Today, I am reading and commenting on  Genesis 1-3.

Happy New Year

And so we begin a new year, I hope that all of those reading this will spend the new year serving God.

Today I noticed two things which I never thought about before.  The first I have heard people touch upon in various ways, but not in the way it struck me today.  The second I have never heard anyone mention, not even in passing.  So, at the end of chapter one, God tells the people He had created that He had given them every seed bearing plant as a food source and that He had given every green plant as food for all of the other animals (all beings that have breath).  This leads to two important conclusions.  One of those I have heard talked about before: at Creation everything (particularly humans) were vegetarian.  Some people use that as an argument for being vegetarian now, but that is not what really struck me about this.  No, what struck me is that this links the chapter one account of Creation to the the Account of the Fall given in chapter three.  However, the Account of the Fall grows out of the chapter two Creation account.  What makes this significant is the fact that many scholars, and others, see chapter one and chapter two as two completely separate, unrelated Creation accounts.  However, if the chapter one account is linked to the Account of the Fall, that means that it is linked to the chapter two Creation account.   I just realized that I have not stated what links this to the Account of the Fall.  That something is that before the Fall, nothing died.  In other words, in order for something to be carnivorous, something must die, but death did not first occur until after Adam and Eve sinned.

Which brings me to the second thing I noticed.  When people read the account about the Garden of Eden and try to figure out where on Earth it was located, they assume that current geography bears some resemblance to that which existed right after Creation.  The assumption is made that since we “know” where the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers are, that the other two rivers must have been nearby.  However, the account we have here declares that all four rivers, including the Tigris and the Euphrates, had their headwaters in the river which flowed through the Garden of Eden, in modern geography, the rivers we know as the Euphrates and the Tigris have separate headwaters and join together shortly before entering the Persian Gulf.  Now, it is worth noting that the headwaters of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers are very close to each other, even though the rivers go in remarkably different directions for most of their length.  What struck me about the other two rivers is that the words used for the places they are described as flowing through describe places in Africa where those words are used elsewhere in the Bible.  Perhaps as importantly, the Hebrew word here which is translated as “Tigris” only appears twice in the Bible: once here and once in the Book of Daniel.   As I looked at this, it occurred to me (and I found several references online where others had the same thought) that perhaps these four rivers represented the four rivers where the earliest human civilization arose: the Yellow River in China, the Indus River in India, the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia, and the Nile River in Egypt.  The other thing which occurred to me is that the geography of the world would have been massively changed by an event like Noah’s Flood.  Going along with that thought was the recollection that modern geological science postulates that at one time in the distant past the positioning of Africa relative to Europe and Asia was massively different.  When I started writing this paragraph there was a meaning which connected my thoughts in these two paragraphs which I intended to conclude with.  Unfortunately, I have forgotten what that thought was.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 48-50.

I am not sure I ever thought about the fact that when Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons he said that Ephraim, the younger of the two, would become the ancestor of a group of nations.  In some ways that is because I am used to God telling Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, so I have just glossed over this.  I am not sure of the significance of this prediction by Jacob. I just wanted to take note of it.

Once again we have Joseph giving us an example to follow.  After Jacob’s death, Joseph’s brothers feared that Joseph would take his revenge mow that their mutual father was no longer with them.  In response, Joseph states the basis for his forgiveness, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…”  We should seek to have a similar attitude towards those who wrong us.  They may have intended it for harm, but God intends it for good.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 45-47.

I usually try to look for something other than the “Sunday School” lesson in a passage to write about, but I have written on some of those other things in this passage in previous years.  And I feel like the feel-good, “Sunday School” lesson in this passage is one too many people today have dismissed.   When Joseph revealed to his brothers he did not blame them for the wrong which they had done him.  Instead, he pointed out that if they had not done that to him, if he had not experienced the suffering which he experienced, he would not have been in a position to save them and their father in this time of famine.  But not only does he absolve them of their sin against them by attributing it to God’s providence, he also give God credit for his rise to prominence.  Just as when he was first called before Pharaoh, Joseph takes no credit for what he has accomplished.  He was merely in the place which God had placed him, doing the things which God had given him the gifts to accomplish.  Joseph’s attitude reminds me of a book I read about the village of Le Chambon, France during World War II.  The book is titled “Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed.”  The people of the village did much to rescue many Jews (particularly children, but not just children) from the Nazis.  After the war, when questioned about what they had done, many of them answered, “I just did what anyone would have done.”  We all know that is not true, but Joseph shared that attitude: that nothing he had done was particularly exceptional.  Let us strive to have that attitude.  We will just do the tasks which God puts in front of us to the best of our abilities and give honor to God for however they turn out.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 42-44.

I do not know if I have ever commented on one thing which always troubles me about this passage: Jacob and his sons left Simeon as a prisoner in Egypt for an extended period of time.  Ancillary to that, I always wonder about how Joseph treated Simeon during this time of imprisonment.  After giving it some thought, I believe that Simeon was treated as a diplomatic hostage, someone who was forced to live in a country hostile to their own in order to ensure that their people abided by a peace treaty.  We have no idea how long it was between the first trip and the second trip, but it was clearly an extended period of time.  During that time, they would have had no idea what kind of circumstance Simeon was in.  Even if Simeon was being treated as a diplomatic hostage, he could never be sure if something would change that for the worse. I will note that this provides some context for Judah’s offer to be imprisoned in place of Benjamin at the end of today’s passage.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 39-41.

If anyone had the right to give up because “God”, or “the world”, or “fate”, was against them, that person was Joseph.  He was his father’s favorite son and worked to please his father.  Then his brothers plotted to kill him, but decided to sell him into slavery instead.  But he did not mope and complain about his circumstances.  Instead, he worked hard and rose to a position of responsibility and privilege.  Then he was falsely accused of attempted rape and jailed.  Again, he could have despaired, but he did not.  He applied himself and once more rose to a position of responsibility and privilege.  The thing is, each time the level to which he rose was lower than the one which he held before his trial.  Yet, he still remained faithful to God.  In this last position he gave hope to a fellow prisoner, asking to be remembered when the other was released.  The other prisoner was released and failed to remember Joseph for two years.  When Joseph’s opportunity came, he refused to claim any special ability.  He gave all of the credit to God.  Let us seek to follow Joseph’s example and recognize that whatever hardship we face is an opportunity to do God’s will.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 33-35.

Jacob was afraid that Esau had brought his small army (Esau had more men with him than Abraham had used to rescue Lot) in order to exact revenge on him for stealing Isaac’s blessing.  However, it seems to me that Esau brought this force in order to protect his brother from Laban, although Esau may have also been bringing that many men in order to demonstrate the level of protection he could offer Jacob.  In any case, I always find the negotiation between the brothers in this passage interesting.  Esau invites Jacob to join his household and Jacob declines diplomatically.  If Jacob had joined Esau, he would have been subordinate to Esau, but Esau would have provided protection to Jacob and his family.  Jacob chose independence over safety.

The story of Dinah and Schechem give us evidence of what joining with Esau would have given Jacob and his family.  It also gives us an insight into how wealthy Jacob and his family were.  The men of Schechem were willing to be circumcised as a way to add Jacob and his family to their nation.  If Jacob had joined Esau, the son of Schechem’s ruler would never have dared rape Dinah, and when his sons extracted revenge, he would not have feared to surrounding peoples.  However, it is this incident which finally inspired Jacob to make God, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, his God.  It was only at this point that Jacob gave up the worship of any other gods and made his household do the same.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 31-32.

There are several things in this passage I want to comment on, but I don’t see a connection between them.  So, I am going to start writing about them and see where this goes.  When Jacob decided to leave Laban he called Rachel and Leah to join him in the fields away from Laban’s household.  It was only after they joined him that he told them what he intended.  Yet, Rachel must have had some idea of what he intended.  Otherwise, why did she steal her father’s household gods?  As he explained his decision to leave, Jacob connected the guidance to that which gave him the insight to build his flock…and he credited both of those to God.  Jacob mentions the vow he had made to God at Bethel.  I read this as Jacob telling his wives (and perhaps his children) that this return would commit him, and them, to worshiping God and following His commands.

I find the references to God in the discussion between Laban and Jacob interesting.  Laban first refers to the One who warned him not to harm Jacob as “the God of your father.”  A little further in, Jacob refers to the One who aided him against Laban’s deceit as “the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac.” Then when they took the oath not to make war on each other, Laban called on “he God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father” to witness their oath.  Meanwhile Jacob took the oath in the name of “the Fear of Isaac.”  Both recognized God as having the power to enforce their oath, but neither acknowledged God as their God.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 29-30.

Reading this passage today, I wanted to look at part of it that I have often wondered about, but never really thought through.  When Jacob suggested that the shepherds should water the sheep and take them back to the pasture, they told him that they needed to wait for all of the sheep to be gathered and the stone to be rolled away.  Yet, as soon as Rachel arrived with Laban’s sheep, Jacob rolled the stone away and watered Laban’s sheep.  So, was Rachel the last of the shepherds to arrive with their flocks?  In which case, why didn’t someone other than Jacob roll the stone away from the well?  Or, did Jacob roll the stone away in order to water Laban’s sheep in violation of protocol?   In either case, we can conclude that Jacob rolled the stone away and watered Laban’s sheep in order to impress his cute cousin.  Another thing which is unstated, but apparent, is that Jacob and Rachel spent the time it took to water the sheep to talk, and probably to flirt.

It is really worth the time to look at the relationship between Jacob, Leah, Rachel, and their two handmaids which they sent to Jacob’s bed, but I will leave that to you.  I want to talk about how old Jacob and Rachel (and by inference Leah) were in this passage.  We do not really know how old they were.  What we do know is that Laban was Rebekah’s brother and was more or less running the household when Abraham’s servant showed up looking for a wife for Isaac. So, Laban was probably younger than Isaac, but older than Rebekah.  I wrote all of that and realized it does not really lead us to any firm conclusions, except that Rachel was almost certainly not a young girl any longer by the time she married Jacob.  Actually, when combined with the fact that Rachel was herding some of Laban’s sheep when Jacob arrived, it leads me to believe that Jacob was not exaggerating when he told Laban that Laban had little when Jacob first arrived.  Now, about Jacob’s age, we do not know how old he was either, but we have a little more information on that.  There are those who conclude that Jacob was 84 when he married Rachel.  This is based on working back from when Jacob went to Egypt, but I believe that involves making assumptions which those who wrote this would question.  What we do know is that Jacob went to Laban’s some significant number of years after Esau got married.  Esau was 40 years old when he got married, and, since Jacob was his twin brother, Jacob would also have been 40 at that point.  Personally, I would guess that Jacob was about 60 when he went to Laban’s.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 26-28.

When Jacob, pretending to be Esau, brought the dish to Isaac, Isaac asked him how he was able to find it so quickly.  Jacob replied that “The Lord, your God, gave me success.”  Jacob does not at this point consider the Lord to be his own God, merely the God of his father.  Later, when he had a vision of a stairway to Heaven, he vows that if God brings him safely back to his father’s house, then the Lord would be his God.  This is a process that each of us must go through at some point.  We must transition from the Lord being someone else’s God to being our God.  If we are lucky, that someone else is one or both of our parents.  However, if the Lord was our parents’ God, sometimes we think that He just automatically becomes ours, but we must each choose Him, just as Jacob chose Him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 24-25.

In previous years I have written about how Abraham wanted Isaac to marry a woman from his home country. from among his relatives.  Yet, under no circumstances did he want Isaac to return there.  If a woman from there could not be found to come to the Land of Canaan to marry Isaac, then Isaac would be free to marry a Canaanite.  However, this year I want to write about how God provides and confirms His will to us.  Abraham believed that God wished for his son, Isaac, to marry a woman from among his relatives (I wonder what impact how Ishmael, whose mother was an Egyptian, turned out had on this).  So, Abraham had his servant vow to go and find Isaac a wife from among them.  When Abraham’s servant got to the land where Abraham’s relatives lived, he did not know how to find the right woman for Isaac.  So, he laid out a fleece (which is an interesting expression to use here, since it would be many hundreds of years after this story when the event from which that expression comes occurred).  Abraham and his servant believed that they understood what God wanted, but they laid things out so that God could confirm their decisions.  This sort of confirmation from God that we are following His will is not just for great men of God like Abraham.  When my wife and I were planning our wedding, we had picked out a date, but because of events beyond our control we had delayed booking a hall for the reception until just a few months before that date.  Then we decided we wanted to hold the reception in a hall which had deep meaning for her family.  When we approached the hall owner and said, “We would like to have our reception here.”  He responded, “Well, I have no open Saturdays for the next two years.  Except for this one Saturday.”  Which was exactly the day we wished to schedule it.   My immediate thought was that one day down the road there would be a time when we wondered if we did the right thing by getting married.  This was God giving us the answer to that.