Ye gads - what a day! The kind they model roller coasters after. When I'm feeling sad, I watch Sister Act 2. I had the hardest time deciding which powerful song to put on this blog! I freaking love the "O Happy Day" scene. And, "If you wanna be somebody, if you wanna go somewhere, then you better wake up and pay attention," has been running through my head for the past several days. But alas, how could I not put "Joyful, Joyful" up? Let's "come and join the chorus - the mighty mighty chorus!"
Church today was loverly. Bill Duncan, one of the guys that helped found Cedar Ridge, spoke about Joy. He gave us this quote:
"The serious business of heaven is joy." - C.S. Lewis
O! How ridiculously brilliant!
Bill said a lot of things I believe fall into the "ridiculously brilliant" category, but for length's sake, I'll only mention one. He pondered how interesting it is that in the U.S., where we have so much, we are positively obsessed with obtaining more [note: this is not an exact quote - this the Brandy edit]. It struck me [hard, in the back of the head]. This truth really got under my skin. And gave me a burning desire to be content with what I have.
Now, um, I feel compelled to add, we're broke. Jermaine is still out of work and times are tough. But, still - we have SO MUCH. And if I'm being completely transparent, I have to admit that my desire to have more ["Ooh, I want that." "Oh, I need that!"] has greatly contributed to our broke-ness.
So, something to work on. I love projects. ;)
Okay - a couple more Cedar Ridge plugs and I swear I'll get to the meat of this blog [isn't it funny that the meat is called "The Skinny" - maybe I should change the name to "The Fat"].
I'm sorry I'm going to miss next week's message [heading to Pennsylvania on Friday to see my family!]. The sermon is entitled, "Why Christianity is Lame." I will definitely listen later online. :) Bill's sermon is not up on the website quite yet [although it may be by the time you read this] - but here's the message link you're feeling joyful [or joyless!]. Ooh, and - check out July 12th - Patsy Fratanduono [who may be one of my favorite people] dives into the difficulty that is the book of Isaiah and Jermaine reads some scripture [click on the audio version to see him!]. Patsy did two amazing sermons on Isaiah and once upon a time I planned on blogging about them. I'll let you know when I get the chance to - they'll be posted on my other blog
Okay, that's quite enough of that.
The Skinny [or the Fat]:
Chapter 41 - Two years have passed [Joseph is still in jail]. The Pharaoh has a couple of dreams and they freak him out. No one can interpret them. Suddenly the Cupbearer remembers [and admits that he forgot]! Joseph is cleaned up and called out. He explains the dreams mean that land will enjoy 7 years of abundance followed by 7 years of famine [Joseph gives God interpretation credit]. He gets made 2nd-in-command to Pharaoh and it goes down the way he said it would. During that time, he marries and has two sons - Manasseh [forget] and Ephraim [twice fruitful]. Because of Joseph, Egypt is prepared for the famine - but no one else is. Chapter 42 - Joseph's brothers are forced to go to Egypt for food [except Benjamin - Jacob forbids him to go] . When they get there they do not recognize Joseph - but as they bow down before him, he remembers them [and his dream]. He doesn't tell them that though - he weeps to himself and accuses them of being spies. He announces that they must bring their youngest brother to prove they are honest men. He bounds Simeon and throws him in prison. The other brothers buy food for the journey home - but on the way they realize the money has been returned to their bag! They are afraid. They go home and tell their father. He's does not want to let Benjamin go. Chapter 43 - They run out of food and are forced, once again, to go back. They take the extra silver and Benjamin [whom Judah promises to be personally responsible for]. They go back to the man they don't know they know. They tell his steward about the silver - he tells them to relax - the money has been paid. Joseph invites them for dinner. They feast [note: they can't eat with the Egyptians - it is, apparently, a detestable thing] and Joseph is emotional [though he hides this from them]. Chapter 44 - Joseph frames Benjamin by putting a silver cup in his traveling bag. They go on their way and Joseph tells his steward to catch up with them and accuse them of stealing. He does, and of course, they don't think they have anything so they announce that the brother found with the cup will become Joseph's servant. Out of their mind with distraught once they realize they've just sentenced Benjamin to slavery, they all go back to Egypt and plead with Joseph - for their father's sake, Benjamin must return home! Chapter 45 - Overwhelmed with emotion, Joseph makes himself known! And we have a second touching scene of forgiveness between brothers. He exclaims that it was not them that sent him there - but God - to save them! He has them go and get their father and the entire family to come and live in Egypt with him. Chapter 46 - Jacob's family tree - 70 in all. They travel back to Egypt, there is a moving reunion between father and beloved son. Joseph instructs them to tell the Pharaoh they are shepherds so they will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen [shepherding was detestable to Egyptians]. Chapter 47 - The people of the land are starving and are forced to give all their money, livestock and eventually, land over to the Pharaoh so that they may live. They become servants of what was once there land. Joseph gives them seed and establishes a law that they must give Pharaoh a 1/5 of all they produce. Scene shift: Jacob is aging [147 years old] and makes Joseph swear an oath that he won't be buried in Egypt. Chapter 48 - Jacob blesses Joseph's sons as his own - putting Ephraim [the youngest] ahead of Manasseh. Chapter 49 - Jacob blesses his 12 sons. It's intense. Once again he tells them to bury him back home in the cave where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah lay. Chapter 50 - Jacob dies. He is embalmed, Egyptian style, and taken back to the cave. Afterward, Joseph's brothers begin to fear that now that their father is dead, Joseph will seek revenge. He reassures them that will not happen ["You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Gen 50:20]. Joseph dies at 110. He asks his brothers to swear an oath to take his bones back to where his father is buried. He is embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.
End Genesis.
We did it! We made it through the first book! Good job, us.
I am excited that this skinny is skinnier than past ones. I did things a little differently - I skinnied each chapter as I read it instead of waiting until the end. I think I enjoy this way a lot more.
Notable Things to Note:
Chapter 42 was simply stuffed with interesting stuff:
- At the very beginning Jacob learns that there is grain in Egypt and he says to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at each other?" It's such a dad thing to say. :)
- In verse 21, they are pleading with Joseph, explaining to him what they did to their brother [him]: "We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen." That's not mentioned in chapter 37. I keep envisioning how horrible it must have been for Joseph. And how horrible it then was for his brothers - to have to remember their deed after all these years.
- Verse 21-23 - The brothers think they are talking amongst themselves because Joseph is using an interpreter. We are made aware of the language barrier. And that Joseph has not forgotten his native language.
- Reuben offers to keep Benjamin safe. Jacob's not having it. Later, when Judah offers, Jacob accepts. And we find out in chapter 49 - in Reuben's blessing, that Jacob never forgot what he did with Bilhah.
Judah's transformation and change of heart throughout the story is incredibly notable. And at the blessing - besides Joseph, he fairs the best. We will find out much later, he is the brother chosen to bear the seed of Jesus [interesting that God chose him - a man who failed greatly and changed - instead of Joseph - a man who was simply great].
The selective 70 [arrived at by not counting wives and children] is [according to the Apologetics Study Bible] the "number of completeness by the Hebrews" [pg. 75].
If you are reading along, you may have noticed that when a person is asked to take an oath, he is instructed to put his hand on the other person's thigh. Back in the OT, this was the ultimate in observing the solemness of the vow.
Jacob blesses Pharaoh at the beginning of chapter 47. I thought that was interesting. Looked it up - it was a way of carrying on God's covenant - "blessing those who bless you."
I was a little taken aback when I read the part about Joseph making virtually all the people of the land servants to Pharaoh. I understand that as Pharaoh's 2nd-in-command, it's his duty to look out for the guy's best interest. And that the people seemed incredibly grateful. Still, slavery is never easy for me to swallow.
When I read the last bit, I thought at first that his brothers did not respect their vow. But the note in the Apologetics Study Bible [I want desperately to abbreviate this - but it seems so, um, cavalier to do so] says that they embalmed him so they could transport his body later [pg. 82].
Okay, sleepytime. This was fun.
Tomorrow we begin Exodus! We'll do 1:1-15:27.
O happy day!
This training is rolling along, my lady.
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