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September 9, 2019 · 6:48 pm


LOT IN THE CAVE

One of the more controversial stories in the Bible is the story of Lot and his
daughters in the cave after the destruction of Sodom.  The distress is not over
whether the story is true or not, but whether it should be included in
scriptures.  What point did it have?  My students were appalled at the story.

it is interesting that the daughters lost their husbands and Lot lost his wife
in the memorable salt pillar episode.  In the smoking demise of Sodom, the group
thought that the world had ended and they must begin again, helped along by a
bottle of wine, thoughtfully brought along by someone in the party.  They must
begin again to populate the world in a variant of the Adam and Eve story.

But the solution came with a certain humorous twist.  A student, Ruth, raised
her hand with eyes like saucers.  Ruth, Ruth, Ruth, she kept repeating.  One of
the children produced by that incestuous drunken orgy was Moab.  Moab began a
line that rose to redemption in the person of Ruth.  Ruth, a link in the line of
the Messiah, came from the moral and atmosphere darkness.  Diamonds in the mud.

The story of Lot in the cave is important to the story of Ruth and perhaps
should be studied in preparation for the gentle maiden.

 

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September 7, 2019 · 10:57 pm


PRAYER PIECES

I collect bits of prayer that I can use when people asked me to pray. So often
we pray using such familiar words that people stop listening. Sometimes if you
use a sentence from a great prayer from the past, it kind of wakes folks up.
These bits and pieces are from the year 1000.

 1.  Jesus, we love you. You shine in our darkness.
 2.  Jesus, we are so glad you came to save us. The whole world is being washed
     with your light.
 3.  The light of your coming has driven the darkness from our lives.
 4.  In our weakness, we embrace you who became one of us because you loved us.
 5.  Father, we love you because you despise no one, reject no one, drive out no
     lonely soul, welcome everyone into your arms, and opened the doors of
     heaven for all of us.
 6.  Your love flows into our lives with quiet peacefulness.
 7.  You enter us to calm our troubled heart.
 8.  Forgive us sometimes for thinking we are the master of our lives because
     when we leave you even for a moment our life becomes a burden.
 9.  We do not want to live for ourselves but to rise into the beauty of your
     heavens to be wrapped in warmly in the blanket of your love.
 10. Lord, destroy our darkness with your daylight.

Aren’t they beautiful! They were prayed by people 1000 years ago. I read them
through each morning and when someone asked me to pray I try to use at least one
of them in my prayers. When I can’t sleep at night I’ve become so used to them
that they run through my head.

Here are two different translations of my favorite verse, well, maybe one of my
favorite verses. It is from Psalm 27. They too have given me much comfort. They
are from Psalm 27:8.

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek.

My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds,
“LORD, I am coming.”

 

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September 4, 2019 · 11:22 pm


FAITH

Faith is an odd concept.  I remember the first time it was brought to my
attention in a way and place that I couldn’t ignore.  The pastor in catechism
stood before my desk and demanded that understand it.

I muttered and meandered with a skill that has always gotten me through such
situations until he decided to help me out.

“If you were on your back porch on the railing and your father came out and
asked you to jump and he would catch me, faith would be closing your eyes and
leaping into his arms. Faith,’ he said, “was what drove that leap!”

As  I walked home afterward, the conversation bothered me.  I didn’t like
thinking about closing my eyes and jumping.  I wanted to jump with my eyes
open.  Do we really have to close our eyes?

The one who would catch me was my father, not a stranger.  He had caught me
before.  Faith seemed to me to be an action based on experience.  It is not
simply a belief in a theological or historical belief, it is an action.  It is a
habit of thinking and acting based on knowledge gained by experience.  It is not
blind.

 

 

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October 1, 2017 · 10:45 pm


ESTHER AND THE LIGHT

 I was reading the book of Esther in a Jewish publication the other day. It was
an interesting article and perhaps tomorrow I can summarize more of it. Do you
realize that there are only 2 books that Jews are required to read with their
family every year? The 1st is the book of Moses, which we have divided into 5
books. The 2nd is the book of Esther which must be read every year all the way
through with your family on the feast of Purim. I had never realized that the
book of Esther and the character of Esther were so important to the Jewish
people.

There was a movie out a while ago about the 300 Spartans who stood in the way of
the million man Persian army. The army was so huge that when the horses drank
from a river, it was said that the river ran dry. The 300 Spartans stood between
that Army and the country of Greece. They held up the Persian army until the
country of Greece could prepare and defeated. The king of that army was Xerxes,
the king in the book of Esther. When he returned to his country’s people were
very angry and his wife Vashti refuse to have anything to do with him. If you
remember the story he sends Vashti away and marries Esther. There are many
assassination attempts on the king and after Mordechai and Esther revealed that
they are Jewish, he begins to staff his government with loyal Jews rather than
his own people whom he fears.

It is interesting that that heroic stand of 300 farmers against an army of
trained Persian soldiers changes the events of the Bible. God’s people who had
been taken into captivity rose to positions of power in the nation that took
them captive. Eventually, they had attained such a position of trust and power
that Darius the next King was willing to send them back and gave the money to
rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.

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September 29, 2017 · 9:14 pm


TAMAR

 

We must read carefully and often.  I am often exasperated by the average
person’s lack of interest in the portion of the Bible that Jesus and Paul knew
and loved.

Notice where this story occurs.  Some folks in Seminary who should know better
are annoyed that it was included “by mistake” in the middle of the Joseph
story.  The Bible does not make mistakes!

There is a contrast between the behavior of Joseph and the behavior of Judah. 
The loving of Joseph towards others and the rather unpleasant behavior of
Judah.  The last verses in the previous chapter tell about the anguished sadness
of his father at losing his son and a sneeze later Judah leaves his father and
leaves the land given to Abraham by God and goes to the Philistines.  He went to
a land where the God’s were feared, not loved, and the motivation to go to the
temple was that the priestesses were prostitutes.  Worship was not an
spiritually uplifting experience.

An interesting sidelight is that today in India, many girls serve the Gods by
providing similar services in exchange for some money in the collection plate. 
Satan seems to have found a way of destroying a soul with the crude desires of
the body.

He marries a Canaanite as you point out, but notice his rather abrupt behavior,
no love or courtship is recorded in the Bible the way it does in so many other
storiesHe marries her and sleeps with her in one breath.  He saw her, marries
her, and sleeps with her.  A hint of what will happen with Tamar. No grief seems
to be recorded at the death of his wife and sons.  His sons are wicked and he
seems to value the last because he is his heir.

He leaves off mourning and on the way to care for his sheep, spots Tamar and
skips the small talk.  He is blunt about what he wants.  He is rough enough to
give her some things that he should have been more cautious about.  His staff,
his staff, and his cord.  With a sort of impatient need to make love to her, he
ignores the fact that these are his credit card and the deed to his property. 
In the suddenness of his encounter, there is no mention of house or bed.  Just
grab and run.  Sorry if I seem a little annoyed, but this is not how anything
that has the label of love on it should happen.

I am both amused and annoyed that he doesn’t look at her veiled face which would
have alerted him to who she was.  No kissing and quiet conversation here.

Later when he discovers that SHE has misbehaved, his words in the Hebrew text
are “Take. Burn.”  When he sees that staff, the cord, and the seat, he says, 
“She is legally more correct than I am.”  Sort of a dubious.  “I’m sorry.”  What
a rascal!”

 

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September 25, 2017 · 12:14 am


JACOB AND JOSEPH

I have been working on the story of Jacob. He is an absolute failure in almost
every verse. I think that if God could love Jacob, and oddly enough Jacob is the
only one that God says, “Jacob have I loved,” then God certainly should be able
to love me. Of all the heroes of the Old Testament, Jacob seems to be especially
a part of God’s affections.

But what a mess he is. His mother talks him into deceiving his father. His uncle
takes shameless advantage of him. His wives boss him around. His children commit
murders and other evil acts that are beyond his control to control. Finally, in
desperation he gives a coat, the correct translation is an embroidered coat, to
Joseph as a sign that he is passing on the power of the family to Joseph. The
brothers who are older to Joseph are appalled that this little kid is going to
get in their way. It is an interesting passage when they finally decide to do
him in. They are supposed to be feeding and grazing the sheep and instead they
have gone to a town called the Canaan Las Vegas. It was a town full of wine
women and song. When they see him coming they know they’re in trouble. They
decide to do him in. It isn’t just a chance decision, they are in trouble and
they know it.

I’m always a bit frustrated when people think that the cut that Joseph gets is
sort of a fashion statement. This is the same coat he loses when part of his
wife tries to get him in trouble. A coat or cloak in the ancient world was a
sign of authority.

Notice the fuss they make over Jesus’ robe. They mock him they dress them up in
a Herod’s robe. It is difficult to read the Bible because of our world and their
world being so different. When the woman wishes to be healed, she touches the
tip of his robe and he feels the power flow out of him.

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September 22, 2017 · 7:49 pm


THE BETRAYAL

The Problem I Have Is Unusual but Not Complicated.  I teach a course in the
Bible as literature. Although my students are fascinated by the literary
intricacy of the Bible, I’m temperamentally on it able to sacrifice accuracy for
excitement.

Peter denied his Lord three times. A Jewish scholar who attends my class
announced after reading the passages that Judas also betrayed his master three
times. This is fascinating literary material,  but my problem is is it accurate.

The first betrayal consisted of selling his Rabbi for money. My scholar says
that to betray a bad man is a duty, but to betray a good man for money is a sin
that cannot be forgiven.

The second is the sharing of the bread.  Again, according to my resource, the
sharing of the bread at the evening meal was often a ceremony of reconciliation.
 A father who had an issue with his wife or children offered them a bit of
bread.  If they took the bread, if they shared the bread, the wound was healed.
 Yet Judas takes this bread and presumably still chewing it leaves to betray the
one he had just shared this bread with.

The third is the kiss in the garden.  I was told that the disciple upon leaving
or greeting his rabbi pledged his love and loyalty with a kiss.  There were any
number of ways he could have identified their quarry. To use this sign was to
use this act of love and loyalty to betray his lord.

This is a lovely counterpoint to Peter’s three denials, but the betrayals are
more cynical and a more flagrant violation of traditional signs of love and
loyalty.

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September 20, 2017 · 9:33 pm


SOME TO LEAD, SOME TO FOLLOW

 



 

Three men were in a line on the road pushing small carts filled with stones. 
The king came by and asked them what they were doing.  The first said that he
was carrying stones.  The second said that he was earning a living.  The third
said that he was building a palace.  The king placed the third man in authority
over the rest of his workers.

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September 15, 2017 · 8:08 pm


JOSEPH’S COAT

One of the troublesome ideas I hear a lot but can’t trace back to the Bible is
that Jacob is showing favoritism to Joseph by giving a “richly ornamented robe”
and not duplicating the gift for the brothers.  This would be a bit foolish
because the coat was a sign of authority. It was a royal garment. The reason for
the coat and the brothers’ irritation is that Jacob has decided that Joseph is
the only one of the brothers qualified to be in charge.

Jacob is a very weak character.  That the promise goes through him is a sign of
God’s irrational love.  Jacob has been bullied into several foolish acts by his
brother, his mother, his uncle, and his wife, Rachel.  The coat is an admission
that Joseph is more qualified than he is to run the family.

The dream that God sends to Joseph is a sign of this new hierarchy.  Joseph has
the approval of God to guide this dysfunctional family and ensure its survival
and prosperity.

The embroidered coat is a sign that his father thought his conduct superior to
his brother.  It was a sign of approval.  Later, Egyptian reactions to this
enslaved boy substantiate God’s and Jacob’s judgment.   One of the first
articles of clothing that is important to the story in Egypt is that Joseph once
again has a coat, a robe from Potiphar.

The subject of robes in the Bible is an interesting one and needs another
section.

His brothers’ behavior also seems to reinforce the wisdom of the coat.  We
should be more willing accept another’s blessing and look to our own failings.

Another is that Joseph is an arrogant little brat because he reported that dream
that God sent him to his brothers.  Nowhere else in the Bible, as far as I know,
does God punish one of His for reporting a dream He sent.

 

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Filed under Bible commentary, Bible study, biblical poetry, Genesis, Joseph's
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Tagged as bible, Bible study, Genesis, jacob, Joseph, Joseph's coat


September 14, 2017 · 4:08 pm


THE PURPOSE OF THIS WEBSITE.

Why this website?

Why spend time searching out the details and dusty corners of the Bible?  To
know God better.  We learn a lot about a person from the art, the books, and the
music that they produce.  We can learn a lot about God from the things He
created.  The Bible is among those things He created and it reveals a lot about
Him.  Although we cannot comprehend him completely, we can comprehend Him much
more than we do.

 

Do we have to do all this searching to be saved, to be brought into a living,
loving relationship with Him?  God himself tells us what we need to do to be
brought into that passionate embrace and relationship that will bind us together
forever.

 

Luke 10: 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying
Master, what shall I do to be saved? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the
Torah? How do you read it? 27 And he as his answer said, You shall love the Lord
thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength,
and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. 28 And he said unto him,
You have answered correctly: this do, and you will be saved.

 

This comes from the mouth of God himself.  The words erase all the complexity of
human theology. We must love the God who made us and who made the world for us
to love. We are called to love God and the likeness of God that is stamped on
each of His beloved creatures.

 

The sin of Adam and Eve was their need to seek to know good and evil when they
were created to seek the knowledge of the glory of God.

 

God created a woman for the man because it was not good to be alone. One wonders
if that was the reason for the creation of it all.

 

He is a sociable God, fascinated and curious about his creatures. God in the Old
Testament and Jesus in the New ask a bundle of questions. Our purpose also is to
question, to find and to understand as much about him as we can find in His Word
and in his world. We search not because we wish to be saved but because we want
to know all we can about Him whom we love.

I hope that this will be a living website.  I hope that over time, I will
revise, expand, and correct the material here.  I want readers to suggest and
expand and correct the ideas recorded here.

I also plan to explore other websites and summarize the best here while posting
links that will allow readers to explore and correct what we discover.

 

 

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