January 21

NT -- Just in case you missed the post from Jan 2, there is a good bit about Herod there. But this is not the Herod of Jesus’ birth. This is the son. And I have to tell you, the daughter of his wife dancing for his guests is not a good thing. Nice, unmarried Jewish girls (and Herod pretended to be Jewish) did not mix with men. And they definitely didn’t dance in a way that would ‘please’ her stepfather so much that he would give her anything. Her mother is his dead brother’s wife. The whole thing is icky. I suspect that the National Enquirer would be all over this household.
And to back up just a bit, verse 55 is the only reference to Joseph being a carpenter in the NT. Mark 6:3 names JESUS as being a carpenter but Joseph is never mentioned at all in Mark. Of course, most sons followed in their father’s profession so I guess you could assume that . It is strange that such a small mention in such an obscure way would give rise to the whole idea of Jesus the carpenter rabbi.
http://thamno.com/blog/?page_id=2051
OT – Once again, I get mad at Jacob. He just LEFT Simeon in Egypt. Did anyone notice that? I suspect that if they hadn’t run out of food, they would not have gone back! Even then, he was not plotting and planning to get Simeon, he wanted to make sure that Benjamin returned safely. Jacob is definitely a cautionary tale about having outright favorites amongst your children.
Last night at the Interfaith Dinner I went to, the moderator said that at some point, the rabbis were questioning why Genesis began the Hebrew scriptures. After all, the story of the Hebrews is the return to the land. Exodus should have been the start. Why have all these creation narratives and patriarchal narratives? Of course, I didn’t think this when I was sitting there but in the night, I decided that we as humans NEED Genesis. We need to know that parents make mistakes and some of them are whoppers. And there are reasons why you don’t show your favoritism. Or flaunt your oh so incredible gift of dreams. It causes problems in the family. And we need to know that even when we make the whopper mistake, God is there in his providence fixing our famine messes. That is my take on why Genesis belongs. What about you?
But clearly, clearly Joseph has grown up and has a tender heart. He weeps at the mere sight of his brother. His constant provision for them is so very different from how you would expect him to behave. What a model for us when we have been wronged by our families. And that is really the deepest hurt of all. When your FAMILY throws you under the bus, it is like no other pain.
Click here if you did not read the post about the Egyptians and the bread on January 19. There are a lot of nuances that are present in this story that this webpage illuminates.

The Psalm today reminds me of the passage in Ephesians with the armor of the Lord. In our culture today, it is not politically correct to talk about being a warrior for God. (Even writing that makes my skin creep around with images of the Muslim Jehad.) But in OT and NT times, being a warrior was just about the only way to come out on top. Pacifists got their teeth kicked in and their land taken away. I am uncomfortable with a lot of the ‘slewing’ that is about to come up. I am going to attempt to just 'be' with my feelings as I know that God has something to teach me about all this. As my Aunt Launa told me yesterday, “you just have to pray about it and then press on”.

If you have done all the readings we are 1/17 of the way through. Keep reading, keep meditating and please, feel free to pass the link on to someone who might want to join in. (This is an easy way to evangelize….Over email.) You don’t have to catch up. Just start where we are. The previous passages will be there for another reading.