Day 22: Go To Joseph

 Today's readings: Genesis 41-42; Job 33-34 and Proverbs 4:1-9.

I. Two years pass, and then Pharaoh has weird dreams he doesn't understand, nor do his magicians and chief advisors (41:1-8). It was at this point that the absent-minded chief butler remembered Joseph, told Pharaoh, who then summoned Joseph to interpret his dreams (41:9-14). Pharaoh told Joseph about these dreams, who then interpreted them to mean that Egypt would have 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of severe famine, for which he must prepare to survive the latter (41:15-36). Pharaoh is convinced and elevates Joseph to a position just below his own to carry out this plan (41:37-49). The Ignatius Bible comments on this:

Joseph is promoted to the position of vizier or prime minister of Egypt, i.e., the one who is given authority over the royal house (41:40; Ps 105:21). This makes him the highest official in the land, second only to the Pharaoh. Entrusted with the Pharaoh's signet ring, he is given authority to promulgate royal decrees (47:26); and clothed in linen and gold, he is entitled to the honor and submission of the Egyptian people. The prestige of the vizier was widely recognized in the ancient Near East, where similar government positions were held in the kingdoms of Babylon (Dan 2:48), Persia (Esther 8:2... 10:3), and Israel (Is 22:15-23). (p. 109)

Joseph did his job well, and Egypt was prepared when the famine struck after 7 years of plenty. The famine got so bad that people from surrounding nations came to Egypt for food (41:46-57). That includes Jacob, who sent all of Joseph's brothers to Egypt for food so they wouldn't starve (42:1-5). All brothers, except for Benjamin, the youngest and probably the last child from Rachel (44:20). So they went before Joseph, whom they didn't recognize, and the latter spoke harshly with them, accusing them of being spies and throwing them into prison for 3 days (42:6-17). After that, he gave them grain (and secretly returned their money), imprisoned Simeon, and told them to return with Benjamin to prove they weren't spies (42:18-25). Interestingly, Reuben rebuked his brothers for what they had done to Joseph, not knowing the vizier was actually Joseph and thinking he couldn't understand him. They returned to their father Jacob and told him what had happened, including the discovery of the money in their sacks (42:26-36). Poor Jacob was adamant that he wouldn't let Benjamin go, even after Reuben offered his own sons as hostages (42:37-38).

Gotta say, this is a story of Joseph that I've always liked, and Reuben's strong behavior is surprising, given his past selfish treachery. 

II. Job next hears the youth Elihu rebuke him! The Ignatius Bible comments:

Elihu contests Job's innocence and presumes to set him straight. He is still thinking within the parameters of conventional wisdom, for he reasons that Job must be in the wrong because he suffers such unbearable hardships. Recall, however, that Job has never claimed to be sinless (13:26); he has only claimed to be innocent of crimes deserving such dreadful afflictions (31:1-40). (p. 816)

Poor Job can't seem to catch a break. Young Elihu then defends God's justice in chapter 34, thinking Job has denied it (which he hasn't). It is, for the most part, a good defense of God's justice, but incorrectly claims that God always rewards the righteous while punishing the wicked in this life, something Job has already exposed as wrong (24:1-12; see also CCC 678-679).  

III. A new chapter in Proverbs? Why yes! Although only a small portion (of course). In verses 1-9, the father advises his son to follow his example and listen to his words, as he did with his own father, and to always keep to wisdom and get insight.

That's it for today on this Shrove Tuesday, and tomorrow on Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent. Wishing you a prayerful Lenten season.

Day 21: Walking With God

 Today's reading: Genesis 39-40, Job 31-32 and Proverbs 3:33-35.

I. Today's reading in Genesis picks up the story of Joseph again. It begins with his being successful and placed in charge of Potiphar's household (39:1-6). Unfortunately for him, Potiphar's wife lusts after Joseph, who refuses her advances, and thereupon she falsely accuses him of attempted rape (39:7-18). Potiphar is understandably outraged, but interestingly doesn't have him killed right away (39:19-20). The Ignatius Bible comments:

A mild punishment considering that Joseph is a foreign slave charged with the attempted rape of an Egyptian noblewoman. That he is confined rather than killed may suggest that Potiphar had his doubts about the allegations of his wife. (p. 107)

While in prison, he prospered again, that is, within those confines (39:21-23). The chief butler and baker for Pharaoh were also imprisoned, and Joseph interpreted the dreams they had had, with the former being restored while the latter would be executed in three days (40).

II. Job asserts his integrity and high moral standards in chapter 31. In the next chapter, the youth Elihu rebukes Job's "friends" for what they've been saying. That was good to read after so many accusatory speeches by supposed friends.

III. Since Day 14, this program has dragged out Proverbs 3, giving only tiny pieces each day for no discernible reason. It's been like the spiritual equivalent of Chinese water torture. Now, a week later, we've finally, blissfully, come to the end of this chapter. 

3 verses. Of course.

Day 20: Judah & Tamar

 Today's readings: Genesis 38, Job 29-30, and Proverbs 3:28-32.

I. So today in Genesis, we get one chapter showing how alien the culture back then is to us today. Judah married a Canaanite woman, who bore him sons (38:1-5). We get the story of Onan, who was slain by God because he "spilled the semen on the ground" rather than impregnate the widow of his brother, which was the custom then, and provide his dead brother a legal heir (38:6-10). This incident would figure into sexual moral theology much later on (CCC 2352; 2370). Judah's wife then dies, and poor Tamar, probably concerned with being left vulnerable, tricks him by disguising herself as a harlot. Judah sleeps with her, and she bears him twins, which he is forced to acknowledge after she is falsely accused of harlotry (38:12-30).

All in all, a very odd reading in Genesis today, kind of shoehorned into the story of Joseph that began yesterday. We have our own debauchery today, of course, but even so.

The BIY Companion, Vol 1, has some good commentary on this:

In the Gospel of Matthew, we see that even Jesus' genealogy is marked by brokenness. Among the women mentioned, there is Tamar; Bathsheba, with whom David sinned; and Rahab, who was a prostitute. This reveals yet again that God can do incredible things when he is the Lord of our lives, even in our sin. God can always bring good out of evil. This does not make sinful choices beautiful or good - but God can make something beautiful out of what is broken. Nothing given to God is ever wasted. (p. 46)

II. Poor Job speaks about his past happiness, when he had his children around him (29:5), and he served as a local official (29:7). Yet in the next chapter, he lays out the great contrast in his present suffering where, "my heart is in turmoil, and is never still" (30:27). In the Ignatius Bible comments on this part where Job speaks to God:

30:19-31: Job addresses God directly. He appears to think that God is not only unfair, but even less compassionate than he himself was during his days as a civic judge (30:25-26). In the end, Job will confess to saying things that he did not fully understand (42:3). (p. 813)

III. We get so close to the end of chapter 3 in Proverbs, but of course the program has decided to snatch that away for some unfathomable reason. All good advice at least, in not telling your neighbor to come back for something when you have it right now, not to plan evil against your neighbor, not to quarrel with anyone who hasn't harmed you for no reason, not to be envious of violent men or do violence as they do, "for the perverse man is an abomination to the Lord" (3:32).

That's all for today!

Day 19: Joseph & His Brothers

 Today's readings: Genesis 37, Job 27-28, and Proverbs 3:25-27.

I. Today's reading in Genesis is only one chapter, about Joseph, Jacob's youngest son, and how he is sold by his brothers into slavery. It begins by giving clues as to why these brothers may have built up such a hatred against him. Joseph is only 17, yet "brought an ill report of them to their father" (37:2), which no doubt didn't go over well at all with his older brothers. I suspect this wasn't the first time, whether deserved or not. The text straight out says that Joseph was Jacob's favorite and he had given him a "long robe with sleeves," which again didn't go over well (37:3-4). The dreams Joseph began having, seeming to show that his older brothers would bow down to him, were probably the last straw (37:5-11). Built-up annoyance and resentment turned into outright hatred.

When Jacob/Israel sent Joseph to check on his brother while they were out pasturing his flock, seeing him coming, "they conspired against him to kill him" (37:12-20). 

Seems rather excessive, but as the youngest brother myself in my own family, I suppose I would think that.

Surprisingly, Reuben, of all the brothers, the one who had betrayed Jacob/Israel with his concubine (35:22), barely stopped this deadly plot and convinced them to just throw him into a pit from which he planned to save him later (37:22-24). It's difficult to know whether Reuben did this out of true concern for his younger brother or just to curry favor with his father, who was undoubtedly still unhappy with his earlier behavior. The other brothers must have still been harboring murderous thoughts against Joseph, for next we see Judah propose the idea of selling him into slavery with some Midianite/Ishmaelite traders, which they did (37:25-28). Reuben is distraught, and the brothers use Joseph's robe to trick their father with a story of how the boy must have been killed by wild animals (37:29-33). Poor Jacob/Israel mourned the loss of Joseph, while poor Joseph was sold in Egypt to "an officer of Pharaoh" (37:34-36).

II. Job then maintains his integrity in response to the accusations of his "friends," as the Ignatius Bible notes:

Job brings the debate to a climax by swearing an oath of innocence (27:1-6) and invoking curses upon his enemies (27:7-12). By employing a solemn oath formula...(27:2), Job summons God, the divine Judge, to make his appearance, to examine his case impartially, and to render justice according to the facts. Job's prior pleas for a hearing were not, as it were, officially filed (9:32-35; 13:3, 13-22; 23:4-7) (CCC 2150-51). (p. 810) 

In the next chapter, we have a "poetic interlude on wisdom" which, presuming it does come from Job, shows the maturing of his understanding and faith in God. As the Ignatius Bible notes:

Theologically, the poem indicates that true wisdom resides with God. Like precious metals and gemstones hidden in the earth (28:1-11), wisdom remains concealed from man and his searching mind (28:12-14, 20-22) until God chooses to reveal it (28:28). It is what man needs to avoid evil and to live with a proper "fear of the Lord" (28:28). (p. 811) 

That last verse I find to be most profound, in that "fear of the Lord... is wisdom" and "to depart from evil is understanding".

III. Ok, so finishing chapter 3 in Proverbs is still not in the cards. The tiny morsel we're given today is just 3 verses (3:25-27). 

3 verses.

At least they're pretty good ones: don't be afraid when the wicked do come to ruin and keep trust in the Lord so we don't become ensnared in sinful pursuits unlike them. 

I'm really, really not liking how Proverbs is being divided up, yet will still stick with the program.

That's all for today.

Day 18: The Heart of Israel

 Today's reading: Genesis 35-36, Job 25-26, and Proverbs 3:19-24.

I. Today's reading in Genesis begins with God telling Jacob to go to Bethel, build Him an altar, and "put away the foreign gods that are among you," which he does (35:1-4). At Bethel, God affirms Jacob as the heir of the Abrahamic Covenant and changes his name to Israel (35:9-12). Afterward, Rachel bears a second son to Jacob/Israel, Benjamin, but dies in childbirth and is buried in Bethlehem (35:16-20).  The Ignatius Bible gives an interesting note on this burial place for her:

Her traditional resting place is still memorialized in Bethlehem today. The evangelist Matthew assumes knowledge of this tradition when he speaks of Rachel weeping over the slaughtered infants of Bethlehem (Mt 2:16-18). (p. 102)

Then we get this random remark that Reuben "went and lay with his father's concubine; and Israel heard of it" (35:22). The Ignatius Bible notes this crazy move, which I'm sure made sense to Reuben, but I find completely unfathomable:

An aggressive move to ensure his first-born authority over Jacob's other children. Ironically, this sinful bid for power will deprive Reuben of the blessing and inheritance he was entitled to receive by virtue of his place in the birth order. Angered and offended by this treachery, Jacob will pass Reuben's birthright over to Joseph, the first-born of Rachel (49:3-4; 1 Chron 5:1-2). (p. 102) 

Isaac then died at Hebron and was buried by Esau and Jacob/Israel (35:27-29).

Today's reading in Genesis finishes with a long genealogical list of the descendants of Esau "(that is, Edom)" (36). This has some significance historically in Scripture, Edom being a rival of the nation of Israel in biblical times, but I found this to be boring, and most of the names are quite odd and meant nothing to me.

The thinking of these folks is almost alien to my mind in ways (like Reuben's treachery), but the BIY Companion, Vol 1, has some good commentary on all this:

God gives Jacob a new name, Israel, promising to make him a great nation, continuing the promises he made to his father, Isaac, and grandfather, Abraham. God accomplishes his will despite human brokenness and sin. We see that theme repeated throughout the Old Testament... In Genesis 35, Jacob (now called Israel) buries his beloved wife. His twelve sons are with him, and we will see how they become the twelve tribes of Israel. (p. 42)

II. Job's "friend" Bildad gives his third speech to him, refusing to accept that Job is innocent and deserves his suffering, for "how then can man be righteous before God?" (25). Job gives his third reply to him, as the Ignatius Bible notes:

After a barrage of sarcastic rebukes (26:2-4), he stresses that God's power exceeds human understanding and yet is displayed throughout the natural world (26:5-14). At this point, Job is wearied by the undiscerning counsel he has received. (p. 810)

The speeches have become repetitive, but what's interesting is seeing the deepening of Job's theology, a greater understanding of suffering, and a maturing of his faith in God.

III. So we can't finish chapter 3 in Proverbs, perish the thought, but we get yet another tiny morsel. The father advises his son to "keep sound wisdom and discretion" (3:21). Nice one, dad.

That's it for today!

Day 17: Jacob Meets Esau

Today's reading: Genesis 33-34, Job 23-24, and Proverbs 3:13-18.

I. Today in Genesis, we get the big "showdown" when Jacob meets with Esau, whom he had cheated. Fortunately, though, the 20 years they had been separated cooled Esau's murderous ire towards Jacob (27:41). They both seemed pleased to see each other again and parted in peace (33:1-16). A bit anticlimactic, but it's always nice to see brothers reconciled in this way. Jacob did wrong to Esau, who likewise had been foolish in his youth for the little regard he had for his birthright, and wished death on his brother for cheating him. Yet, in the end, they were able to move beyond the errors of their youth and remain brothers.

Jacob next traveled to the city of Shechem to camp outside its walls. Sadly, his daughter Dinah was raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor, who, despite this shameful act, claimed to have fallen in love with her (34:1-3). The sons of Jacob were outraged by this, and when he proposed marriage to Dinah, they tricked Hamor & Shechem, as well as the males of the city, to get circumsized to unite themselves with Jacob's people (34:8-17). Simeon & Levi, two of Dinah's brothers, then fell upon the men as they lay helpless in recovery from the circumcision. They slew them all and plundered their goods (34:25-29). Today's reading in Genesis ends with Jacob expressing fear of reprisals from Canaanite tribes, while the brother remained indignant over what had happened to Dinah (34:30-31). 

I have a feeling this will come back to haunt them later.

II. We now have Job respond yet again to Eliphaz, confidently believing that God will find him innocent of wrongdoing (23:7), even though his "friends" insist that he must have sinned greatly and God punishes them in this life (24:18-20). Job kind of wisely points out that this is not always the case, though we may not understand why (cf 24:1-12; 24:22).

As the BIY Companion, Vol 1, states:

Job points out that life is not as straightforward as we would like. Sometimes good people die, while bad people seem to be rewarded. Job wrestles with the Lord about this and tries to make sense of it. (p. 40)

Truth is, live long enough and all of us wrestle with this at one point or another. It's a difficult thing to accept, but in the end, we are still called to trust in the Lord and His will. We are finite, while He is not. Our understanding and knowledge of things is infinitesimal compared to the omniscience of God. A competent theologian could explain this better, no doubt, but as a layman, I've always seen it this way, which becomes clearer in Job several chapters later. It's not easy, which does little to cool the anger at times, but simply IS.

III. We get another tiny morsel from Proverbs. Not enough to finish chapter 3, but we ever so slowly creep closer to this. The imagery of the "tree of life" in 3:18 is interesting. As the Ignatius Bible notes:

In effect, those who find wisdom receive a taste of the undisturbed peace and contentment that once reigned in the primordial paradise of Eden. The Eucharist, called supersubstantial bread, is also called "the tree of life" in Scripture. If one extends his hand and partakes of it, he will live forever. This tree Solomon named "the wisdom of God"... (p. 966)

That's all for today! 

Day 16: The Suffering of Job

 Today's reading: Genesis 31-32, Job 21-22, and Proverbs 3:9-12.

I. Today's reading in Genesis begins with Jacob fleeing with his wives and all of his stuff, after being told by God to "return to the land of your fathers" (31:1-21). Laban and his kin overtake Jacob, accuse him of fleeing without letting him celebrate his departure by wishing him and his daughters well (31:22-42). This sounds doubtful in my opinion, but more like Laban wanted to take back Jacob's stuff. Nevertheless, Laban and Jacob made a covenant with each other and then parted (31:43-55). Next, Jacob reached out to Esau, his brother, whom he had cheated, desiring peace. His servants returned from seeing his brother and let Jacob know that Esau "is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him" (32:6). Jacob was understandably afraid, for it does sound like his brother was out to take revenge with that many men at his side, and after begging God to save him sent Esau some gifts to appease him (32:9-21). The reading ends with a curious wrestling match between Jacob and an angelic figure. The Ignatius Bible describes it in this way:

A mysterious contest between Jacob and a nameless angel (Hos 12:4). After a night of outwrestling his opponent, Jacob is renamed "Israel" and limps away from the scene with a blessing and a bad hip. Allegorically, the angel is a type of Christ, and his defeat points to the Passion of Christ, who allowed his own people to prevail over him. And just as the victorious Jacob was blessed and injured at the same time, so with the people of Israel: some are blessed to believe in Christ, while others are crippled in unbelief... Morally, to wrestle with God is to struggle for virtue... (p. 99)

II. Poor Job gives another reply to his "friend" Eliphaz, rebuking his claim that the wicked are always punished by God in this life (21:7-16), dismissing his claims as "falsehood" (21:34). We get the last speech by Eliphaz in response, and it is unchanged in that he believes that Job is suffering due to some offense he did against God. 

The BIY Companion, Vol 1, comments on this:

Sometimes suffering is caused by bad decisions, either our own or those of others. At other times, God permits suffering to get our attention, to help us realize that we need to draw closer to him. God can use suffering to teach us a deeper kind of wisdom. The Bible makes clear that Job was a righteous man. He was not guilty of anything; he did not need to repent. So his suffering was not due to something he had done... [W]e do not know the mind of God or his perfect will. Sometimes there is no human answer; ultimately, the answer can only come from God himself. (p. 38)

III. Finally, we are given yet another tiny morsel from Proverbs. This one actually has some good advice on honoring God and a reminder lest we despair in bad times that God "reproves him whom he loves" (3:12). Given the suffering of poor Job I've reading about, this is a good reminder.

That's it for today.