebrew word that is used here for Joseph is tsâlach, which in and of itself could certainly be defined like that (Strong's says: "to advance, prosper, make progress, succeed, be profitable"). But the kicker here along with the word is not so much the definition itself, it's how it is used throughout the whole Old Testament. Doing a quick concordance search with Strong's reveals two really neat things:

The first nugget is that the Lord does all the prospering of us; we do nothing. A vast majority of time that this word tsâlach is used, God is involved in either prospering the individual or in the fact that because they did not seek the Lord's direction, their plans did not prosper.

The second nugget is that nowhere is there a conjunction or a joining of the word tsâlach the idea of material wealth or belongings. If you had to catalog the times where tsâlach was used, three seem to pop out: the Lord prospers a journey; the Lord prospers actions; and the Lord actively using human beings to accomplish his will ("The Spirit of the Lord came upon him" is a popular wording of this in Judges and 1 Samuel).

So, what does it mean to prosper? I think it does not mean to Joel Osteen and his ilk what they think it means. Prospering in God's grace does not mean that because of our faith in God will be rewarded in material wealth, belongings, social status or power. And honestly, one could easily paint this picture from the story of Joseph that we've read.

To prosper in God means to be so in-tune with him that we think his thoughts and not ours; to prosper in God is to be tested and to wrestle with him; to prosper in God is to realize that God's kingdom does not mean what we think it means (Matthew 5).

Other questions to think about (and that I didn't have time or space to write about):
- As I got to Joseph telling Pharaoh about the 7 years of feast and 7 years of famine... I thought about what in the world that would look like today! In our world, we can hardly plan 7 months ahead, much less 7 years. Can you imagine what would happen in year 4 of this 14-year plan in today's world? We would discount the fact that 7 more lean years were coming and use up all of our stores just because we could. An interesting parallel might be with global warming. We know it's here; we have a good idea what's coming; but because it's 20 years out (a milli-nano-micro-second in cosmic time), we don't want to plan for it. Or... the asteroid Apophis in 2036 and how to deflect it.

Genesis 32-33, 35 - God Wrestles with Jacob

Here's the first time that I don't necessarily agree with The Story's choices of stories... Because we dive right into a new story of Jacob and Esau without the necessary background (well, background is given, but it's in a transition part of the chapter).

So, here's the quick background. Isaac had two sons: Jacob and Esau. Even though God had told Rebekah and Isaac that "one will be stronger than the other; the older will serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23), Isaac still preferred Esau over Jacob and was ready to give the birthright to him. As Isaac's health was failing and he was ready to bestow the official birthright, Jacob deceived his father by dressing up in animal skins to give the appearance of the hairy skin that Esau had, thereby tricking Isaac into bestowing the official birthright on him instead of Esau (Genesis 27). Now even though Esau had previously despised the birthright (Genesis 25:19-34), he was mightily ticked off and vowed to kill his brother should they meet again after Jacob fled (Genesis 27:41-45). And now we pick it up at where Esau and Jacob are about to meet again for the first time in a few decades.

God is about to test Jacob.

My previous post discussed what I think it means to be tested by God, and while that particular word is not used in this passage, I would argue that it was indeed a test from God to strengthen Jacob and form him into Israel.

Unfortunately, what The Story leaves out in this build-up to this moment is the fact that for most of his life, Jacob has taken the easy way out. Instead of hunting for food and providing for the family like Esau did, Jacob took what was provided and refined it into soup. Instead of talking one-on-one with his brother about the birthright and God's promise, Jacob used his brother's hunger against him and was able to get Esau to despise his birthright. Instead of talking to his father one-on-one, Jacob deceived Isaac into thinking that it was he was Esau and was ready to receive the birthright instead. And instead of owning up to what he did and standing before his brother to talk about the situation, he ran away so he wouldn't have to face Esau. Jacob definitely lived up to his moniker of 'deceiver.'

Interestingly enough, he begins to see the errors of his ways while in hiding as he himself is tricked into marrying someone (Leah) he doesn't want to. However, Jacob does not settle and continues to work for 7 more years to marry the true apple of his eye, Rachel. Not only that, Jacob even continues to work for this Laban fellow until there are rumblings that Laban is not happy and thinks that Jacob's out to get him.

Jacob's life has gotten tougher (especially now that he has kids and a job to worry about...), but it's nothing compared with the prospect of returning back to his homeland and an upcoming encounter with Esau who was last seen completely ready to kill Jacob. All of a sudden, life kinda comes into perspective, does it not?

And notice that it's at this point that God wrestles with Jacob (notice that Jacob doesn't initiate the match; it's God who does (Genesis 32:24)). Can you imagine what it would feel like to physically wrestle with God? We asked that question in our youth classes today and pretty much every kid said to a tee, "I would be scared because he could kill me in an instant."

Yet, it's pretty evident that in our lives, we struggle and strive with God quite a bit. Have you been struggling with a sickness or health issues? That's wrestling with God. How about family frustrations or financial fiascos? That's wrestling with God. What about all the injustices in the world we read and hear about? That's wrestling with God too. Now while God doesn't cause these things (the devil does through this little thing we call 'sin'), he uses them to make us stronger... to train us... to purify and refine us... to make us realize that the easy way is not always the best way.

And in the end, through these tests and through these struggles, God gives us power to overcome adversity, just as Jacob did (Genesis 32:28).

I think Paul says it best that in all of this adversity (and he went through plenty!!), we can "do all this through him [Christ] who gives [us] strength" (Philippians 4:13).

Other questions to think about (and that I didn't have time or space to write about):
- Do you think there was any symbolism about God dislocating Jacob's hip versus some other part of the body?

- And not so much of a question as it is just another resource; I totally dug this sermon I found online. Definitely worth a read!

Genesis 21-22 - Abraham Tested by God

Let me be honest and up-front: I hate this story of Abraham and Isaac. While some people hold it up as a paragon of virtue because Abraham was ultimately faithful in the face of some pretty gruesome consequences; I hate it because what kind of god would ask for human sacrifices?

Why would God 'test' Abraham this way?

As I read through this story a year ago or so; I compared this situation to a parent who uses Love & Logic. In Love & Logic, you give kids choices and hope that they fail when they're young so that they learn their lessons when consequences are much smaller and less dire. I compared Abraham to the kid and God as the father. Abraham kept making mistakes (Egypt and Pharaoh, Hagar and Ishmael, disbelief in God's promise of a son...), but God kept giving him a second chance. Eventually, Abraham got to a place in his walk with God that he was able to pass the ultimate test of faith and be blessed for it (Genesis 22:15-18). I still don't like the idea of a loving God waiting for me fail and pass a test; but it at least added some logic to it.

Why does God test? Or, perhaps a more useful question: What is a test from God?

I think that we as humans, and ones who are living in an educational society where we face 'tests' all the time, have a different view of this test than God does. We view tests as something to pass and fail. If we pass, we're blessed with a good grade; if we fail, we're cursed with extra-curriculars being suspended, detention, or tension at home.

When we 'test God,' it is in this black and white way of seeing things in which it happens. Let's look at a few verses in which humans test (nâsâh) God:

"He named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, 'Is the LORD among us, or not?'" (Exodus 17:7).

"You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah" (Deuteronomy 6:16).

"And in their heart they put God to the test by asking food according to their desire" (Psalm 78:18).

In each case, there is a pass or fail aspect to the test - either God is here and will provide for us, or he is not and we're being left to fend for ourselves. This is the kind of test that we're used to here on earth.

Yet, when we read about testing (nâsâh) from God, there is no pass/fail aspect to this test at all. Hopefully you'll be able to notice that in the following times that nâsâh is used:

"Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin'" (Exodus 20:20).

"In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end" (Deuteronomy 8:16).

"Examine me, O LORD, and try me; test my mind and my heart" (Psalm 26:2).

It seems to me that when God tests, it's not a pass/fail test, which is very good for us because chances are we would fail anyhow! When God tests (nâsâh) us; it's a design that is utilized to bring about nothing but good in us. There is no failure; only formation. There is no resigning, only refining. There is no breaking, only building.

So when God 'tested' Abraham, it was not a test from a sadistic god thirsty for blood from an innocent child. It was a pre-arranged process to bring forth good from Abraham, the father of nations - an interesting and frightening process for sure - but still a process.

One can only wonder what tests God has prepared for us in advance to participate in; but when they do come along, take heart because through our Savior, Jesus Christ, we have already overcome the entire world (1 John 5:3-5) and if God is for us in these tests, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? For "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:38).

Other questions to think about (and that I didn't have time or space to write about):
- Anyone else notice any similarities between Ishmael's story and Moses' story? (Being left for dead... growing into a strong leader of nations...)

- Also, did anyone notice the similarities between Abraham and Isaac's story and Christ's story? (The son who the covenant is continued through... the third day... a lamb/ram was provided for the sacrifice...)

Genesis 15-18:15 - God's Covenant with Abraham

What's in a name? Why are our names important; or maybe today in our culture, why are our nicknames important?

Well, speaking from childhood experience, our names and nicknames mean that people love us and want to know us other than "hey you!" For instance, one of my best friends has a nickname for me: Briguy. I have no idea why I like it; but it's his term for me and I always smile when I hear it from him. Likewise, my brother is always known as "Steve" to all of his friends because it took a life on its own and it labelled their relationship with him (though we as his family could ever only call him "Stephen"... kind of annoying since I wanted to be cool like his friends...).

What names or nicknames are you known by?

In the Hebrew culture, a name was more than just a name (did you know I was named Brian just because it sounded good?). A name was a definition of who you are and who you would be. 'Adam' meant 'earth' because he was formed from the earth (Genesis 2:7). 'Eve' meant 'mother of all the living' (Genesis 3:20). 'Isaac' means 'laughter' (Genesis 21:6). And later on, 'Esau' means 'red' (Genesis 25:25) and 'Jacob' means 'deceiver.'

Since Jewish names and destinies are so intertwined, do you see why God changing Abram's name is so incredibly important now? God is not simply changing Abram's name. It's not simply adding an additional 'ha' between the a and the m. God is changing the destiny of Abram. He is changing Abram - 'exalted father' - to Abraham - 'father of many nations' (LSB Study Notes, Genesis 17:5). This was a sign of God's pledge to keep the covenant with Abraham that He had made many years ago. As CPH's People's Bible Commentary says: "If God would fail to keep his covenant promise, the name Abraham would constantly testify against him" (p. 151).

Did Abraham do anything to deserve this covenant? Nope! Let's see... he tried to get away with Pharaoh taking Sarai as one of his wives... he listened to Sarai when she suggested that he try to have a son with her servant... and he laughed when God again reiterated His promise to him (Genesis 17:17).

Likewise, do we do anything to deserve God's new covenant through his son, Jesus Christ? The very thought is laughable! We sin daily in thought, word and deed; by doing things we know are wrong and leaving righteous things undone. Yet, God continues to call us and beckon us through his Holy Spirit; and in doing so, changes our very destiny. We go from sinners to being saints; guilty to righteous; from being condemned to being saved. As John says, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1). And it is through this destiny as children of God that we can see again and see who we are meant to be.

Other questions to think about (and that I didn't have time or space to write about):
- Are you catching the beginnings of some family dysfunction here? That's definitely going to be a theme going forward in the next chapters of Genesis (some we'll read, and some we won't).

- Have you ever thought "why circumcision as a sign of the covenant rather than a less... er... invasive sign of the covenant?"

- Ever wonder became of Ishmael? Make sure to ask an Arab or a Muslim :)

Genesis 12-13 - God's Call to Abram

I want to start today with the idea of tuning forks. For those of you who don't know what tuning forks are, they are shaped pieces of metal so that when they are struck, they make a vibration that is precisely-pitched. This pitch is then used to tune your instrument such as a piano or violin.

But the tuning fork itself is not what I want to expound upon; it's the idea of resonance. A neat experiment to do is to take two tuning forks of the same pitch; strike one while leaving the other one alone; and the result will be that the tuning fork that was not struck will begin to vibrate on its own because it has picked up the same pitch as its brother.

Abram was attuned to God's voice. God's voice resonated with him and caused him to act.

We often mistakenly lump Abram along with the rest of his family... because Abram was pious, we often make the mistake of thinking the same about his family. But, that's not true. According to Joshua 24:2, Abram came from a line of people who worshiped (actually, I like the Hebrew word here, which means 'served'; it's more participatory and active) other gods.

So can you imagine how hard it would have been for Abram to stay attuned to the true God in and among all the other voices in that household? Yet, Abram was so in-tune with God that all God needed to do was simply say, "Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you." Can you imagine what it would be like to have such a full communion like that with God?

Yet, Abram wasn't perfect. Just as the sound from a tuning fork eventually fades, so our hearing fades when it comes to God's voice speaking to us. Once Abram moved to Canaan, a severe drought and famine arose; and rather than hearing God's voice and trusting what he said, Abram and Sarai moved to Egypt because they figured that they would have a better chance of survival. The plan in and of itself from human terms wasn't necessarily a bad idea; the only problem is that it went against God's plan and so God caused it to fail.

Abram realizes his error and returns back to his sacred place with God - the place where he was attuned to God's voice - Bethel, and again reorients himself back to God's voice.

After this worship, God grants Abram another test as Lot and his family realize they need more space. So, Abram, now re-orienting himself to the life that is God, allows Lot the first pick of the land. As Lot picks the more watered land (which, interestingly enough, is compared to the garden that Adam and Eve where expelled from, and it is the land of Sodom and Gomorrah before they were destroyed...), my guess is that Abram felt somewhat cheated and disheartened.

Yet, it is in this moment in which Abram is disheartened, that again God's voice resonates with Abram as he says, "Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you" (Genesis 13:14b-17).

In our troubles, God speaks to us and gives us words of comfort, words of promise, and words of hope. It is my hope and prayer that the Holy Spirit continually works inside of us as a tuner, orienting our ways so that our lives can resonate with God's heavenly sound of life.

Other questions to think about (and that I didn't have time or space to write about):
- Isn't it interesting how God can work? God speaks creation into existence; and God speaks a nation into existence? Doesn't that give a bit more importance to the idea that we should be listening for God to speak to us since his words are formative and can bring life from nothingness?

- Ever wonder what Sarai must have been thinking through their Egyptian sojourn?

Genesis 9 - God's Covenant with Noah

As we close our first week in The Story (I hope you've enjoyed it, by the way!), we come to one of the classic stories in all of Christendom: the covenant with Noah where we hear of a rainbow for the first time (now I'm not saying it was the first rainbow, but that's another journal post in and of itself). It's a story that gives us a warm feeling inside because a) a rainbow is one of the most beautiful creations of God, and b) we hear that God loves us, so much so, that he has promised to never again destroy the world.

But why a rainbow?

First of all, they're relatively rare. Rainbows need rain, and we don't receive rain every day (and after July or so this summer, we've hardly seen a drop of it). Rainbows need sun, and not every precipitation event comes with sun; in fact, many times it's just overcast throughout the whole event. Third, the angles have to be quite precise. Did you know that to see a rainbow in the sky, the sun's rays have to form an angle with your line of sight that can be no less than 40 and no more than 42 degrees? For most of us here on earth, that only happens twice a day (though if you have a mist or spray, such as one that comes from a waterfall, you can easily manipulate your line of sight to create the needed angle).

These signs of God's promise are not common enough for us to disregard because we've grown accustomed to them; but they aren't rare enough that it's a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence either. We see just enough of them to consider them special and to keep fresh in our minds God's special promise.

Second, what two things do we need to create a rainbow again? Indeed, sunlight and water. I do suppose that the first thing worth mentioning here is what were two of the first things that were created? The formless, swirling deep; and light (which, incidentally is why I don't think Noah's is the first rainbow, because there was plenty of light and water well before Noah's time...).

But, taking this a step further; who does Jesus say he is? Well, he says he is living water (John 7:38) and also the light of the world (John 8:12). Now whether God the Father gave this as a foreshadowing or not, I don't know. Yet, it's neat to see that in the symbol of God's promise we see beauty, splendor and majesty; just as we see the beauty, splendor and majesty of God's love for us in his son, Jesus Christ.

Finally, when do we see the rainbows? When do most storms usually happen (at least around here)? Usually after a long day of diurnal heating and the air becoming more saturated with humidity and water vapor. In other words, most storms here happen in the evening hours. The storm hits with its ferocity and passes thereafter; and that's when we see the rainbow. We see the rainbow as the sun is setting and getting ready to rise again because the storm has passed and we are still here.

So, why a rainbow? It's not a sign that God never will destroy the earth again; it's a sign that God already has kept that promise, because the storm has passed and a new day is dawning.

Other questions to think about (and that I didn't have time or space to write about):
- So if God now gives mankind permission to eat animals; what is the purpose of Abel keeping flocks as a shepherd if not for food?

- Has anyone else noticed that the flood seems to be another creation narrative? The waters receded by a wind sent forth by God (Genesis 8:1), much like the Spirit hovering over the face of the deep (Genesis 1:2)? And now you have the same blessing from God to "be fruitful in number and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1) as did Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28)?

Genesis 6-8 - The Flood

Are you ready for a little exegetical study today? Well, neither was I, until just out of curiosity I looked up a few words and was kind of blown away!

In prepping for today's entry, I noted that there were 2 bookends to this story:

"The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time" (Genesis 6:5).

"The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: 'Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood...'" (Genesis 8:21).

Now, as good Lutherans, we have this idea fully ingrained into our psyche and theology. We begin each service of our Divine Liturgy with confessing that we are "by nature, sinful and unclean." We are fully aware of the doctrine of original sin and the impact it has on us. (Though as quick side note: not all versions include the word 'every' before 'inclination', which I find interesting in itself because the theology that follows from excluding that one word could be quite different...)

But after my research, I have a deeper understanding despair of what original sin is.

I started off by wondering what exactly the word 'inclination' means. To begin with, when I used the interlinear Bible, the King James Version actually uses the word imagination. Already, my mind was starting to spin because to have an imagination is to participate in the sheer act of developing a coherent thought... it's the process. So what God is saying that even the process of forming our thoughts of the heart is evil. Would you not say that this is stronger than just an 'inclination', or a 'thought' being evil?

Digging further, the word comes from the Hebrew word yêtser, which means 'to form' and is used in one of Isaiah's illustrations that God is the potter and we are the clay. Adding this into our equation, we end up finding that not only is the process of our thinking evil from birth; but that we value these thoughts. We think they are valuable, like the potter does his clay. Stronger language yet, wouldn't you say?

And for one final layer, yêtser is derived from the other word yâtsar, which means basically the same thing; but notice five times (out of around 50) where it is used:

"Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7).

"Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky..." (Genesis 2:19).

"The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land" (Psalm 95:5).

"But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!'" (Isaiah 43:1).

"Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand" (Isaiah 64:8).

Wow. So in our bookends of the reading today, God lets us know what our way should be. We should want to follow our Creator and hold him and his ways dear to our heart. God wants us to choose his ways to bring us life.

Instead, we hold steadfast to our own ways, and even let them become near and dear to us, because we believe that they will bring us life. Unfortunately, as we saw yesterday, those ways only bring us death.

But thankfully, as God promised to never again destroy the earth (Genesis 8:21-22), so he has promised that through his son, we will always have life (oh, let's go John 3:16 here :)).

Other questions to think about (and that I didn't have time or space to write about):
- If they stayed in the boat for over a year; and we always assume the animals took the space; where did they put food to last them and the animals for that whole time? (Are there any artists' depictions of that?)

- Is there something significant to a dove being used by Noah (connection to baptism?); or do you think he used them for their superior homing abilities?

- For further research, what are the similarities between this flood account and many other accounts out there? (One notable one I found was in the fate of our protagonist, compared to the fate of those in other Middle Eastern accounts...)

Genesis 3 - The Fall

I'm going to talk about Satan, the Accuser, the Deceiver, the Father of Lies, the Evil One, the Ruler of Darkness, and any other name you can think of. But I'm not going to talk about him in the way you probably think I'm going to talk about him. Are you ready?

In this chapter, he told the truth. A half-truth to be sure, but he still told the truth.

Did I catch you by surprise? Don't believe me? Well, check it out:

"'You will not certainly die,' the serpent said to the woman" (Genesis 3:4).

And did they die? Not that instant. So, you can't fault him for being truthful there. Again, it's a half-truth, because they did die later as a result, but he still told the truth.

"For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5).

Did Adam and Eve know good from evil from that point, they sure did as they immediately hid when God came to have a vineside chat with them. In fact, this statement was probably more truthful than his previous statement. Did he tell the whole truth? No, but indeed, what he did say came to pass.

And this, my friends, is what makes the devil so dangerous. His statements will always have truth to them. He and his cronies say all sorts of things to us today that have truth to them, but they say them in such a way as to hide the disastrous underbelly to those truths. Ultimately, they speak words that we think bring us life; but following those ways ultimately brings death.

"Having lots of money will bring you happiness," the devil says and it seems true. Only, he leaves out the part that the pursuit of it will leave you emptier when you started because you'll never have enough.

"To be secure, keep constant vigilance," the devil says and it seems true. He only leaves out the part that keeping constant vigilance requires more and more of your energy and your life, leaving you ever more insecure and afraid.

"As long as you don't hurt anyone else, do whatever feels right and good," the devil says and it seems true. Only, he leaves out the part that as you focus more and more on yourself, you alienate yourself with the community. Then when you really do need help, no one is there.

All in all, Satan is completely correct in the fact that we will never be secure; and he made that point abundantly clear to Adam and Eve. He is right in the fact that the only way we will ever be totally, 100% secure is if we're like God. He is truthful when he says that we can only be secure when we have it all.

But what he leaves out is that God has given us enough. He leaves out the fact that God gives us enough. He leaves out the fact that God will give us enough. He leaves out the fact that all of these pursuits of security lead us away from God. He leaves out the fact that when we follow our own way instead of God's, it leads to death.

Thankfully, even as God makes sure that Adam and Eve cannot eat of the Tree of Life, and makes the consequences of their actions known to them, he gives a promise:

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head..." (Genesis 3:15).

In this promise, God foreshadows that He will again give us enough; actually more than enough; more than we could ever need - His Son, Jesus Christ. And though Satan struck at his heel, Jesus will crush him once and for all. Can't wait!

Other questions to think about (and that I didn't have time or space to write about):
- Ever wonder what it must've been like to be able to talk to God face-to-face in the garden?

- Have you ever noticed that God warned "you shall die..." but that is the last part of the enumeration of the consequences? Wouldn't one think it'd be the first? (and the fact that he didn't use the actual word, 'die'?)

- And was it a blessing or a curse that they could not re-enter the garden once God closed the doors?

Genesis 1-2 - Creation

Yay! Today we get to start diving into our 9-month journey through the Bible using the words of The Story. Are you read to dive in? Well, let's go divin' in!

What struck me this time as I read through Genesis 1-2 is that the background of the story is based on water. 5 of the 7 days mention at least some form of water (Day 1, 2, 3, 5, 6). In chapter 2, we hear that streams have come up from the ground. Also, we should note that the boundaries of the garden are 4 rivers. You can't get very far in either narrative of creation without running into water.

Why? Because it shows that God is in control and does not want us to be afraid.

Through various sermons I've heard over my years, it is my understanding that ancient Israelites feared the sea because no one knew what lay beyond. Would you fall off the face of the earth? Or would you run into dangerous sea monsters, like the Leviathan described in Job? Or would you run into pirates, such as the most fearsome pirate ever - Dread Pirate Roberts?

Regardless of the danger that existed, the primary issue that would face anyone going out onto the sea is that there is no escape. You are at the mercy of the wind. You are at the mercy of the waves. You are at the mercy of the currents underneath you. You are at the mercy of the weather patterns above you. You are at the mercy of your extremely limited surroundings, consisting of a boat and whatever it could carry.

On the sea, you have no control and this is reflected almost immediately in the narrative of creation:

"Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep" (Genesis 1:2a).

Don't you have that picture of helplessness and being at the mercy of something you cannot control?

Yet, what is the very next sentence?

"And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2b)

Even in the midst of the tempest, tumult and turmoil, God's Holy Spirit is present and hovering over you with powerful wings! And as a quick side note: where else has the Holy Spirit been present and looking over you as you pass through the waters? Yup, baptism, where you became a child of God!

As God brings peace to your life, notice that he brings the waters under control throughout the remainder of the narratives:
- On the second day, he begins to make the clouds and water vapor which begins the rain cycle.
- On the third day, he concentrates the water and makes land suitable for creatures such as us.
- On the fifth day, he brings the waters further under control as he populates them with sea creatures.
- In the second narrative God continues to tame the waters and gives them a purpose as they "watered the whole surface of the ground" (verse 6).
- And notice the final mention of the various waters in verses 10-14 where the ultimate transformation of the water is complete: the waters have gone from a limitless abyss to boundaries of safety for his most prized creations.

And that is the entire story of both narratives of creation. God can tame the untamable and control the uncontrollable. As he does so, he brings peace and joy so that he can enjoy a relationship with his most prized of creatures... us.

It is our hope and prayer that we allow him to do just that.

Other questions to think about (and that I didn't have time or space to write about):
- How does the text say God created? As humans, what is our primary ability that elevates us above the rest of God's creation? How is that significant?

- What does it mean to be "made in the image of God"?

- We often hear in commentaries, sermons and studies that creation was created 'perfect'. If that's the case, why does our writer (commonly held to be Moses, for those curious) not use the Hebrew word tâmı̂ym, which can be thought of as "without blemish"? And... if it was perfect, why was it "not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18)? And... if it was perfect, how could God tell Adam that death would result if Adam would not have known what death is?

Reasons We Can Trust God's Word

In my previous post, I explained that we can trust God's word to give us life and salvation. While that is all well and good, people still wonder and ask if that isn't begging the question. In other words, they would argue (quite rightfully) that we're using the Bible to explain the truthfulness of the Bible - that's circular reasoning. But there is other evidence to support our position that what the Bible has to say concerning life and salvation is indeed true.

While there are a plethora of reasons out there, I like to boil it down to three reasons:

Reason 1 - Prophecies that have come true
The Bible is full of prophecies, both secular (check out the book of Daniel; which we will cover later on in our journey) and Christo-centric; but it is the prophecies about the life of Christ that I would like to focus on.

Just for some quick background, remember that the books of the Tanakh (the OT) were already written and codified centuries before Jesus arrived on the scene. For some perspective: Psalms was written somewhere around 1,000 BC, while Isaiah was written somewhere around 700 BC. Now, imagine how much time that is... Imagine how different our society was 100 years ago; 300 years ago; 1,000 years ago. Next, imagine the probabilities that a specific prophecy written 500 years ago would come true today. Tough to wrap your mind around? Yup, me too :)

Now, let's be blunt to begin with. There is a possibility that Jesus knew the Tanakh inside and out, and so he could easily have developed a Messiah complex (whether it be mental instability, or just plain arrogance and pride) and used these prophecies to proclaim himself the Messiah. He would have known the prophecy from Zechariah and so he could have made up his mind and rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Easy enough, right?

But what floors me every time is the number of prophecies that came true that Jesus had no part in fulfilling. Let's look at Psalm 22. Here are some verses from that psalm, and notice how most of them were fulfilled by other people. And as an extra bonus, each was noted by a different gospel writer:

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?" (Psalm 22:1)
"About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?' (which means 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?')" (Matthew 27:46).

"All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 'He trusts in the Lord,' they say, 'let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him'" (Psalm 22:7-8).
"The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar" (Luke 23:36).

"Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet" (Psalm 22:16).
"But [Thomas] said to them, 'Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe'" (John 20:25).

"They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment" (Psalm 22:18).
"And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get" (Mark 15:24).

So, you can easily see that events and words separated by 1,000 years have that remarkable cohesiveness and unity that lends tremendous support for the belief that events recorded in the Bible are indeed true.

Reason #2 - The accuracy and sheer numbers of the copies of the Bible that we have
To illustrate this idea in confirmation class, we played a game of Telephone. Surely you remember that game of transmission where a phrase is given to a person, that person then whispers it to another, and down the line it goes until the final receiver speaks the phrase and it ends up being nothing like the original. Now, in my previous post, I fully believe that the Bible was scribed by humans limited in vocabulary and comprehension (as well as being imperfect). But here's the neatness of this 'game of telephone' from what God originally inspired, and what we humans have today.

Neat fact 1: We now have over 5,000 reliable copies of the New Testament in its original Greek (the language of the land of the time). Why is this important? Check out how many reliable copies we have of other important works from which we derive our knowledge of ancient Greece. The Bible has nearly 9x more documents that are reliable from that time period. This collection of books spread like wildfire! So much so that...

Neat fact 2: Our earliest-found gospels and Pauline letters were dated to no more than 100 years after the events occurred. Again, look at the chart. The longest span of time between the copies we have of any other material from ancient Greece and from the dates when it happened, is 500 years. In other words, these words of the New Testament were considered authoritative and extremely important for all intents and purposes... immediately! (Quick side note: And that's why the so-called 'Lost Gospels' are never included in canon; because they came on the scene 100-200 years later, well after the established canon.) But with such a widespread transmission of a work, one might expect more errors. After all, the faster that you rush through your work, are you not prone to more errors? Well...

Neat fact 3: Of those 5,000+ known copies of the New Testament, the scribes took extreme care in copying and re-copying those manuscripts. They were so careful, that the reliability rating of the copies of the New Testament reaches 99.5%! Not to mention, of that 99.5%, there are no contradictions in theological points. The 0.5% that is not as reliable are, in essence, spelling and grammar errors.

So, as you can see, the scribes found these words to be so incredibly important, that extreme care and caution was taken in writing and re-writing these words. Would you put in the same amount of care in a project that wasn't important? Didn't think so... :)

Reason #3 - Many eyewitness accounts
For an example of this concept, think of the Apollo Program that sent astronauts to the moon. Think of how many thousands of people worked on this mission: mission room controllers, scientists, politicians, engineers, astronauts... the list seems endless. Now, imagine if one of them would come forward and could provide reliable, provable evidence that the moon landing never happened. The whole house of cards would come falling down. There is so much evidence that the moon landing did in fact happen, that anyone who says otherwise is (and rightfully so) branded a conspiracy theorist.

Now imagine yourself in ancient Palestine around the time Jesus ascended into heaven. How easy would it have been to produce proof of Jesus' death and non-resurrection if that happened...? "Here's the tomb; here's the body; case closed." In other words, much like the Apollo mission, if there were credible evidence to the contrary, Christianity would never have prospered.

Yet, no one was indeed able to come forward - in fact, quite the opposite happened. The 11 disciples saw him; more disciples saw him; even 500 people saw him all at once! And notice the statement Luke puts in from Paul in Acts: "The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner" (Acts 26:26).

And what happened when they saw him risen from the dead? They died for their belief! Tradition holds that 11 of the 12 disciples died for their belief. Would you die for anything that wasn't the truth; something you knew from the start to be a lie? And thus began the church, that through their martyrdom and the true message they died for (that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not), the Church was not able to be vanquished and is here to this day and until the end of time.

So again, like I've said, there is plenty of external evidence for the belief that we can reasonably believe God's word to be truth and life. However, when all is said and done; no amount of evidence can truly work faith in us. It is only the Holy Spirit that can begin this faith, gather us, enlighten us, and sanctify us (Small Catechism, 3rd Article and Its Meaning). Thankfully, that is a gift that is free :)

Can We Trust in God's Word?

My previous post was about hermeneutics, or the lenses through which we read Scripture. While noting that our lenses may change depending on what exactly is being studied (one would use a different lens for studying a parable than say a list of laws in Leviticus), I made it clear that I do firmly hold to the primary or default lens that views everything through Christ. I hope to see everything through cross-shaped glasses.

Today I want to touch on the theological ideas of inspiration and inerrancy (Small Catechism, question #3), but I want to make an important distinction. Hopefully this will generate some discussion, but I believe the entirety of Scriptures to be inspired and God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and fully inerrant when it comes to every issue about life and salvation, but I have my questions on whether every word is fully, factually accurate. However, I fully believe that not every word in the Bible need be factually accurate to be inspired or God-breathed.

Why? Most of the following of this post is inspired by a two-article series by one of my favorite bloggers, Zach Hunt. But, so I can formulate my ideas for myself and articulate where I myself come from, I wanted to use a different analogy. Before I begin, please click here for the first article and here for the second.

I come from Nebraska, where football is king and who reigns over the kingdom? The head football coach of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. If you are a good enough coach, you will be revered for years to come; and thankfully we (and I apologize here on out but I'll likely be saying 'we' since I fully identify myself as a Husker!) have had the pleasure of having one of the best coaches of all-time - Tom Osborne.

True enough he won 3 National Championships (94, 95, 97), and has the highest winning % of any FBS coach with over 200 wins (.836). But what made him special in our eyes was that it was more than winning to him.

In the second championship season, one of the players, Lawrence Phillips, was charged with assault and battery. He was immediately suspended from the team and was not allowed to play the rest of the regular season. Because of this decision, Osborne came under fire from national media for not kicking him off the team. Many of the outsiders painted Osborne as a win-at-all-costs coach. However, those that knew Tom, and have followed him for 20 years by that point, trusted him when he said that he fully believed that to kick Phillips off the team, and thereby removing the only positive influence in that young man's life, would have caused more harm than good.

Now, was Tom always correct in everything he did? He's a human, just like all of us, so... no, even T.O. was not correct in everything he did. Was every word that came from his mouth sacrosanct? No. Yet, his players respected, loved and followed him anyway. Why? Because Osborne coached with the mindset of what was best for his players, not only as players, but as young men. It is this love-based paradigm that has earned our trust in this man and gives him the benefit of the doubt in our relationship with him.

So it is with God's word, in my humble opinion. We should never read the Bible as a textbook to make sure everything is factually and scientifically accurate; because if we do so, we run the risk of losing sight of the forest through the trees. We would easily be entangled in the Law-based paradigm that would state that one must believe that every single word must be factually accurate otherwise the entirety of Scripture would come crashing down on itself.

Instead, I find myself believing in a Grace-based paradigm that is telling me that God has chosen to work through (and not dictate) fallible, limited, human writers to express to us how much he loves us and cares for us. I find myself not needing to jump through hoops to make certain inconsistencies match up exactly to allow for certain passages to be accurate because I know that God is in control and he is giving us this faith in which to believe. Rather than being in the courtroom of semantics and technicalities; I find myself resting in Jesus' arms as he leads me on the way of life.

'Hermeneutics' Is Such a Big Word...

Our previous discussion was about The Bible itself; what it is as a historical piece of literature. In this post, I will look at how I have learned to read the Bible.

To kick-off discussion, I asked this question in our confirmation class last year when we were talking about the Bible. I asked, "The Bible is what...? 1. God’s love letter to us. | 2. A playbook to run your life by. | 3. An autobiography, written by God, describing to us who he is and what he’s done. | 4. A guide and directions for being saved or going to heaven." Of course I let them know that there is no one completely right answer to the exclusivity of all the others. When all was said and done, where they stood was that it's a combination of 1 and 3 with a dash of 2 and just a pinch/hint of 4.

The answer one gives to that question will color your interpretation of the Bible and its purpose - your hermeneutic. If the answer is purely that the Bible is "a playbook to run your life by," then what happens when your life does not run 'according to plan'? If the answer is purely that the Bible is "God's love letter to us," how does one explain God's punishments and threats contained therein? If the answer is purely that the Bible is "an autobiography of God..." then where is the breath of life that is evident when read? If the answer is purely that the Bible is "directions for being saved..." where is the sweetness of the gospel knowing that we ourselves cannot sufficiently attain that goal?

So, how do I answer the question: what is my hermeneutic (or 'lens' from here on out so I don't have to continue typing that long word)? I don't have a good answer for it because a) there are a bunch of different types and they could be applied legitimately at different times, and b) it is constantly changing due to new research or discoveries or listening to others or reading new commentaries (each w/their own different lens). So maybe that's my first lens... knowing that my lens may change its focus :)

However, one lens that will never lose its focus, and one that will be my default and primary lens, is that I believe the entirety of Scripture points to Christ. He says time and again that the Law and the Prophets (therefore that would be the vast majority of the Jewish Scriptures) testify to him and about him (John 5:39, Matthew 5:17-20, Luke 4:14-30, Luke 24:25-27). The Gospel writers also note that the Law and the Prophets point to Christ; as all of them, at some point in their book, mention that Jesus did something to fulfill what was previously written about him. And from the Gospels onward, the disciples all point to Christ and what he has done for us. 

It is through this cross-shaped lens that I see the entirety of Scripture as redeeming and redemptive. I see the entirety of Scripture as God showing his love and mercy to us. I see the entirety of Scripture as exhortative and encouraging as we walk this path of discipleship. I see the entirety of Scripture in Immanuel, God with us.