The Argument Clinic

Today’s reading is Exodus 6-10.  So here goes…

Exodus 6

“God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD.  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.”  I don’t think I ever really noticed this passage.  I’m not sure I really know what the significance is of God referring to Himself as Lord now, and as God Almighty when He appeared to people earlier, but I still think its interesting.

“Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.”  Its ironic really that sometimes we are less likely to listen to messages of hope when we are most in need of them.

Nothing much to say about the descendants part.

Exodus 7

“Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.”  I mentioned during yesterday’s reading that I don’t really understand the whole “God hardened pharaoh’s heart” thing.  I guess one of the questions I have related to that is did God mean that He knew that pharaoh’s heart would be hardened because He is all-knowing?  Or did God say that because He actually hardened pharoah’s heart?  If God did harden pharaoh’s heart, is that something He does with others and why?  I guess I am confused partially because earlier God said “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” and now it says that pharaoh’s heart became hard.  So there is a difference there.  Hmmm…

Can you imagine how much the environmental activists would complain if they were around back then?  What with the fish being killed to prove a point, all the frogs being killed after that plague, etc.  Lucky for them, activist groups weren’t around back then (or if they were, not nearly as vocal).

“and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water.”  Ummm…I think the fact that the river was actually blood would be a decent deterrent…you know, besides the smell.

“But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts”  I’m really not understanding how the magicians did the same stuff, but whatever.  Maybe they were early versions of David Copperfield or something (and just didn’t have the opportunity to make trains disappear or anything).  Who knows.

Exodus 8

Ok, I really don’t like frogs (they are ok from a distance or in photos actually, just don’t really like them in my vicinity) so the thought of them jumping in my bed is pretty creepy to me. 

“But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals.”  Interesting that they could produce frogs and not gnats…of course…hmmm…well, it said that the magicians could change the nile into blood also, but how did they do that if the nile was already blood?  Seems like the job was pretty much done for them.  Same with the frogs, how did they prove that their frogs were from the act of the magicians and not more frogs that were summoned up by God?  Hmmm…  Interesting that the magicians acknowledge that it was God acting in the case of the gnats though.

“But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart”  Hmm…now instead of God hardening pharaoh’s heart or pharaoh’s heart becoming hardened, it actually says that pharaoh hardened his own heart.  Interesting (and confusing)…

Exodus 9

“Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside”  Interesting that some of his officials were paying attention.  Seems like it would be a no-brainer to pay attention at this point…but clearly it isn’t considering how many still ignored everything.

“But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the LORD God”  That seems like a little bit of a generalization considering that some of the officials did fear the word of the Lord.  But then, maybe Moses just wasn’t aware of that at the time.  Who knows.

“(The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)”  Uhh…yeah, is it just me or is that side comment that the author made, like, really random and, at the same time, boring?

“When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts.”  I wonder if that included the officials who did fear the Lord earlier in the chapter.

Exodus 10

“”Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.”"  Once again, my lack of an imagination causes me to wonder what a darkness that can be felt actually is/feels like.  Hmmmm….
That’s it for today….

Now that I am back at work and have my lunch hour to myself again its easier to get back on track with my reading.  Today’s reading is Exodus 1-5.  Here goes… 

Exodus 1

“They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.”  Hmmm…some poor management decisions here if you ask me.  This type of treatment of the Israelites seems that it would make them more likely rather than less likely to rise up against them (because if the Egyptians had treated them well/fairly then the Israelites wouldn’t have the same cause for complaint.).

“The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.”  Its always interesting to me that we are taught not to lie to others, but, in the OT, if people had a good reason to lie (like the midwives in this example) it seems as though they aren’t punished for it (and are, in this case at least, rewarded).  This comes up several others times as well.  Hmmm…

Exodus 2

I wonder what it was like for Moses’ mother to help to raise her own son for someone else.  In one sense I’m sure that was difficult for her, but, on the other hand, she got to see that her son lived so I would think she would be thankful for that.

“Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”" Uhh…yeah, well what are the chances that the Hebrew who survived the beating wouldn’t have mentioned what Moses did to the Egyptian to anyone else after the attack?

“Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.”  Ok, seriously, all a guy had to do back then was help water flocks or scare off shepherds and they were giving daughters away to them.  Sure, we have problems in the 21st century and all, but I am still relieved that I wasn’t around back then.

Exodus 3

For those of you who may think that the service I help out with (no shoes required) has a “weird name” (as my dad put it the other day) it comes from verse 5 of this chapter (”"Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”")

Is it bad that the parts of this chapter where God is telling Moses to go to all the different people and say that He sent them reminds me of the Princess Bride “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.”?  That probably seems random…its just the seemingly repetitive nature of this chapter that made me think of it.  But then the Israelites weren’t always too quick to pick up on things (anymore than I am sometimes) so they probably needed that.

Exodus 4

“So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.”  Yeah…if I were Moses I would be less than thrilled about the whole touching the snake thing.

“But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.”  I know I really won’t figure this verse out today because I never have been able to.  I just struggle with this one for (what I see as) pretty obvious reasons.

“And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.”  Hmmm…bowing down and worshipping seems like a good thing to do a lot of the time, not just when you think you are going to get your way. 

Exodus 5

“”O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?  Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”"  This is an issue I often struggle with in my own life and am not that great at dealing with sometimes.  I trust God to do something for me and when it takes more time than I think it should, I assume that He isn’t going to deliver on what I trusted Him to do.  Only I feel like it should be different for Moses when God actually appeared to him in person…rather than the promptings I tend to feel in my life (which I feel like could be easier to question…even if that’s wrong too)…but I guess that isn’t the case really.  Seems like Moses struggles with it anyway.

That’s it for today’s reading.

I missed yesterday’s post.  It had been a long week so I went to sleep relatively early and planned to catch up some today.  Have also added walk aerobics to my usual pilates exercise routine so I have been spending a decent amount of time each morning/evening on that as well.  My sister recommended it actually and I am really glad that she did   Anyways, on to today’s reading…I am deciding to finish up Genesis today so the reading will be Genesis 36-50.  So it will be a much longer post than usual.  This is partially to catch up from yesterday and partially because I know I may have to be a little less disciplined about getting my reading done over the next week because I am traveling to Philadelphia so I am trying to make up for that on the days when I know I will have time.  So here goes…

Chapter 36

Yep, more descendants.

Chapter 37

“Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age”  Also, I think the fact that Joseph was the first born of the wife he actually loved (rachel), didn’t hurt either.

“Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” Ironic, isn’t it, that their attempt to prevent his dreams from coming true was actually what set them into motion?  Always interesting how God works through different situations.  The story of Joseph is one of my favorites actually.

“Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son.” So his father wept for him.” I understand that they didn’t like their brother and were jealous of him, but it still seems like it would have been difficult to watch their father go through this knowing that they had caused it.

Chapter 38

“Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.”"  I’m sure I just don’t understand the culture at the time very well.  I understand that what he did was wrong by not giving her to his third son (even though, by today’s standards, being passed from brother to brother is a little creepy), but she tricked her father-in-law into sleeping with her so I don’t see her as any more righteous than he was.  I understand he didn’t keep his word, but she was deceitful as well so, in reality, they are both wrong. 

And, though I think it was wrong for Judah to promise to give her to his third son and then not do it, I can’t blame him for being a little weirded out by the fact that he had to watch two of his sons die when they were married to her.  I would be pretty disturbed too, to be honest.  Though, on the other hand, I also feel badly for Tamar in this situation.  Geez…and I thought I had problems with guys…

Chapter 39

“The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.”  I have always been impressed by Joseph’s ability to continue walking with God and making the right decisions in difficult situations.  Especially since he came before the time when the Old Testament was written.  He didn’t have written guidelines to follow, but he trusted what he did to God’s care and God took care of him through all of that.  That’s why the story of Joseph has always been one of my favorites.  Because you can see the hand of God in Joseph’s life and you can see that Joseph always did his best to please God in return (even during the more trying times of his life).

Chapter 40

“The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.”  To be honest, the cupbearer at this point probably didn’t want to rock the boat and anger the pharoah again, any more than he already had.  He had a pretty narrow escape there.  So, where I think that he was wrong to not talk to the pharoah about Joseph, I can see where he had just been through a very difficult situation and most likely didn’t want to end up there again.

Chapter 41

“Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.  Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard.  Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.  Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream.  And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.”  At least the cupbearer did redeem himself when, admittedly, he did not have to tell pharoah about Joseph at this point and risk reminding the pharoah of his initial displeasure with him.

“”I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”"  Joseph’s actions throughout his life seemed to be a very good lesson in humility.  He doesn’t take credit for being able to interpret these dreams, but acknowledges that he couldn’t do that without God.

“Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah”  I always wondered what it was like to have to get used to a completely different name (especially one ~three times as long as your original one).  Though he would hardly complain about that when he was made 2nd in command of Egypt I guess, right?

“Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.”  See, even pharoah didn’t want to pronounce his new name, did he?

Chapter 42

“But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”"  I understand that Jacob’s sons with Rachel were his favorites, but he seems a little shameless about admitting that to his other sons.

Chapter 43

It must have been a kodak moment when the brothers realized that they were seated in age order.  I would be pretty surprised/weirded out too.

Chapter 44

“If any of your servants is found to have it [the master’s cup], he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves”  Next time, guys, I would recommend thinking before speaking, that’s all.

“”Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.  How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father.”"  I always thought the scenario that Joseph set up was interesting.  It was interesting to see that the brothers had learned from their mistake with Joseph and were willing to sacrifice themselves for their brother Benjamin.

Chapter 45

Though several years had passed, it still amazes me that Joseph was able to forgive his brothers the way that he did.  I’m sure it helped to see that they were protective of Benjamin, but I can’t help but wonder if I would be as forgiving in his situation.  But there is no way for me to know that.

Chapter 46

I always loved the image of Jacob and Joseph meeting after all those years.  Always a sucker for the tear-inducing moments, I guess.

Chapter 47

Not too much to say about this chapter really.

Chapter 48

“Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations”  Well, considering Jacob’s personal history I guess I could see why he was partial to younger brothers.  Seriously though, how did he know that the younger brother would be greater?  Had God told him this?

Chapter 49

Not too much to comment on here.  Except that I wonder what his sons were thinking when they heard these predictions from their fathers…because some of them were pretty unpleasant.

Chapter 50

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”  Once again, Joseph’s ability to forgive his brothers was really pretty amazing.  And the fact that he could go through slavery, prison, etc. and still appreciate the good that God brought out of the situation always made his story stand out to me from others in the Old Testament.

That’s it for today.  Next I will move on to Exodus…

Today’s reading is Genesis 31-35.  Here are my comments…

Chapter 31

“Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”"  This chapter helps to show why God entered into a covenant relationship with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when God appeared to them it actually affected their actions.  Even if they messed up sometimes, they still seemed to be listening for the most part.  Not really the case with Laban here.  Not so much the case with the Israelites in many cases later in the Old Testament either, for that matter, I guess.  I’m sure there are times when all of us miss stuff though.

“I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’”  So….hmmm…he knew that it was God speaking to him.  Ok, so what part of don’t talk to Jacob did he not understand?  I do wonder why God told him not to say anything good to Jacob though. Hmm…

Chapter 32

“Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”"  How exactly did Jacob struggle with God and overcome?  I don’t really understand this…what is meant by “struggled with” in this context?

Chapter 33

I always liked this part of the Esau/Jacob story.  The story of forgiveness between these two brothers when, under normal circumstances, that would have seemed pretty unlikely.

Chapter 34

“My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter.”  It seems to me that if the guy really loved her, he would have treated a little better before this point.  Not saying he didn’t want to marry her (because he obviously did because he did the whole circumcision thing) but just saying you love someone doesn’t excuse his earlier behavior, in my opinion anyways.

But just like Shechem saying he loved Dinah didn’t make his behavior right, her brothers’ actions in this chapter aren’t excused by the fact that they loved their sister either.  Neither Shechem nor her brothers come across particularly well in this chapter.

Chapter 35

“Then they set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.”  I wonder if the people in the towns saw something that instilled the terror of God in them or if they just sensed something.

“After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.  God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.”  Wasn’t Jacob already told this? 

That’s it for today…

I am finding that I like doing these entries during my lunch hour, it helps to break up my day.  Today’s reading is Genesis 26-30.  Here goes…

Chapter 26

“When the men of that place asked him [Isaac] about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”"  Runs in the family, apparently.  Was this just a really common practice back then or something?

As an engineer, couldn’t help but wonder how they dug wells back then.  Was the groundwater really shallow so they didn’t have to dig too deep or did they have more sophisticated/larger tools for this purpose than are there in my extremely limited mental picture?  Hmmm…  Anyone know?  I don’t know much about the area really, and shallow groundwater could just be pretty common. 

“When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.”  I wonder why they were a source of grief - was it because he chose to marry a Hittite?  They aren’t too specific.

Chapter 27

I’m not sure I understand what authority Isaac had that allowed him to give a blessing like this…and to have it be considered meaningful.  I don’t think I really understand the underlying concepts behind it.  How did Isaac know that saying these words meant that Jacob would be blessed?  Did God tell him to do this?  Did God give him the authority?  If so, why doesn’t that seem to be recorded anywhere?  Have I missed something?

“Why should I lose both of you in one day?” Well, technically if you had lost them both in one day, Rebekah, I would suggest looking in the mirror to figure out who was at fault for that.  After all, she was the one who manipulated the whole blessing deception.

“Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”"  That makes me wonder what the Hittite women were actually like cause (without knowing) her comments seem a little drama queen-ish to me.

Chapter 28

“Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep”  Ok, I can’t pretend to be an expert but I am pretty sure laying your head on the bare earth would be better than a rock…but I guess people have different preferences, I suppose.  Maybe he was choosing between an area of the ground covered by many rocks vs. putting his head on one rock…I could understand the choice then.

Even though Jacob woke up from his dream and was afraid it still seems to me that Jacob’s dream was a lot better than the dream I had once when I was being attacked by a giant ant…

One of my first thoughts as I read through these passages was that it seemed odd that they placed so much importance on the places they were when they heard from God.  But when I think about it, its understandable really - I mean I can remember where I was when I felt strong leadings from God and I can imagine that would be exaggerated if you actually saw, rather than felt, Him there…not that one is really more important than the other.  Seems when God appears to people though that they seem to get pretty afraid, whereas when I sense God’s presence it is more of a feeling of comfort.  I’m sure that that difference is partially due to Christ and His ministry and partially due to the fact that I have absolutely no idea what it really feels like for God to appear to me in a physical sense in the way that Abraham and Isaac did. 

Chapter 29

“Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.”  Got to hand it to Rachel for not being completely freaked out by that when they had just met.

“What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”  Geez…why is it that he didn’t notice that she was a different person?  If this wasn’t in the Bible, I would assume this was a poorly conceived soap opera plot - “I love you so much but I didn’t notice that I married and slept with your sister instead of you.”  (actually, I would hazard a guess that that plot has been used multiple times on soap operas) Assuming he got pretty drunk at the feast, but you think he would have at least been able to figure out who the woman next to him was during it.  Difficult for me to feel badly for Jacob…partially cause him not noticing seems pretty silly and partially because he didn’t seem to have much of a problem deceiving his brother multiple times.  The one person in this scenario I feel a little sorry for though was Leah.  Seems that it would have been difficult to have to live in your sister’s shadow around your husband.

Chapter 30

Not too much to comment on here…except that neither Laban nor Jacob come across very well in this chapter.  But then, most people don’t when their life is held under a microscope.

That’s it for today…