It took me a few readings to 'get' the beauty of of the book of Exodus. Maybe it was all those harsh acts of God, killing blameless Egyptian children and all those animals, that put me off, I don't know.
But if I look past all that what I see is the universal story of escaping from a prison of trouble and pain and all the doubts and false starts that usually go with it. People can be enslaved by so many things: addiction, the past, an abusive partner, the list is near endless.
And it's never easy to to leave any difficult situation, even if you really want something better for yourself. I feel the failed first entry into Canaan and the subsequent 40 years of wandering in the wilderness is a great reflection of that sad fact.
One of the reasons I love the bible, especially the First Testament, so much, is that these are stories about real people with real feelings. You may think you're struggling with new and unique difficult stuff, but when you read your bible it becomes clear that even in biblical times people struggled with the exact same stuff. That always puts things in perspective for me, knowing that a lot of the big questions and big problems really haven't changed all that much over thousands of years.
So ... Exodus. Just as Genesis, it's filled with lots of exciting adventures, unlikely heroes and a God with some extremely human emotions. Let's go!!
Monday, 16 January 2012
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Day 13 -14: Genesis 47 to 50
Day 13 and 14 out of 312, from the Blended Bible Experience reading plan: page 64 to 71 of the Books of the Bible.
Today the story of Joseph comes to an end, closing out the book of Genesis. I'm quite sorry to say goodbye to Genesis, I love this book so much! There is so much in it! Take the story of Joseph for instance. If you would try to pitch the story of Joseph for a novel or a movie you'd be told to tone it down a little. No wonder, look what happens to Joseph in the space of a mere 20 pages! A kidnapping, slavery, a sexual assault, a stay in prison, revenge, and of course getting to be the second most powerful man in the country. He certainly had an eventful life!
Anyway, what I like here is how a couple of motivs from the Jacob story come back again at the time of Jacob's death.
First of all there is the blessing Jacob gives to the children of Joseph. Jacob himself took the wrong blessing by deceit, but now he gives the wrong blessing intentionally (the younger grandchild gets the blessing reserved for the older grandchild), much to the chagrin of Joseph. I guess Jacob didn't get around to telling his children what he got up to when he was a young man.
After Jacob has died, the brothers of Joseph fear that without the calming influence of their father the powerful Joseph will exact his revenge on them. Deceitful to the end (they certainly are his their father's sons) they send him a bogus message from their father, begging Joseph to spare his other sons. It's all quite unnecessary because Joseph is no longer interested in revenge.
Of course, Jacob himself feared the wrath of his brother Esau after the death of his father which he believed was imminent. Well, he was certainly wrong about that! Isaac lived for more than 20 years after Jacob fled from his brother in fear of his life, in fact Isaac lived so long that Jacob and Esay had more or less made up by the time he breathed his last. And so they buried him together. Again just as with Ishmael and Isaac this seems highly unlikely; but it is a nice touch. It's as if the author tells us: family feuds have a beginning but they should have an end as well.
On to the equally wonderful story of the Exodus. Can't wait!
Today the story of Joseph comes to an end, closing out the book of Genesis. I'm quite sorry to say goodbye to Genesis, I love this book so much! There is so much in it! Take the story of Joseph for instance. If you would try to pitch the story of Joseph for a novel or a movie you'd be told to tone it down a little. No wonder, look what happens to Joseph in the space of a mere 20 pages! A kidnapping, slavery, a sexual assault, a stay in prison, revenge, and of course getting to be the second most powerful man in the country. He certainly had an eventful life!
Anyway, what I like here is how a couple of motivs from the Jacob story come back again at the time of Jacob's death.
First of all there is the blessing Jacob gives to the children of Joseph. Jacob himself took the wrong blessing by deceit, but now he gives the wrong blessing intentionally (the younger grandchild gets the blessing reserved for the older grandchild), much to the chagrin of Joseph. I guess Jacob didn't get around to telling his children what he got up to when he was a young man.
After Jacob has died, the brothers of Joseph fear that without the calming influence of their father the powerful Joseph will exact his revenge on them. Deceitful to the end (they certainly are his their father's sons) they send him a bogus message from their father, begging Joseph to spare his other sons. It's all quite unnecessary because Joseph is no longer interested in revenge.
Of course, Jacob himself feared the wrath of his brother Esau after the death of his father which he believed was imminent. Well, he was certainly wrong about that! Isaac lived for more than 20 years after Jacob fled from his brother in fear of his life, in fact Isaac lived so long that Jacob and Esay had more or less made up by the time he breathed his last. And so they buried him together. Again just as with Ishmael and Isaac this seems highly unlikely; but it is a nice touch. It's as if the author tells us: family feuds have a beginning but they should have an end as well.
On to the equally wonderful story of the Exodus. Can't wait!
Friday, 13 January 2012
Day 10-12: Genesis 37-46
Day 10 tot 12 out of 312, from the Blended Bible Experience reading plan: page 51 to 64 of the Books of the Bible.
Today's reading is about yet another dysfunctional family: the story of Joseph and his brothers. Jacob loves Joseph and Benjamin, the sons of his beloved Rachel, much more than all his other sons and once again it causes a lot of trouble. Joseph doesn't help matters by bragging about his dreams of future success and telling his father "a bad report" about his brothers. Nobody like a tattletale!
Joseph is clearly one of the heroes of Genesis. But I never quite warmed to him. Sure, I felt for him, being almost killed by his own brothers and then being sold to foreigners as a slave. And Joseph sure is a capable manager, he's successful in whatever he is asked to do. Working in Potifar's service, managing things in prison, handling the food shortage in Egypt, Joseph is doing a great job everywhere! And with a little help from God he even is great at explaining dreams.
So why don't I like him? I don't like how he treats the Egyptians. When there's plenty of grain he collects most of their food, probably without paying the farmers for it. When the famine comes he proceeds to sell their own food back to them. Joseph may be a shrewd businessman, but I don't feel this is entirely fair.
As for everything he puts his brothers through, well, they've only got themselves to blame for that. But he's also punishing his father when he demands that his younger brother Benjamin be brought to him. Seems to me he didn't think this through.
What I love about the story of Joseph is that those brother of Joseph, all scoundrels, become the founding fathers of God's people. Those First Testament heroes were all very human, doing all kinds of terrible - but very human stuff. It's not exactly God-like to be so jealous of you sibling that you want to kill him or sell him into slavery. But it seems that the God of the First Testament is content to work with people as flawed as that. And that gives me hope!
Today's reading is about yet another dysfunctional family: the story of Joseph and his brothers. Jacob loves Joseph and Benjamin, the sons of his beloved Rachel, much more than all his other sons and once again it causes a lot of trouble. Joseph doesn't help matters by bragging about his dreams of future success and telling his father "a bad report" about his brothers. Nobody like a tattletale!
Joseph is clearly one of the heroes of Genesis. But I never quite warmed to him. Sure, I felt for him, being almost killed by his own brothers and then being sold to foreigners as a slave. And Joseph sure is a capable manager, he's successful in whatever he is asked to do. Working in Potifar's service, managing things in prison, handling the food shortage in Egypt, Joseph is doing a great job everywhere! And with a little help from God he even is great at explaining dreams.
So why don't I like him? I don't like how he treats the Egyptians. When there's plenty of grain he collects most of their food, probably without paying the farmers for it. When the famine comes he proceeds to sell their own food back to them. Joseph may be a shrewd businessman, but I don't feel this is entirely fair.
As for everything he puts his brothers through, well, they've only got themselves to blame for that. But he's also punishing his father when he demands that his younger brother Benjamin be brought to him. Seems to me he didn't think this through.
What I love about the story of Joseph is that those brother of Joseph, all scoundrels, become the founding fathers of God's people. Those First Testament heroes were all very human, doing all kinds of terrible - but very human stuff. It's not exactly God-like to be so jealous of you sibling that you want to kill him or sell him into slavery. But it seems that the God of the First Testament is content to work with people as flawed as that. And that gives me hope!
Day 7 to 9: Genesis 25 -37
Day 7 to 9 out of 312, from the Blended Bible Experience reading plan: page 35 to 51 of the Books of the Bible.
Today's reading is about the story of Jacob and Esau. If there's one thing you learn from reading the book of Genesis, it's that family life is tough. Brothers hate each other. Parents favour one child over the other. It never ends well. In literature that is, in real life most adult children just grin and bear it.
And if you thought trouble with the in-laws was a modern-day invention, think again! The foreign wives Esau takes "were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah". It seems some things never change!
Rebekah, her brother Laban and her son Jacob, all three are cheaters and all three suffer because of it. Jacob cheats his brother Esau out of his inheritance and has to run for his life to escape the revenge of his brother. Laban tricks his nephew into working for him for 14 years to marry Rachel instead of the seven they agreed upon. Later he also tries to cheat Jacob out of his wages. It all ends in tears as Jacob finally has enough and he and his family flee from Laban. Laban has to let his daughters and grandchildren go. And then there's Rebekah; I feel for her. All that scheming to ensure her favourite Jacob gets the blessing that was meant for Esau and what does she get out of it? Never seeing her beloved son again!
Now I've always had a soft spot for Jacob, I don't know why. True, he's a deceiver, but he gets deceived as well. And he's quite resourceful and never gives up. But there's one thing I find unforgivable. What kind of man never notices he's in bed with the wrong woman? You'd think that after working to win her hand in marriage for seven years he knows what she looks like! The women probably were kept away from the men, but still. And when he finds out the truth he finishes out the week with Leah anyway! Shame on him.
Today's reading is about the story of Jacob and Esau. If there's one thing you learn from reading the book of Genesis, it's that family life is tough. Brothers hate each other. Parents favour one child over the other. It never ends well. In literature that is, in real life most adult children just grin and bear it.
And if you thought trouble with the in-laws was a modern-day invention, think again! The foreign wives Esau takes "were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah". It seems some things never change!
Rebekah, her brother Laban and her son Jacob, all three are cheaters and all three suffer because of it. Jacob cheats his brother Esau out of his inheritance and has to run for his life to escape the revenge of his brother. Laban tricks his nephew into working for him for 14 years to marry Rachel instead of the seven they agreed upon. Later he also tries to cheat Jacob out of his wages. It all ends in tears as Jacob finally has enough and he and his family flee from Laban. Laban has to let his daughters and grandchildren go. And then there's Rebekah; I feel for her. All that scheming to ensure her favourite Jacob gets the blessing that was meant for Esau and what does she get out of it? Never seeing her beloved son again!
Now I've always had a soft spot for Jacob, I don't know why. True, he's a deceiver, but he gets deceived as well. And he's quite resourceful and never gives up. But there's one thing I find unforgivable. What kind of man never notices he's in bed with the wrong woman? You'd think that after working to win her hand in marriage for seven years he knows what she looks like! The women probably were kept away from the men, but still. And when he finds out the truth he finishes out the week with Leah anyway! Shame on him.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Day 6 - Genesis 23 tot 26
Day 6 out of 312, from the Blended Bible Experience reading plan: page 31 to 35 of the Books of the Bible.
The author of Genesis really is a master story teller. My reading for today was full of lovely details.
I grin at the senior servant of Abraham. The man made a deal with God, that the helpful girl who will offer to give water not only to him but his animals also, will be the girl God has chosen for Isaac. But then, after Rebekah does just that "the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful". Heh, he's still not totally sure. Trusting God is not easy, not even for the people in the Bible!
It's great how the author depicts Rebekah, it's made clear from the start that she's not a push-over (foreshadowing of all her future scheming perhaps). When her whole family wants her to stay for a few days before leaving the servant of Abraham so that they can have a proper goodbye, she is the one who says: "Let's go!". And she goes, never to see any of them again.
The author tells us that Isaac loved Rebekah; he "was comforted after his mother's death". Poor man, the years when he was alone with his father, who after all attempted to sacrifice him, can't have been easy.
When Abraham dies, his sons Isaac and Ishmael, bury him together. Although highly unlikely given all that's passed between them it's a nice touch to mention Ishmael again.
And with that the story of Abraham is over and we continue with that loveable biblical rogue Jacob.
The author of Genesis really is a master story teller. My reading for today was full of lovely details.
I grin at the senior servant of Abraham. The man made a deal with God, that the helpful girl who will offer to give water not only to him but his animals also, will be the girl God has chosen for Isaac. But then, after Rebekah does just that "the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful". Heh, he's still not totally sure. Trusting God is not easy, not even for the people in the Bible!
It's great how the author depicts Rebekah, it's made clear from the start that she's not a push-over (foreshadowing of all her future scheming perhaps). When her whole family wants her to stay for a few days before leaving the servant of Abraham so that they can have a proper goodbye, she is the one who says: "Let's go!". And she goes, never to see any of them again.
The author tells us that Isaac loved Rebekah; he "was comforted after his mother's death". Poor man, the years when he was alone with his father, who after all attempted to sacrifice him, can't have been easy.
When Abraham dies, his sons Isaac and Ishmael, bury him together. Although highly unlikely given all that's passed between them it's a nice touch to mention Ishmael again.
And with that the story of Abraham is over and we continue with that loveable biblical rogue Jacob.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Day 5 - page 27-32 Books of the Bible (Genesis)
Abraham tries the "my wife is my sister" story one more time, this time with the king of Gerar. Fortunately God warns the king in no uncertain terms in a dream before he takes advantage of Sarah. Justifiably angry the king demands answers from Abraham and surprise: Sarah really is Abraham's sister, his half-sister to be precise!
The first time I read through Genesis I giggled out loud at this story. I guess Abraham realised that if you have to lie it's best to stay as close to the truth as possible! It always amazes me how little people have changed since biblical times. Sure, the progress we've made is simply astoundig, but I don't believe we humans changed a lot deep down where it counts.
There is quite a lot of funny stuff in the bible, at least I think there is. I love this bit.
When his wife Sarah dies Abraham wants to buy some land for a burial site for her. What follows is a negotiation between Abraham and the owner of the land Abraham wants to buy, with the owner of the land insisting that Abraham accept the land as a gift, and Abraham telling him he wants to buy at full price. After going back and forth a few times the owner comes out with this gem: "Listen to me, my lord: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between me and you? Bury your dead." Four hundred shekels was an absolute fortune at the time. Teehee.
The first time I read through Genesis I giggled out loud at this story. I guess Abraham realised that if you have to lie it's best to stay as close to the truth as possible! It always amazes me how little people have changed since biblical times. Sure, the progress we've made is simply astoundig, but I don't believe we humans changed a lot deep down where it counts.
There is quite a lot of funny stuff in the bible, at least I think there is. I love this bit.
When his wife Sarah dies Abraham wants to buy some land for a burial site for her. What follows is a negotiation between Abraham and the owner of the land Abraham wants to buy, with the owner of the land insisting that Abraham accept the land as a gift, and Abraham telling him he wants to buy at full price. After going back and forth a few times the owner comes out with this gem: "Listen to me, my lord: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between me and you? Bury your dead." Four hundred shekels was an absolute fortune at the time. Teehee.
Day 4 - page 22-27 Books of the Bible (Genesis)
You gotta love how the Lord just shows up at Abraham's tent and shares a meal with him. It's all so cozy! Sometimes I envy people of biblical times who lived so close to the Divine at times.
In other news I am in awe of the amazing smear job of the author of Genesis on the Moabites and the Ammonites, telling us that Moab and Ben-Ammi (founding fathers of the Moabites and the Ammonites) were the incestuous offspring of Lot and his daughters.
Afraid that there are no more men left in the world and their family line might die out, Lot's daughters on two consecutive nights give their father too much wine to drink and have sex with him when he's out cold. Lot comes off as a prize idiot (not the first time actually). And the daughters are clearly quite stupid as well, they never thought of looking for a husband in Zoar or any of the other villages instead of settling for their father. As I said it's a great smear job. Even the English tabloids have nothing on the bible, and that's saying something!
In other news I am in awe of the amazing smear job of the author of Genesis on the Moabites and the Ammonites, telling us that Moab and Ben-Ammi (founding fathers of the Moabites and the Ammonites) were the incestuous offspring of Lot and his daughters.
Afraid that there are no more men left in the world and their family line might die out, Lot's daughters on two consecutive nights give their father too much wine to drink and have sex with him when he's out cold. Lot comes off as a prize idiot (not the first time actually). And the daughters are clearly quite stupid as well, they never thought of looking for a husband in Zoar or any of the other villages instead of settling for their father. As I said it's a great smear job. Even the English tabloids have nothing on the bible, and that's saying something!
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Day 3 - page 16 -22 Books of the Bible (Genesis)
As I said before, I love Genesis! So I'll be blogging quite a lot for the next 10 days, that's how long it takes to go through the whole of Genesis in this reading plan.
Today: the story of Babel and we meet Abram for the first time.
I've always liked the story of Babel. There's this character flaw in humans to always want to reach a bit further than they should, be a little bigger than they should. The human race as a whole suffers from just a touch of hubris. I think the author of Genesis captured that beautifully with this tale of a tower that had to reach well into the skies.
And then we get to Abram, one of the Patriarchs. And not altogether a nice man, I feel.
His treatment of Sara, asking her to tell the Pharaoh she is his sister not his wife, is certainly not gentleman-like but very pragmatic. If Sara had told the truth, Abram likely would have been killed and Sara still have would have ended up as one of Pharaohs wives. But this time without any possibility of ever getting out. By telling the lie she is reunited with her husband after a short amount of time. It cost her dearly, relations with the Pharaoh were quite probably not consensual.
Abram may not be a loyal husband, but he is a very loyal uncle, rescuing his nephew Lot from slavery or death not once but twice. Today the reading includes the first rescue.
Today: the story of Babel and we meet Abram for the first time.
I've always liked the story of Babel. There's this character flaw in humans to always want to reach a bit further than they should, be a little bigger than they should. The human race as a whole suffers from just a touch of hubris. I think the author of Genesis captured that beautifully with this tale of a tower that had to reach well into the skies.
And then we get to Abram, one of the Patriarchs. And not altogether a nice man, I feel.
His treatment of Sara, asking her to tell the Pharaoh she is his sister not his wife, is certainly not gentleman-like but very pragmatic. If Sara had told the truth, Abram likely would have been killed and Sara still have would have ended up as one of Pharaohs wives. But this time without any possibility of ever getting out. By telling the lie she is reunited with her husband after a short amount of time. It cost her dearly, relations with the Pharaoh were quite probably not consensual.
Abram may not be a loyal husband, but he is a very loyal uncle, rescuing his nephew Lot from slavery or death not once but twice. Today the reading includes the first rescue.
Day 2 - page 11 to 16 (Genesis)
Day two and we're into the first worldwide catastrophe: the Flood.
Isn't it weird how there seems to be a different set of rules for bible stories? I've got a lovely children's bible with a picture of the Ark on the cover. Imagine giving your child a book with a picture of the boat with a few survivors of the tsunami on the cover. People would look at you very strangely indeed. But because it is the bible people have decided that this story about everybody on earth (apart from Noah and his family) dying a horrible death by drowning is a perfectly nice story for children.
The odd story about the sons of God and the Nephilim intrigues me as ever. Sometimes you come across a fragment of a story that is really old.
As I said before: whenever I read the familiar stories I notice something new. I never really saw before that while God regrets making humans, He decides to wipe out from the face of the earth not only the human beings but "the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground". At times the God of Genesis is not nice.
But I can't help but love the God of Genesis. Yesterday I marvelled at the author's portrayal of God walking in the garden of Eden. Today I love the fact that it is God that closes the door of the Ark. The author of Genesis did a wonderful job mentioning little details like that.
Isn't it weird how there seems to be a different set of rules for bible stories? I've got a lovely children's bible with a picture of the Ark on the cover. Imagine giving your child a book with a picture of the boat with a few survivors of the tsunami on the cover. People would look at you very strangely indeed. But because it is the bible people have decided that this story about everybody on earth (apart from Noah and his family) dying a horrible death by drowning is a perfectly nice story for children.
The odd story about the sons of God and the Nephilim intrigues me as ever. Sometimes you come across a fragment of a story that is really old.
As I said before: whenever I read the familiar stories I notice something new. I never really saw before that while God regrets making humans, He decides to wipe out from the face of the earth not only the human beings but "the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground". At times the God of Genesis is not nice.
But I can't help but love the God of Genesis. Yesterday I marvelled at the author's portrayal of God walking in the garden of Eden. Today I love the fact that it is God that closes the door of the Ark. The author of Genesis did a wonderful job mentioning little details like that.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Day 1 - out of 312
And .... we're off.
Today is day 1 out of 318 of my bible reading plan. I read page 7 to 11 from this bible: The Books of the Bible (BotB). The Books of the Bible uses the Today's New International Version (TNIV) translation.
So we're starting with Genesis. I imagine most bible reading plans start the year off with Genesis. And why shouldn't they? The first book of the bible is one cracking story after another. Genesis is an amazing book, it's easily one of my favourite bible books and one of my favourite books in general.
The story of the creation of the world is just wonderful. Everything in it's place and a place for everything. The first chapter of Genesis is such a beautiful poem, I love it. The world is beautiful, ordered. But it doesn't stay that way. It doesn't take us long to get to the two fundamental questions of my bible reading for today.
Why is it that people do wrong (eating that apple) even though they know they shouldn't and there is a perfectly good alternative line of action available, i.e. living out their life in the bliss of the garden of Eden, walking with God? I always imagine the garden of Eden to be in a state of eternal Summer, or even better, late Spring. The thought of God taking a late afternoon stroll through the world he so lovingly created makes me smile happily. It's such a delightful image.
The other age-old question of my reading for today was about war. Why do people get the urge to harm or even kill one another? The fact that the first murder of the bible is a family affair is shocking, but par for the course for Genesis.
Genesis is a book about beginnings and origins. And families. Whenever I re-read Genesis I am always amazed by how many completely dysfunctional families are in there. There can't be many possible horrors of family life left that don't get a mention in this bible book.
I can't help but snort when I hear someone pontificating about how the worlds needs more biblical family values. No thank you, we certainly don't need more of the biblical family values found in Genesis. Sleeping with your daughters while drunk, sleeping with your daughter-in-law because you mistake her for a prostitute, cheating your brother out of his inheritance, selling your brother into slavery, the list goes on and on.
Today is day 1 out of 318 of my bible reading plan. I read page 7 to 11 from this bible: The Books of the Bible (BotB). The Books of the Bible uses the Today's New International Version (TNIV) translation.
So we're starting with Genesis. I imagine most bible reading plans start the year off with Genesis. And why shouldn't they? The first book of the bible is one cracking story after another. Genesis is an amazing book, it's easily one of my favourite bible books and one of my favourite books in general.
The story of the creation of the world is just wonderful. Everything in it's place and a place for everything. The first chapter of Genesis is such a beautiful poem, I love it. The world is beautiful, ordered. But it doesn't stay that way. It doesn't take us long to get to the two fundamental questions of my bible reading for today.
Why is it that people do wrong (eating that apple) even though they know they shouldn't and there is a perfectly good alternative line of action available, i.e. living out their life in the bliss of the garden of Eden, walking with God? I always imagine the garden of Eden to be in a state of eternal Summer, or even better, late Spring. The thought of God taking a late afternoon stroll through the world he so lovingly created makes me smile happily. It's such a delightful image.
The other age-old question of my reading for today was about war. Why do people get the urge to harm or even kill one another? The fact that the first murder of the bible is a family affair is shocking, but par for the course for Genesis.
Genesis is a book about beginnings and origins. And families. Whenever I re-read Genesis I am always amazed by how many completely dysfunctional families are in there. There can't be many possible horrors of family life left that don't get a mention in this bible book.
I can't help but snort when I hear someone pontificating about how the worlds needs more biblical family values. No thank you, we certainly don't need more of the biblical family values found in Genesis. Sleeping with your daughters while drunk, sleeping with your daughter-in-law because you mistake her for a prostitute, cheating your brother out of his inheritance, selling your brother into slavery, the list goes on and on.
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