Hebrew Bible and Christian Scriptures

Within the story of Numbers we see the sins of the community in Genesis coming back to haunt Israel as they have to face their reprobate cousins while attempting to enter the land. Those peoples that were created through sinful acts or were simply not chosen by God end up being the same people who cause Israel grief. Below is a comparison of the Genesis and Numbers accounts:

Gen. 25, 27- Esau (Edom) becomes the reprobate brother under Jacob (Israel)
Num. 20:14-21- The king of Edom refuses to let Israel pass through their land

Gen. 19:30-38- Lot's daughters seduce him and bear Moab and Ammon
Num. 22-25:5- The Moabite king hires Balaam to curse Israel and the men of Israel are seduced by Moabite women

Gen. 9:20-27- Noah curses Canaan (Ham's son) for Ham's sin
Num. 21, 31- Israel defeats Canaanite nations while entering the promised land.

These stories thus serve both to justify to current actions of Israel (taking the land from reprobates), but also serve to condemn certain actions and behaviors. In this sense these stories can function similarly to some of our modern superhero stories. In the conflict between heroes and villains, the villains oftentimes are either relatives or friends of the hero. The difference, however, can be traced back to an event in the villain's past. Either a poor decision of the hero drove the villain to become evil or the evil was a result of a poor reaction to a tragedy in the villains life. In either case, the conflict becomes a stage not just for action, but also for a lesson in how to avoid behaviors that bring evil. Here is a You Tube video from The Incredibles that illustrates this point:

Mr. Incredible and Syndrome

Here, the villain was a fan of Mr. Incredible. However, Mr. Incredible's selfishness/pride, coupled with the poor decisions by Syndrome lead to repercussions for Mr. Incredible later in life as this young fan turns into a horrible villain. Thus, similar to Israel, those that are not chosen or who act sinfully within the community end up being a thorn in the side of their relatives later in the story.

The book of Genesis presents its readers with characters who are easily criticized, men and women whose actions are far from irreproachable.  To look back at the events which took place, the decisions people made, and the results which came from them, the skeptic can easily critique the lives of these biblical characters.  In simply looking at Abraham, the dichotomy of faithfulness and faithlessness is evident.

After all, this is the man who answers to resounding “go worth” and leave your home with little hesitation (Gen. 12) and whose providential  journey reaches its high point on a mountain with his son in one of the purest expressions of faith we can find (Gen. 22).  Yet, it takes no scholar to realize that this is the same man who is introducing his wife as his sister and the man who utilizes the surrogate Hagar, when his patience runs thin. (16)

So what do we have in all these characters?

For Abraham, and those through whom his covenant goes forth, great things surely await.  Abraham, after all, has been promised to become “a great nation”.  He has been shown the stars and told, “So shall your descendants be,” by God himself.  The man was guaranteed “one who will come forth from your own body” as an heir.

Amidst all of this, the blessings, the promises, the voice of God, the families of Genesis continue to struggle with faith in God.  It is as if no promise can assure them.  No guarantee is quite enough. Note here that the divine will of God prevails regardless.  Yet any critic, to be fair, must now be self-reflective.

In these men and women, we find narratives of lives lived out in the most difficult arena of life: the time between promise and fulfillment.

Valuable examples stream through Genesis and beyond of what life looks like after the promise yet awaiting the fulfillment. Indeed, each of us experience such difficulty in one or many ways.  Ask the couple recently engaged, the seminarian with a vision for the future, or perhaps the believer who awaits provision.  Ask Abraham, the old one to whom a son was promised. Ask the follower of Christ, to whom the Spirit has been given as a guarantee or pledge of “our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.” (Eph. 1:14)

Victor P. Hamilton, in his Handbook on the Pentateuch, reminds us of the underlying struggle when he writes that “whenever one sees the fruit of God’s promises as something to be achieved rather than received, all sorts of options present themselves.”(p.90)

A struggle with faith and obedience. Responsibility and expectations.  Waiting and what assuredly awaits.

Life lived in the moments between promise and fulfillment.

This song, by John Waller, offers a contemporary glance into this same struggle.

We typically read Genesis 37-50 as the story of Joseph, and for good reason. The majority of these stories deal with the trials Joseph faces as he is sold by his brothers into slavery, goes to Egypt, and eventually becomes 2nd in command in Egypt and is able to save his family. We've heard these stories so many times that we just assume that the focus is on Joseph's life. However, then we read stories like Gen. 38 about Judah and Tamar and wonder why the author/editor would place such an unseemly interruption in the middle of the Joseph narrative. Although there are certainly several reasons for the placement of Gen. 38 (it is interesting that clothing plays a prominent role in the three stories of Gen. 37-39), perhaps the placement is due to the fact that this is not simply the story of Joseph.

All throughout Genesis there have been competitions between siblings for blessing and birthright (Ishmael/Isaac, Jacob/Esau, Cain/Abel). The stories at the end of Genesis are no different. Indeed, perhaps it is better to recognize the ending set of narratives as extending back into Gen. 34 and describe the end of Genesis as a tale about the sons of Jacob. With 12 sons, the competition for the blessing/birthright becomes very complicated and interesting given that the reader is expecting a younger sibling to receive it by this point. And, corresponding with expectations, the three oldest sons quickly disqualify themselves in chapters 34 and 35. The process has begun. Then, the oldest son of Rachel is sold into slavery, leaving only the younger at home. It is good to note that the fourth son, Judah, was instrumental in selling Joseph. He should now be out as well.

However, the author then catches us off guard by returning to Judah. Although we should be moving on to the next sons, the story tells the tale of Judah and Tamar. This story seems to function as a lesson for Judah as he recognizes his own faults and repents, claiming that Tamar is more righteous. We then return to Joseph, and then, again we find Judah in the foreground of the story. When attempting to take Benjamin to Egypt, it is Judah who is willing to make a personal sacrifice for the sake of his father and brother. It seems that Judah's heart has done a 180. It is also interesting that this is the second time that Reuben attempts to preserve the family (saving Joseph and protecting Benjamin) and is foiled. It becomes clear that Reuben is still out.

The climax comes when Jacob blesses his sons. Although he gives the birthright to the sons of Joseph, there is still a blessing to be dealt with. So, Jacob proceeds down the line and is begins as expected. Reuben, Simeon and Levi are out because of their sins. But then comes the surprise, Judah receives the blessing and a promise that he will rule over his brothers. Thus, the story of Israel begins--a story that will continue throughout the rest of the Bible. Therefore, perhaps we need to reexamine the end of Genesis and look at the story of all of Israel and not simply at the story of a single tribe.

When we read the story of the Tower of Babel, we often speak about the pride that people exhibited in attempting to build a tower "that reaches to heaven." The story is often viewed as an attempt of humanity to storm the gates of heaven and to once again become like God. Indeed, the chiastic structure of the story would seem to support this:

11:1-4- Humanity gathers to build a tower to heaven
11:5- God "comes down" to see the city and the tower
11:6-9- The building up of the humans is ended

This is certainly one way to interpret the hubris exhibited in the story. However, there is also another way of reading the story. In this other interpretation, the hubris is not so much based on a vertical dimension, but rather on a horizontal dimension. In particular, we see in this story a denial of God's verdict to "fill the earth" (1:28; 8:17). In both stories of "creation" (the flood/Noah acts like a recreation story in many respects), God begins the new world with a command to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.

In the Babel story, though, people "found a plain in Shinar and settled there" (v. 1), built a city (v. 4), all with the intent that they would "not be scattered over the face of the whole earth" (v. 4). It is particularly interesting, especially given the chiastic structure, that the last claim humans make before God comes down is that they will avoid being scattered. Similarly, it is intriguing that God's solution really does not center around the tower. The closest we come to dealing with the tower in the second half of the story is God's statement that "nothing they plan will be impossible for them." Otherwise, God seems to be dealing with the problem of the people gathering instead of scattering and filling the earth. Indeed, twice, in verses 8 and 9, God's solution is to "scatter them over all the earth."

Given this interpretation, the story is not simply a tale about humanity's sinful desire to become like God. Rather, it highlights the sinful desire to reject God's commands when it proves more comfortable to do so. To the people of Babel, building a city made perfect sense. It could provide security and a better life, allowing them to "make a name" for themselves. Meanwhile, God's command to "fill the earth" was risky and forced them to face the unknown (similar to the call of Abram to go to an undefined land). Nonetheless, this story also stresses God's sovereignty. Despite human rejection of God's command, God's will shall be accomplished one way or another, in this case by the confusing of languages that forced humans to scatter and separate.

We are looking at Genesis 1-11 in class. We framed the discussion with a quick look at the episode of Star Trek the Next Generation “Darmok.” We explored how a common narrative creates a community. Genesis 1-11 gives the background for the social world of ancient Israel. Herman Gunkel the German scholar in his groundbreaking work on Genesis makes two points. First the relationship between protology, that is first thing and eschatology last things. The second idea was that etiologies become the narrative framework that builds a community. Gunkel’s book The Legends of Genesis published in 1901 continues to organize how many of us approach the book.
The challenge for today’s reader is how do we appropriate these stories in order to provide a narrative cohesion for a common life? The last session we began some initial soundings on the topics of the nature of God and the experience of gender. Today we will examine social institutions such as marriage.
We will talk about exogamy, endogamy, patrilineal, matrilineal, and other anthropological terms that have become part and parcel of biblical interpretation of Genes in the twenty-first century.

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