Month: January 2010

Reference links:

• Genesis 41:17-42:17
• Matthew 13:24-46
• Psalm 18:1-15
• Proverbs 4:1-6

• Overview of the Book of Genesis
• Overview of the Gospel of Matthew
• Overview of the Psalms
• Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Yesterday, Pharaoh dreamed of seven healthy cows being eaten by seven sickly cows and seven full heads of wheat being consumed by seven scrawny one. Not surprisingly, Joseph interprets these dreams. Joseph tells Pharaoh that the dreams mean that Egypt will have seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine. Joseph tells Pharaoh he should find someone to manage the collection of food during the years of prosperity. Again not surprisingly, Pharaoh decides that Joseph fits the bill perfectly. Apparently, being able to interpret dreams qualifies you for managing a kingdom.

Pharaoh makes Joseph second only to himself, and Joseph takes care of collecting grain in the good years. In the meantime, he lives a pretty good life. Amongst other things, Pharaoh gives Joseph a wife, Asenath daughter of Potiphera. Just in case you are confused, Potiphera is not the same person as Potiphar, Pharaoh’s captain of the guard and Joseph’s former employer.

As predicted, seven years of plenty are followed by seven years of famine. Fortunately for the people of Egypt, Joseph opens the storehouse to give grain to the Egyptians and sell it to people from surrounding countries. Here we get a interesting bit of perspective. The author of Genesis says,

And people from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe around the world.

Like with the idea of a world wide flood (Genesis 7) or the idea that the devil could  take Jesus to a high mountain and see all the kingdoms of the world (Matthew 4), this passage shows that the Biblical authors did not have a very good idea of the size of the earth and all of the kingdoms it contained.

The famine reaches Joseph’s family. Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to get grain. Joseph recognizes his brothers, but they do not recognize them. He accuses them of being spies and forces them to bring back Benjamin, the youngest brother and the only one who had not gone on the trip. Joseph throws them in prison for three days. And then, another cliff hanger!

I do have to say that I like this part of Genesis because it reads like a story. Much more interesting than many parts of the Bible.

New Testament

Today is the day of parables in the new testament.

Parable of the wheat and weeds: A farmer plants seeds. In the night, an enemy plants weeds with the seeds. The farmers say the weeds should stay until harvest time. When they have grown up, they will be harvested. The weeds will be burned and the wheat stored away.

According to Jesus, he is the farmer, the good seeds are the people who will go to heaven. The enemy is the devil, the bad seeds are those who will go to hell. One lesson to take from this is that those who are not going to heaven are bad from the outset. A weed is always a weed and has no chance to grow into wheat.

Parable of the mustard seed: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed. A mustard seed is smaller than other seeds. It grows into a plant large enough for birds to build nests in. How can we interpret this? At a individual level, it could mean that a little bit of faith will grow into great rewards in heaven. Or maybe it is meant to be taken on an institutional level. The small religion Jesus was “planting” would grow into a large one.

Parable of the yeast: It only takes a little yeast to permeate bread.  This seems to yield similar interpretations to the mustard seed.

Parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl: A dude finds a treasure in a field and sells everything he owns to buy the field. A merchant is searching for pearls and finds one of great value and so sells everything he buys to get it. We learn that it is worth giving up all you have for something of greater value.  The implication here is that the ultimate reward is Heaven. However, the difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and a perfect pearl or a hidden treasure is that you can evaluate the worth of the latter two to see whether or not they are worth the sacrifice. You cannot even verify that the Kingdom of Heaven is real.

By telling all of these parables, Jesus supposedly fulfills the prophecy

I will speak to you in parables.
I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world.

Two problems with this supposed fulfilled prophecy. First, it is from a psalm (psalms are not prophecies). In context:

O my people, listen to my instructions.
Open your ears to what I am saying,
for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
stories we have heard and known,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.

Granting that “hidden lessons from our past” is kind of like “things hidden since the creation of the world”, the psalm still implies that the the parables will be new lessons from old, well known stories. I have never heard that the parables Jesus tells in the new testament are based on traditional stories.

The second problem is that if Jesus was going to go to the effort to explain “things hidden since the creation of the world”, he could have included some more impressive things. Some indication of the deep truths of astronomy or physics or biology perhaps. We do not need a text book, but something would have been nice.

Psalms and Proverbs

Today’s psalm has a very anthropomorphic description of God. I will give it an easier time here than I would elsewhere since the psalms are poetry, but it is still interesting. Imagine the following verses to be read in a big, dramatic voice.

Smoke poured from his nostrils;
fierce flames leaped from his mouth.
Glowing coals blazed forth from him.

He opened the heavens and came down;
dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.

Mounted on a mighty angelic being, he flew,
souring on the wings of the wind.

He shrouded himself in darkness,
veiling his approach with dark rain clouds.

Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him
and rained down hail and burning coals.

The Lord thundered form heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded
amid the hail and burning coals.

He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;
his lightening flashed and they were greatly confused.

I  will also note that this is the same psalm that also contains the fairly well quoted verse, “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower” (KJV). Funny how that part is quoted buy the part about shooting arrows and smoking nostrils is left out.

Reference links:

• Genesis 39:1-41:16
• Matthew 12:46-13:23
• Psalm 17:1-15
• Proverbs 3:33-35

• Overview of the Book of Genesis
• Overview of the Gospel of Matthew
• Overview of the Psalms
• Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

In yesterday’s reading, slave traders sold Joseph to Potiphar, the captain of the guard for Pharaoh. Because God is with Joseph, Joseph prospers in all that he does. Potiphar eventually gives him administrative control of the household. But the good life does not last. Joseph, “a very handsome and well-built young man,” attracted the interest of Potiphar’s wife . She tried to get him to sleep with her. He refused, so eventually she told her husband that Joseph had slept with her so that Joseph would be thrown in prison. Soap opera! (As a side note, it was impossible to find a “licensed for reuse” image where Joseph was actually handsome.  Pity.)

Even in prison, Joseph prospers. The warden soon puts him in charge of the other prisoners and the day-to-day activities of the prison. Now, God may or may not have been with Joseph, but I think we can conclude that he was certainly a good manager and probably rather charismatic.

Eventually Joseph meets two of Pharaoh’s servants. These servants were put in the palace of the captain guard (remember, that’s Potiphar). According to the text,

They remained in prison for quite some time, and the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, who looked after them.

This makes it sound like it was Potiphar who was giving Joseph responsibility. This seems weird given that he was the one who threw Joseph in prison. Maybe he really did like Joseph but did not want to anger his wife by freeing him from prison. Or maybe the text is just confused. This does not seem unlikely since in this part of the text the captain of the guard is always referred to by title and not by name.

In any case, Joseph correctly interprets dreams for the two prisoners. Pharaoh executes one prisoner and returns the other to his job as cup-bearer. Two years later, Pharaoh starts having weird dreams. None of his magicians or wise men can tell him what they mean. Now, I am no expert in ancient Egyptian magicians and wise men, but I do know that in modern America, plenty of people would be willing to make up interpretations for dreams and one of them would make a guess good enough to convince Pharaoh. This is especially true when you consider that Pharaoh’s dreams were not that opaque: 7 healthy cows were eaten by 7 sickly cows and 7 full grain stalks were eaten by 7 scrawny ones (click through to the full sized pictures; it has cows eating each other).

In any case, the cup-bearer remembers Joseph, and Pharaoh calls Joseph into his presence. Will Joseph interpret Pharaoh’s dreams? We will have to wait until tomorrow to see.

New Testament

Today Jesus took advantage of a visit from his mother and brothers to claim that his true mothers and brothers are those who follow the will of his Father in heaven. It is not reported whether or not Jesus subsequently went out to speak with his biological mother and brothers. If you assumed he did not, then there are some good opportunities for fan fic. Had he had a falling out with them? Was he accusing them of not following God or his religion? Did they think he was crazy? Were they trying to get him to come home again? Such possibilities!

Today we hear the parable of the farmer and the seeds. A farmer throws out some seed.. Some landed on the footpath and were eaten by birds. Some sprouted in shallow soil and wilted quickly. Some fell among thorns and were crowded out. Some fell and fertile soil and were productive. These stand for, respectively, those who heard Jesus and did not understand, those who listen but soon fall away, those who listen but whose beliefs are crowded out by life, and, finally, those who “truly hear and understand God’s word”. A parable should not be interpreted too literally, but I do think that this parable can yield an interesting interpretation.

In particular, the location that received the seed had no choice in its nature and no ability to change. Dirt cannot make itself fertile. A foot path cannot choose to become a field. A weedy area cannot will the weeds away. If we take this to be part of the lesson Jesus is trying to teach, this supports a predestination style interpretation of salvations. That is to say, those who are saved have no choice in that matter. The ability to believe and persist in belief is part of one’s nature as shaped by God.

Today we read another passage in the arsenal of those who argue that non-believers are unqualified to read and understand the Bible.

To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables,

For they look, but they don’t really see.
They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.

This passage is often interpreted to mean that faith must proceed understanding. But God would be silly to make revelation of his existence and of his son’s divinity work this way. Presumably, a God who created humanity would understand human psychology. A God who understood human psychology would realize that humans are subject to confirmation bias: they interpret their experiences to support their existing beliefs. Therefore, any belief system that requires belief before it can be understood will inevitably keep company with the countless false belief systems that have persisted despite their obvious incorrectness.

More supposed fulfilled prophecies. Jesus claims that the bit above about looking and not really seeing fulfilles a prophecy from Isaiah 6:9-10. First, let’s look at the quoted passage.

‘When you hear what I say,
you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
and let me heal them.

The author of Matthew is quoting from the Greek version. Not unreasonable perhaps, but interesting given that the passage reads rather differently in a translation from the Hebrew, quoted below with verse 8 added for context

Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people,

‘Listen carefully, but do not understand.
Watch closely, but learn nothing.’
Harden the hearts of these people.
Plug their ears and shut their eyes.
That way, they will not see with their eyes,
nor hear with their ears,
nor understand with their hearts
and turn to me for healing.”

Two things to notice: First, as I mentioned above, the translation from Hebrew reads very differently from the translation from Greek. Now, I would not be surprised if a regular human authoring a book made this sort of mistake. However, I am rather surprised to see such a mistake in a work that is supposed to be divinely inspired. You would think divine inspiration would include being able to see where existing translations were inaccurate. Second, this passage is about the prophet Isaiah and what he has been instructed to do. It is not a prophecy about some future messiah. To apply it to Jesus stretches my credulity.

Psalms and Proverbs

Nothing of particular note today.

Reference links:

• Genesis 37:1-38:30
• Matthew 12:22-45
• Psalm 16:1-11
• Proverbs 3:27-32

• Overview of the Book of Genesis
• Overview of the Gospel of Matthew
• Overview of the Psalms
• Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Jacob favors Joseph “because Joseph had been born to him in his old age.” This made Joseph’s brother’s jealous. I wonder if Jacob also favored Benjamin since Benjamin was born to Jacob after Joseph was born.

The brothers’ anger increases when Joseph starts having strange dreams. In the first dream, he sees them bundling grain together. His bundle stands up while his brothers’ bundles bow. He then dreams that the sun, moon, and eleven stars bow down before him (I would imagine they bob more than bow). The implication is that Joseph, the second youngest of twelve sons, will somehow gain power over his brothers. They dislike the idea, not surprisingly.

One day, Joseph’s brothers are pasturing sheep. Jacob sends Joseph to report on the flocks. When Joseph’s brothers see him coming, they plot to kill him. Reuben, the oldest, convinces them to just throw Joseph in a cistern and let him die naturally (but Reuben really planned to come back and rescue Joseph). Joseph’s brothers execute this plan, but then take advantage of a passing caravan of traders and sell Joseph into slavery. The traders eventually sell Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh. The brothers dip Joseph’s robe in blood and presented it to their father. Jacob then mourns deeply for his favorite son.

We then take a brief break from that story to read about Judah and Tamar. Judah was the fourth son of Jacob and Leah. Bad luck plagues him. He married a Canaanite woman and had three sons with her. The oldest son, Er, marries Tamar. But the Lord considered Er to be wicked and killed him. Judah then forced his second son, Onan, to marry Tamar and produce an heir for Er (tee hee, “heir for Er”). Onan thought this arrangement sucked and so pulled out early whenever he had sex with Tamar (remember, it’s the Bible being explicit, not me). God thought this was evil of Onan and so killed him too. I think that is rather evil of God.

Judah sent Tamar back home, promising to marry her to his third son when he is older. However, he intended to break his promise because he did not want his third son to die. Tamar eventually figured this out, and decided to take matters into her own hands. She fooled Judah into thinking she was a prostitute and got pregnant by him. When Judah finds out that Tamar was pregnant, he declared that she should be burned to death. However, she had been clever and had proof that he had slept with her. This convinced Judah that Tamar is righteous because apparently it is okay to sleep with your father-in-law if he does not arrange for you to marry his last son. In any case, she gives birth to twins and Judah never sleeps with her again.

New Testament

Jesus heals another demon possessed man and people start to wonder if he is the Messiah. The Pharisees think that Jesus gets his power to cast out demons from Satan. Jesus makes a good point when he responds

Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart.

Sadly, he follows this up with a terrible point.

Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.

So remember, if you do not explicitly support Jesus, you are his enemy. In the same line, Jesus goes on to condemn anyone who does not listen to him or who wants him to actually demonstrate evidence for his claims of being able to do miraculous claims. Jesus apparently hated skeptics.

Psalms and Proverbs

Keep me safe, Oh God,
for I have come to you for refuge.

I wonder how often that verse has been cried out by those is despair only to have their hopes crushed, their refuge refused? In any case, today’s psalm presents a different message from the psalms we were considering the other day. Instead of doubt being the centerpiece, hope takes a central position. For those who actually believe the Bible, this must be a lovely song of praise.

More good moral lessons in the proverbs:

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it
when it’s in your power to help them.
If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say,
“Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help you.”

Yesterday, I commented on Jesus’ teachings about healing on the Sabbath. I claimed that Jesus did not make a very strong case for allowing it. He could have done a much better job if he had quoted the verses above. Those verses provide clear cut instructions that it is better to do good now than later.

Also, don’t plot against your neighbor or pick fights or copy the ways of violent people.

Reference links:

• Genesis 35:1-36:43
• Matthew 12:1-21
• Psalm 15:1-5
• Proverbs 3:21-26

• Overview of the Book of Genesis
• Overview of the Gospel of Matthew
• Overview of the Psalms
• Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Jacob returns to Bethel. Remember when Jacob fled Esau and Jacob dreamed of God? Bethel was the place that occurred. Upon arriving at Bethel, Jacob talks with God again.

God appeared to [Jacob] again at Bethel. God blessed him, saying, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now on your name will be Israel.” So God renamed him Israel.

God renamed Jacob in yesterday’s reading. Why do it again?

Also confusing, it seems that Jacob names Bethel again. Jacob named it the first time when fleeing from Esau.

The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although the nearby village was Luz.

In today’s reading we read,

Jacob set up a stone pillar to mark the place where God had spoken to him. Then he poured wine over it as an offering to God an anointed the pillar with olive oil.And Jacob named the place Bethel (which means “house of God”), because God had spoken with him there.

He named it Bethel again? Looks like another case of trying to reconcile conflicting oral traditions.

Rachel dies after giving birth to Jacob’s last son, Benjamin. She had to give birth while they were travelling. This would have been hard in the best of circumstances, but was likely made harder because of Rachel’s age (at the youngest, I figure she was nearly 40). She was buried on the way to Ephrath. Jacob returns to his father Isaac. Isaac dies at 180 and is buried by Jacob and Esau (for the record, 180 is greater than 120).

After Isaac’s death we read that

Esau took his wives, his children, and his entire household, along with his livestock and cattle — all the wealth he had acquired in the land of Canaan — and moved away from his brother, Jacob. There was not enough land to support them both because of all the livestock and possessions they had acquired. So Esau (also known as Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.

More ambiguity. Yesterday’s readings implied that Esau was already living in Seir. Esau met Jacob as he was returning from his time with Laban. He then invited Jacob to his home in Seir. Today, we read that Esau moved to Seir after Jacob’s return and Isaac’s death. Which is it?

The rest of today’s reading is genealogies. Boring, boring, genealogies.

New Testament

Have you ever played Agricola? If not, I recommend it. In Agricola, you have to feed your family. Grain counts as one food (this is just about the worst way to use your grain). In any case, today Jesus provides precedent for eating raw grain. He and disciples eat grain in the field on the Sabbath. This, of course, makes the Pharisees rather angry. Jesus justifies his actions by reminding them that David ate bread reserved for priests. But really, I just wanted to mention Agricola.

The Pharisees want to find a way to bring charges against Jesus. They ask Jesus if it is right to heal on the Sabbath. Jesus points out that people would rescue a sheep that fell in a well on the Sabbath. Since people are more valuable than sheep, it is okay to heal them on the Sabbath. He then heals a man with a deformed hand.

Now I am not against healing on the Sabbath. If you can perform miraculous healings, perform them any day of the week. However, I do have to quibble a bit with Jesus’ logic. I think that Jesus’ analogy shows that it is okay to heal on the Sabbath if to do otherwise would result in death. But it does not necessarily follow that it is permissible to perform miraculous healings that could have been done just as well the next day.

More supposedly fulfilled prophecies. Today’s prophecy is reasonable with respect to the original context. However, it seems inconsistent with the Jesus we saw the past couple days.

Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen.
He is my Beloved, who pleases me.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not fight or shout
or raise his voice in public.
He will not crush the weakest reed
or put out a flickering candle.
Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.
And his name will be the hope of all the world.

Does this sound like the same Jesus who comes “not to bring peace, but a sword”? Who comes to set father against son, mother against daughter?

Psalms and Proverbs

Lesson’s from today’s psalm: speak the truth, do what is right, don’t gossip, don’t harm your neighbors, despise sinners, honor the faithful followers of the Lord, keep promises, don’t charge interest when you lend money, don’t take bribes and lie. Other than the bit about honoring faithful followers of the Lord and despising sinners, not bad advice.

Another good bit of advice from today’s Proverbs reading,

My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment.
Hang on to them,
for they will refresh your soul.

However, a few lines later we get some verses that are either wrong or deeply disturbing

You need not be afraid of sudden disaster
or the destruction that comes upon the wicked,
for the Lord is your security.
He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.

Why is this either wrong or disturbing? Because bad things do happen to good people. Bad things happen to those who trust in the Lord for their security. Thus, either this statement is false or we can join the ilks of despicable folks like Pat Robertson who assume that disaster indicates that the one harmed was not doing right in the eyes of God.

Reference links:

• Genesis 32:13-34:31
• Matthew 11:7-30
• Psalm 14:1-7
• Proverbs 3:19-20

• Overview of the Book of Genesis
• Overview of the Gospel of Matthew
• Overview of the Psalms
• Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

The night before Jacob and Esau meet, Jacob encounters a man and wrestles him till dawn. As dawn approaches, the man touches Jacob’s hip and wrenches it out of its socket. Jacob still does not let the man go and demands a blessing. After asking Jacob his name, the man replies with his blessing,

“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”

Jacob wrestled with God! God seems to walk around in human form fairly often (now, before Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, in Eden). God in this human form was matched evenly by Jacob (unless God let Jacob win). As we progress through the Old Testament and through the new, we see God becoming more abstract. God is more concrete for authors describing events far in their past. God is more abstract for authors describing events nearer to their present. (Note for those who think God == Jesus, I am referring specifically to God the Father, not Jesus.)

In any case, Esau welcomes Jacob. But Jacob is still wary of Esau. Instead of going with Esau back to Seir (as he was invited to do), Jacob goes to Succoth and finally settles near Shechem. As far as today’s text tells us, Jacob snubs his brother and never visits him.

We read a terrible story today about Jacob’s time in Shechem. Jacob and Leah’s daughter Dinah is raped by Shechem, the local prince. He falls in love with her and wants her for a wife. Shechem’s father, Hamor sees this as a good idea; he thinks that arranging more marriages between Jacob’s people and his own will facilitate the absorption of Jacob (and his wealth) into the city of Shechem.

Jacob’s sons pull a cruel trick on Shechem and Hamor. They say that they will give Dinah if all the men of the city of Shechem are circumcised. Shechem and Hamor  agree, and everyone is circumcised.  Two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, slaughter all the men in the city while they are still weak. After that, the rest of Jacob’s sons take all the women and children as captives and loot the wealth and animals.

Jacob gets angry at his sons,

Afterward Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have ruined me! You’ve made me stink among all the people of this land — among all the Canaanites and Perizzites. We are so few that they will join forces and crush us. I wil be ruined, and my entire household will be wiped out!”

“But why should we let him treat our sister like a prostitue?” they retorted angrily.

And that’s the end of the story. This is a weak condemnation of an atrocious horror. Without God’s command, without the excuse of war, Jacob’s sons murdered the men of a city and took their wives. Jacob seems more concerned with his reputation than the moral implications of what his sons did (admittedly, Jacob’s concern is valid). Weak condemnation in a situation like this makes claims about the Bible’s unambiguously good and moral nature suspect.

New Testament

Another prophecy supposedly fulfilled! Let’s look at it in context. Today, Jesus claims that John the Baptist fulfills a prophecy from Malachi 3:1.

Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.

This one, in context, is more acceptable than usual. However, it does not fit completely. For example, this bit seems out of place:

[The one who follows the messenger] will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord.

Like in yesterday’s reading, Jesus continues to come across as vindictive. In addition to saying that towns that did not repent after he visited them will be worse off than Sodom and Gomorrah, Jesus also prays

Oh Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it please you to do it this way.

Now, I imagine this passage gets used for advocating for a childlike faith and the like. In the context of the rest of today’s reading, though, what sticks out is that Jesus is thankful that God hides information that could save people from hell.

Psalms and Proverbs

Today we come to a passage many Christians like to quote at atheists.

Only fools say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
not one of them does good!

Most often, when I have had this passage quoted at me, it has been to “show” how obviously God must be real because only fools deny God’s existence. I will interrupt my normal commentary to present a little advice: do not quote this passage at atheists. Doing so will put the conversation on the wrong foot. It is a useless statement. The atheist does not believe in God and does not believe in the Bible. Therefore, quoting what the Bible says about the foolishness of those who do not believe in God will not change an atheist’s mind.

Furthermore, realize that if you are a Christian and you quote this passage at an atheist, you are calling the atheist a fool, so do not deny it. You might try to hide behind the excuse that it is God, not you, calling the atheist a fool, but by choosing to quote this passage, you are endorsing its contents.

Also of note, if the first verse of the psalm reflects badly on atheists, the rest does not reflect well on Christians (or anyone else).

The Lord looks down from heaven
on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
if anyone seeks God.

But no, all have turned away;
all have become corrupt.
No one does good,
not a single one!

Reference links:

• Genesis 31:17-32:12
• Matthew 10:26-11:6
• Psalm 13:1-6
• Proverbs 3:16-18

• Overview of the Book of Genesis
• Overview of the Gospel of Matthew
• Overview of the Psalms
• Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Not too much to comment on today. Jacob decides to flee Laban with his wives, children, and possessions. Rachel steals her father’s household idols. Laban chases them, but does not harm them because of a warning he received in a dream. Laban searches for his idols. He cannot find them because Rachel claims she cannot get off of her saddle because of her period. Jacob goes on for two paragraphs about how terribly Laban treated him. Laban and Jacob make a covenant to stay out of each others’ way.

We then have an odd comment without context,

As Jacob started on his way again, angels of God came to meet him. When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is God’s camp!” So he named the place Mahanaim.

That’s it. Angels of God came to meet Jacob and… what? We are left hanging. Were the angels just hanging out?

Jacob has to pass through the region where Esau lives. Remembering that he cheated Esau out of his birthright and blessing, hesends ahead messengers to try to smooth things over. The author gives us a cliffhanger, and we end today’s reading seeing after learning that Esau approaches with 400 men.

New Testament

Today we see the less peaceful side of Jesus’ teachings. I do not know if I would go so far as to call them violent, but they are certainly antagonistic.

But first, Jesus’ views on pluralism. Some Christians believe that there are valid ways of worshiping God other than through Jesus, but that worshiping Jesus is the best and deepest way to connect with God. In this view, some non-Christians may go to heaven. This can come in degrees ranging from “those people are really worshiping Jesus, but just don’t know it” to “Jesus is not the only way to get to heaven.” I would interpret today’s reading from Matthew as being in conflict with the more open pluralistic positions and, perhaps even the weaker ones.

Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

Certainly, anyone who denies Christ is out of the picture. There is an implication that one must explicitly and publicly acknowledge Jesus to get into heaven. As with most Biblical passages, there is some wiggle room. This statement leaves room for an implied “but those who neither acknowledge nor deny me here on earth, I will neither acknowledge or deny before my Father in heaven”.

Now onto the antagonistic passages:

Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household!

If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.

I have heard the last segment interpreted as meaning that love that is not mediated through God/Christ is inferior. Thus, it is okay to imply that Jesus should be loved more than family because if you love Jesus more than your family, you love your family more than you would if you didn’t love Jesus (follow that?).

Within the context of the passage that interpretation becomes less relevant, if not completely unbelievable. Jesus must be followed and loved above all else or strife will ensue. In context, the last segment seems more like a threat than a loving statement.  To be fully fair, when I have seen this statement used in defense of the interpretation above, it has been of the form “here is this interpretation and here are verses X, Y, and Z which support it” rather than “given this passage and its context, here is how one can interpret it.”

Actually, come to think about it, in today’s reading, Jesus’ tone is generally threatening.

Psalms and Proverbs

Today’s psalm continues the patterns of psalms where the author feels abandoned but expresses faith that God will rescue them.

O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?

Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die

This psalm and the others like it provide comfort to believers because they show faith in the face of doubt, or so I guess. However, I see them more as evidence of the shaky ground that faith stands on. The struggle with doubt is really the main subject of psalms like these. The appeals to God’s love and mercy feels tacked on, like the half-hearted fulfillment of a required statement.

Reference links:

• Genesis 30:1-31:16
• Matthew 10:1-25
• Psalm 12:1-8
• Proverbs 3:13-15

• Overview of the Book of Genesis
• Overview of the Gospel of Matthew
• Overview of the Psalms
• Overview of the book of Proverbs

For the record, I love having a Python script which generates the daily reading links for me.


Old Testament

Rachel agonizes over her inability to have children. To overcome her inability, she gives her maid Bilhah to Jacob. Bilhah has two sons, Dan and Naphtali. When Leah realizes she is no longer having children, she gives her maid, Zilpah, to Jacob. Zilpah gives birth to Gad and Asher. I know the culture was different and children were important, but, as usual, I wonder how voluntarily these wives gave their servants over to their husband and how the servants felt about it.

During a harvest, one of Leah’s sons finds mandrake roots and gives them to his mother. Rachel wants them, and Leah agrees to exchange them for a chance to sleep with Jacob that night. Wikipedia on Mandrakes:

Mandrake is the common name for members of the plant genus Mandragora belonging to the nightshades family (Solanaceae). Because mandrake contains deliriant hallucinogenic tropane alkaloids such as hyoscyamine and the roots sometimes contain bifurcations causing them to resemble human figures, their roots have long been used in magic rituals

I do not know if Rachel wanted the drugs or wanted them for a magic ritual, but it was surely not a perfectly innocent desire. Contrary to semi-popular belief, the text does not imply Rachel used the mandrakes to cause her pregnancy. Rachel’s pregnancy occurred years later after Leah had had two more sons, Issachar and Zubulun, and a daughter, Dinah (bringing the total to ten sons, one daughter). After Leah finishes having children, God answer’s Rachel’s prayers and she gives birth to her first and Jacob’s eleventh son, Joseph.

In today’s narrative, Jacob starts tiring of life as Laban’s servant. Laban offers Jacob his wages, and Laban agrees to give Jacob all of the speckled, spotted, striped, or black sheep and goats. Before Jacob can separate them, Laban pulls a cheap trick and sends the marked animals to his sons.

Jacob prospers anyway; the number of marked animals grows. The reading gives two explanations for this and it is unclear whether we are supposed to believe both of them or just one of them.

Explanation one: Jacob practiced sympathetic magic.  He peeled striped of barks off branches making them stripped and put them in the water so that

when [the flocks] mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.

Explanation 2: Jacob tells Rachel and Leah that an angel told him in a dream,

Look up, and you will see that only the streaked, speckled, and spotted males are mating with the females of you flock.

The second explanation sounds more plausible given modern knowledge of genetics and reproduction. But it is described as a dream while the first is described as what happens. I will give the benefit of the doubt and guess that the story teller wants us to think that Jacob thought his magic was effective and later found out that it was a combination of God and selective breeding that did it.

New Testament

Today we meet the full slate of twelve apostles. The apostles were sent out to preach to the people of Israel (and only the people of Israel). They were to leave behind money, extra clothing, even walking sticks, but Jesus encouraged them to accept hospitality. Jesus also tells his disciples

Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy person and stay in his home until you leave town. When you enter the home, give it your blessing. If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand; if it is not, take back the blessing.

I am now confused about blessings. In our readings two days ago, Isaac accidently blesses Jacob instead of Esau. When Esau asks to be blessed too, Isaac says that Jacob has taken away Esau’s blessing, implying that Isaac cannot take the blessing back. However, today we see Jesus saying that his disciples can take blessings back. How confusing.

Psalms and Proverbs

Same old, same old in today’s reading from the Psalms. Today’s Proverbs reading is pretty good though. A lot of Proverbs is good if you ignore the bits about God being the only source of wisdom and encouraging child beating and the like. But back to today’s good stuff

Joyful is the person who finds wisdom,
the one who gains understanding.
For wisdom is more profitable than silver,
and her wages are better than gold.
Wisdom is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.

Reference links:

• Genesis 28:1-29:35
• Matthew 9:18-38
• Psalm 11:1-7
• Proverbs 3:11-12

• Overview of the Book of Genesis
• Overview of the Gospel of Matthew
• Overview of the Psalms
• Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Jacob goes to Paddan-aram so that he can escape Esau (remember, Jacob stole his blessing) and marry a daughter of his uncle (to avoid marrying one of the local women). Before going, Isaac blesses Jacob again. I guess he figured that since he had already blessed Jacob, he may as well continue.

Apparently, the family dislike of local women inspired Esau to go marry one of his uncle Ishmael’s daughters. I guess it is good to see the less fortunate members of the family stick together.

Jacob dreams of God. God promises Jacob that Jacob will be blessed with many descendants and protected by God. Upon waking, Jacob made this vow to God:

If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food an clothing, and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God.

These days, people claim that you must take a leap of faith and accept God. Here we see that Jacob sets out very specific and rather demanding conditions that he wants fulfilled before he takes the God of his father as his God. I think again what I thought when we read the story of Abraham’s servant finding a wife for Isaac: if God really lived up to such strict standards (reliably, repeatedly, and without selectively ignoring dis-affirming evidence), then Christians would not need to make so many claims about leaps of faith.

Jacob arrives at the home of his uncle. He falls in love with his cousin Rachel and agrees to work seven years to earn her as his bride. After seven years, Jacob has fulfilled his duty, but Laban fools him and gives him Leah for a wife instead. Jacob, of course, reacts with rage. Laban agrees to also give him Rachel for seven more years of work. Rachel is given to Jacob, and he works for Laban for seven more years. I would say that this is another great fan fic opportunity, but it has already been done.

Unlike his father and grandfather, Jacob has no problem having children. Although his favorite wife, Rachel, has trouble conceiving, Leah’s fertility cannot be doubted. Four children in today’s narrative. Finally we see progress toward that promise of countless descendants.

New Testament

Today Jesus conducts more miraculous healings. The author of Matthew stresses that only the faithful are healed. It has not been made clear whether this is because Jesus only wants to heal the faithful or if it is because faith is required for healing to be effective.

Jesus healed a woman who had “suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding”. Now, I once had my period last for three month, and it sucked. I can only imagine how miserable twelve years of bleeding must have been, especially in the days before nice absorbent sanitary pads.

Psalms and Proverbs

Nothing particularly noteworthy in today’s readings.

Reference links:

• Genesis 26:17-27:46
• Matthew 9:1-17
• Psalm 10:16-18
• Proverbs 3:9-10

• Overview of the Book of Genesis
• Overview of the Gospel of Matthew
• Overview of the Psalms
• Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

I do not want to keep harping on repetition which implies duplicated oral traditions, but I keep getting such blatant examples. In Genesis 21

• Abimelech came with his commander Phicol to visit Abraham.
• Abimelech declares that the Lord is with Abraham.
• Abraham and Abimelech swear an oath to get along with each other.
• Abraham brings up a disagreement their servants had been having about a well.
• Abraham gives Abimelech some animals.
• The well where the oath is sworn is named Beersheba.

In Genesis 26

New Testament

Authority figures hate Jesus. In front of teachers of religious law, Jesus tells a paralyzed man his sins are forgiven before healing him. Jesus eats with “tax collectors and other disreputable sinners”. Jesus’ followers do not fast like other folks do. I guess that Jesus’ willingness to go against the authority figures around him is supposed to indicate his authenticity. He is against The Man.

The bit about fasting confuses me. A follower of John the Baptist asks Jesus why his followers do not fast. Jesus gives three replies:

• “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from the, and then they will fast.”
• “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.”
• “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”

Psalms and Proverbs

Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless.
Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.
You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed,
so mere people can no longer terrify them.

Today’s Psalms present a good example of why Christianity can be so seductive to the downtrodden. For the suffering, it must be a relief to be able to believe that someday, perhaps in another world, wrongs will be righted and you will be cared for. But is a false hope better than a more hard won hope built on reality? Is a false hope better than no hope at all? I would give a resounding “no” to the first question, but the second one is harder.

In today’s Proverbs reading we read

Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with the best part of everything you produce

This passage presents an opportunity for reflection. In the past, one’s wealth consisted of what one produced. Since what one produced varied in quality, it made sense to say that the best should be used to honor the Lord (i.e., give to the current reigning religious establishment). Now, however, even those of us who produce things do not measure wealth in terms of the things produced. Instead, we use the abstraction of money. What then, is the modern analogue of honoring the Lord with the “best part” of your wealth and productive capability?

Reference links:

• Genesis 24:52-26:16
• Matthew 8:18-34
• Psalm 10:1-15
• Proverbs 3:7-8

• Overview of the Book of Genesis
• Overview of the Gospel of Matthew
• Overview of the Psalms
• Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

And Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tend, and she became his wife. He loved her deply, and she was a special comfort to him after the death of his mother.

Awww!  =)

After Sarah’s death, Abraham marries again and has five more sons by his second wife. Mostly, they serve as an explanation of the origins of yet even more of the locals. In addition, we learn that Abraham had concubines too:

before [Abraham] died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.

Abraham dies in today’s reading. At a ripe 175, yet again defying the 120 year limit set how long ago now? We also read that Ishmael eventually died at the age of 137.

On to the next generation! Esau and Jacob are twins. Jacob ends up with the birthright of the first born son when he makes Esau swear to give it up in return for some food (rather stupid of Esau, but rather unfair of Jacob). Their relationship bears some resemblance to that of Isaac and Ishmael. The older brother is considered wild, the older brother loses his birthright, and both brothers in both pairs founded nations. Once again, it sounds to me like the author of Genesis was synthesizing similar oral traditions into distinct accounts.

Speaking of which, today we get the third deception of a ruler by a man who claims his wife as his sister. Once again, there is a famine. They go to Gerar where Isaac is afraid the locals will kill him to get Rebekah. Isaac and Rebekah fool Abimelech (yup, same guy, or at least same name, as before) by claiming Rebekah is his sister. They are eventually caught in their deception (unlike Sarah, Rebekah avoids getting taken as anyone’s wife).

New Testament

Jesus calms a storm! When I imagine this scene, Jesus is cranky. He rebukes the disciples for having so little faith (and waking him from his nap). Then he snaps at the waves and winds to calm them down; he is not in the mood for finesse. Once that is done, back to bed.

Today we read the story of Jesus and the pigs. Today we see that when the author of Matthew talks about demon possession, he means it literally. Demons possess two men. The demons converse with Jesus and beg him to banish them to some pigs instead of destroying them. He does so, and the now mad pigs drown themselves in a lake. Jesus gets chased out of town for being a nuisance. He rather deserves it, in my opinion.

Psalms and Proverbs

Nothing particularly noteworthy in today’s Psalms and Proverbs readings.