Clothing Share

Something a bit different from the Bible in a year plan... (If you want to hear more on Saul and David, come to the next Biblical Thinking Forum.)

Psalm 104:2 talks about how Israel's God - Jehovah - wraps himself in a garment of light. Clothing in the Bible is less to do with avoiding lust and shame, (something that the legalists and moralists would lead you to believe) and more to do with glorification, authority and position.

So that the LORD is wrapped in light in this Psalm is not because he is feeling exposed, but because he is highly exalted and truly glorious!

Having recently read Ruth, my mind went straight back to the moment when Ruth asked Boaz to spread his garment over her (Ruth 3:9) i.e. to become her kinsman redeemer and marry her. Boaz duly and speedily did so. That is a picture of Christ and his church.

The garment of righteousness Christ gives to his church is not so much one that she walks off with, but one that she joins him inside. The two become one flesh - wrapped up in glorious holy light - united together forever - Rev.7:15 - in the kingdom of Christ and his Father.

Recapitulation

Having tried to comment on everything last month, I am forcing myself to give up the self-imposed expectation of commenting on everything and will focus on the main OT reading. I need to keep it all manageable so as to avoid becoming a baggy-eyed grump!

Exodus 1-3 Genesis finished with that happily ever after feel. Exodus opens and our jolly symphony, hits a minor transition. Just as the life of the human race opens with a Fall, so too, this second book opens with one. God's people have forsaken the living God and started worshipping idols. So God gives them over to slavery under the Egyptians. Having been the head of the Egyptian nation, they have become the tail.

Saved by the Grace of the Faithful God

Genesis 50 The brothers think that now Jacob is out of the way, Joseph will start dishing out revenge-flavoured gazpacho on them. But Joseph has seen too much of the hand of God on his life and on the world to even entertain any notion of revenge, let alone follow through on it.

So the book finishes with a partial fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham:

A Time to Sow and a Time to Reap

Genesis 49 Jacob "blesses" his sons, although, if I were Dan, I'm not sure I would call what he gave me a blessing! But that's probably because I have a very self-centered view of what blessing is. These words are at one and the same time judgemental (in the sense of summing up) and prophetic in nature.

Expect the Unexpected

Genesis 48 Whilst Jacob has also gone blind like his father, he does not appear to have lost godly discernment along the way like Isaac did.  Jacob adopts Joseph's sons as his own a symbol of Joseph's preeminence in the family and testimony that he would (through his sons' names), inherit a double portion in the promised land when they returned.

Fearsome Grace

Genesis 44-45 Joseph devises one more test for his brothers. He frames his younger brother by placing the money and cup in his sack to see if his brothers will leave him to rot or if they will stand by him. He even gives them a get out clause saying that only Benjamin need be his slave and the rest of them can get off scott free!

What is interesting how guilt operates in these brothers. They clearly associate this present calamity they are facing as judgement for their sin against Joseph.

The Life-Giving Son

Genesis 42-43 The years of plenty are now over and the years of famine are here. The whole area is feeling the pinch, including God's wandering family. So Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to get grain. Little did they know what lay in store!

The behaviour of Joseph's brothers suggests that they are bound up with guilt (staring at each other).

Outsiders Have In

Genesis 41 God bypasses all Pharaoh's officials and civil servants and get's him where he least expects it - when he is asleep - when he is vulnerable - sending him dreams he can neither decipher nor fathom.

Neither the economic might nor the cumulative "wisdom" of his empire can obtain for him the answer that he seeks. God's revelation neuters all the pretence of man's achievements in a flash. The Empire which took years of blood and toil to build, in a matter of minutes sees all of her officials groping around clueless.

Feeding the Whole World One Person at a Time

Genesis 39-40 Whilst the people of God had been wondering around in tents, the civilisations of the world had become very mighty indeed! Joseph was about to find that out. God's people are the tortoises of the world, but they spend a lot of time wishing they were hares. This is not necessary - the tortoise wins.

God's hand in Joseph's life and his integrity see him rise to the place of chief servant in Potiphar's house. However, his good work is not only noticed by Potiphar, but by his wife too. His resisting of her enticements is heart-cheering. (We are not the sum of our biological urges! Something I have to tell myself more often than I care to admit!)

Waiting in the Well

Genesis 37-38 When it says that Joseph is the son of Jacob's old age, it's not that he was a pensioner when Joe came along (he would never have been able to wrestle with God if he had been) rather it is a reference to Joseph being the "firstborn" the one who would inherit everything and become pre-eminent amongst his brothers. It is prophetic.Jacob makes him a special robe as a testament to this.

Like his grandad Isaac, Joseph's life would put more flesh on the bones of our understanding of what Messiah would be like when he came.

Pot Luck 1

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Can't see an obvious major theme in today's readings, but maybe I have missed something. If you see one please point it out. :-) This will probably be the first of many "Pot Luck" entries! :-)

Genesis 36 There's not much to say here, except that the phrase These are the generations of... is a phrase that turns up often in Genesis. Our surface interpretation of that phrase is misleading, because we assume that the family trees whixh often, but not always, appear after those phrases are the reason why that turn of phrase is there. However it is a phrase that concludes the writings of the named person. For example These are the generations/accounts/origins of Noah, means that this Noah signing off his written account of his life and times. The family trees that appear afterwards are either put there by the person who took up the writing baton e.g. Abraham or placed in by a later editor e.g. Moses.

Need An Eye Test?

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Genesis 34-35 Leah had become Jacob's wife by her father's deceit. She was the first to bear Jacob children too, but Rachel was the true bride and "vice president" of the covenant with Jacob. Joseph was her firstborn, the heir of promise (remember the recurring theme of a barren womb). What follows is the story of how all Leah's sons, the older brothers, disqualify themselves from the rights of being the "firstborn"- the heir of promise.

Too Easily Pleased?

Does this t-shirt sum up my life?

Genesis 32-33 As Jacob approaches the land of his fathers, he is increasingly preoccupied with wondering how his older brother will receive him. Seeing the size of the gift that he sets aside for Esau shows that he had become extremely wealthy!!  Jacob knows that if anything will press all the right buttons for Esau, this will.

As he comes to the boarder of the land he wrestles with God. Whilst we're not given a definitive time frame, it would appear that it was a long old struggle and it ends with Jacob subduing God (if that were possible) only letting him go on the condition of further blessing, which God grants as signified in the change of name.

The Big Bountiful God

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Genesis 31: God's goodness to Jacob, births envy in the hearts of Laban and his sons, (they conveniently forget all their mistreatment of him). And he decides it is it time to return home. Rachel and Leah are in agreement with him as they have seen their father turn against them since he married them off to Jacob. Moreover, Laban has squandered the money that Jacob paid him for them, which Laban should have guarded on his daughters' behalf should they have ever needed it (v15).

As they flee, Rachel steals the household idols. This is interpreted by most as evidence of her compromised heart before God, but Jordan thinks otherwise, and I like his logic.

Springs of Life and Death

Genesis 29-30: Wells and springs are symbolic in scripture of birthing new life. Think of all the stories you know (example) of that happen by wells. In today's reading, Jacob meets Rachel, the new woman of promise and soon to be vice-president of the covenant seed line.

If you're like me, your heart goes out to Leah. Jacob earned the 7yr dowry, fully expecting to receive Rachel, and got tricked by his uncle. Some would say it was comeuppance for "stealing" the blessing of the firstborn, but as I posted yesterday, I now (with the help of Jordan) think that view is wholly unjustified.

Peace, But Not As We Know It

Abraham loved Ishmael, and wanted him to be the offspring of promise, but God said no, and Abraham humbled himself before God in obedience. Isaac is a different story; he appears absolutely determined to give the blessing of the seed line to Esau the godless, not Jacob the righteous, even though Esau has despised his birthright and sold it for a bowl of soup, even though he has been given a clear prophecy that the younger would be the favoured one.

Isaac’s physical blindness is a picture of his spiritual blindness. Rebekah and Jacob are not morally dubious; instead they show gentle and godly cunning in the face of Isaac’s misuse of his patriarchal authority. He may be the head of the household, and the seed line, but he has no right to refuse what God has spoken. This offspring of promise has fallen from a great height.

From Waiting to Wrestling

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Genesis 25: Abraham remarries after Sarah's death, but she and the descendants she gives him, are not part of the Sarah Covenant Seed Line so at the appropriate time they are given gifts and sent away from that land, for the land covenantally belongs to Isaac.

Then Abraham dies. Isaac and Ishmael bury him and mourn for him together. Abraham was given many promises by God, yet only one was fulfilled in his lifetime - that of a son - the rest remained unfulfilled, but as Hebrews 11 states Abraham remained undaunted by this.

Whose Covering are You Under?

Like Genesis 22, Genesis 24 is stuffed with prophetic pictures of how God comes to the Church. Consider the following:

1. Issac has been “sacrificed” up on the mountain, he can now “receive the bride.” Jesus receives the Church after his crucifixion / resurrection, not before.

Seeds of Salvation and the Fruits of Faith

Finally, in Genesis 21, the offspring of promise is born. The embarrassed laughter that was gently encouraged by the LORD in Genesis 18 flourishes. At first glance, it seems harsh of Sarah to send Hagar away, but God agrees with her and tells Abraham to do whatever she says. God looks out for Ishmael, so he must have been godly, but he was not in the seed-line and therefore (whilst he probably received gifts he) had no inheritance from the household.

Seeking God’s Heart and Ways in Prayer and Praise

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Finally after decades of waiting, the LORD appears to Abraham in Genesis 18 and says that within the year, he will have a son. The LORD also has a fellowship meal with him. Sarah laughs as she listens in, surprised and overwhelmed that she should (finally) have the privilege of participating in the seed-line of God. The LORD does not rebuke her for this laughter; (the Hebrew is more generous than our translations, apparently) rather he enjoys her humble incredulity and tenderly encourages her mirth.