To be wholly just is to also be alone

Mercy is something our culture is generally unfamiliar with. In this Age Of The Individual, it is up to you to get what you deserve, both good and bad. What you have done for yourself, the story you have told through your life, the person you portray in business and at home, determines what you should receive. And that is only fair, right?


 Genesis 43:1-34
"Now the famine was still severe in the land. 2 So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go back and buy us a little more food." 3 But Judah said to him, "The man warned us solemnly, 'You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.' 4 If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, 'You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.'" 6 Israel asked, "Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?" 7 They replied, "The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. 'Is your father still living?' he asked us. 'Do you have another brother?' We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, 'Bring your brother down here'?" 8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die. 9 I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. 10 As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice." 11 Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift — a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13 Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. 14 And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved." 15 So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare dinner; they are to eat with me at noon." 17 The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph's house. 18 Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, "We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys." 19 So they went up to Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 20 "Please, sir," they said, "we came down here the first time to buy food. 21 But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver — the exact weight — in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. 22 We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don't know who put our silver in our sacks." 23 "It's all right," he said. "Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver." Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 The steward took the men into Joseph's house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. 25 They prepared their gifts for Joseph's arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there. 26 When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. 27 He asked them how they were, and then he said, "How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?" 28 They replied, "Your servant our father is still alive and well." And they bowed low to pay him honor. 29 As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother's son, he asked, "Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?" And he said, "God be gracious to you, my son." 30 Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there. 31 After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, "Serve the food." 32 They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians. 33 The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment. 34 When portions were served to them from Joseph's table, Benjamin's portion was five times as much as anyone else's. So they feasted and drank freely with him." 

But what about injustice? What about what has happened to Joseph? Now that he is in a position of incredible power, he could exact an exquisite kind of vengeance on these men -- who despised him and hated him for no fault of his own save having a big mouth. And yet, he doesn't. He plays out a game with them (initially looking like cat-and-mouse, but ultimately to bring his whole family together with him again), but rather than throw them into the very prison in which he languished for years, he is kind and merciful to them.

Why? Because having his family together again was more important to him than exacting justice.

And this is exactly what motivates God with His family as well. We, who have betrayed Him countless times, are recipients of a countless mercy. Whereas He could and in fact should destroy us for our unfaithfulness, instead He sent His own Son to die in our place. So instead of being right and also alone, like Joseph, God has chosen to lay aside His claim to justice and pour out mercy, so that He can have His family with Him again.

Now if only mercy was a better know virtue among us.......

We don't get what we deserve

I love a good detective story. I'm a big fan of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I am like most people, I like it when the criminals get caught in their own webs. We love it when we can see injustice come back around to bite the bad guy.

Things are more difficult in the real world, though. Far too often, the tapestry of someone's life is marred and torn by some trauma that is never resolved. There is no neat capture of the bad guy, or of someone getting what they deserve. And sometimes, not getting what they deserve is a good thing.

Genesis 42:1-23
 "When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at each other?" 2 He continued, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die." 3 Then ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. 5 So Israel's sons were among those who went to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also. 6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph's brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. "Where do you come from?" he asked. "From the land of Canaan," they replied, "to buy food." 8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected." 10 "No, my lord," they answered. "Your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies." 12 "No!" he said to them. "You have come to see where our land is unprotected." 13 But they replied, "Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more." 14 Joseph said to them, "It is just as I told you: You are spies! 15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!" 17 And he put them all in custody for three days. 18 On the third day, Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. 20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die." This they proceeded to do. 21 They said to one another, "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come upon us." 22 Reuben replied, "Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood." 23 They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter. 24 He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes. 25 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man's silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, 26 they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left. 27 At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. 28 "My silver has been returned," he said to his brothers. "Here it is in my sack."Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, "What is this that God has done to us?" 29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, 30 "The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. 31 But we said to him, 'We are honest men; we are not spies. 32 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.' 33 "Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, 'This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go. 34 But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.'" 35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man's sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, "You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!" 37 Then Reuben said to his father, "You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back." 38 But Jacob said, "My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow." 

What would you have done, had you been in Joseph's shoes. Would you be thinking,  "Hey, I know I was an obnoxious kid but plotting my murder and selling me into slavery? Really?" And what about all the hardship Joseph endured in Egypt until this point? Slavery is not fun. And then to have your mistress try to seduce you and get charged with attempted rape --- and thrown into prison? This is sounding a little like the setup of The Count of Monte Cristo.

But remember what I said before, about it sometimes being a good thing we don't always get what we deserve? That's the part where I suddenly remember that I am on the hook for countless injustices (small though they may be these days). I am the bad guy in someone else's revenge fantasy.

Let's hold off on everyone getting what they deserve for just a little while longer. Please? Just a little while longer?

Foreigner (not the band)

In the past 70 years or so, American culture has included family migration in its array of characteristics. In large sections of the country, particularly in the suburban and metropolitan areas, people move around. In fact, you might say that one of the main differences between city and country folk is how many times they have moved since their birth. As one of the city folk, I myself have moved at least 18 times since my birth.

This has produced, at least in me, a feeling of rootlessness -- of being an exile without a homeland to be from. I attended three different high schools, so when my 20 year high school reunion came around a couple of years ago, I was uncertain as to which group of people I felt more closely connected. In ministry to five different churches so far, I have never really shaken the feeling of being an outsider.


Genesis 41:46-57
"Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout Egypt. 47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. 48 Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. 49 Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure. 50 Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. 51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." 52 The second son he named Ephraim and said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering." 53 The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. 55 When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph and do what he tells you." 56 When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. 57 And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world."

Joseph knew what it felt like to be an exile in a foreign land. In fact, all of the main characters in Genesis are exiles: Adam and Eve are exiled from the Garden, Cain is exiled after killing his brother, Noah and his family are exiled from the world as they knew it after the Flood, Abraham is exiled from Ur to go to Canaan, Jacob is exiled from his land and family after he betrays his brother. The story of Genesis is a story of strangers in a strange land.

Joseph never shook his feeling of foreigness. Even after rising to unbelievable power and influence over a vast civilization, marrying into a family of the highest social rank, and producing children, Joseph still felt like a stranger. His children's names indicate his feelings of suffering and alienation, and when he was about to die, he directed that his bones be carried back to Canaan to be buried there. 

I have to remind myself that my own feeling of being an outsider, of being a foreigner no matter where I go, is actually a reminder that I don't belong here at all. I am an ambassador of the Kingdom of Heaven. An ambassador is someone who lives in a foreign land, all the while representing the far country he or she is from.   My job is to represent the King and His Kingdom as best I can, forming  relations with this world and its inhabitants, but all the while not belonging here.

When I die, please ship my bones Home, won't you?

A lens for His illumination

I have discovered something. I have discovered that every human being has gifts that are God-given. But the problem is, most people use those God-given gifts for themselves rather than for others. And when we do that, when we use them on our own power and for our own agenda, the gifts are used but they are used at a greatly diminished level of power. And those gifts can even be twisted to actually harm or exploit others -- a terrible outcome of something originally beautiful.

For example, I have been given some gifts involving speech and persuasion. I can articulate to a certain degree, and some people find that helpful. But, on my own power and on my own agenda and priorities, those gifts can be used to manipulate, intimidate, and exploit others' weaknesses. The flesh can turn God's beauty into ugliness, and I have seen it on occasion in my own life, to my shame.

Genesis 41:1-32
"When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, 2 when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds. 3 After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. 4 And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. 5 He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. 6 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted — thin and scorched by the east wind. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream. 8 In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him. 9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, "Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. 10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. 11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. 12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. 13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged." 14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it." 16 "I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." 17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. 19 After them, seven other cows came up — scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. 20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. 21 But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up. 22 "In my dreams I also saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. 23 After them, seven other heads sprouted — withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none could explain it to me." 25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine. 28 "It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 30 but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon. 33 "And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. 36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine." 37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?" 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you." 41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. 44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt." 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt." 

I am pretty sure all Joseph really wanted at this point was just to get out of jail, and perhaps to go home. But God always has more than we can imagine, if we would just get out of the way. Joseph had God-given gifts, but instead of using them to manipulate his way out of prison, in which he had been unjustly cast, he waited on God's timing, which allowed God to use Joseph's gifts in ways undreamed of by Joseph. Instead of just merely being released from prison and allowed to go home, Joseph was made second in command of Egypt and wielded immense power and influence over a land of millions. And eventually, God would bring together Joseph's family through this dramatic turn of events.

Each of us has gifts within us like a lens that, when fully used by God in his own timing,  illuminate a much larger area, and can go way beyond what we dream. The key to it all, though, is to learn to listen and wait on His timing and prompting, rather than rushing ahead to make sure our own agenda is secured. 

Now, if only I can live out my own words.......  ;)

Forgotten despite being............

There are times when I really wrestle with the meaning of it all. As a pastor, and I know I am not alone in this, I do occasionally question if I am really doing any lasting good. Sure, I provide some help for some who are looking for it, but wouldn't they have found that help somewhere else anyway? The people who really need help tend to be people who don't want help, and are therefore not looking for it, and so wouldn't get help if I was there or not. So sometimes it doesn't seem to matter a whole lot whether I am here or not. People will do what they will do, with or without me.

Wow, that is really depressing.


Genesis 40
"Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time, 5 each of the two men — the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison — had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. 6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were in custody with him in his master's house, "Why are your faces so sad today?" 8 "We both had dreams," they answered, "but there is no one to interpret them." Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams." 9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, "In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup and put the cup in his hand." 12 "This is what it means," Joseph said to him. "The three branches are three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15 For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon." 16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, "I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread.   17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head." 18 "This is what it means," Joseph said. "The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat away your flesh." 20 Now the third day was Pharaoh's birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh's hand, 22 but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation. 23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him." 

Joseph was given some special gifts -- not only did he have dreams about the future that came true, he also could interpret dreams for other people. While proclaiming his dreams of supremacy to his family did not produce in them warm and fuzzy feelings and subsequently got him sold into slavery, Joseph's ability to interpret dreams does seem to help him out while he is languishing in prison. Until he is forgotten by the people he helps, that is.......

But, as Joseph will soon discover, and as I am routinely reminded, God does not forget. He does not allow His servants to slip over the brink into oblivion, or melt into the mist of obscurity, or fade in the light of brighter stars. God remembers His children, ALL of them, and He will not leave us languishing in the prison of existential despair for long.

I hope. ;)

When doing the right thing makes things worse

Sometimes, I find it incredibly hard to do the right thing. Now, don't get me wrong, in most areas of life this isn't a huge issue. But I do have areas of weakness, places in my own nature where the spiritual armor is particularly prone to weakness. I hope I am not the only in this situation.

Paul called this his "thorn in the flesh," a vivid illustration of a persistent weakness in a person that reminds them that they desperately need God's grace and mercy -- that they are not at all self-sufficient.


Genesis 39
 "Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!" 8 But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. 11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. 13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants. "Look," she said to them, "this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house." 16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house." 19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger. 20 Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did." 

Joseph is still a student in God's School for Slow Learners, but he is advancing, to be sure. A slave was very often, commonly, used for sexual pleasure by his or her masters. Joseph, reacting against this, clings to his moral and ethical upbringing and flees the scene of seduction. But sometimes doing what is right makes things seemingly worse. And Joseph is unjustly thrown into prison. As a slave with no rights at all, he could have been murdered by Potiphar, who would have had no repercussions.

When we overcome areas of weakness, by allowing God to have control of the situation and, like Joseph, fleeing from the scene of seduction, it should not surprise us sometimes that it seems initially to have made things worse. There is a spiritual battle waging all around and in us at times, and the tumult of a victory can make things seem more difficult at times. But as Joseph is about to learn, when we insist on doing what is right, even when it initially doesn't seem worth it, we find out that God is working for a bigger purpose. 

But we have to hang on and wait sometimes in order to see...........

Who's in your family tree?

The history of families and what happens to them can be a fascinating subject, particularly if one or more of them are very prominent. Often, as it happens, the descendants fail to measure up to the greatness of the people who have gone before.

Genesis 38:1-26
 "At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. 2 There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and lay with her; 3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. 4 She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. 5 She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him. 6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the Lord's sight; so the Lord put him to death. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, "Lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother." 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the Lord's sight; so he put him to death also. 11 Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Live as a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up." For he thought, "He may die too, just like his brothers." So Tamar went to live in her father's house. 12 After a long time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him. 13 When Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep," 14 she took off her widow's clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, "Come now, let me sleep with you." "And what will you give me to sleep with you?" she asked. 17 "I'll send you a young goat from my flock," he said. "Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?" she asked. 18 He said, "What pledge should I give you?" "Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand," she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow's clothes again. 20 Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. 21 He asked the men who lived there, "Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?" "There hasn't been any shrine prostitute here," they said. 22 So he went back to Judah and said, "I didn't find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, 'There hasn't been any shrine prostitute here.'" 23 Then Judah said, "Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn't find her." 24 About three months later Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant." Judah said, "Bring her out and have her burned to death!" 25 As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. "I am pregnant by the man who owns these," she said. And she added, "See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are." 26 Judah recognized them and said, "She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn't give her to my son Shelah." And he did not sleep with her again." 
Most of Jacob's sons seemed to be rather disappointing figures, considering they were the great grandsons of Abraham, and the sons of Jacob. But they were brought up in a rivalrous household, with a father who was clearly biased in favor of Rachel's children, and obviously were seething with resentment. Judah, after he plotted with his brothers to first murder and then just sell his little brother Joseph into slavery, appears to be someone who hasn't lived up to the greatness of his family name. He marries a Canaanite woman, which he wasn't supposed to do, and both his sons were wicked and were killed by God. 

(Incidentally, for many years the Roman Catholic Church took the passage about Onan spilling his seed on the ground as Scriptural prohibition of masturbation.)

Then Judah fails to keep his family duty of providing an heir and preserving the family line. So like other women in desperate circumstances who have no other recourse, Tamar gets the job done in her own way. And in doing so, by Judah's own admission, becomes more honorable than her father-in-law.

And to think that Jesus is directly descended from such riff-raff........... ;)

God's School for Slow Learners

From the time I was about 11 until I was about 19, I was pretty much a little jerk. For various reasons, I had convinced myself I was superior to most people and so therefore treated them as such. Because I felt I had been cheated out of my due in life, I in turn tried to get what I wanted from others by any means necessary, whether through manipulation, lying, betrayal, and a very serious case of self-centeredness. I often tell people I meet today that they are lucky not to have met me as I was before I became a disciple of Jesus. It wasn't pretty.


Genesis 37:1-36
Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. 5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it." 8 His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. 9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." 10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. 12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem, 13 and Israel said to Joseph, "As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them." "Very well," he replied. 14 So he said to him, "Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me." Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?" 16 He replied, "I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?" 17 "They have moved on from here," the man answered. "I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'"So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 "Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other. 20 "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams." 21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said. 22 "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. 
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe — the richly ornamented robe he was wearing —  24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it. 25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed. 28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. 29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn't there! Where can I turn now?" 31 Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe." 33 He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces." 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son." So his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard."

Joseph was a little jerk too. Although it seemed like there were already a lot of problems brewing in the family due to the inevitable rivalry between Rachel and Leah and their children, Jacob favoring Joseph so obviously really got things boiling. And to top it all off: Joseph was a tattle-tale and didn't know when to keep his mouth closed, particularly when it came to his dreams. He even ticked his doting father off.

Sometimes, little jerks have to learn the hard way.

Joseph learned a long, hard lesson by being sold into slavery, tossed into prison, and being taken to a foreign land. I learned a long, hard lesson by being beaten up by a friend in front of my whole school after I fooled around with not one but TWO of his girlfriends, being ostracized and generally miserable my entire senior year of high school, and finding out that the world didn't owe me a favor after all. And the lessons kept on coming, and kept on coming, until today, when I find myself still attending God's School for Slow Learners...........

Perhaps I will see you in class today. ;)

See, He's right there...........

Do you know what a theophany is? A theophany is an appearance of God. Have you ever had one? No? Me neither. I sometimes wish I would have one though, don't you? There are times, usually during times of uncertainty, when a theophany would come in real' handy-like. Just to boost the ol' faith barometer, and show me that I am at least in the ballpark of being on the right track.

But alas, theophanies are by definition extremely rare. In fact, I could probably count on one hand the amount of theophanies recorded in the Bible, which spans about 3,000 years of history. So if the going rate for a manifestation of God is about 5 every 3,000 years, odds are I will probably not witness one in my lifetime.


Genesis 35:1-20
"Then God said to Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone." 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. 5 Then they set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them. 6 Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. 7 There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 8 Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So it was named Allon Bacuth.  9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel." So he named him Israel. 11 And God said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. 12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you." 13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him. 14 Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. 15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.  16 Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. 17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, for you have another son." 18 As she breathed her last — for she was dying — she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.  19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb." 

What's really fascinating here is that it seems that God was willing to work with these people even though they were still fairly pagan in their religious practices, i.e. having them throw away all their foreign gods they had been carrying about. Apparently, Rachel was still pretty much a pagan when she married Jacob -- remember when she stole her family's household gods? And now Jacob/Israel commands the whole family to get rid of them.......he didn't want anything messing up his encounter with God. His second encounter with God.

Why was Jacob the recipient of at least two theophanies, when I, who could really use one right about now, don't even get one? I guess God had to really get in there and get involved, since He was building up a new people to be a beacon of His light for the world of the gentiles. Maybe God needed to make sure there was an insistent witness to His saving actions in the world.

On the other hand, I do believe I have barely missed several theophanies of God.......out of the corner of my eye. In people's lives, in their faces, in the laughter of my God-given children, in the smiles of my church family, I glimpse the barely glowing remnant of a place God was just standing. He shows Himself to me all the time through these and other people in my path, but I can be too busy looking for a theophany instead.

A baseball bat would do very nicely, I think.....

Recently, while I was working in Roseburg, my wife was volunteering at a charity auction. The event was very classy, with a lot of pretty wealthy people there to donate money to the cause. Everything went well until the end of the auction, when my wife, who is about 5 feet 1 inch tall, was propositioned by a drunken man and his wife. He proceeded to explain to her and the entire table they were sitting at what he wanted to do with my wife, while the entire table was so drunk they laughed right along. My wife, who had only stopped by to say hello, was humiliated and very upset. She had a great deal of trouble sleeping that night, and hesitantly told me about it the next day. To make matters worse, we knew this man and his wife fairly well, in fact his parents were neighbors of ours.

Genesis 34:1-29
"Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her. 3 His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her. 4 And Shechem said to his father Hamor, "Get me this girl as my wife." 5 When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he kept quiet about it until they came home. 6 Then Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. 7 Now Jacob's sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter — a thing that should not be done. 8 But Hamor said to them, "My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9 Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it." 11 Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. 12 Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the girl as my wife." 13 Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14 They said to them, "We can't do such a thing; we can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 15 We will give our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We'll settle among you and become one people with you. 17 But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we'll take our sister and go." 18 Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man, who was the most honored of all his father's household, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to their fellow townsmen. 21 "These men are friendly toward us," they said. "Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. 22 But the men will consent to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. 23 Won't their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us give our consent to them, and they will settle among us." 24 All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised. 25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem's house and left. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29 They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses."

Jacob's family had been dishonored, in a culture that puts honor above everything else. Dinah was probably no older than a teenager, given there is no indication she had been married prior to this. This spoiled, wealthy, son of a pagan king thought he could take what he wanted from this family with no consequences. But he had greatly miscalculated the fury and cunning of their revenge.

But what does revenge really give you? It is true that for a while I thought pretty hard about doing something to this guy, who lived in our town and whom I saw fairly regularly. This drunken slob of a man, who thought propositioning a pastor's wife at a children's charity auction sounded like a lot of fun, deserves to have retribution enacted upon him by me for dishonoring her. It would be the manly thing to get in his face.

But I am a disciple of Jesus. The Crucified One. The One who was betrayed, spat upon, beaten, and murdered by His own people. His resurrection has saved me from the the death penalty of my great sinfulness. He did not enact retribution. He forgave them, saying, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do." 

I can do no less, mindful of the countless betrayals I am guilty of when it comes to my relationship with Jesus. I, who deserves infinitely worse than this man who dishonored my wife will ever deserve, have been rescued and redeemed from a fate worse than death. Its not about me or my honor or my wife's honor. Its about acknowledging that I am forgiven, and so now must forgive. 

It's not so hip.........

Of all the people in the Bible, the person I identify with the most is Jacob. Jacob reminds me of myself is so many ways, but most powerfully because of the following passage.

Genesis 32:1-32
Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim.  3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He instructed them: "This is what you are to say to my master Esau: 'Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, menservants and maidservants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.'" 6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, "We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him." 7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, "If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape." 9 Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12 But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'" 13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, "Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds." 17 He instructed the one in the lead: "When my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?' 18 then you are to say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.'" 19 He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: "You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 And be sure to say, 'Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.'" For he thought, "I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me." 21 So Jacob's gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp. 22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27 The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. 28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." 29 Jacob said, "Please tell me your name."But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." 31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon. 

There are some people, like my wife for instance, that seem to have an easy faith. I am not one of these people. For me, faith is a constant struggle between my earthly desire to run my life myself and my clear need to let God run my life. For long periods of time, I am willing to let God run the show. But then will come a period of time when my old self will reassert its dominance on me and I will insist on taking over again. I will wrestle with God over control of how my day goes, how I am with my family, how I connect with others, what work I do, and how productive I will be. I will wrestle with God over how I will spend my free time, what my expectations are, and where my focus will be.

I always lose these wrestling matches. But then I am always reminded of one very important fact: I am not God. When I try to run my life, it doesn't go well. In all my running around on my own, the leg I am dragging behind me should remind me of the futility of me in charge.

Disguised Miracles

Throughout my late childhood and through half of my college years, I wanted to be a genetic engineer. I was (still am) fascinated with science, especially biology and chemistry. I loved to learn about the building blocks of life, and how DNA and our genes can be shaped to effect certain results. There have been incredible advances in genetics over the last 20 years, including the mapping of the entire human genome -- the chemical blueprint for a human being.

Genesis 30:25-43
"After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. 26 Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I've done for you." 27 But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you." 28 He added, "Name your wages, and I will pay them." 29 Jacob said to him, "You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. 30 The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?" 31 "What shall I give you?" he asked. "Don't give me anything," Jacob replied. "But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: 32 Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. 33 And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen." 34 "Agreed," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said." 35 That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. 36 Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban's flocks. 37 Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. 38 Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, 39 they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 40 Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban's animals. 41 Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, 42 but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. 43 In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys."

After Laban tricked Jacob into working for him for fourteen years, Jacob gets a little revenge. There is no scientific basis for putting striped branches in the water troughs and causing the resulting offspring to produce streaked and dark colored sheep. This was a miracle. God was giving Jacob a headstart on getting his family out Laban's door. Whether or not Jacob recognized the miracle, that is what it was.

I wonder sometimes what miracles have occurred in my life without my knowledge, simply because I did not have the eyes to see them........................

We are not octopi.

It is a recurring fantasy among some men to sleep with two women at once. Obviously, from the male point of  view, this would be seen as some kind of ego-boost, as it would seem that he has enough virility to satisfy two women instead of one. Some men might also fantasize about having a harem or being married to more than one wife.

Watching the TV series, "Big Love," will cure any man of such delusions. The series, which portrays a modern day Mormon polygamist living in a Salt Lake City suburb with his three wives, will drive home a very important point: it is very challenging to keep your wife happy, and impossible to keep more than one wife happy.

Genesis 29:31-30:18
"When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now." 33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon.  34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." So he was named Levi.  35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the Lord." So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children. 30 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!" 2 Jacob became angry with her and said, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?" 3 Then she said, "Here is Bilhah, my maidservant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and that through her I too can build a family." 4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, 5 and she became pregnant and bore him a son. 6 Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son." Because of this she named him Dan.  7 Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won." So she named him Naphtali.  9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, "What good fortune!" So she named him Gad.  12 Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 Then Leah said, "How happy I am! The women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.  14 During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes." 15 But she said to her, "Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?" "Very well," Rachel said, "he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes." 16 So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. "You must sleep with me," she said. "I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he slept with her that night. 17 God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Then Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband." So she named him Issachar."

Although Jacob did not initially intend to marry two women, he now had two wives. And soon enough, the rivalry between the two women heated up to a simmer. The fact that Leah was fertile and Rachel was not fueled the fire. Jacob's predicament is evident when the women included him in a bargain involving mandrakes, which were supposed to have aphrodisiac qualities.  

Regardless of ancient custom and modern day male fantasies, a marriage between one man and one woman remains the model that works best. God designed for us to cling to our spouse, and since we are not octopi, one spouse is more than enough. At least for me, it is. ;)

The Moon Is Following Me

As a kid, I remember sitting in the back of my parent's car on a long trip at night, staring out the window at the moon. It appeared to travel right along with me, and journeyed at the same speed we were going. When I remarked to my parents that the moon was following us, they told me it only appeared that way because the moon was so very large and so very close.


Genesis 28:10-22
"Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." 16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." 17 He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven." 18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord  will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." 

In the ancient pagan mindset, gods were local. Each locality had a particular god, and that god was acknowledged by that particular people. But when the God of Israel began to make himself known to the people of Israel, there was a different nature to His sovereignty. He began to reveal that His intentions were for more than a small group of villages in a tiny corner of the world. This God was to be the Sovereign over all peoples, and His call would be worldwide.

Jacob would soon discover that thought he had traveled far away from his family to a foreign place, God was still with him. Unlike the small, local deities, our God is very large and close, and goes wherever we do. 

We are what we are born into

It is absolutely incredible to experience the dimensions and depth that opens in your life when you become a parent. For me, I see all of my carefully packed baggage come pouring out all over, like a bad day at the airport. I see myself doing things and responding in ways I SWORE up and down I would never do to my kids. I find myself preferring the company of one against another at times, then switching, depending on how incredibly annoying one is being at the time. I try, but I see my father in my parenting a lot.


Genesis 27:41-28:9
"Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob." 42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I'll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?" 46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I'm disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living." 28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: "Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham." 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau. 6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, "Do not marry a Canaanite woman," 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had." 

However, seeing my father in my parenting is not all bad. I tell my children I love them, because he always told me. I try to show them how to be strong and brave, like my father was with me. I try to teach them to protect others around them, the way my dad did with people around him. I teach them the value of working hard and being responsible and not acting like a jackass in front of people, because that was what my dad did with me.

Like with Isaac, Esau, and Jacob, certain patterns are indelibly passed on from one generation to another. Isaac was the spoiled favorite child of doting old parents.His half brother was kicked out of the house for teasing him one day. He was given a fortune and a life of luxury. So he favored and spoiled Esau in return, but then turned against him when Jacob proved more hungry and crafty and clever. Esau then became the brother left out in the cold.

Bitterness

I was a terrible liar when I was a teenager. I lied to get what I wanted. I lied to impress others. I lied to girls I wanted to date, and I lied about them after we dated.

I was also full of bitterness. I was bitter that other kids seemingly had it so easy. I was bitter that I wasn't one of the cool kids. I was bitter about the apparently bad hand I was dealt in life. I was bitter that I didn't get what I wanted.

Genesis 27:30-41
"After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, "My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing." 32 His father Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" "I am your son," he answered, "your firstborn, Esau." 33 Isaac trembled violently and said, "Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him — and indeed he will be blessed!" 34 When Esau heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me — me too, my father!" 35 But he said, "Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing." 36 Esau said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing!" Then he asked, "Haven't you reserved any blessing for me?" 37 Isaac answered Esau, "I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?" 38 Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!" Then Esau wept aloud. 39 His father Isaac answered him, "Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, away from the dew of heaven above.  40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck." 41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob." 

The name Jacob means, "He who grasps the heel." It is a turn of phrase for being a liar or a deceiver. Jacob was what his name meant, just like Esau, which means red, was known for his red hair. 

Jacob had long been plotting this move. I imagine him spending long hours watching his brother playing or working with his father, his eyes squinting as the darkness in his heart spewed forth more and more rage and bitterness. His mother helped feed this bitterness, as it appears that Rebekah didn't have a very harmonious relationship with her Isaac either. 

But as I discovered, deceit, bitterness, and rage will destroy you. They act like gangrene and rot and mold and maggots on your soul. You will drown. You will die. And you will hurt so many people. It is the way of death, as Jacob will find out soon enough.

The Number One Son

There is within our culture a kneejerk reaction to favoritism. As Americans, we instinctively respond to unfairness with repulsion and contempt. We want people to have an equal chance in all things -- this is what the American Way is all about, right? Everyone should have the possibility of being anything they desire, to attain whatever goal he or she sets their eyes on, right? For example, we are told that, if certain conditions are met (like citizenship and being at least 35 years old), anyone could become President of the United States. This sounds great, and we Americans like the idea that anyone, anyone at all, could rise to the highest office in the land if they would only work hard enough. Sounds great. But the reality is, that for most people, there is actually zero chance of them becoming President of the United States. Take a look at who has already been there: where did they all go to college? What kind of career did they choose before going into politics? What income level did they have prior to taking office? I can tell you that the vast majority of all the Presidents went to Ivy League schools, were lawyers or CEOs prior to politics, and made a boatload of money prior to taking office. What does this mean for you and me? It means that Joe the Plumber will never be President, regardless of our high and lofty ideals regarding who can try for it. Favoritism is still part of our culture, even though we rail against it out loud.


Genesis 27:1-30
"When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, "My son." "Here I am," he answered. 2 Isaac said, "I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your weapons — your quiver and bow — and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die." 5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 'Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.' 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies." 11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I'm a man with smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing." 13 His mother said to him, "My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me." 14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made. 18 He went to his father and said, "My father." "Yes, my son," he answered. "Who is it?" 19 Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing." 20 Isaac asked his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" "The Lord your God gave me success," he replied. 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not." 22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 "Are you really my son Esau?" he asked. "I am," he replied. 25 Then he said, "My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing." Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here, my son, and kiss me." 27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. 28 May God give you of heaven's dew and of earth's richness — an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed." 30 After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting."

Isaac had never been quiet about his preference for Esau. Even though Esau and Jacob were fraternal twins, born on the same day, Isaac preferred Esau because he was technically the first born. Esau was also like his father in character and personality, and his likes and dislikes. Jacob was the favorite of his mother, having things in common with her. But its easy to read between the lines and see that Jacob was very bitter and resented his brother and his father for being left out. And so Jacob carried out his deceitful revenge.

We're pretty sneaky

I have often pondered how two people can come from the same genetic stock, grow up in the same background, and have the same parental experiences, and yet be so completely different. Even in the case of twins, where you for the most part would look identical, for the most part be treated identically, you still end up with different people.


Genesis 25:21-34
"Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 The Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." 24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.   26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. 27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." 32 "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?" 33 But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright." 

In this story, I always identify with Jacob. Growing up, I was never much of an outdoors kind of kid. I lived always in my head. I loved playing inside, and didn't really care to get dirty all that much. I was also sneaky like Jacob, and full of jealousy and deceitful like Jacob as well. It amazes me that God chose Jacob over Esau. 

By all accounts, Esau should have been the hero of this story: first born, the "man's man," and all that. But Esau despised his birthright, meaning he didn't a darn about his status in the family. He probably thought Jacob wasn't serious when he made this deal. But Jacob was crafty. Watch out for us indoorsmen........ ;)