Dear friends on this journey through the Bible,
I hope you too have enjoyed this first week of readings in the Bible Challenge 2013. I hear lots of you reflecting on new discoveries, leading to new questions. One asked me today about the contrast in the temptation accounts of Matthew vs. Luke, since we heard them both this weekend if you were doing the Bible Challenge AND here for Sunday morning on Lent 1.
This week it gets really interesting... especially in the Old Testament. In church we talk a lot of "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." But this week we will see the full story - and it is NOT all pretty! Abraham is known as the "father of the faithful" but you will wonder how he claims that title with some of his shenanigans. And he looks like an amateur compared to his son, Isaac or grandson Jacob, when it comes to underhanded tricks, deception, and outright stealing. We will read about the famous "binding of Isaac" and wonder what kind of father (or God) is this. (One of these Wednesday nights I'll be teaching on that story.) Jacob will meet his match in his future father-in-law, Laban.
Imagine you are one of the women in the story like Jacob's wives, Rachel and sister, Leah, or one of their slaves, Zilpah or Bilpah, who also have children with Jacob. Family values in the Old Testament are something else! And what must they have thought when Jacob decides to go home, knowing Esau could be still an unhappy camper. Jacob will finally be wrestled to the ground by God in an all-night MMA match.
We'd like to think the New Testament will be better, but the disciples are full... not of the Spirit, but full of fear, even after Jesus calls them and does miracle after miracle. You might think, "well, what do you expect, when Jesus calls un-educated fishermen and shady tax collectors for his team."
Of course, they are all part of the family. And if your family is like mine, all the stories that are passed on from generation to generation have something important to say. So this week, let's pay attention to how regular folks like you and me respond to God's call and how God deals with us when we don't respond too faithfully.
I'm following the blog this week and hope I can keep up with you! Keep reading. Keep praying. Keep growing.
Peace and blessings,
Bob+
I appreciate and in some ways find reassuring that God has faith in humans that fall short regularly. However, the most painful part of the OT readings thus far are stories about God's actions which don't appear to be 'just' or fair by most standards. Specifically, God wiping away all humanity except Noah and family in the flood. Surely, the children, babies, and animals of the other humans were not guilty enough to die. Gen 12:17, God inflicts a disease on Pharaoh and his household as a result of Abram being guilty of deception. And then Abram walks away rewarded with serious riches (cattle, etc.) In the OT, there is eye for an eye to limit punishment to ensure justice and the NT takes it a step further to 'turn the cheek' which presumably shows more grace.
ReplyDeleteGood observations of some of the most difficult objections to the plain reading of Scripture. The "Flood" epic in Genesis can be one of the hardest when we pay attention to how the story actually goes. When we talk about it in Day School chapel, like this week, we skip right over all the 'other' humans and animals that are wiped out!
ReplyDeleteBut it is helpful to see the first 11 chapters of Genesis as "pre-history" - Israel taking what they know of the universe, of their own seeming history, and utilizing similar ancient myths of competing cultures, to craft their own narrative accounts of who God is, what they believe God was doing, and why the world God created is the way it appears. The Flood and Noah story is the culmination of the chapters leading to it. God creates a world and humanity to be in relationship - covenant - and time after time, humanity chooses to reject God and God's intention. Read closely, the narrative is not about mixed up humans, some of whom might be doing right and others wrong. It is a human race that has chosen its own way and creation is fatally flawed. It has rejected its very purpose and in case after case, moves farther and farther away from God. The theological question isn't about humanity. It is whether or not God will abandon his "project" completely. The interesting contrast to other "flood myths" is that here Israel proclaims that God will NOT abandon or play games with the creation God chose to make and love. Rather, it will get a brand new start. When seen as a theological statement about God's faithfulness, and the value creation has for God, it is a positive story. (The details always get in the way of good stories.)
There's much more to say about other examples, such as the Exodus epic, but we haven't gotten there yet in the readings! I'll leave some of that for later. Generally though, the Old Testament is full of grace especially when seen in context of the times. Eye for an eye was a dramatic moderation of the typical response. But we've got a whole year to keep working on these! Thanks for bringing out the details. Important to deal with where we can.
Bob+