Genesis 49-Exodus 2

Genesis 49 contains Jacob’s final words to each of his sons before his death. These words act both as a foretelling of the future and as a summary, in a way, of what has happened in the book of Genesis. The line that stood out to me the most in reading this morning was: “I wait for your salvation, O Lord.” Waiting on God is perhaps what we have the hardest time doing in life. Yet, if we wait on God, he will bless us in the end.

I like the Lewis quote here dealing with death and our pilgrim status here on earth. The last two lines are the best: “All joy (as distinct from mere pleasure, still more amusement) emphasises our pilgrim status: always reminds, beckons, awakes desire. Our best havings are wantings.” (Letter to Dom Bede Griffiths OSB, November 5, 1954)

Genesis 50 wraps up the story of Jacob, of Joseph, and of Genesis (the beginnings) as a whole. In this reading, the emphasis on the embalming of both Jacob and Joseph’s dead bodies really struck me. Embalming was not the normal burial practice for the Jews, but it was for the Egyptians. Thus, embalming would have been the characteristic thing for Joseph, a prominent member of the court of Pharaoh, to do. It amazes me how some Christians are convinced that only one type of burial practice is right and others are wrong. Of course, attitudes are changing. However, why certain Christians are so committed to following an Egyptian practice of embalming their dead remains a mystery for me. If we wanted to follow ancient Jewish practice we would wrap our dead in linens and spices and then later put the bones in a bone box. Of course, such a practice would not even be allowed in many places in the world today. Personally, I cannot see why one particular burial practice should be viewed as Christian and the others not. Some Christians view cremation as a denial of the resurrection. I do not see it so. God can raise ashes as easily as he can resurrect bones. Thus, whether one chooses embalming, cremation, green burial, or some other practice, seems largely irrelevant to me and merely a matter of personal choice.

Joseph’s words to his brothers in Genesis 50:20 sum up the spiritual lesson of his life: “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.” This verse also sums up a very important theological principle, that of dual agency. God acts and we act. God chooses and we choose. Neither choice cancels out the other, but what humans mean for evil, God can turn around and use for good.

The beginning of chapter 1 of Exodus was, no doubt, written by one of the final editors of the Pentateuch in order to tie together what has gone before in Genesis with what will follow in the next book. The key verse is: “Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” It occurs to me that many of us have experienced this same thing in our lives. A new boss, a new teacher, a new parent, let alone a new leader of a nation, can change everything in our lives, either for good or for bad.

Exodus 1 also ties into Genesis with its emphasis on the multiplication of the people of Israel, in this case, despite suffering and persecution.

Exodus 2 introduces us to the main character of this book: Moses. He is a fascinating character right from the get-go. His life is miraculously preserved in infancy. He is a Jew growing up in the household of Pharaoh, like Joseph in some ways. Yet, the first real action we see him committing is an evil and rash one—that of murder. Still, at the same time, we feel sympathy for Moses because he is standing up for his people who are being treated harshly. Before long, Moses is running from the wrath of Pharaoh and establishes himself in the desert, marrying into a Midianite family. What an amazing cultural amalgam we see in one man!

All of this sets the stage for the story to unfold beginning in Exodus 3. However, I like the way chapter 2 ends. We have the death of one Pharaoh, the one who was pursuing Moses to kill him. Was this Seti I? Was his son, the next Pharaoh, Ramses II, the step-brother of Moses, and one of the main characters of the rest of Exodus? I am not certain that anyone knows for sure.

What we do know is that God heard the groaning of his people in slavery. God remembered his covenant with the Patriarchs. God looked upon Israel and God took notice of them.

In the same way, I believe God hears your groaning and mine. God remembers his covenant with us. God looks upon us, and takes notice of us, and that is truly amazing.

Comments

C. S. Lewis on Homosexuality

Arthur Greeves In light of recent developments in the United States on the issue of gay marriage, I thought it would be interesting to revisit what C. S. Lewis thought about homosexuality. Lewis, who died in 1963, never wrote about same-sex marriage, but he did write, occasionally, about the topic of homosexuality in general. In the following I am quoting from my book, Mere Theology: A Guide to the Thought of C. S. Lewis . For detailed references and footnotes, you may obtain a copy from Amazon, your local library, or by clicking on the book cover at the right.... In Surprised by Joy , Lewis claimed that homosexuality was a vice to which he was never tempted and that he found opaque to the imagination. For this reason he refused to say anything too strongly against the pederasty that he encountered at Malvern College, where he attended school from the age of fifteen to sixteen. Lewis did not rate pederasty as the greatest evil of the school because he felt the cruelty displa

Fact, Faith, Feeling

"Now Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. I know that by experience. Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods 'where to get off', you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. Consequently one must train the habit of Faith." Mere Christianity Many years ago, when I was a young Christian, I remember seeing the graphic illustration above of what C. S. Lewis has, here, so

C. S. Lewis Tour--London

The final two days of our C. S. Lewis Tour of Ireland & England were spent in London. Upon our arrival we enjoyed a panoramic tour of the city that included Westminster Abbey. A number of our tour participants chose to tour the inside of the Abbey where they were able to view the new C. S. Lewis plaque in Poets' Corner. Though London was not one of Lewis' favorite places to visit, there are a number of locations associated with him. One which I have noted in my new book, In the Footsteps of C. S. Lewis , is Endsleigh Palace Hospital (25 Gordon Street, London) where Lewis recovered from his wounds received during the First World War.... Not too far away from this location is King's College, part of the University of London, located on the Strand, just off the River Thames. This is the location where Lewis gave the annual commemoration oration entitled The Inner Ring on 14 December 1944.... C. S. Lewis occasionally attended theatrical events in London.

The Shepherds' Perspective on Christmas

On December 21, 2015, the following headline appeared in the International Business Times: “Bethlehem Christmas 2015 Cancelled”. To be fully accurate, religious celebrations of Jesus’ birth went forward last year in Bethlehem, but many of the secular celebrations of Christmas that usually surround it were toned down due to instability in the area. Looking back a decade, there was even one year when Christian Arabs canceled community celebrations of Christmas in support of the Palestinian uprising. However, the Jewish government would have no part of that, so the Israeli military sponsored its own holiday celebrations in the area. It is also interesting to note who celebrated the first Christmas and who didn’t. The first Christmas was not celebrated by the emperor Caesar Augustus, nor Quirinius, the governor of Syria, nor was it celebrated by the lowly innkeeper. But Christmas was celebrated by a few lonely shepherds along with Joseph and Mary and the angels of heaven. How

C. S. Lewis on Church Attendance

A friend's blog written yesterday ( http://wesroberts.typepad.com/ ) got me thinking about C. S. Lewis's experience of the church. I wrote this in a comment on Wes Robert's blog: It is interesting to note that C. S. Lewis attended the same small church for over thirty years. The experience was nothing spectacular on a weekly basis. For most of those years Lewis didn't care much for the sermons; he even sat behind a pillar so that the priest would not see the expression on his face. He attended the service without music because he so disliked hymns. And he left right after holy communion was served probably because he didn't like to engage in small talk with other parishioners after the service. But that life-long obedience in the same direction shaped Lewis in a way that nothing else could. Lewis was once asked, "Is attendance at a place of worship or membership with a Christian community necessary to a Christian way of life?" His answer w

Does the Bible mention treating animals with kindness?

When I solicited questions to be addressed in this series, a member of the congregation wrote this to me: “Animals are mentioned in the Bible as beasts of burden and sacrificial animals. Is there any mention of treating animals with kindness?” The short answer to that question is: yes. However, it is important to note that what the Bible says about caring for animals comes in the midst of a great narrative. It is a narrative of Creation, Fall, and Redemption. Let’s look at these three great acts in the narrative play of world history one by one. First, let’s look at creation. Creation At the very beginning of the Bible, in the book of Genesis, chapter 1, verses 26 through 28, we read this: Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the

A Prayer at Ground Zero

Christmas Day Thought from Henri Nouwen

" I keep thinking about the Christmas scene that Anthony arranged under the altar. This probably is the most meaningful "crib" I have ever seen. Three small woodcarved figures made in India: a poor woman, a poor man, and a small child between them. The carving is simple, nearly primitive. No eyes, no ears, no mouths, just the contours of the faces. The figures are smaller than a human hand - nearly too small to attract attention at all. "But then - a beam of light shines on the three figures and projects large shadows on the wall of the sanctuary. That says it all. The light thrown on the smallness of Mary, Joseph, and the Child projects them as large, hopeful shadows against the walls of our life and our world. "While looking at the intimate scene we already see the first outlines of the majesty and glory they represent. While witnessing the most human of human events, I see the majesty of God appearing on the horizon of my existence. While

Sheldon Vanauken Remembered

A good crowd gathered at the White Hart Cafe in Lynchburg, Virginia on Saturday, February 7 for a powerpoint presentation I gave on the life and work of Sheldon Vanauken. Van, as he was known to family and friends, was best known as the author of A Severe Mercy , the autobiography of his love relationship with his wife Jean "Davy" Palmer Davis. While living in Oxford, England in the early 1950's, Van and Davy came to faith in Christ through the influence of C. S. Lewis. Van was a professor of history and English literature at Lynchburg College from 1948 until his retirement around 1980. A Severe Mercy tells the story of Davy's death from a mysterious liver ailment in 1955 and Van's subsequent dealing with grief. Van himself died from cancer in 1996. It was my privilege to know Van for a brief period of time during the last year of his life. However, present at the White Hart on February 7 were some who knew Van far better than I did--Floyd Newman, one of Van&

Glenmerle

Glenmerle in the 1950s In 2013 I published a biography on one of my favorite authors, Sheldon Vanauken. If you are interested, you can learn more and/or purchase a signed copy here: Signed Copy or an unsigned copy here: Amazon . One of the things that got me writing the book was my search for the location of Glenmerle, Vanauken's childhood home, so lovingly described in his book, A Severe Mercy . A visit to Van's alma mater, Staunton Military Academy, alerted me to the fact that Van grew up in Carmel, Indiana. Then, with the help of a local historian, we identified the location of Glenmerle. Because Van had suggested, in my first conversation with him, that Glenmerle was destroyed, I naturally assumed that the house no longer existed. However, another one of Van's fans recently contacted me to let me know that she believed she had found Glenmerle still in existence. I was able to look up the house on a real estate web site and compare current interior photos o

Will Vaus

Search This Blog