The One Year Bible: The World as Best I Remember It

 

Jacob, he loved Rachel and Rachel, she loved him

And Leah was just there for dramatic effect
Well, it's right there in the Bible, so it must not be a sin
But it sure does seem like an awful dirty trick

                                        Rich Mullins, "Jacob and 2 Women"

This week, in my journey through the Bible, I read Genesis 23-to 39, with a few side trips to 1 Chronicles for the genealogies.  This week's reading was not dull, that's for sure.  There was plenty of drama! And of course Rich was being facetious when he said that what took place in these stories must not be a sin.  The  Rachel-Leah rivalry, the rape of Dinah, the story of Tamar and Judah--none of these stories are meant to be an example of Biblical principles of well. . .anything.  

But we do find perhaps our first real Bible hero in these chapters in Joseph (Or maybe the second--Noah was a pretty clean-cut guy, though he wouldn't cut it as in Adventist what with his getting drunk).  Joseph is the first main character in the Bible that really seems to be flawless. He is a man of absolute integrity and faithfulness--someone worth emulating. Okay he  might have been a bit spoiled as kid, and you get the sense he might have been a brat as a result.  But hey, nobody's perfect.

I like these stories because they remind me that God deals with us in the real world, not the sanitized version of reality we like to put on for church.  The world we find in Genesis is full of love and hate, jealousy and loyalty, family rifts and reconciliations, sex and violence. It is the world as it is or at least as best as it can be remembered.  And it's in that world that God meets us and calls us to Him.

Highlights of  Genesis 23-39

• Isaac & Rebekah
• Jacob & Esau
• Jacob & 2 Women
• Joseph is favored by his father, falls out of favor his brothers and is sold into slavery in Egypt

"Now Jacob got two women and a whole house full of kids

And he schemed his way back to the promised land
And he finds it's one thing to win 'em
And it's another to keep 'em content
When he knows that he is only just one man"

                                         --Rich Mullins, "Jacob and 2 Women"

What Stood Out to Me

• Like father, like son.  What is up with Abraham and Isaac and their hot wives?  Both of them did the same thing when in the territory of King Abimelech, lying and saying their wives were their sisters because they feared they'd be killed so that their wives could be taken from them.  Apparently they were less concerned with their wives being taken than their own skins.  Both Abraham and Isaac look pretty lame in these stories, and if I was King Abimelech after this happened the second time, I would have been like: "You know what, I really don't want anyone from your family coming back here ever again."
• I always kind of thought of Esau as the "bad guy" and Jacob as the "good guy."  But Jacob, frankly is kind of a weasel and seems to have integrity issues.  They are both pretty awful.
• I've been quick to argue that romantic love didn't have a place in Biblical marriages.  I always thought love marriages were more of a recent concept--in those days it was all transactional.  But in the story of Jacob's marriage to Leah and Rachel, romantic love plays a significant role.  Poor Leah, with the crazy eyes.
• "May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another, Amen."  How many times have we said this prayer to close out a meeting. It's sound so beautiful.  But what it really means is "May the Lord keep an eye you to make sure you don't mistreat my daughters, marry other women or renege on your promises. Cause I don't trust you."
• The rape of Dinah and the consequent slaying of her assailant Shechem and all the men in his family is an awful story.  Not too many sermons preached on this one. It's notable to me how Dinah's perspective on what happened is completely ignored.  Even though she was the one raped, it's all about her brothers and Shechem. I have no idea how Dinah felt. And I wonder, if Shechem really raped her--because he seemed to love her very much and desperately wanted to marry her--or if they simply had sex and the brothers treated that as rape. I guess we'll never know.
• Tamar, on the other hand. . .we know exactly what her perspective was.  She was not playing.  To me she is one of the most badass characters I've seen in the Bible so far. Is it okay for me to say that?  I can't think of a better way to describe her.  She was not about to allow herself to be shoved aside by these awful men.  She was due a child, and she was gonna get that child one way or another!  It was through Tamar that the royal line of David, and ultimately Jesus came.

Judah and Tamar

Fun Facts

• Did you know that Abraham remarried after the death of Sarah. His second wife was  named Keturah.
• Did  you know that Shem, the son of Noah, outlived Abraham?
• Did you know the Esau's parents Isaac and Rebekah couldn't stand his two wives?  One of the reasons Rebekah sent Jacob away (besides Esau wanting to kill him) was because she didn't want him marrying one of these miserable local ladies.  And Esau eventually went and got a third wife from Ishmael's family strictly because he knew his parents didn't like the first two.  I think Esau (and Jacob) need some serious therapy.  They have issues.
• Did you know the story of Tamar?  I'm guessing you didn't (unless you read the Francine Rivers novella about her). It's not a story told very often--I think I'd get kicked out of church if I told this one at children's story time.  Tamar's second husband, Onan, the brother of her first husband, did her dirty. It might not seem like a big deal in our culture today, but it was his responsibility to get Tamar pregnant on behalf of his deceased older brother who had died (struck down by the Lord according to the author of Genesis) so that his line could continue.  He didn't want to do it and so he "pulled out" to ensure she wouldn't get pregnant.  The Genesis account says God struck him down for his treatment of Tamar.  Over the years "Onanism" came to be a euphemism for masturbation, I guess because of the "wasted" semen (though I think they missed the point. Onan's crime wasn't pleasuring himself, it was denying Tamar--and his dead brother--what was rightfully theirs)  Then Judah, sent Tamar back to her parents, promising she'd marry his third and last son when he was old enough. However, Judah had no plans to have his youngest marry her because he didn't want him "struck down by the Lord" the way his other sons had been (To me Judah is kind of dense. It wasn't Tamar's fault.  His sons were jerks.)  Well Tamar figured out what was up and was all like "Oh helll no." I won't spoil the ending--but let's just say Tamar fixed it.  Check it out in Genesis 38, a nice little interlude in the story of Joseph that Uncle Arthur skipped right on over.

What Spoke to Me:

• While I sympathized with Jacob getting swindled into marrying  plain ol' Leah--after all the heart wants what it wants, I really felt for Leah.  And God did too. I like that God took special note of her because she wasn't loved by Jacob.