Day 24: Tears of Joy

 Today's reading: Genesis 45-46, Job 37-38, and Proverbs 4:20-27.

I. Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, who are at first afraid, given what they did to him, but are reassured by Joseph, who embraces them and calls on them to bring his father Jacob/Israel (45:1-15). Pharaoh hears about Joseph's brothers and is pleased, telling him to bring all his family and commands wagons to be sent to bring them to Egypt (45:16-24). Upon returning to Canaan and telling their father, Jacob/Israel doesn't at first believe them, but the wagons from Pharaoh help convince him, and he rejoices (45:25-28). Curiously, he must have had a change of heart or a moment of fear, because God appears to him at the beginning of the next chapter to reassure him (46:1-4). In fact, this is the last such theophany before Moses, as the Ignatius Bible notes:

The final appearance of Yahweh to the Patriarchs as noted in Scripture. Not until Moses crouches before the burning bush, over 400 years later, will another Israelite encounter the voice and presence of God in this remarkable way (Ex 3:1-22). The promise made to Jacob on this occasion - that the Lord will be with him and bring him back to Canaan - recalls the similar promise made on the eve of his first departure from Canaan in 28:15. (p. 114)

Nice to see such a dysfunctional family, from modern standards at least, come back together. 

II. Elihu finishes his third speech, about the greatness of God and how fear of Him is the beginning of true wisdom. I like this note from the Ignatius Bible:

Elihu contends that God cannot be prosecuted by men since he cannot be adequately investigated by their finite minds. The comment is aimed at Job, who has signed a declaration of innocence and summoned the Lord to appear in court with an indictment written up against him (31:35). (p. 820)

I've mentioned it before, but this reminds me of the gripping 2008 film "God on Trial," where men in the grip of evil with finite understanding react with raw emotion, especially in this scene:

Then comes one of the best parts of the Book of Job. The Lord responds to Job, beginning in chapter 38. I have heard some criticize this as arrogance or just be generally negative towards it, but to me, it reminds me of my limitations that I am finite, while He is infinite. I don't have all the facts, nor would I understand them if I did, for I don't even understand all that I am privy to in this life. It's an in-your-face, matter-of-fact response that we have to trust God even in the worst of times. Now, I am just as frail as everyone else and struggle with this myself, but I do recognize this. The Ignatius Bible comments on this:

Finally reveals himself to Job and speaks to him directly. This comes after Job has sworn several oaths of innocence (27:1-6; 31:5-40) and demanded: "let the Almighty answer me!" (31:35)... God reveals Job's ignorance and weakness rather than his innocence. Using a series of rhetorical questions, the speeches are designed to induce humility in Job and to give him a right perspective on the wisdom and power of God. The need to vindicate God first, even before vindicating Job, was made necessary when Job justified himself (32:2) rather than God (40:8). It is only after the Lord clears himself of criminal charges that Job is declared to be in the "right" (42:7) (CCC 223, 300). (p. 821) 

III. Chapter 4 of Proverbs finishes with verses 20-27, wherein we find the father's final plea for his son to follow his words, remain righteous, and to "turn your foot away from evil."

That's all for today.

Day 23: Judah Changes

 Today's readings: Genesis 43-44, Job 35-36, and Proverbs 4:10-19.

I. Joseph's brothers tarried in Canaan, no doubt afraid of the Egyptian vizier, Joseph their brother, unbeknownst to them, until they needed food again, for there was still famine. So Jacob/Israel bade them to return, even relenting on sending Benjamin after Judah personally vouched for his safety (43:1-15). Joseph is emotional over seeing Benjamin, and throws a feast for all his brothers (43:16-17). They were amazed that Joseph inquired about their father, Jacob/Israel, seemed to favor Benjamin, and sat them in order of their birth (43:27-34). The last especially must have left them confused. The brothers then received all the grain they needed, as well as secretly all their gold back, and Joseph's silver drinking cup was stashed in Benjamin's sack, all per Joseph's instructions, and they departed to return to their father. Joseph's stewards and I presume soldiers then caught up with them, accused them of theft, and found the drinking cup in Benjamin's sack (44:1-17). Today's reading in Genesis ends with a very emotional plea by Judah for the life of Benjamin, saying his enslavement for "stealing" the cup would kill Jacob/Israel upon learning of it (44:18-34).

The Ignatius Bible notes why Joseph tricked his brothers with the silver drinking cup:

Joseph stages a final test to ascertain his brothers' love for Benjamin as well as their loyalty to Jacob. Planting his silver cup in Benjamin's grain sack succeeds in bringing both of these relational issues into the spotlight. (p. 112)

Indeed, it did. Considering the way his brothers had treated him, it's understandable why he would be concerned for little Benjamin, along with whether they were truly loyal to their father now. Judah certainly comes out looking much better here than before. In fact, we get a hint of the Gospel much later from his time period, which the BIY Companion, Vol 1, seems to allude to:

Earlier in Genesis, Joseph's brother Judah sins by having sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, thinking that she is a prostitute. When his family is threatened, though, Judah is a shining son and brother. We can pray to be not only like Joseph, who walks with the Lord, but also like Judah, whose heart changes. Grace teaches us that none of us have to remain in our sin. With God's grace, each of us can change. (p. 52)

II. Young Elihu gives a third speech in chapter 35, in which he condemns self-righteousness. Interestingly, in verses 9-16, he gives a defense of God's supposed indifference. As the Ignatius Bible notes:

Elihu responds to Job's argument in 24:1-12. Job has reasoned that God must be indifferent to the cries of the oppressed, for he often allows them to suffer while the evil man lives securely. Elihu offers a different interpretation: God is not indifferent to persons in need; rather, the fault lies with men, who are often proud and forgetful of all that God has done for them. If God fails to answer, it is because men have failed to trust in him (35:12-13). Elihu thus infers that Job has received no response from the Lord because his pleas are either devoid of faith or laden with insincere motive (cf. Jas 4:3). (p. 819)

In chapter 36, Elihu gives a final speech, speaking on God's behalf. In this, he "extols the wisdom, justice, and power of God" (p. 819). 

III. Not as bad as before, but we don't get to finish chapter 4 in Proverbs. Instead, we get verses 10-19. The father pleads with his son to "accept my words, that the years of your life may be many". The latter should always stay on the path of wisdom, "the light of dawn", instead of being like the wicked that "do not know over what they stumble".

Pretty standard stuff, but still good.

That's it for today!

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!