Day 021 - Job 1-3

After the length of time it took me to get through Genesis I've finally made it to the next book in the order which is Job. I really want to make an effort to be diligent with this reading plan and stick to it day by day.

So Job, the holy man of God who could do no wrong, who Satan is allowed to inflict terrible sufferings on to try and make him crack.

Today's passage is rather different from most of the book in that it begins with prose and only when we get to chapter three does the main poetic content of the book begin. Obviously divine inspiration is involved as we are privy to God and Satan having a couple of meetings. It's clear that God is in complete control and isn't at all threatened by the presence of his enemy. It's also very clear that Satan is not able to act unless God allows him to, which brings up the thorny question of why he allows him to do anything, a question which even if I could answer it fully would take more than a few blog posts to get to grips with.

As with Genesis, during which this story takes place somewhere, the cultural elements are a little difficult to get round, but by chapter three we have the equivalent of 4 blokes in a pub where the suffering one is surrounded by his mates.

Whilst Job does eventually crack, he doesn't blame God (as his wife would have had him do), but instead laments the fact that he was ever born and then reflects on the peace that 'the grave' would bring him. One thing that stood out for me was where he says in verse 19, "Everyone is there, the famous and the unknown." Death the great leveller, the event that will precipitate us standing before God's judgement, and all the fame and wealth in the world will not change our status. It seems that even in the midst of his sufferings Job is able to make profound statements about the world.

It's a while since I've read Job, but it's structure is familiar to me with it's series of dialogues between Job and his friends. I wonder which of their arguments will resonate with me the most and what my conclusions will be as I read it this time.

Day 020 - Genesis 48-50

It's the final stretch and by the end of the book both Jacob and his son Joseph have died. Jacob takes the opportunity of being on his death bed to gather his many sons around them and prophesy a future for them. Before this however he blesses his grandsons by Joseph, but deliberately switches his hands over so that he blesses the younger one with his right hand. There's no explanation given as to why he does this but I would suspect that it has a lot to do with the fact that Jacob himself was a second son who usurped his elder brother's position.

The book ends a a whimper really with the word, 'coffin,' as Joseph is buried and the scene is set for the next book, Exodus. However we'll be popping ahead to Job next as the events described happened during the period described in Genesis.

Day 019 - Genesis 46-47

Chapter 46 mostly deals with the family that Jacob brings with him to Israel and there are a lot of names in there to try and pronounce. The funniest for my are Muppim, Huppim and Ard, who, my dad informs me were key to a maths problem his teacher once set him and his class. Here we get that first glimpse of how one family will start to become a nation as at this point there are now 70 of them.

The rest of the passage focusses on the happy family reunion and the continued success of Joseph's forward planning to avert the famine. Our focus is once again drawn at the end to God's promise being related to a particular geographical area and even though he has brought them to Egypt, it is clear that there permanent future does not lie there.

Day 018 - Genesis 43-45

Joseph's mental torture of his brothers goes on in this chapter and it reaches new heights as he finds a way of keeping his youngest brother in Egypt. I really don't understand what is going on in these passages aside from Joseph trying to get some kind of twisted revenge for the way his brothers treated him years previously. It doesn't really fit with the character that had been revealed over the preceding chapters and there is a hint that he knows it's wrong as he has to keep leaving to avoid crying in front of his kin.

It does all finally come good in chapter 45 where Joseph finally reveals who he is which triggers a bout of relief on all sides including the Egyptian officials. These last few chapters obviously set the scene for what will happen in Exodus and I can't help but be reminded of watching the Star Wars prequels when you just know that any good that Anakin does is tainted by the fact that he will become Darth Vader.

Day 017 - Genesis 41-42

Joseph has to wait two years for justice to prevail when the king has an uninterpretable dream and the steward finally deigns to remember him. Again Joseph gives God his rightful place by acknowledging before the king who is the source of his ability to interpret dreams. He doesn't do badly at all out of the whole thing as he goes from lowly prisoner to the second most powerful man in Egypt.

Then the story switches tone as we go from worldwide famine to focus in on the continuing story of Joseph's family who come to Egypt to buy corn. There follows a few chapters in which Joseph deliberately withholds his identity from his brothers and it's hard to see why other than to put them through some kind of emotional assault course. He does also try to bless them by giving them the corn for free, but when they discover their money returned to them they panic even more.

Day 016 - Genesis 38-40

It's a bit of a mixed bag today with three distinct stories, one for each chapter.

The story of Judah and his daughter-in-law is just plain weird to our modern ears. The idea that a widow would go to such lengths to carry on a family line seems rather pointless and degrading, but we miss so much culturally here. God doesn't seem to come out of the story well either as his only involvement here is to kill two of Judah's sons for actions that displease him. God has been responsible for the deaths of multitudes beforehand so why is it that I baulk at the couple of deaths here? I guess it's because of the personal nature of the act and that we are told the names of the individuals concerned.

Then we see Joseph end up in Egypt and we start to see the goodness of his character, gone are the boastings of chapter 37 to be replaced by a desire of holiness. This pursuit costs him dearly as he ends up in prison because of the lies of Potiphar's wife. However he soon assumes a position of responsibility within the prison set up due to God being with him.

Chapter 40 sees the beginning of a story for Joseph is famous, but it is to God that Joseph attributes his ability to interpret dreams. This story again highlights for me the difference in storytelling that we have in the OT. There is no mention of the reactions of the steward and the baker to their respective fates as Jospeh interprets the dreams. I'm sure if I'd been the baker I'd have had something to say about my impending death and would have given Joseph and/or God a piece of my mind.