Category: Series: Disillusion – Hebrew Testament (Series)
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Joseph
My illusion posts have carried through the first thirty-five chapters of Genesis. The remaining Genesis chapters tell the story of Joseph. It is a very rich and multi-layered story. I will not probe this story, but I want to make two observations. The story's scheming, deception, and mind games are ….. well …. of biblical…
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Jacob Returns
Gen 35:1-7 NRSV 1 God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau." 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are…
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Jacob’s “Safe” Option
The next scene in Jacob's life is his encounter with Esau. He was relieved that Esau had welcomed him, but he resisted Esau's attempts to hurry Jacob along the journey home and declined an offer of men to help. Jacob was now free to continue his journey. He could fulfill his vow to return to…
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Jacob or Israel
The same night as Jacob's prayer at Penuel, Jacob had yet another encounter with God. Gen 32:22-32 NRSV 22 The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and…
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Jacob’s Prayer
Yesterday I wrote of Jacob's encounter with God at Penuel. Jacob proceeded from there to the home of his uncle Laban. Laban and Jacob ended up in a game of deception in which Jacob prevailed. After one last deception, Jacob fled in anticipation of Laban's anger. Laban pursued Jacob, but no harm came as the…
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Stairway to Earth
Gen 28:10-22 NRSV 10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed that there…
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God Gets the Last Laugh
I have friends who live on the Arabian Peninsula. I got to spend some time with them a while back. They told me of a somewhat ironic thing happening in the Mid-East. Last year, Mel Gibson released his movie The Passion of the Christ. As you will recall, much of the press leading up to…
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Isaac’s Failing Vision
Gen 27:18-29 NRSV 18 So he [Jacob] went in to his father, and said, "My father"; and he said, "Here I am; who are you, my son?" 19 Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that…
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God Will Provide
Gen 22:1-18 NRSV 1 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that…
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Inconceivable!
One of my favorite movie quotes is when Vizzini in The Princess Bride keeps exclaiming, "Inconceivable!" One thing after the other happened that was counter to his expectation. His mind was too barren to conceive of the possibilities. God made his intention clear that he intended to make a great nation of Abraham's descendants (Gen.…