non-metaphysical stephen

I’ve often wondered why it would be important that Jesus should come from the tribe of Judah rather than the priestly tribe of Levi or of any other tribe. But check out this passage–Jacob’s sons must convince him to allow them to take Benjamin with them to Egypt so that they might get more grain.

And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.”

Could this be what Jesus told God about us? He is the pledge of our safety, promising our Father/Mother to return us safely home.

How wonderful is that? Thanks be to Christ Jesus for his lovingkindness toward us! Amen!

Today’s Hebrew lectionary reading tells of Joseph’s success in dealing with the famine in Egypt, and several things interest me:

• Joseph’s plan to preserve Egypt’s food supply during the seven years of plenty would probably not go over very well today. He doesn’t allow the people of Egypt to use all of their resources, but demands that some be stored up every year for the future. And how many people today would believe Joseph that there were seven bad years coming? I cannot imagine our U.S. government trying to institute such a policy today, even though it was clearly the right thing to do (and God had ordained it). I know some will complain that our government does try to do this, but their complaint shows just how controversial God’s plan would be today. (Side note: I seem to recall reading that when the economy started going south a few years ago, only one state escaped a budget crisis; that state had the foresight to make a contingency plan.) I also wonder what our modern analogues to the famine are: the environment? the economy? What if we had been told after WW1 to prepare for a major depression? What if we had been told after WW2 to prepare for an environmental crisis? I’m realizing just how self-centered and in-the-moment we are as a culture. How do we as Christians convince people to change their ways? Even to give up what they see as their “rights” for the sake of the common good?
• I had forgotten that Joseph’s sons were born before the arrival of his Hebrew compatriots. But even more surprising to me today is to realize that he married the daughter of an Egyptian priest! I know that from a practical point of view, Joseph could not look for a Hebrew wife. Still, it is interesting that he married into a priestly family. Not only is there the question about religious syncretism (does Joseph raise them as Hebrews rather than as Egyptians? I suppose this became possible once his family moved there…), but there is also the surprising fact that two of tribes of Israel are part Egyptian!
  
• His second son’s name, Ephraim, is said to mean “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” I’ve been thinking a lot lately about maintaining our faith in times of difficulty (see my posts on the Wilderness) and how we need to trust that God can not only see us through these times, but also can use them for good. Ephraim’s name is a wonderful testimony to this fact: Even when our circumstances seem to be against us (Joseph was not in Egypt by choice, and he had to endure two years in prison before becoming Pharaoh’s adviser), God can still bless all that we do, even using us to benefit those around us, friends and enemies alike.
• God’s role in ordaining Egypt as a land of salvation during the time of famine. God truly is LORD over all the nations!
  

Some questions I had on reading today’s lectionary passages:

Genesis 16.15-17.2:

• And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
• When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

There’s a thirteen year gap between these two (consecutive) passages, and yet the scriptures pass over them completely. What especially strikes me is that God is not shown correcting Abram of his mistake during this time. Is it not a frightening thing to think that we might misunderstand God’s will and not be told our error for thirteen years?

Hebrews 10.8-9:

• When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.

Throughout this section on the law, I was thinking of the Reconstruction and Theonomy movements. When the scriptures are so clear about the inefficacy of the Mosaic law and the superiority of the Gospel, why do Christians want to impose the law onto the nation?

John 5.34b:

• I say these things so that you may be saved.

There are a few places in John where Jesus implies that our salvation is prior to his death and resurrection and is instead found in his own words to us. Elsewhere he claims that the disciples are clean because of his words (John 15.3). What is the connection between his words, i.e., his teachings, and our salvation? Could we be ignoring a crucial aspect of our redemption by focusing so much on his Passion?

John 5. 45:

• Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.

It’s interesting that Moses is the accuser here, since accusation is the name and function of Satan. If Moses does Satan’s job, what does that tell us about Satan?

In Genesis 14.14, we are told:

When Abram heard that his kinsman [Lot] had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

I immediately thought of the the “kinsman redeemer” role, as seen most famously in the book of Ruth. Although Abram is here not so much a redeemer as a rescuer (since he won back Lot in battle rather than with money), it seems to me that there is a connection between being a kinsman and a redeemer. It was natural for Abram to go to Lot’s rescue, both as his closest relative and for the sake of Abram’s deceased brother Haran, Lot’s father.

I wonder if this passage helps explain the importance of the Father metaphor in scripture. God calls himself our Father because he takes upon himself the role of our kinsman, our rescuer and our redeemer. The terms establishes not only an intimacy with us, but a responsibility for us and for our safety. The passage above makes me think of Christ, coming to earth to redeem his people, even descending into hell to rescue those who have gone before us.

God loves us not only as Creator, but as Father, with all the responsibilities that go with that title for raising us up, protecting and providing for us, and granting us our share of the inheritance. Thanks be to God!

Amen.