January 31

The Covenant Broken and Renewed - Exodus 32:1-35, 33:1-23, 34:1-35

"But I [God] will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way." [Exodus 33:3]

Bit by bit, moment by moment, God is pulling back from man.   

In yesterday's reading, He talked about dwelling among them.  And that's always been His wish...to be with us.  Our sin has repelled Him.  He's stepped away not because He doesn't love us.  He's stopped away because He does love us and so fears the punishment He would rain don if He remains so close.

Before Moses can return from the mountain where he is receiving God's law and the 10 Commandments, the people make and worship a golden calf.  Death and plague visit them for their blatant sin.  But ultimately they're forgiven and saved.  But now God declines to lead them in their march as He has for so long.

And when Moses returns to the mountain for the law again, having broken the tablets in his anger over the people's sin, well, this time the Lord doesn't put His own hand to the stone.  Moses takes dictation instead.  

Sadly, the distance between man and God is growing. 

My post from last year on this day.

January 30

Instructions for the Tabernacle (Continued) - Exodus 29:1-46, 30:1-38, 31:1-18

This is what you get when you Google an image for "blood on the earlobe." Ahhh, I'm thinking not what the Lord had in mind.

At first, I thought, "Wow, more of this intricate Tabernacle stuff.  No wonder it took Moses 40 days to get all of this down. 'Now are we talking cubits, ephahs, gerahs or shekels?  Wait a minute, let me read the recipe for the Holy Anointing Oil back to you.'"

I thought:  "Another day of this?"

But then there's some interesting stuff here. No, really.

Bezalel son of Uri receives an indwelling of the Holy Spirit to empower his artistic talents in the building of the Tabernacle.  Yes, God is an art lover.  What do you expect of The Creator? After all, He sculpted the first nudes.  [Exodus 31:1-5]

What's up with the blood on Aaron and Sons right earlobes, right thumbs and right big toes? Seems silly, doesn't it...admit it.  But not nearly as silly as the things we do out of selfishness -- "Hey, all of this money belongs to me -- I worked hard for it" and "Everyone should have rights.  Right?  Right!! Even pets -- your dogs, your cats...but not the unborn child."  

I also wonder if the blood-on-the-earlobe thing was sort of slid in there to see if we're paying attention.  I know it woke me up.

Then there is that marvelous passage of promise:

"For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the Lord.  There I will meet you and speak to you; there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by My glory.

"So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests.  Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.  They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them.  I am the Lord their God." [Exodus 29:42-46]

Wow, meet and speak and dwell among us.  How did we ever walk away from that?  And why do we still walk away from the God who stands with us?

Make of it what you will.

My post from last year on this date.

January 29

Instructions for the Tabernacle - Exodus 25:1-40, 26:1-37, 27:1-21, 28:1-43

Save the dugong. See Exodus 25:1-5

Does it surprise you that God lives in a tent?  Yes, it is a very elaborate tent, but it's still a tent.  And the Ark, though it's very ornate and exquisitely appointed in gold, it, too, is mobile and strikes me as being somewhat understated for the Creator of the Universe.

I mean, if you're going to God's house don't you expect more? 

In both cases - Tent of Meeting and Ark - God is mobile and on the move.  We live in the tent of the body and He lives in the Tent of Meeting.  Everything on this Earth is temporary and about activity and moving ahead instead of staying put and in once place.  Because it's not just the Children of Israel who will wander for 40 years.  God wanders with them.

Tell me, if you were God, would you go to the people or would you ask them to come to you?  

This is an amazing God.  Over and over again, He comes down to us and lives among us. 

My post from last year on this date.

January 28

The Israelites Covenant with God - Exodus 19:1-25, 20:1-26, 23:20-33, 24:1-18

Record number of snow angels -- 1,791 -- on the State Capitol mall in Bismarck, North Dakota, March 2002.

Wow, they rush into this agreement with God.  Lord knows they can't keep it.  I was yelling at my Bible -- "Think about this people!"  I periodically have to yell at the Bible.  Do you?

But before it went wrong, it was so so beautiful.  

"Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel.  Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself.  But God did not raise His hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank." [Exodus 24:9-11]

I really like that.  The Creator of the Universe has a meal with man.  He tried so hard to come down and be among us even before Christ.  He wanted to be our King, our lawmaker, our provider and protector.  

Can you imagine having a meal with God?  I mean, God doesn't need to eat.  So you know it's about the act of coming together around the table.  Like so many things, the meal is for us.  Not for Him.  And it seems so casual and comfortable.  I mean, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of trembling here and God saying the classic God and angel on Earth line -- "Be not afraid."  I wonder who brought and prepared the food?  It doesn't say Moses and his crew did.  Did God?  And what did they have?  I guess you could rule out one of my favorites -- bacon.  I wonder if it was a breakfast thing?  I imagine there was wine.  Did he do the Manna thing, too?  I've said here I want to taste Manna.  Well, I want some of God's wine, too.  Even if he didn't serve any here, we know Jesus made wine.  And mighty fine wine, we're told.  

In fact, I can't imagine a meal that God wouldn't serve wine at.  And this one, I'm sure they'd need something to calm the nerves a bit.  

What does God serve?  And what was their conversation like over the food?  Small talk with the Creator.  Did they ask about the Aardvark?  Or just say, "Are we there, yet?"  Make any suggestions on an 11th commandment.  I wonder.

Speaking of conversations:

"See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.  Pay attention to him and listen to what he says." [Exodus 23:20-21] 

Hmmmm, hiking with a heavenly being.  So what were the conversations like and what was his advice?  What was his name!?  I want a full toe-to-wingtip description.  A name would be nice, too.  I want a transcript of his conversations.  What does an angel do with his/her wings when he/she are walking along with you?  Do they feel the same self-conscious discomfort we feel about what to do with our hands?  Was he just this off-putting-holier-than-thou-perfectionist-cold-religious angel guy?  Or did he warm up to you and make friends and care about the people and pick up children and put them on his shoulders to ease their way?  Did he tell stories of heaven as they walked along?  About what he did during the war...the war with Satan and his angels.  Did he admit he paused when he had to pick sides?  

I think he cared and was warm and laughed some.  Because the God he served cared for us.  Did he worry much?  Did he know where it was all going, not just this trip, but everything and did he cry?

I wonder.

My post from last year on this date.

January 27

Journey to Sinai - Exodus 15:22-27, 16:1-36, 17:1-16, 18:1-27

"...and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.  When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.  When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, 'What is it?'  For they did not know what it was.

Moses said to them, 'It is the bread the Lord has give you to eat.'" [Exodus 16:13-15]

"The people of Israel called the bread Manna.  [Manna means What is it?]  It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey." [Exodus 16:31]

There is nothing better than a good hot slice of Mariana's homemade bread slathered with butter and perhaps a dab of good preserves.  I remember a Thanksgiving when I was kid.  It was at my Grandma and Grandpa Eddy's house.  Grandma had cooked the traditional Eddy feast -- turkey and ham and mashed potatoes and gravy, lima beans and green beans and some kind of cold cucumber salad, dressing and, of course, Grandma's homemade bread.  Maybe I even helped her knead those yeast rolls.  I did that with her as a kid and I've written about it.  There it was all spread over the table.  But this particular my father and mother where sick with the flu and in bed.  They couldn't come to the table.  So Grandpa and Grandma and I were the only three at the there.  We sat down and Grandpa said the blessing over all that food.  And all I wanted...and all I ate...that day was buttered yeast rolls with jam.

I want to taste Manna.  

This Biblical version of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter or Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific.  They called it: What Is It?  

"Do we have anymore of that What Is It left?"  

"Pass the What Is It, will you please?"  

"Hey, we're down to the last half omer of What Is it.  Pick up some more in the morning, ok?"  

"What, What Is It again?  We had that yesterday and the day before yesterday and the day before that!  You know what I'd die for?  Just one slice of ham.  Bet it would taste good with the What Is It."

I want to taste Manna.  Lord, pass the Manna, will You?

My post from last year on this day.

January 26

Passover and the Exodus (Continued) - Exodus 13:17-22, 14:1-31, 15:1-21

"Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land." [Exodus 14:21]

Incredible...but it lacks the special effects of Charlton Heston's Oscar-winning Exodus.  The waters don't dramatically roll back like pulled up carpet.  At least, it seems, immediately.  There's something more natural happening here it seems.  It takes place through the night, doesn't it?  Perhaps they went to bed wondering what they would do in the morning.  Afraid.  Perhaps Moses wondered how and if the Lord would work.  And they wake to hope replacing fear and doubt.  Well, maybe a little fear remains.  And did any of them wonder if it was the work of the wind and not the Lord?

"Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing, Miriam sang to them." [Exodus 15:20]

Females dancing, the tambourine and singing.  Interesting scene of worship for those of us from a conservative upbringing.   And it's not condemned.  It's recorded for all time.

My post from last year on this day.

January 25

Passover and the Exodus - Exodus 12:1-51, 13:1-18

I imagine the cries that ripped through the night.  At twilight, the Israelites were to slaughter the lambs whose blood painted their door frames and saves them.  I wonder what sort of erie cry went up in the land?  What could you hear if you stepped out into the yard as the sun began its descent?  The sounds of animals being slaughtered to save us.  Did they sense the death in the air all around them?  Then in the night there is a second loud wailing in Egypt.  An other death.  But their sacrifice isn't a lamb -- it's their first born.  But for all of their pain, know that God, too, understands.  He will sacrifice His first born for them, all of them. 

Again, God comes to Earth.  He comes down for the Passover.  

"When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians...." [Exodus 12:23]  

The angel of death will actually take the sacrifice but it is God who comes down to Earth to make the sacrifice.

My post on this day last year.

January 24

Plagues on the Egyptians (Continued) - Exodus 9:1-35, 10:1-29, 11:1-10

"Do you not realize that Egypt is ruined?" [Exodus 10:7]

What does it take for a man to sacrifice economic good to honor God?  A question for our times.  Yes, I know there is the heart-hardening thing.  Much has been made over it.  But Pharaoh's heart was hard before the Lord hardened it.  [Exodus 8:19 and 8:32 come before Exodus 9:12]

Just think of the economic upheaval and potential ruin that letting the workforce of the enslaved Israelite nation just walk away.  Pharaoh knows this.  One of his first responses to Moses is "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working." [Exodus 5:5] 

It will take the total economic destruction of Egypt for Pharaoh to let go.  They lose their livestock, the crops and everything green are destroyed by hail and locust and then a good deal of their workforce disappears with the death of the firstborn and the death of the soldiers in the sea.  The Children of Israel even walk out of Egypt with gold given to them by the Egyptians.  

The ruin and devastation of this great kingdom must have been incredible.  But that's what it took -- for man to stop listening to money and start listening to God.  What does it take for us to let go of the economic and hold on to God?

Make of it what you will.  [If you wonder about that ongoing refrain of mine -- Make of it what you will.  It comes from the book Peace Like a River.  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.]

Bloggers Note: On this date, twenty-two years ago I took on the most awesome responsibility and joy in any man's life when I became the father of my first child and only daughter.  It has and continues to be the greatest accomplishment, honor, gift and promise in my life.  Martina, happy birthday, I love you.

My post from last year on this date.

January 23

Plagues on the Egyptians - Exodus 5:1-23, 6:1-13, 6:28-30, 7:1-25, 8:1-32

It would almost be funny if we didn't know the end of the story and that it will end with great tragedy.  I mean, here is a people subjected to worse and worse plagues.  It's almost melodrama plague after plague after plague being rolled out.  "Let us go now?"  "Not now."  "Ok, how about now?" 

The first few plagues are even slightly comic.  "Yuck, what's this in my cup?" And frogs hopping around everywhere.  And royal magicians who show their power...by making more frogs?  "Frogs, not a problem.  Frogs we can do, but we don't do gnats.  We draw the line at gnats."

A nation that must suffer progressively worse plagues before it will listen to God.  Sound familiar?  Make of it what you will.

And what did the Jewish slaves think?  They had been promised to be a great nation and to be given a land by God.  They had heard about this promise now for over 400 years.  Did they still believe in it?  They were slaves and the nation they were enslaved to were so amazing, so powerful.  How could this promise ever happen?  Was it just a slaves dream?  

Again, sound familiar?  We live in a time and a place where a slave's dream has become true.

My post from last  year on this date.

January 22

Establishment of a Nation - Moses Emerges as Leader - Exodus 1:1-22, 2:1-25, 3:1-22, 4:1-31, 6:14-27

     When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses!  Moses!"

     And Moses said, "Here I am." [Exodus 3:4]

"Here I am" -- Over and over this is the way man responds to the Lord's call in the Bible.  When God calls for Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, Abraham responds -- "Here I am."  And, moments later, when His angel calls out to stop Abraham in mid-sacrifice, he responds -- "Here I am."  When God calls Jacob, speaking to him through His angel and telling him to leave Laban's home, Jacob responds in a dream, "Here I am."  When Samuel is called by the Lord, three times he responds -- "Here I am."

Why is it that when faced with the divine presence of the Living God, we feel obligated to let Him know where we are?  He certainly knows where we are...in every sense.  Or does this phrase poetically describe our relationship to Him?  He is the "I am."  And we are the "Here I am," suggesting He is in us and so we are the "I am" "Here" on this Earth?  

Or, so great is our separation from God, do we simply feel a humble need in the presence of the Almighty to respond to his call by fearfully announcing that "Yes, we're right here, the little guy third from the right in the second row.  Right here.  Here I am."

It reminds me of a Frost poem that has long been a favorite of mine.

Revelation

We make ourselves a place apart

Behind light words that tease and flout,

But oh, the agitated heart

Till someone find us really out.

'Tis pity if the case require

(Or so we say) that in the end 

We speak the literal to inspire

The understanding of a friend.

But so with all, from babes that play

At hide-and-seek to God afar,

So all who hide too well away

Must speak and tell us where they are.

Bloggers Note:  Today marks the 50th birthday of the love of my life and for precisely half of those years I have had the blessing to call her wife.  Happy Birthday, Mariana!

My post from last year on this date.

January 21

Jacob's and Joseph's Last Days - Genesis 47:29-31, 48:1-22, 49:1-33, 50:1-26

"Joseph wept."  [Genesis 50:17]

His father's last wish before he dies is that Joseph will forgive his brothers.  And Joseph wept.  Does he cry for the loss of his father?  Or that his father doubted him enough that he felt he had to ask for his sons' forgiveness?  Does he cry because he's reminded of the terrible pain that he endured at being rejected by his brothers?  Or does he cry for all of their pain -- the pain of a father who saw his children at odds and, perhaps, suspected it was because of his favoritism shown to his youngest son; the pain of a son rejected by his brothers and sold as a slave; the pain of brothers having to live a lie for all those years?  Joseph wept.  

Even the great in Egypt, God's chosen, is not insulated from the pain of a family in conflict.

His brothers throw themselves down and offer to be Joseph's slaves.  Ironically -- For their children will in fact become the slaves of Egypt.  It's also ironic that by selling Joseph into slavery, Joseph's brothers have ultimately sold all of their children into slavery.  

Joseph was the man for his time -- a ruler of Egypt during a challenging time of famine, a leader born of a dysfunctional family, a man of foreign birth and name who rose to leadership.  Sound familiar?

My post from last year on this date.

January 20

Joseph the Egyptian Ruler (Continued) - Genesis 45:16-18, 46:1-34, 47:1-28

The Bible to be used for the Honorable Barack Obama's swearing in as the 44th President of the United States of America -- the Bible Abraham Lincoln used to take the oath of office.

"Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, 'Don't quarrel on the way!'" [Genesis 45:24]

Joseph has revealed himself to his brothers in dramatic fashion.  He's sent them home to tell their father that his son he thought dead is alive and rules in Egypt.  He presents them gifts and the promise of lands in Goshen when they return to Egypt.  He has been reunited with his family after so many years.  And what does he say, what are his final words as they ride out of view:

     "Give father my love?"

     "Brothers, it's been so good to see you.  I long for your return?"

     "Hey, about selling me into slavery.  Don't worry about it.  It's all good?"

     No.  No.  And, No.

     "Don't quarrel on the way!"  

That's it.  What do they talk about on the way home to their father?  How easy it would be for Joseph to take his revenge on them?  Are they amazed at their good fortune and the turn of events?  Or do they ride in silence thinking about the past?  Did they argue long ago in front of Joseph while he was in the pit, trying to decide whether to kill or sell him and are they reminded of that now?  Was that the purpose of his odd choice of words?

I wonder.

Today we inaugurate the 44th President of the United States of America.  As he places his hand on the Lincoln Bible to swear in, let's all say a prayer for him and for our country.  And as we travel together from this day..."let's not quarrel along the way!"

My post from last year on this date.

January 19

Joseph the Egyptian Ruler (Continued) - Genesis 42:6-38, 43:1-34, 44:1-34, 45:1-15

When you stop and think about it, you realize even the faithful hero Joseph uses deception.  He deceives his brothers about who he is.  He even plants evidence on them so that he can threaten them and take one of them into custody.  

Sure they deserve it after selling their brother into slavery and lying about his fate.  I thought forgiveness was all about not getting what you deserve.

Simeon is left in custody.  As he waited for his brothers to return for him and waited, waited, waited and waited, I'm sure he wondered if they would ever return for him.  I'm sure he thought about his brother Joseph thinking the same thing when he was sold to the Ishmaelites..."surely my brothers will come to my rescue."

Simeon waits alone. And so does Joseph. He's forced to wait, too. Since he didn't reveal who he was in the first meeting with his brothers. He has to wait for their return. He suffers, too, wondering if he would ever see his father alive again. If only he hadn't deceived them at their first meeting.  I wonder what the wait for Joseph was like? Did it cross his mind that they might leave Simeon like they left him?  I wonder.

Oh, and I was happy to see my favorite nut -- pistachio nuts -- are mentioned here.

My post from last year on this date.

January 18

Joseph the Egyptian Ruler - Genesis 39:1-23, 40:1-23, 41:1-57, 42:1-5

"The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him." [Genesis 40:23]

Why did he forget?  How did he forget? He was in prison and a another prisoner told him that he would get out and work for Pharaoh again.  Not only that.  He told another prisoner he would hang and that happened, too.  It was incredible, impossible, wonderful -- to regain his place before the King of Egypt.  

Those are not the sort of things you forget.  

Or did he not want to remember.  Did he think to himself -- "Just forget it."  Better to not talk about ever being in prison.  It's hard enough for people to forget.  Why bring it up.  Besides who would ever believe his story, about the prisoner who interpreted his dream.  Because who would believe him?  No one.  And mention this other prisoner to Pharaoh?  Impossible.  Pharaoh would think he'd lost his mind.  Or worse yet -- he would be reminded of why he sent the cupbearer to prison in the first place.  Pharaoh wouldn't believe.  He wouldn't let the prisoner out.  Just forget it.  It's better that way.  Don't create waves.  Don't become a problem or bring up something so fantastic.  Who would believe it?  Perhaps, after all, it was only coincidence.

And as the months passed, it probably seemed less and less a miracle to him.  Like it did when it first happened.  Besides, it had been so long now -- it would be embarrassing to do it now, after so long a time, after neglecting to do it so long.

How many opportunities to mention God and Christ have we talked ourselves out of?  How many fantastic and awesome things have we failed to give him credit for?  

How did the cupbearer forget the man who saved him?  How do we forget the man who saved us?

Make of it what you will.

My post from last year on this date.

January 17

Joseph's Early Years - Genesis 37:1-36; Judah and Tamar - Genesis 38:1-30

This is the Cummins Onan Generator that came up when I googled an image of Onan.  Make of it what you will.

We pause from Genesis' rather quick run through early history to linger on the story of Joseph -- a shepherd, who like David, becomes a king.  

Several things caught my eye in today's reading.  In the NIV, it says Jacob made for and gave to Joseph "a richly ornamented robe" [Genesis 37:3]  rather than, as it says in the KJV, "a coat of many colors."  I wonder if this princely robe -- as I imagine it to be -- foreshadows Joseph's future position in Egypt?  

Ishmael reenters the story.  Joseph will be sold by his brothers into slavery to "a caravan of Ishmaelites." [Genesis 37:25] Ironically, Ishmael's descendants will begin the enslavement of Isaac's children -- a nation through which the world is promised true freedom.  When God's people suffer, it doesn't mean they have lost.  The story isn't over.  And we already know how it ends.  

This begins Israel's path of slavery and freedom.  What Joseph's brothers intended for evil (Joseph will point out later) God turns to good.  And what Pharaoh intends for good to Joseph's people -- giving them the choice land of Goshen -- will eventually become evil, enslaving the people to the Egyptians.  In both Joseph and the Israelites cases, it is God who brings freedom and He will ultimately bring freedom through His Son, a child, too, of Israel, -- Jesus.

And then there's another couple of stories that -- as my friend David Skidmore says -- you won't see on a Sunday school flannel board.  Onan.  Judah sleeping with his daughter-in-law Tamar who takes to be a prostitute.  Some really sorted stuff here and again  you say, "These are God's people?"  Yes, and not only that, as F. LaGard points out in his commentary, these are the ancestors of Christ.  The father of the tribe of Judah, himself, wallowing in the muck.

I don't know about you, but my wife hate's it when the media digs up dirt to sully the image of a hero.  And I love her for here desire that this world was better, kinder, nobler.  But, in a way, that's what the Word of God does here.  We get the dirt on Christ.  Why?  So there is no question that the Lord was born of a very "human" family, no special line, except that God made it special? Or just to illustrate that God takes the lowly things of this world and makes them great?

The short answer is I don't know but He does.  But it's an uncomfortable story to be interrupting the more heroic seeming story of Joseph.

My post from last year on this date.

January 16

Record of the Edomites - Genesis 36:1-43

So I Google the image of Esau and this is what comes up:  A picture of a hairy NASCAR fan, specifically a fan of the number 3 car -- Dale Earnhardt, the Intimidator.  Are hairy backed fans of Earnhardt the modern-day Edomites?  I laughed out loud.  

So Jacob returns home to Canaan and faces no retaliation from the now powerful brother whose birthright and blessing he took.  Jacob must have seemed relieved that he wasn't punished and that revenge didn't come.  Esau moves away because there's not enough space for the two great nations that Jacob's sons will give birth to -- Israel and Edomite.  Jacob is home and now the threat is gone.  Or is it?  

Punishment and revenge doesn't come immediately.  What Jacob has done may never touch him.  But it will his children and children's children.  We live not just for the moment.  We live for our children's and their children.  It is an awesome responsibility but an equally awesome inspiration.

The Bible pauses to record the descendants of Esau.  He has not forgotten Esau.  They are out there, even as the Bible takes up the story of Israel.

My post from last year on this date.

January 15

Dinah and the Men of Shechem - Genesis 34:1-31; Jacob's Journey Continues - Genesis 35:1-29

Hello, Boys and Girls, can you say "Shechem" and "circumcision"?  I knew you could. Now who knows the story of Dinah?

O.K., so what am I suppose to make of today's reading and a violent and steamy story worthy of HBO Films?  

Dinah is violated and her brothers Simeon and Levi not only kill the man who did it, but his father and all the men of the town where he lived.  A bit excessive, don't you think?  Instead of an eye for an eye, it's an eye for everybody who can see.  And they do it using, of course, DECEPTION.  They use circumcision -- a symbol chosen by God to mark his people -- as a means to doom a people.  You just have to wonder what God thinks about that?  

If that weren't enough.  Then another one of the Jacob's sons, Rueben, sleeps with his father's concubine Bilhah.  Thankfully, Jacob doesn't use the same degree of vengeance his sons believe in.  If he'd followed Simeon and Levi's lead, he would have killed the entire clan.  And you think your family is dysfunctional.  

These are a couple of stories, as my friend David Skidmore would say, you won't find performed on a Bible school flannel board.   

What's my take?  Well, in case there is any confusion here, we're reminded that God's people are no better than anyone else.  There are stories in every church, the church I go to and the church you go to, that would make Roman Polanski blush.  We're not good.  We just acknowledge the One who is.  If there is in any good in us, it's His goodness and, hopefully, a bit of our desire to show our thanks for what He has done.  

God forgive us for the impression we've given others about You through the story of our lives.

My post from last year on this date.  

January 14

Jacob Leaves Laban - Genesis 31:1-55; Jacob Returns to Canaan - Genesis 32:1-32, 33:1-20

When we last left Esau, he was conspiring in his heart how to kill his brother Jacob.  So what are we (and Jacob) to think when Esau comes to "greet" Jacob with 400 hundred men?  Seems a little excessive and ominous.  

Is Esau, who was deceived out of his father's blessing, doing a little deceiving himself?  Is he making his brother squirm?  Well, if so, he succeeds.  And is Jacob's wrestling with God a portent of his struggles with his brother and the Lord letting him know it will be ok? 

While man is always trying to change his identity through deceptive means, God is constantly giving his people a new identity by purging them of their past.  So Abram becomes Abraham and Sarai becomes Sarah.  Saul will become Paul.  And, here, Jacob becomes Israel.  His identity is changed before he meets his brother...and his sins are forgiven.

When he sees that his brother Esau holds no ill will for him or his children, Jacob responds:

"For to see your face is like seeing the face of God now that you have received me favorably." [Genesis 33:10]

In forgiveness we see the true face of God.

My post from last year on this date.

January 13

Jacob Marries and Has Children - Genesis 29:1-35, 30:1-24; Laban and Jacob Outsmart Each Other - Genesis 30:25-43

One of the images that came up when I googled "Rachel and Leah." Interesting.  Make of it what you will.

There are motifs to this story, refrains, reoccurring themes that should be a caution and a comfort.  Man's deception.  God's grace.

Laban tricks Jacob over the identity of the daughter he marries.  Now Jacob knows something of what his father felt when his son deceived him as to which son received his blessing.  A son deceives a father.  A father deceives a son.

Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.  And Jacob's wife sells the bed of her husband for a son's mandrakes.  It amazes me that -- through the domestic battle between Jacob's two wives over their husband and who will give him children and sons -- the twelve tribes of Israel are given birth.  

And Laban?  One wonders why it was necessary for Isaac's son to avoid Canaanite women and go to the country of his father's upbringing...when Laban is given to household gods and divination.  And his daughter?  She deceives both father and husband by hiding the household gods that she has indeed stolen.

And so, man deceives.  God not only forgives.  He blesses.  He will turn all this deception between father and son, husband and wife, into eternal truth.  Just wait and see.  

It's wonderful to read a story and know its end.  But, in the case of this story, that does not remove the mystery.  

My post from last year on this date.

January 12

Trouble Between Jacob and Esau - Genesis 26:34-35, 27:1-41; Jacob Leaves for Haran - Genesis 27:42-46, 28:1-22

What if Isaac knew?  I admit it would be a curious detail to leave out of the divine account of Jacob and Rebekah's deception of Isaac.  But perhaps it is included in the divine account.  What if Isaac was not deceived but willfully gave into the deception?  Perhaps Isaac, too, is being deceptive.  It wouldn't be the first time.  Remember how he, like his father, presented his wife to King Abimelech as his sister?  Deception, it would seem, is as much a part of the family dna as faith is.  Maybe deception haunts the line because deception is how sin entered the world?

This reading begins with this verse:

When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.  They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah. [Genesis 26:34-35]

Isaac isn't happy with Esau's marriages.  After all, Isaac's father had sent to his own people to find a wife for his son.  Wouldn't Isaac be angry at himself or feel guilty that he hadn't sent away to his ancestral country for Esau a wife?  Perhaps Esau was too willful to be persuaded.  Willfulness and rashness seem to be a trait of Esau.  Wouldn't Isaac be worried that the promise of a great nation would pass through the line of Esau?  Esau and his wives are already "a source of grief."  Esau. who was so rash and to have so little regard for his own birthright as to sell it to his brother Jacob.  It makes me wonder.

And could sheep skin on the arms and back of the neck really deceive Isaac?  He does recognize that the voice is the voice of Jacob.  Does he play along only to ensure his deniability?  Lord only knows.  

Even Esau seems to suspect this was all a set up.  He realizes his parents aren't hot about his marrying Hittite women.  So what does he do?  He tries to correct it by marrying one of Ishmael's descendants.  Is this really going to please his father?  Or just rub it in?

You have to admit.  It is plausible.  Makes Isaac out to be less of a bumbler though more of a deceptive old man.  Otherwise we're left to think that a deceiving woman and her favoritism ensured that the line of Christ would come through Jacob rather than Esau.  Ultimately God is control...and that only makes me wonder even more.

At any rate, Isaac was most likely deceived and not part of the plot.  And it may have been subtle justice given the deception he'd performed.  I'll warn you I deal often in "what ifs."  It's an occupational hazard as someone in the creative field.  We can't help but think -- is that all, what more, what if?  You've been warned.

I really like Jacob's reaction to his visit from God who affirms that the promise will go through his line.  

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it."  He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven." [Genesis 28:16-17]

That's the enthusiasm and wonder I feel when I go for a mountain hike in the Smokys.

My post from last year on this date.

January 11

Abraham Marries Keturah - Genesis 25:1-6; Death of Abraham - Genesis 25:7-10; Last Account of Ishmael - Genesis 25:12-18; Esau and Jacob - Genesis 25:11, 19-28; A Birthright Is Sold - Genesis 25:29-34; Isaac Follows in Abraham's Footsteps - Genesis 26:1-33

Abraham sacrificing Isaac and...

...Abraham sacrificing Ishmael.

The things that come back to haunt us -- as a country and as a people.  Doing the wrong thing can have lasting effects and implications that we would never imagine.  That giving-Abraham-the handmaid thing still shows up in our newspapers.  The descendants of Ishmael and Israel are still going at it.

It's interesting and certainly no accident that Isaac and Ishmael will sort of mirror one another. Through Isaac the Twelve Tribes of Israel will one day be established while through Ishmael the Bible indicates:  "These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers...." [Genesis 25:16] Both will father great nations and great religions.  Their stories are so intertwined.  Muslims even contend it was Ishmael that Abraham was prepared to sacrifice and not Isaac.

Here's the story as told in the Qur'an and it is Abraham speaking as the story begins:

"O my Lord! grant me a righteous son)!"  So we gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear.  Then, when (the son) reached (the age of serious) work with him, he said: "O my son!  I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice:  now see what is thy view!"  (The son) said:  "O my father! Do as thou art commanded:  thou wilt find me, if God so wills one practicing Patience and Constancy!"  So when they had both submitted their wills (to God), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice), We called out to him, "O Abraham!  Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!" - thus indeed do We reward those who do right.  For this was obviously a trial - and We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:  and We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times:  "Peace and salutation to Abraham!"  Thus indeed do We reward those who do right.  For he was one of Our believing Servants.  And We gave him the good news of Isaac - a prophet, - one of the Righteous.  We blessed him and Isaac:  but of their progeny are (some) that do right, and (some) that obviously do wrong, to their own souls. [Surah 37.100-113]  [If you like, search the Qur'an here.]

As further explanation, one of the very earliest English translations of the Qur'an says this about the above passage:

It is the most received opinion among the Mohammedans, that the son whom Abraham offered was Ismael and not Isaac; Ismael being his only son at that time; for the promise of Isaac;s birth is mentioned lower, as subsequent in time to this transaction. [Sale, The AlCoran of Mohammed, Vol. 2. p. 312]

And so it goes.  Disagreement and war between Hebrew and Muslim to this very day.

Then there is Abraham's son, Isaac, trying to pass his beautiful wife Rebekah off as his sister and to the very same king that Abraham had tried to pass his wife off as sister to -- Abimelech.  In both cases Abimelech does the right thing.  But I wonder what he thought about God's people?  They marry way over their heads?  They have a thing for their sisters?  They're all a bunch of liars?  Why would such a powerful God look out for these people?

I wonder if Isaac had heard the story about his mother being passed off as his Dad's sister?  And how in both cases his Dad made out like a bandit?  So why not give it a try, huh?

Sin has a way of haunting us and our children and our children's children and our children's children's children.  And so it goes.

My post from last year on this date.