Bible Bits -- Genesis 24:59-60

From my Bible reading a few days ago, I encountered the arrangement of the marriage between Isaac (secured by Abraham's servant, Eliezer) and Rebekah.  To American sensibilities, this arrangement is insane.  She goes with a man she has barely met to marry a man she has never met.  She is aware of some family ties, and she can see that her husband is a pretty rich man.  But that seems to be too little information to agree to a life-long union.  Nevertheless, she goes.

Perhaps even more grating on the ears of Americans is the blessing she receives from her family.  They do not say, "May you prosper greatly in your career.  May you be recognized with promotions and awards.  May you do great things and advance far in the company you work for."  They do not say, "You have won the lottery!  You are going to the house of wealth and luxury.  May you be pampered and increase in vast wealth!"

Here is the blessing they give: So they sent all of them on their way—their sister Rebekah with her nurse, Abraham’s servant, and his men. They blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your offspring take possession of the gates of those who hate them" (Genesis 24:59-60).

This goes far beyond, "I hope you have a nice family."  They bless her to be "the mother of thousands of ten thousands."  It would be Rebekah's greatest blessing to be a mother of many children.  (As it turns out, she struggled with infertility for twenty years and was blessed only with a set of twins.)

Americans have forsaken the idea that children are a blessing from the Lord--certainly many children.  We focus on ourselves, our careers, our goals, and our pleasures.  We have been trained to believe that children stand in the way of fulfilling these things.  They demand time.  They are expensive.  They are a source of stress.

While some of that is true, it presents children as a curse to be endured instead of a blessing to be celebrated.  If something is worthwhile, don't we invest time and money and energy into it?  Even if something produces stress, isn't it because we actually care about what we are doing?

A career demands time.  A career saps your energy.  A career is a source of stress.  And yet, it is deemed a higher good and of greater value than having a large family.

This is demonic.  The devil hates marriage, family, and babies.  He has taught our society to adopt his ideas.  Even if we have not swallowed the devil's lies whole, we are influenced by them to some degree.  How many parents would bless their children as Rebekah was blessed?  If you did, how would that be received by your son or daughter?  And if other people saw a family which God blessed so richly, you can be sure that someone would make snide remarks about the large family, rebuking the parents for being irresponsible.  (True stories from the past.)

While there are many great things that can be achieved in a career, no man or woman will ever do anything more important than to raise their children in the love and discipline of the Lord.  And if you can love one or two, you will find that loving five or six is a wonderful blessing for you and for the children God gives you.

BIBLE BITS: Genesis 40-42

Today's reading covered a portion of Joseph's interactions with his brothers during a time of famine.  Joseph was the overseer in charge of distributing the reserves of grain to keep people alive during a seven-year famine.  He happened to be on duty when ten of his brothers came as a group to buy food.

Joseph wanted to see if his brothers were any different from their past dealings with him.  Part of this testing included an accusation that they were spies, scouting out any weakness in Egypt.  Such a weakness would be pronounced during a famine.

When the brothers pleaded their case and their innocence, Joseph said he would dismiss all the brothers except one.  The rest would return to get their missing brother (Benjamin) if they were to receive any more food.  

While Joseph spoke to them in Egyptian and an interpreter was used to facilitate this conversation, the brothers began to bicker and argue with one another.  They were convinced that they were suffering because of the terrible way they had treated Joseph years earlier.  Apparently, their guilt was still eating at them all this time later.

In the midst of the bickering, Reuben states, "“Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood” (Genesis 42:22).  Of course, Joseph did not need the interpreter to understand them.  He heard every Hebrew word they uttered.

I wonder if Reuben's statement was the first time that Joseph learned of Reuben's compassion and attempt to save him from being sold into slavery.  Reuben was not present when Joseph was sold.  But here may be the first time he learned that Reuben actively pleaded for mercy upon Joseph.

This explains why Joseph seized Simeon, the second oldest, for imprisonment rather than Reuben.  Mercy was returned to Reuben in Joseph's treatment of him.

BIBLE BITS: Genesis 6-9

BIBLE BITS is an entry in accordance with my personal "Through the Bible in a Year" readings.  These will be little insights that I consider from each daily reading.  They will be posted when I have time and feel they are worth posting.  They are hardly exhaustive, just little bits of the Biblical text to ponder.  God bless your own pondering of the Scriptures.

BIBLE BITS from Genesis 6-9

Noah entered the ark on the 10th day of the 2nd month of his 600th year.  The waters came a week later--Noah's 600th year on the 17th day of the 2nd month (Genesis 7:11).  The waters remained on the earth for 150 days (after 40 days and nights of deluge), then they subsided.  

As the waters receded, Moses noted the time according to the days of Noah. (I will use dates of month / day / age of Noah to make it easier to ponder.)

The ark rested on Mt. Ararat. -- 7/17/600 (Genesis 8:4)

The mountain tops were visible. -- 10/1/600 (Genesis 8:5)

The waters were dried from the earth.  Presumably, the land was still saturated.  Noah removed the covering from the ark. -- 1/1/601 (Genesis 8:13)

The land was dried out. -- 2/27/601 (Genesis 8:14)

Then Noah left the ark.  Noah and his family were on the ark for over a year!  Why wait from 1/1/601 until 2/27/601 (almost two months!) to leave the ark?  Because only on the 27th day of the 2nd month of Noah's 601st year did the Lord tell Noah to leave the ark.  (In addition, Noah and his family sat in the ark for a week before the rains came.  Did he feel like a fool, just waiting there?)

I suppose Noah could have left the ark when he saw dry land.  The waters may have filled the valleys, but the mountain tops were dry for months before Noah actually left the ark.  I am sure he and his family were eager to be free from the confines of the ark, from the care of the animals, from the smell, etc....  They could have left the ark months, or at least a few weeks, before they did.  But Noah did nothing unless God told him so.  That is amazing faith.

Movie Review -- Noah

I have occasionally been asked about various Biblically-themed movies, and generally, I don't go to see them.  I don't have much hope for Hollywood being faithful to the Bible.

But they had been plugging the movie "Noah" for a while and I figured it would be popular, so I thought I had better see it.   So last night, Laura and I went to see Noah.

Short review:  It is bad.  Do not see it.  Do not waste your money.  Do not waste your time.  Read Genesis 6-9.  That will be accurate and you will be done in 10-15 minutes.  The movie will take away a good 2 hours that you will not get back.

Longer review:  Laura and I were trying to find the right adjective for this movie.  Wretched came to mind.  So did putrid, rancid, and awful.  We finally decided on abominable. 

A tag line on the trailer for this movie states: "The film is inspired by the story of Noah. While artistic license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide. The biblical story of Noah can be found in the book of Genesis." (from noahmovie.com) 

Let's see, what did they get right?
There was a man named Noah.  He had sons--Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  There was a flood.  There was an ark.  There were animals.  Beyond, that, not much was right.

What was wrong?  Hmmmmm.....  A sampling:
1)  The angels failed Adam and Eve when they were tempted.  So they came to earth and tried to fix everything.  But they crashed into the earth, the earth clung to them, and they walked around as giant rock creatures called "The Watchers."  This scored very high on the bizarro meter.
2)  The earth was a burnt-over charred ruin.  Man had destroyed everything.  That's why "the Creator" was going to send a flood.  Man had been bad environmentalists.
3)  Noah was kind of guessing at what "the Creator's" message was.  He had dreams, and he was trying to piece things together.  God was, at best, a vague participant in this whole movie.
4)  The ark was built by "the Watchers."
5)  Ham and Japheth had no wives on the ark.  Their wives were, apparently, going to be the twin girls born to Shem and his wife.
6)  Noah turned into a psychotic killer, determined to save the animals (who were pure) and to kill off all people (because they destroy the creation).
7)  The ark had a stow away who remained undetected for 9 months.

The list could go on.  Do not see this movie.  It is bad.
The book is better.  It is true.  And it is God's Word.