So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross and we will believe him.” Matthew 27:41-42 (ESV)
It has been a few years since I shared this poem. Attached is the live reading I did at Unity Baptist on Palm Sunday, April 13th.
He Cannot Save Himself
A poem for Good Friday
Even after saying “Behold, I die” at the end of this chapter this is still not the end of Jacob. Most of chapter 49 will be blessings and prophecies as he recognizes each son by name. And I don’t know what it means – probably nothing at all – but we will finish the book of Genesis on Easter morning. We’re planning Good Friday worship services and thinking about the resurrection and at The Master’s Table I’m talking about Jacob’s sons and the 12 tribes of Israel. Not totally unrelated… this is the family through whom all the world will be blessed, after all.
Genesis 48
After this someone told Joseph “Your father is sick.” And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Continue readingWe’ve seen people coming from all over Egypt and Canaan to buy grain from Joseph. What happens when the money runs out? They start trading livestock for grain. What happens when that runs out? By the end of the famine the nation of Egypt will own everything in the country, including the Egyptians.
Genesis 47
Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh “My father and brothers, and their flocks, and herds, and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan and they are in the land of Goshen.”
Continue readingThis chapter gives us a review of Jacob’s family, repeating which son was born by which wife and then taking that forward another generation or two. The total number of the House of Israel going down into Egypt was 70. Jacob is reunited with Joseph and they prepare to settle in the land of Goshen.
Genesis 46
Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
Continue readingIt must be sweeps week because here is the big dramatic reunion scene you’ve been waiting for. Overcome with emotion, Joseph drives everyone out except his brothers then tells them everything. He also tells them not to worry about selling him into Egypt because that was God’s doing.
Genesis 45
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all of them and he cried out “Make everyone go out from me!” And no man stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
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My kitchen is small and has no place to sit but I get it. You can sip that cup of coffee and talk to Jesus. Go ahead and listen for that still small voice. God is near.
This is Happy Monday #583.
Continue readingA few chapters back, I mentioned it would be a good time to talk about theater as a a metaphor for life. I wrote that copy before recording the scripture reading and the discussion. I then immediately forgot that I had even said that. The analogy will work anywhere between Genesis 40 and 50, and really the first chapter of Exodus. So let’s read Genesis 44 then I will explain what I mean about the theater.
Genesis 44
Joseph commanded the steward of his house: “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.
Continue readingThey waited as long as they could but eventually the grain runs out and it becomes necessary to return to Egypt. Jacob does not want to let Benjamin go with them but they really have no choice as Joseph was quite clear. They are apprehensive about facing him again because of the money being found in each sack after their first visit. There is a lot that can go wrong on this second trip but by the end of this chapter it looks like everything will turn out great.
Genesis 43
The famine was severe in the land.
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Wild Game Supper – I wish I could identify everything in this picture. The truth is, by the time I sat down I had already forgotten some of the details. I know that I didn’t pick up the deer sliders because I had them last year, and I had deer in my freezer (that I actually made into chili on Thursday). In the cup is duck gumbo. On the plate, in addition to coleslaw and baked beans, is deer meatloaf, roast turkey and deer poppers; that’s roasted deer meat inside of a jalapeno pepper wrapped in bacon. There are a couple of things I don’t remember the specifics of; there is some kind of wild game in that quesadilla but I don’t remember what.
Continue readingOne of the things that got Joseph in trouble was his dreams, the ones that indicated his brothers and even his parents would bow to him. As the famine spreads across the region and drags on for what Joseph knew would be years, his family was bound to show up sooner or later.
Note: if you read a translation that says corn, or ears of corn in chapter 41, that is not necessarily wrong. Corn used to be a general term for all grain. Maize was indigenous to North America, the Egyptians did not grow what we call corn today.
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The Master's Table 