Gen. 48-50 - The end of an era

The readings - Day 17 - Genesis 48-50


The account of Jacob's last days is interesting on a number of levels.

Although Isaac and Jacob (especially Isaac) don't really occupy nearly the place of reverence and generally accepted importance that Abraham does, they still represent the completion of the trio of founding generations for the people of Israel (and, by extension, the means of blessing for the whole of humanity), so there's a strong sense of closure when Jacob is finally "gathered to his people" (one of my absolute favourite euphemisms for death, by the way).

Gen. 46-47 - Life as sojourn

The readings - Day 16 - Genesis 46-47.


Figuring out how numbers work in the Bible is tricky, even when things seem like they ought to be fairly straightforward. I'm hoping that when I get to Numbers, some of them start to make more sense, but I've got a feeling that that's not the way it's going to pan out...

When I come to tallies like the one that basically kicks off chapter 46, I always feel like I'm missing some vital puzzle pieces, and that if I had a better grasp on the culture of the time that it'd all come together and make sense.

Gen. 43-45 - "I love them, I love them not..."

The readings - Day 15 - Genesis 43-45.

I've got two sons, and they're currently 3 years old and 4 months old. I wouldn't say that I necessarily lose track of them, but then again, I wouldn't say that I have a particularly large family either.

I can, however, see how letting kids outnumber parents is a risky endeavour at best, and that chaos can't help but ensue at some level, particularly when you get into the double digits.

Jacob had 12 sons. Sons. Daughters didn't count for as much back then, but they definitely would have been there... All this is to say that I have no doubt that the household of Jacob was likely incredibly complex and chaotic, with people running here and there, descendants and ancestors everywhere you look, and I'm sure that  if I were in his position, I'd have a lot of trouble keeping everything straight, too.

However...

Gen. 41-42 - "Has it been two years already?"

The readings - Day 14 - Genesis 41-42.

A note about timing, since it's easy to forget how these things actually go, according to the text. It's a relatively recent phenomenon that people are interested in the mundane, day-to-day aspects of historical figures, and most ancient histories skip vast swaths of time, often without much notice at all, in order to get to the good stuff. Seems the Bible is no exception.

Gen. 38-40 - "Ask not, er, ah, what you can do for your daughter-in-law..."

The readings - Day 14 - Genesis 38-40.

To anyone who is reading this who doesn't know me personally, I have a disclaimer. I'm technically 30 years old, but I'm 76% sure that I'm still 17.

That said, I have a challenge for you.

First, look at this picture:

Day 12 - Genesis 35-37

Genesis 35-37

I went to Israel - once, when I was six years old. You might think that it's a bit young to really take anything from the trip, but I still remember almost everything (or, at least, I remember every single thing that I remember, if that makes any sense. Which it doesn't.) 24 years later, and one of the strongest memories I have is of an epiphany* that struck me while there.

*NOTE: I just spent five minutes trying to find a YouTube clip that has Mr. Smee saying "I've just had an apostrophe" to Captain Hook in the 1991 film Hook. Thought you'd like to know.

Day 11 - Genesis 32-34

A weird thing happens at the beginning of chapter 32.

1 Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. 2 Jacob said when he saw them,"This is God's camp." So he named that place Mahanaim.

Turns out that by this time, visits from/with angels are so common that, while they're still worth mentioning, they're really not that interesting any more...

Day 10 - Genesis 30-31

It's funny how, despite the penchant of certain sectors of Christian society to point to the Bible when it comes to figuring out issues of family and relationships, scripture is chock full of stuff that most people would scoff at, even if they were fans of the daytime talk shows that would be salivating to feature during Sweeps Week.

Strangely enough, it may be that people with family troubles should look to the Bible's famous families, although it may be more of a "look what these people got up to - feel better" type of approach rather than a "let's be more like them" thing. One can only hope.

Days 8 and 9 - Genesis 25-29

So, I'm not just cramming these two days' readings into one post because I know deep down that it's the only way I'll ever catch up and not lag hopelessly behind for ever more.

At least, not exclusively.

The chapter and verse divisions in the Bible are arbitrary enough. I'd look up when they were first introduced, but Wikipedia is down right now in protest of SOPA, so I'm out of luck. They're old though. Really old. Just not as old as the text itself, and that's important.

You can tell, even without Wikipedia's help, that they were fairly arbitrary, because every now and then you find a place where somebody just simply got it wrong. The ending of chapter 27 is one of those places, but more on that a little later.

Day 7 - Genesis 22-24

For the longest time, my general response to the "God-testing-Abraham-by-telling-him-to-kill-his-son" story was that it must have been excruciating for Abraham to go through something like this, and must have been an unspeakable relief for him when God stopped him and said "don't worry about that, here's a sheep instead."

Many people will point to this episode as proof of God's cruelty, insensitivity and arbitrary authoritarianism, but I've never believed that. I just don't see a way that this story could possibly have ended with Isaac dying.

Day 6 - Genesis 19-21

So yes, this post is a day late, and the next one will be too, most likely. I'll catch up eventually, though.

By way of explanation, the Interwebs are broken at my house right now, or were until this morning, apparently, and this weekend is a swamper at work, so time and brain power are at a premium.

Also, the Internet breaking makes me irritated, and irritated is not the frame of mind to try and reflect in any sort of coherent way on some of the most nauseating passages of the entirety of scripture.

Day 5 - Genesis 16-18

Names are interesting things in the Bible.

These days, apart from souvenir key chains and schmaltzy plaques/posters, people (North Americans, at any rate) don't really ascribe too much significance to names, but names – of people or places – tend to be incredibly important in the Bible, so much so that God Himself, now and then, lays down the law and throws a name out there, as a promise or a signifier of some larger plan.

Ishmael, for example. "God will hear." What a promise to a pregnant woman who has run away into the desert after being used in perhaps the most profound way, only to be reviled and, in all likelihood, severely beaten for her trouble.

Day 4 - Genesis 12-15

Every now and then, in an argument about the veracity/relevance/truth of scripture/Christianity, someone will assert that the faith, and particularly the Bible is a collection of wishful thinking and self-congratulatory, self-aggrandizing tales, written to make the protagonists look awesome.

I both like and dislike when this happens. First, it generally means that I'm talking with someone who's never read the Bible, and second, because one of my favourite aspects of the Bible is that it is absolutely nothing if not realistic in its portrayal of people - all people, almost especially the "heroes."

Abram, who will later become Abraham, (shh... spoilers) is one of the Bible's most revered heroes, and is, of course, one of the most important characters in history, since three of the world's most influential religions look at him as a historical father figure.

But, particularly at the beginning, he's sort of a dick, isn't he?

Day 3 - Genesis 8-11

I like this project already.

So Genesis 8-9 sees the dwindling of the flood and its aftermath, and brings us up to the death of Noah at the ripe old age of damn-near-a-thousand.

Two things occurred to me when reading through these chapters this time, and I have a feeling it'll be a recurring theme for me (not that I'll necessarily subject you to it every time I notice it. No fear.):

The first is that it absolutely astounds me that anyone can get anything at all out of the Bible by approaching it from the aforementioned literalist interpretation. I just don't get it. The language, imagery and symbolism is so rich, and the story so beautifully laid out that I just feel like it'd be highway robbery to boil it down to mere documentation.

Day 1 and 2 (Genesis 1-3, 4-7)

So as you've no doubt noticed, I'm doubling up today, since I started reading yesterday and only started writing today. I'll mash my thoughts together for this one, but they'll roughly occur in chronological order. This'll also hopefully be the last time I include an editorial-ish opening to the post itself. Most of the time I hope to just leap right in.


Like now...

Genesis 1-3, 4-7

It's funny how hard it actually is to really read something that you're so familiar with as the opening chapters of Genesis. It's almost like you just automatically shift into 'skim' mode because your brain just assumes that you can fill in the blanks on your own, which you can - in a way.

In another more accurate way, this is a great method of getting nothing out of the experience other than what your brain provides by dipping into the murky waters of prevailing cultural interpretation of what's said, rather than what's actually there.