40 Old Testament Stories: Joseph in Egypt

We pick up Joseph in Egypt, he has made a decent life for himself.  He is working for one of the chief officers of the king of Egypt.  He has become a trusted aide.  He is the head of the household.

Now comes a problem, his master's wife tries to get him to have sex with her, but he runs away from her.  She claims that he tried to assault her and so he gets thrown into jail.

While in jail, he earns the trust of the jailer and get's put in charge of the prisoners.  Joseph's life is a series of ups and downs.

While in prison Joseph interprets dreams and it is this that finally get's him released from jail and into the king of Egypt's service.  The king also comes to respect Joseph and puts him in charge of responding to a coming famine.

It is that famine that drives Joseph's family to Egypt and he is eventually reconciled with his brothers and sees his father before Israel dies. Joseph invites his brothers to move their families to Egypt.

This is how the nation of Israel arrives in Egypt.  This becomes important later in the story.

40 Old Testament Stories: Joseph's Dreams

We have the introduction to the 12 men whose families will become the 12 tribes of Israel.  Jacob aka Israel, has 12 sons.  Two of them- Joseph and Benjamin - are the sons of Jacob's beloved wife Rachel.  The other 10 were the sons either of Leah or of various handmaids.

The oldest of Rachel's sons is Joseph and he is the favorite son of Israel.

Joseph, at least in this story, comes across as something of a prig.  He tattles on his brothers and lords his father's favors over them.

Joseph has some dreams in this story.  In his dreams he sees items that represent his brothers bowing down to him.

Joseph tells his brothers about these dreams - which don't endear him to them.

Two things in this story set the stage for one of the most important stories in the history of the nation of Israel.
1. Joseph and his brothers have a really bad relationship and he has pushed them too far.
2. Joseph has dreams that he can interpret and that will, eventually, come true

40 Old Testament Stories: Jacob wrestles with God

Jacob is on his way back home with both of his wives.  He knows that he is going to come face to face with his brother.  The brother he swindled, the brother he ran away from.  The brother that the last he knew was sworn to kill him.

He has sent his wives and children and animals to the rear of his group and gathered the men who could fight around him.  He's waiting for the morning when he will face his brother.

In the midst of this, a stranger appears and Jacob wrestles with him.  It turns out that the "person" Jacob is wrestling with is either an archangel or God himself.  It's not quite clear.

The upshot of the story is that Jacob is able to face and make peace with Esau - because he had wrestled with God.

40 Old Testament Stories: Jacob's Dream

Well, first of all, Jacob should really have known better then to lay down to sleep at a place called Bethel.

What did he expect when he fell asleep at a place named "House of God" - that's what Bethel means in Hebrew.

But sure enough - in his dream he sees a ladder and hears the voice of God.

He promises Jacob that every family on earth will be blessed because of him and his descendants.

Of course, Jesus is one of those descendants.

40 Old Testament Stories: Isaac's death and blessing

So, did I mention that Jacob, aka Israel, the patriarch, the namesake of the nation of God's chosen people was not a very nice guy.

I'm sure that I did.

Here is another example.  He tricks his dying, elderly father out of the special blessing that was intended for his older brother.

Yeah, there is the role model you want.  This isn't a little deception either - and oh, by the way he's pushed by his mother to do it.

God doesn't require that we be good to be a part of his plan.  He requires that we eventually are willing to follow him.

That part is still coming for Jacob.

40 Old Testament Stories: Jacob & Esau

If it makes you parents feel any better, sibling rivalry is not a new thing.

If it makes you children feel any better, parental favoritism is not a new thing either.

We have in this story a very human look at the patriarch.

Remember that Jacob will, later in the story, become Israel, he is the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.  He is the one who gives his name to the nation that inherits the promises of God.

Notice that he is not a really good guy in this story.  He holds his hungry brother basically hostage until he gives up his birth right (not that Esau comes of really well in the story either).

But the trickster and blackmailer is not, perhaps, what we might be looking for in the patriarch of God's chosen people.

I suspect that a part of the story of Jacob is to remind us that God can use anyone.  He can use us even if we aren't particularly nice people.

40 Old Testament Stories Every Christian Should Know: The Binding of Isaac

The story in Genesis 22:1-19 is often called the Sacrifice of Isaac.  I prefer the term the binding of Isaac, because he wasn't actually sacrificed.

I have to say that I have always found this story rather horrible.

I understand that the point of the story is to show that Abraham was willing to trust God with the most valuable thing he had - his only son.  The son that he had waited for for years, the son that he believed would never come.  I get it.

I also get that it prefigures God sending and sacrificing his Son for us.

I still find the story rather horrible.  The idea that God would ask a parent to kill their own child is bad enough.  The idea that God would ask a parent to kill their own child and then when they are willing to do it, basically say "psyche! I didn't mean it" is cruel.  While I know that there are lots of times in the Bible when God seems cruel, this just doesn't seem like the God that I know.

An interesting note to this story is that in the Quran there is an identical story but with Ishmael as the son who is nearly sacrificed.