This week's Parsha is:
Genesis 37:1-40:23
Amos 2:6-3:8
Matthew 1:1-1:6, 1:16-1:25
1A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,
7Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[a] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,
Abiud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Eliud,
15Eliud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ
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10 comments:
I'm new to reading the Parsha each week, so please forgive the naive question. What is the source for the scriptures included each week? I see Genesis in some online Jewish Parsha's, but wondering how/who decides the three pieces including section from New Testament? And yes, I could ask hubby at home, but thought others might be wondering as well. - Cathi
All I know is that I get the text from hebrew4christians.com
I don't know who puts it together but I like it alot...although they could even add more scriptures that would correlate in each section..thats how crazy God's word is yo!
What's the "New Testament" without the "Jew Testament?" eh...
Tamar, Rahab and the "scarlett thread.":
Tamar-"when the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. And when she was in labor one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlett thread on his hand..."-Genesis 38:27-28
Rahab-"And she said 'according to your words, so be it.' Then she tied the scarlet cord in the window."-Joshua 1:21
"Scarlett"-"though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."-Isaiah 1:18
Amazing- Both of the wome, Rahab and Tamar, were obedient to God in uncomfortable and gutsy ways. Tamar slept with her father-inlaw because he ignored her pain as a widow, and did not hand over his son. It is a really strange story and always wigs me out. And, Rahab committed treason by hiding the Israelite spies in her home. Signifigance? Both women were prostitutes...unclean, unliked, ommitted. Both had to do with a "scarlet" cord or thread. Both are in the lineage of Jesus! This is powerful stuff.
I read somewhere that "God starts with our mistakes and moves from there," these women had some very risky and out of the ordinary calls to obedience...but they birthed two kings through their lineage, one David, the other the Messiah. That's restoration..and that is beautifully gritty...any way you cut it.
Another fact: "betrothed"-Mt 1:18 translates to Hebrew "kiddushen"...which means to seperate as holy (look up the ritual of "kiddush"). Hmm wedding word interwined with holiness mixed with Jesus' earth parents...connection?
Genesis 37
(Please note that this is not a light read. It will require some deep thought and reflection. Also, I often reflect on scientific concepts and spiritual concepts on the same plane of thought so if you are wondering how I have found this logic or thought process. Perhaps that will help. For further understanding of my science filter, you are welcome to visit http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html )
Genesis 37:3
Now Isreal loved Joseph best of all his sons for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him an ornamented tunic. And when his brothers say that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him so that they could not speak a friendly word to him.
Working Definitions
JUSTICE= (Quantum Theory)Doing Justice is repairing shalom
SHALOM= (per NOT THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE by Cornelius Plantinga) "universal flourishing, wholeness, delight, a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed all under the arch of God and in his love. Shalom in other words is the way things ought to be."
ORNAMENTED TUNIC= (String Theory) The world is like a garment (see Psalms 102:25-26
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I have two children who are dyslexic. This means that their senses and brain do not analyze their environment in the same ways as the average individual. Einstein (whose scientific theory is being applied to the text today) way dyslexic as well.
I will use my son Jonathon as an illustration of the dyslexia processes and thinking. When he does math or reads a book. The writing that we see as "light" would be equivilant to "thgil" and the reading flow would be unnaturally backwards like looking at the text in the mirror and reading backwards. As a result, he has to think deeply on each individual word to understand something simple to many of us. (I encourage you to try and read something this way and understand this perspective.) Many people with this learning challenge can also be sensitive to various light spectrums. So, it is very helpful for their paper to be colored and their light source and intensity to be controled. For, Jonathon this mean that if he has a problem with reading something on a piece of white paper and covers a portion of the page with another piece of white paper. The combination of the light source and the color of the paper will simply cause everything on the page to vanish. You can be explaining the problem but to him it is worthless because you are talking about a blank piece of paper. We might see clearly the math problem before us but he is seeing things in a different dimension than we are and that one is clean of any problems.
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We all have our own personal filters. Examples of filters could be things like contact lens, mirrors, magazine images of beauty, wealth, poverty, joy, depression, pain, healing....all our experiences and percepton of the world around us is a part of our "filter" and understanding of the world around us. (A good example of this might be to look back at the misunderstanding between Lizzy and I in last weeks text. She is looking through one filter and I through another.)
In this weeks text, Isreal gives his most beloved son a coat of many colors. No one really knows what this was or what it looked like but in my minds eye. I see the Son of God clothed in the fabric of our world or universe every living thing knit into the fabric. Small strong, tightly woven threads of earth, light, water, vegetation and animals all woven together in "Shalom" to create a fabulous garment.
In the text, we see that Jacobs' brothers could speak "no friendly word" to Jacob,or "shalom". They "hated" Jacob. God is "love". Yet He "hated" Esau and knew him not. Which is one way to say that Esau didn't seek a relationship with God so that God didn't have a relationship with him. Esau was worshiping his own needs and desires and saw himself as being in control of his environment not following God as he was designed to(sin) do. Worshiping the creation rather than the creator. Jacobs brothers were doing the same thing.
We are like Jacobs brothers, we took Christ threw him into a pit out of our own selfish desires and sin. Jealous for the love of a father who did not love us as much. They strip him of his tunic (glory), cast him into a pit in the wilderness, had a meal together (displaying their extraordinary callousness and insensitivity to human life) and sold him into slavery for twenty pieces of silver (a shekel?)
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My interpretation of all this through my own filters is this. We as sinners are arrogant and often claim knowledge of things we cannot possibly understand. God has knit everything in this magnificiant garment called the universe forth and clothed his Son in it as a royal robe. He the Son, loves the robe. It is a treasure to him. As sinners, when we do not see the world or others with love (the very eyes of God) the Shalom is weakened or destroyed. The fabric of the robe becomes torn or thin. The only one who can heal that distruction is the Son. The distruction or weakening of just one of these threads richly woven into this fine robe is beyond our understanding. Yet, whatever we do here is not confined to the tiny sphere we live within. It has a ripple effect that causes unstability, and loss of Shalom. This is why justice is so important. This is why Christ is so important. Without Christ, justice cannot be found or understood and Shalom cannot be restored, as long as we rely on ourselves instead of Christ, we can never have restoration or access to the Kingdom of Heaven without Christ.
We must take off our earthly, sinful filters and be transformed into Christ's likeness. See the world through Christ's eyes, trusting not in the world but in God's guidance and instruction. This is the only way healing is found after the "fall" and the "light of the world" is seen. Our transformation has the potential to transform the universe but only through Christ can we find Shalom or God.
All I can say to "Seeking the Vine" is WOW! Really awesome reflection indeed!
I'm stuck on desires and dreams!!! Are we more upset over our selfish desires and dreams being stripped away or God's desires for us being stripped away? Answered honestly, we are more concerned with our own dreams and desires being stripped away. So, how do his desires become our desires in a posture and place where we are unable to differentiate between the two because they so beautifully flow together in pure unison? Yes, I believe there are moments when this becomes possible. If the justice that eventually flows through our lives is found in the pure fabric of Jesus, the source of reconciled shalom on earth as it is in heaven, maybe we can be more upset when his dreams bust than our own. Maybe this is when we understand how to truly joyously sacrifice in passionate love; sacfrice for the sake of justice and all that is noble, excellent and praiseworthy. Maybe this is when we begin to understand that the Beatitudes and the entire Sermon on the Mount is much bigger than a Good 'Ole Christian Checklist.
I wonder if Jospeh, at the age of 17, was more concerned over his own dreams being shattered until that one enlightened day he found shalom in prison? He probably loved being seen as "kingly" so to speak before he even grapsed or wanted to grasp the meaning of a Son of the Almighty King. Cisterns, slavery and prison taught this young man a long lesson of embodied humility which began to align his heart with the true King. Our heart beats with His heart in prison! Justice springs up from the dry places...
Hmm... Does it have to be this way?
shalom
Ryan
Genesis 40
It would be interesting to know what Potiphar was thinking about during the whole ordeal with his wife and Joseph. He obviously had a great sense of trust in Joseph so I would find it difficult to believe that he would so easily dismiss Joseph as a person who would so such a thing. However, many people have done very rash things in anger.
So, I would have to say that God's hand of protection was upon Joseph and despite the turmoil he found himself in at that time. He did not seem to lose hope and kept looking for a way to return home. I think he was expecting that the dreams that he had had in youth would be fulfilled. However, he did not have any way to understand how God would knit the story together.
Joseph seems to have a great gift for both prophesy and encouragement. Yet, he always speaks what he believes even the message isn't really positive. This makes me think that there is still something of a innocence in him. Almost something childlike....
Genesis 38
Notes:
Addullan-meaning "sealed off place"... the history of this place seems to imply that this location was possibly a place of hiding. A place where the poor and outcasts of society lived and sought refuge.
Shua-meaning "help!"
Er- meaning "protector" or "watchful"
Onan-meaning "power"
Shelah-meaning "please" or "be still"
Kezib-meaning "deceiving"
Tumnah-meaning "alloted portion" - Philistines occupied at the time of Samson.
Enaim-meaning "two eyes" or "springs". This is tied to Joshua 15 in reference to two spring feed “upper” and “lower” underground chambers, each tapped by a well (source Archaeological Study Bible).
Judah seems to have thought that he not only was with a prostitute but with a "temple prostitute of a idol". The name
seal+cord+staff given as pledge to Tamar. These were sort of like a charge card with a form of identification and a signature. Also interesting that these symbols also seem to almost mimic the names the three sons of Judah.
(Hummm.)
Image of the twins wrestling for position in the lineage as firstborn son.
Perez-"breach" or "break out"
Zerah-"scarlet or brightness" or "sunrise"
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This whole story seems to allude to a deep shame that follows Judah throughout his life. (This is illustrated even into the birth of the twins.) To the point that he not only carries it deep in his heart and tries to hide from it from everyone but also from himself. However, it seems to run over onto Tamar and his entire lineage. Judah is hiding. When he has let his guard down after suffering a great loss of his marriage and two of his sons, he ends up not only taking more shame upon himself for not living up to the shame associated with prostitution but also ends up revealing the sin in his own heart. In a sense, you could say that God brought Judah to the end of his rope. He exposed Judah to his own sin through his own harsh judgment of someone in his own family who had full knowledge and understanding of the depths of the sin in his heart. God pulled out a double edged sword and cut him to the heart of the issues which surrounded his life.
I can’t help but feel that the order of birth and circumstances of the twins’ birth seem to draw a feeling of renewed hope and promise. I believe that there has been true repentance in the heart of Judah and that he has turned away from his sinful ways. Thus, even though we sin, if we will turn away from that path and be transform. There is forgiveness, alluding to the coming of Christ or Messiah and his redemptive power.
Amos
This reads almost like a trial doesn't it? Amos seems to be the one laying down the facts and the law. Presenting the facts and the judgement of set before His people.
Yikes!
(Tip: For those reading who may not know, capital letters like "His" above indicate God in the Bible. Seems initally small but is very important that you identify the difference when reading. It isn't something that is just commonly shared these days for some reason.)
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