In this podcast I’ll briefly argue that since the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) regularly pictures Yahweh as intimately associated with both forming in the womb and birthing, and particularly since “his” role is often as midwife “he” cannot be thought of as a male god. Rather “he” is God and as later (though very early [&hellip...
Our last reading left things open-ended – this shows full and dramatic reconciliation, an explosion of emotion from Joseph, and a clue as to what made the difference between last reading and this one. It makes so much difference to how we live if we really recognise what is going on, and Joseph can give [&hellip...
In these chapters we see again very strongly that we are not told by the text how to understand people’s actions, in these chapters we have to judge Joseph and his brothers, using the knowledge of good, evil and everything in between that is part of our experience as children of Eve and of Adam. [&hellip...
Once again there is more going on than meets the eye! And this chapter is a fine example of the way Bible stories are told so that we have to interpret and judge people’s actions and words for ourselves (as we do in everyday life) rather than being told what to think. So as various [&hellip...
As we get intgo the body of the Joseph story the dramatic episode with Mrs Potiphar (surely another candidate for soap-opera treatment) has lots of interesting features in its telling, today I’ll focus on one, and then make sure to notice also the big theological message these chapters hammer home. In doing this we’ll notice [&hellip...
This is another story of a dysfunctional family, Kuniholm in the E100 notes picks up on some of the causes of this mess, and we can certainly learn some things to avoid from Jacob’s family life. But let’s notice what came between the dreams (37:1-11) and the nightmare (37:18-36). In Gen 37:12-17 we have a [&hellip...
Joseph gets 13 chapters, in Genesis (that’s more than any other character) so Joseph’s story is one of three parts of the book: Primeval History, Patriarchs & Joseph. So what’s so special about Joseph? Message in Gen 50:20: Providence: God is in control even when it does not look like it – “Even though you [&hellip...
Another of the most mysterious and difficult stories in the Bible, this time not difficult because the subject pains us, but difficult to understand. We Westerners are hung up on “understanding”, sometimes it is better to “stand under” (and learn from) than to understand 😉 This may be one of them! If we try to [&hellip...
Don’t look for happy families in the tales of the ancestors, matriarchs and patriarchs, of God’s chosen people. Genesis 27-28 carry the story into the next two generations but present a thoroughly dysfunctional family. Yet Genesis 28 tells also of one of the most dramatic revelations of God and renewal of God’s promises to this [&hellip...
In this Genesis chapter 15 God keeps reiterating his promises to Abraham. Wonderful promises! But Abraham’s replies are less than politely gracious. Which teaches us a thing or two about God 🙂...
