Moses fails miserably in his first attempt to improve the situation for the Hebrew people.  He makes a simple request for a holiday but his request ends up bringing even harsher working conditions on the people.

I can’t read this part of the story without thinking about labour relations in our society today.  Union leaders are caught in the middle trying to negotiate a better deal for workers when management holds all the cards.  (The Caterpillar workers in London didn’t take a 50% wage cut, so the company closed the plant.)  One can argue that some companies in good times had given workers more than they deserved for their labour, but a global rush to the bottom of the wage scale can’t be good for anybody. 

 Do you see parallels between the actions of Pharaoh and the actions of large corporations today?  Who are the pharaoh’s of today who are driving away and reviling those people who are trying to make the economy work for more of us?  Unions were a reaction to the unfair working conditions and the unrestrained power of the company owners during the industrial revolution.  What is needed today to rebalance the power in our global technological consumer society? 

From time to time God calls on human prophets to get the Word out.  In the call to Moses we see a pattern that occurs elsewhere in the Bible (Jeremiah 1).  God’s appearance is startling and unexpected.  The commission is not met with enthusiasm.  God overcomes the objections and promises a sign.  A bush that burned and was not consumed would be rather startling. When God says that Moses has been chosen to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt, Moses objects that he is not a very good leader and the Hebrew people won’t listen to him and that he’s not eloquent enough to speak to Pharaoh. (He leaves out the part that there is probably still a warrant out for his arrest.)  God answers all Moses’ objections until Moses reluctantly agrees. 

When have you felt called by God?  Was there a burning bush or just a burning feeling that you had better do what needed to be done?  Were you reluctant? That kind of powerful call has come to me only rarely and always when I have been alone in a dark sanctuary.   

This story as it begins is a primer in oppression.  Take a people just a bit different than you are.  Convince yourself that they are a threat.  Begin with unfair working conditions and slowly increase the demands and lessen the access to basic life necessities.  Add verbal abuse, physical punishment and brutal working conditions.  Too many people down through the ages have read this story and seen in it their story.  But this story is also a basic instruction manual for civil disobedience.  First have a worthy cause, something you feel passionate about.  Second gather some support for your actions.  Don’t go into it alone.  Plan how you will respond when you are inevitably arrested for your actions.  Hope that your oppressor is as simple minded as many of them are.  The story of Shiphrah and Puah shows how the oppressed can stand together with courage and cleverness against the oppressor.  I wonder why the Bible writers and editors chose to keep the names of these two women in the text when the powerful Pharaoh is nameless?

 A similar story (a poor baby set adrift in a basket in the river and rescued by the court gardener) was told of Sargon, the great ruler of Babylon around the time of Abraham, and recorded in cuneiform at the time of Hammurabi who ruled Mesopotamia about the time of Moses.  It is not unreasonable to assume that this story of Moses birth was based on the more ancient story of Sargon.  Or perhaps Miriam got the idea to hide Moses from this ancient story she had heard.  We cannot be sure of what really happened so long ago.  Does knowing that the story may not be historical fact make the story any less powerful for you?  Does a story have to be true to contain truth? 

 You probably know that Joseph forgives his brothers and they all end up “happily ever after,” but Chapters 42-45 remind us that forgiveness can be a long process and it is not easily given and received.  For all his wealth, Joseph had lost his community, his family, his sense of belonging.  No matter how much he tried (and succeeded) in making his brothers pay for what they did, eventually he breaks down (45:1).  He needs the reconciliation as much as they do.  In verse 45:5 (and again in 50:20) we read that God intended all that happened so that good would eventually triumph. 

 I have trouble with the belief that God intends evil in this world so that God can bring good out of it.  Why can’t God just intend good and make it happen?  I rather prefer the idea that God can take any evil that we can dream up and bring good out of it.  What do you think?  How does forgiveness work in your life?  When have you been forgiven or when have you forgiven someone else?  What helps reconciliation? What prevents it? 

Again in this story, dreams play an important role in the plot.  In Chapter 41 it is Pharaoh’s dreams that help Joseph rise again. Note that in verse 47 Joseph gathered and stored (it does not say he purchased) the excess grain.  In verse 56 he sold back to the people what he had taken from them earlier.  Skip to Chapter 47:13-26 and read about how clever Joseph was as a Prime Minister.  He managed to turn what was a subsistence farming culture into a feudal system with a 20% tax rate.  No wonder Pharaoh was so pleased with the plan!  I have been reading a book by David Rohl who attempts to link archeological evidence with the stories of the Bible. (Not everyone agrees with him.) During the reign of AmenemhatIII (1678 – 1634BCE) there were a few years of excessive flooding with levels high above the typical levels of the inundation of the Nile.  The flood waters would not have receded in time to seed the fields.  No seeding, no harvest, no food.  It is also at this time that a canal was built to divert Nile flood waters into a nearby lake so that the inundations could be controlled.  This waterway is known even today as Bahr Yussef (the Waterway of Joseph).  Could it be that Joseph was a skilled engineer as well as a devious bureaucrat?

Why does the Bible insist on presenting its heroes, “warts and all?”  Is it possible for people to have great power and not abuse it?  Was it part of “God’s plan” for the people of Egypt to be stripped of land ownership?  Where do you see God’s hand in this story?

Does this piece of ancient myth/history have any message in it for us today? 

It would seem that nothing can keep Joseph down in Chapters 39 & 40.  Sold as a slave, Joseph makes good and becomes the overseer of an important Egyptian official.  Then he becomes falsely accused by a lustful wife and ends up in prison.  Again, Joseph rises to the occasion and ends up in control of all the other prisoners.  Joseph, making his daily rounds, has an opportunity to interpret the dreams of some significant people.  This event drives the story forward. 

 What do you think it was that kept Joseph going?  Why is it that some people seem to be able to cope with hardship and rise above and others get knocked down and can’t get up?  What keeps you going when everything seems to be working against you?

Nobody likes an upstart, especially the older sibling of one.  With Chapter 37 we begin the story of Joseph, the favoured son of Jacob.  As we have found before, at least two different traditions are being melded together into the story we have now.  In one Reuben is the brother that saves Joseph, in another it is Judah.  In one he is sold to Midianties, in another to Ishmaelites.  We can ignore these inconsistencies.  Many in our culture have also been taught to ignore dreams, but this was unheard of in the days of Joseph.  Dreams, especially dreams told and interpreted, had power.  So the brothers’ hatred of Joseph wasn’t mere sibling jealousy.  They had reason to believe that unless they did something, this young upstart really would rule over them.  And in the end, as we will see, he did. 

Aside from reading this narrative as a good story, is there a message in it for us today?  Are some things “ordained?”  What might this part of the story teach us about people who try to interfere with the way things are supposed to be?  Is there a larger plan, of which we know little, that will work itself out no matter how we try to interfere? What do you think about dreams?  Do you think that dreams can predict the future or at least give us a better understanding of the present? Is God present to us in dreams? 

I debated about including these two stories, one about Dinah in Genesis 34 and one about Tamar in Genesis 38 especially at this celebrative time of year.  They are rather gruesome.  But then I heard on the radio that the Egyptians are electing a party that favours Sharia law and the subjugation of women.  What happened to all those strong women who were part of the leadership of the Arab Spring revolution?  It reminded me of how tenuous is our hold on gender equality.  Even in our society, women are still silenced by abuse and still driven to prostitution because of the systemic patriarchy that challenges the just society that we are working to achieve.  So as you read these stories, think about not only how far we have come, but also how far we have to go and what we might do to move even a bit closer to the right relationships that God desires for all of us.

 Let us remember that Esau married a daughter of daughter of Ishmael.  Again we are reminded of the shared roots of the Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths.  In this story it is the Muslim ancestor who comes off as morally superior.  What magnificence; what gracious forgiveness!  As you read this story remember it is ancient and has been shaped by many voices over the years.  Some inconsistency and lots of possible interpretations only add to the richness of it.  One commentator describes it as an old church which has been lived in and worked on by many generations each one making adjustments, adding here, taking away there, but the basic structure is sound and strong. What part of this story can become gospel (good news) for you today?

 As we approach the new year, is there someone with whom you need to reconcile?  Can you be the one who takes the initiative? 

Jacob is forced to rely on his own resources which he does masterfully in Chapters 27:46-31:55.  A different take on the story begins this section.  Jacob is sent away with great fan-fare by Jacob. He does not go to escape the wrath of his brother and father but goes to find a suitable wife.  These chapters are about Jacob securing that suitable wife (or four) and his amassing of his clan and fortune.  This interpretation of the story probably is later and comes from a time when the Israelites were moving back into Israel after the exile and had to deal with the fact that many non-Israelites had moved into the territory in their absence.  That some of these were attractive women to young Israelite men would have been problematic for the priests who were trying to regain purity.  These priests wrote parts of Genesis. A story that has Isaac send Jacob back to his people for a “pure” wife would have been instructive for those who were tempted to marry outside the clan.  Jacob’s journey begins with a dream and a promise.  Sensing the presence of God (28:10-22) he makes a deal with God.  In return for God’s protection he will tithe (give one-tenth of his possessions to God). Bethel became a place of worship where generations brought their thankful tithes to God. Archeology has indicated that this site was considered holy 2000 years B.C.E.  Jacob remains his crafty self, out-tricked temporarily by his uncle but ultimately the lord of his castle (albeit a portable one).

 Does this story of trickery have a message for us today?  Are there times when deception is acceptable?  How do we know where to draw the line?