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)?