| Chapter 33 | |
| Summary: | Moses, "the man of God", gave the people of Israel a blessing before his death:"The Lord came from Mount Sinai, and rose up from Mount Seir unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints - from his right hand went a fiery law for them.He then blessed the tribe of Judah, saying: "Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people - let his hands be sufficient for him, and help defend him from his enemies."Of the Levites, Moses said: "Let the Thummim and the Urim be with these holy ones, whom you tested at Massah, and with whom you strove against at the waters of Meribah. They spared not even their father, mother, siblings, nor their children; instead, they kept their word and your covenant. They shall teach Jacob your judgments, and your law to Israel. They shall place incense before you and burnt animal sacrifices upon your altar. Lord, bless them, their skills, and the work of their hands. Smite through the loins those who rise against them, and do not allow those who hate them to rise again."Of Benjamin he said: "The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover them all day long, and they shall dwell between his shoulders."Of Joseph he said: "May the Lord bless their land, from the precious dew from the sky, to the deep waters beneath; for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon; for the choice materials of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills; for the precious things of the earth and its fulness; and for the good will of the Lord who dwelt in the burning bush - let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, the crown upon his head that separated him from his brothers. His glory is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns - with them he shall gore his enemies to the end of the earth - they are the tens of thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh."Of Zebulun and Issachar he said: "Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and you Issachar, in your tents. They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness - for they shall feast upon the abundance of the seas, and of the treasures hidden in the sand."Of Gad he said: Blessed be he that enlarges Gad's land - he dwells there like a lion, and tears the arm with the crown of his head. He chose the best land for himself, because he was seated as the lawgiver. He lead the people and executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Israel."Of Dan he said: "Dan is a lion's cub - he shall leap from Bashan."Of Naphtali he said: Naphtali is satisfied with his favor and blessing from the Lord. They will possess the land in the south west."Of Asher he said: Let Asher be blessed with many children and be favored by the other tribes, and let him dip his feet in oil. |
| Notes: | 1.)As noted in the previous chapter, "Jeshurun" is an alternate poetic equivalent for "Israel". It can mean the people of Israel (as it is used here), the land of Israel, or as an alternate name for Jacob/Israel. |
| Thoughts: | This chapter sort of reads out like a will for the twelve (or thirteen, depending on how you're counting) tribes of Israel, with Moses giving each of them a final blessing before he prepares to die. Some of the tribes, such as Reuben, who gets the first blessing, are short and to the point - he blesses the tribe of Reuben "to live, and not die" and for their numbers to not be few; and the blessing which follows that for the tribe of Judah goes similarly - to bless their handiwork and to help defend them from their enemies. Whereas Moses rambles on much longer with his blessing for other more important tribes like the tribe of Levi. When giving his blessing for the tribe of Levi, Moses again mentions the Thummim and the Urim - two stones that basically serve as a sort of Magic 8-ball to answer "yes" or "no" questions, that we first encountered in Leviticus: Chapter 8. I've discussed my numerous problems with these Magic 8-Ball stones in my commentary for both Leviticus: Chapter 8 and Numbers: Chapter 27, so I don't feel that I need to go into further detail here. Continuing on with his blessing for the Levites, he references God "testing them" at Massah (which the name is said to mean "tempting God to kill us all") when the Israelites were whining for water and almost stoned Moses to death until he drew water from a rock, and the second time that they complained about not having any water where Moses struck the rock like he had done before instead of "speaking to it". He then commends the Levites for not even sparing their own families - parents, siblings, and children - when they were ordered to slaughter them to prove their allegiance to God. He states that they are the ones chosen to teach the people God's laws and judgments, burn incense, and sacrifice animals upon the altar of the sanctuary. He asks God to bless them in their works and deeds, and to "smite through the loins" anyone who opposes the Levites, and to ensure that such people aren't allowed to "rise again". Although Moses states that the tribe of Benjamin is "beloved" to God, they only get a short blessing asking God to keep them safe. Next Moses blesses the "half tribes" of Ephraim and Manasseh under the blanket of the single tribe of Joseph. Because the Levites are included in these blessings, the half tribes must be counted as the single tribe of Joseph to preserve the bible's obsession with the significance of number twelve. When the tribe of Levi is omitted from a count or census, such as when they are prohibited from possessing land in Canaan, the "half tribes" are treated separately as if they were "full tribes". Moses asks God to bless the land of the two "half tribes", as well as everything contained and that grows within it. One odd thing Moses mentions in his list of things are "precious things put forth by the moon", which the only possible thing that I'm aware of that this might be would be mushrooms. This is interesting in light of the role that hallucinogenic mushrooms have played in many early religions - some have even theorized that manna may actually have been describing psilocybe mushrooms. The use of hallucinogenic mushrooms by the Israelites could certainly better explain some of the more bizarre occurrences such as God's appearance as a burning bush (which is also coincidentally mentioned in this blessing) or the intense fear of the Israelites due to God's appearance as a smoking, lightning encrusted, mountain top. Moses asks that the tribes of Joseph are blessed due to the "crown" that separates them from the other eleven tribes, reasoning that the glory of Joseph is like a firstborn bull, and that his "horns are like those of a unicorn(!)" that will gore the enemies of Israel to the ends of the earth, for there are tens of thousands of people belonging to the tribe of Ephraim (32,500 according to the census taken in Numbers: 26), and thousands of people belonging to the tribe of Manasseh (52,700 according to the census taken in Numbers: 26). Even though the tribe of Manasseh outnumbers the tribe of Ephraim in the previous census, Moses seems to imply the opposite here. The tribes of Zebulun and Issachar get a combined blessing, where Moses asks God to bless them in their outdoor activities of camping and hunting. For the tribe of Gad, Moses asks God to enlarge their land, and states that they had picked out the best land for themselves since they were "seated as the lawgiver", meaning that they had been selected to enforce criminal punishments. The tribe of Dan gets the briefest blessing with Moses simply stating that they are "a lion's cub - and [they] shall leap from Bashan". The tribe of Naphtali gets the most boring blessing stating that they're basically happy with what they've got and will inhabit the south west portion of the "promised land". Finally, Moses blesses the tribe of Asher by asking God for them to be blessed with fertility, to be favored by the other tribes, and for them to wash their feet in oil. Moses then states that the defense of the Israelites shall be strong, and that their strength will last through their lifetimes. He adds that God will help them in battle, bringing their enemies before them to destroy. Moses states that they will be safe and unbothered in their dwellings, and will prosper in crops. He finishes off stating that the enemies of Israel will be proven wrong, and that the Israelites will dominate over them. |
Showing posts with label Reuben. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reuben. Show all posts
Saturday, May 15, 2010
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 33
Thursday, November 5, 2009
NUMBERS: Chapter 32
| Chapter 32 | |
| Summary: | Both tribes of Reuben and Gad had a vast amount of cattle, and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead they noticed how well suited the place was for their cattle. They approached Moses, Eleazar, and the leaders of the congregation to speak with them about the land. They pointed out that the countries that God had smote along the way to the "promised land" - the lands of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon - were perfect for raising cattle. The servants of the tribes of Reuben and Gad asked for permission - if they were in good graces - to instead of crossing the Jordan with the rest of the Israelites and claim an inheritance in the "promised land", that they instead be able to settle here instead. Moses answered them by inferring that they were simply trying to get out of their military duties, and that if they were to settle outside of the "promised land", it would send off a bad message to the rest of the Israelites and discourage them as what happened when Moses sent forth the spies. Moses furthered that when the spies had scouted out the valley of Eschol, they had discouraged "the heart of the people of Israel", that they were unwilling to go into the "promised land" that God had "given" them. Moses continues the story, explaining that God's anger was kindled by the incident and swore that no man twenty years or older would be allowed to see the land sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because those people did not wholly follow God - with the exception of Caleb (son of Jephunneh the Kenezite) and Joshua (the son of Nun), because they did wholly follow God. Fueled with anger, God had made the Israelites wander in the wilderness for forty years until that generation had died off - because they had "done evil" in the eyes of God. Moses then told the tribes of Reuben and Gad, that here they were now being "sinful" and doing the same thing that their forefathers had done. He warned them that if they turned away from God, then God will yet again leave them out in the wilderness, which would destroy the people of Israel. The tribes then assured Moses that although they would have to build sheepfold for their cattle and cities for their young in the meantime - to protect them from the nearby inhabitants, that they would be willing to arm themselves and march ahead of the people of Israel until they safely reached the "promised land". They promised Moses that they would not return to their homes here until the people of Israel have occuppied the "promised land". Moses responded that if they armed themselves, went to war, and drive out the enemies of Israel, then they will be guiltless before God and before the people of Israel, and then the land will be theirs. However, if they break their promise then they shall have "sinned" against God and that their "sin" will be upon them. He tells the tribes to go ahead and build their walled cities for their young, and folds for their sheep, and do as they had promised. The tribes of Gad and Reuben assured Moses that they would do as he commanded, stating that their wives, children, flocks, and cattle would stay behind in the cities of Gilead, but that every man able to go to war will battle for God. Moses then said to Eleazar, Joshua, and the leaders of the tribes of Israel that if the people of Gad and Reuben cross the Jordan River armed to do battle, then when the "promised land" is conquered, Gilead must be given to the tribes of Gad and Reuben as a possession. Moses continues, stating that if they refuse to cross the Jordan River to battle, then they will have to accept land amongst the rest of the Israelites in Canaan. Again the tribes of Gad and Reuben agreed saying that they would do as God commands them, fighting in Canaan for God as so that the lands on the other side of the Jordan River would be theirs. Moses gave the kingdom of Sihon (king of the Ammorites) and the kingdom of Og (king of Bashan) - and all the land and cities contained within - to the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh. The people of Gad built the following cities: Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth, Shophan, Jaazer, Jogbehah, Bethnimrah, and Bethharan. They were all fortified cities with sheepfolds. The people of Reuben built the following cities: Heshbon, Elealah, Kirjathaim, Nebo (the name being changed), Baalmeon (the name also being changed), and Shibmah. They also gave other names to the cities they rebuilt. The clan of Machir (son of Manasseh) from the tribe of Manasseh went to Gilead, took the land, and drove out the Amorites who were residing there. Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir, and they lived there. Another clan of Manasseh, Jair (another son of Manasseh) went and took the small towns surrounding Gilead and renamed the area Havothjair. A man named Nobah went and took Kenath, and the surrounding villages, and named it Nobah, after himself. |
| Thoughts: | Both the tribes of Reuben and Gad noticed that the ruins of the lands of Jazer and Gilead seemed extremely well suited for raising cattle. So they approached Moses and Eleazar asking if they could forfeit their inheritance in the "promised land" and instead settle in these lands. Moses however, accuses them of trying to skirt out of their military duty, and says that if they were to settle outside of the "promised land", that this would send off a bad message to the rest of the Israelites. He claims that this would discourage the others from wanting to conquer the "promised land" much in the same way as what happened when the spies Moses sent out had discouraged the people with their reports of giants. Moses recounts the whole story over again about how the people's reluctance to conquer the "promised land" angered God so much that he made them all wander around in the desert for forty years until the entire generation died off (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, and of course Moses and Aaron's priestly sons). Moses accuses the tribes of doing the same thing that the spies had done forty years ago, and tells the tribes of Gad and Reuben that if God got angry with the Israelites again for being reluctant to conquer the "promised land", that it would surely be the end of the Israelites. Basically what Moses is saying is that the people of Israel are highly gullible, easily manipulated, and easily led astray. Honestly, when we look at this rationally, this would make sense in regards to indoctrinating people with religion. Moses then threatens the tribes of Reuben and Gad by telling them if they don't conquer the "promised land" as God had ordered, then that God would simply wipe out the people of Israel. The problem I have with this whole "promised land" concept is that God "promised" this land to Abraham and his descendants hundreds of years prior; since then he has done absolutely nothing to prevent other people from inhabiting this land; and now is encouraging the Israelites to go around violently killing other civilizations and keeping their virgin daughters in order to claim their "promised land". Think of it this way - My family built a house 400 years ago, and they told one of your ancestors that this house will belong to your family someday - not in your ancestor's lifetime, but that his descendants will own this house in due time. Years go by and squatters inhabit the house, and they manage to turn the run down house into a livable home. They paint the house, mow the yard, tend the garden, and maintain this house throughout their generations over the next 400 years. Then the day comes where I finally decide that you can have the house, but I'm going to make you get the squatters out of there yourself. I haven't told the squatters to leave, given them any formal warning, and I'm certainly not going to kick them out myself. So instead, I tell you that not only do you have to kick these people out yourself, but that you are not to leave a single person in the house alive - except for the family's daughter, providing she's a virgin, who you can then "keep for yourself". How anyone can justify this absurd story as moral, just, or ethical is beyond me. Anyways, the tribes of Reuben and Gad assure Moses that they had no intention of shirking their military duties. They tell Moses, that if they can keep this land in Gilead, that as soon as they finish building some folds for their cattle and fortified cities for their wives and children (so that they could defend themselves from invaders), then they would actually arm themselves and lead the charge into the "promised land" themselves. They further promised Moses that they would not return to their homes in Gilead until the Israelites had finally occupied the "promised land". Moses then accepts that if they follow through with their military promise, then they will be "guiltless" before God and the rest of the Israelites, and Moses then gives them permission to build their sheep folds and walled cities. (Moses also points out that if they fail, then they will be branded as "sinners".) The tribes agree to the terms but answer curiously, stating that "they will do as God commands them" - which seems a bit backwards considering that the entire idea was their suggestion, and not God's. Moses then gives the former kingdoms of Og and Sihon to the tribes of Gad and Reueben, as well as to the tribe of Manasseh - presumably because the clan of Machir drove out the Amorites from Gilead, and the clan of Jair conquered the towns surrounding Gilead (both clans hailed from the tribe of Manasseh). The people of Gad built the cities of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth, Shophan, Jaazer, Jogbehah, Bethnimrah, and Bethharan; while the people of Reuben built the cities of Heshbon, Elealah, Kirjathaim, Nebo , Baalmeon , and Shibmah. They fortified these cities and built sheepfolds in them, and changed the names of some of the cities from their original names. The chapter ends by stating that a man named Nobah conquered the city of Kenath (and the surrounding villages) and named it after himself. |
Monday, August 10, 2009
NUMBERS: Chapter 7
| Chapter 7 | |
| Summary: | Moses finally had fully set up the tabernacle and anointed and sanctified it, as well as the altar and all of the utensils contained within the tabernacle. The leaders of the tribes of Israel - who helped Moses with the census - brought their offerings to the tabernacle. They brought six covered wagons drawn by twelve oxen - each tribe supplied one ox, and every pair of tribes contributed a wagon; and they brought them before the tabernacle. God told Moses to accept these gifts from the tribe leaders, use them in service for the tabernacle, and to give them to the Levites for whatever needs they have. Moses took the wagons and gave them to the Levites. He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites, four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites, but gave none to the Kohathites - as their duties required them to carry their loads upon their shoulders. The leaders also brought dedication gifts for the altar on the day it was anointed, placing them before the altar. God told Moses to have the leaders give their offering on separate days for the dedication of the altar. Each of the twelve days, each leader brought:
For the animal sacrifices, 12 bulls, 12 rams, and 12 yearling lambs were brought for "burnt offerings"; 12 male goats were brought for "sin offerings"; and 24 young bulls, 60 rams, 60 male goats, and 60 yearling lambs were brought for "peace offerings". This totaled 252 slaughtered animals(!) When Moses went into the tabernacle, he heard the voice of God speaking to him from the "mercy place", over the ark of the covenant, between the two cherubims. |
| Thoughts: | This rather tedious chapter in the book of Numbers basically sees Moses anointing the altar in the tabernacle, and all twelve leaders of the tribes of Israel (Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Reuben, Simeon, Gad, Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali) bringing gifts of silver, gold, grain, incense, and plenty of animals to sacrifice for twelve consecutive days. Before they give these gifts, the tribes also give six covered wagons, each being drawn by a pair of oxen, to the tabernacle. God tells Moses to give them to the Levites to aid them in transporting the tabernacle, and while he gives two wagons to the Gershonites and four wagons to the Merarites, the Koathites get the shaft - as they are mandated to physically carry their loads on their shoulders. In this chapter, the name of each tribe is mentioned, as is the name of the leader, the leader's father (all of the same information provided in the census detailed in Numbers: Chapter 1), and for each tribe, the exact same list of items that each leader brought is written out verbatim twelve times - making it quite a headache to read. All in all, a grand total of 2,400 shekels of silver (about 36 pounds) and 120 shekels of gold (about 3 pounds) are given to the tabernacle, and 252 animals are sacrificed over the twelve days. It would seem that the priests probably ate pretty well over these twelve days, seeing as only Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar (and possibly Moses) along with their wives, children, and slaves would be allowed to eat the animal meat and the grains contained in the silver bowls and platters. The chapter closes out with Moses heading back into the tabernacle to speak to God, and he hears God's voice speaking to him from the "mercy place" above the ark of the covenant. |
Saturday, August 1, 2009
NUMBERS: Chapters 2 & 3
| Chapter 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summary: | God gives further instructions to Moses and Aaron about how to organize the tribes of Israel. Every tribe will have their own tent area with the flag of their tribal ensign to denote them, and all encircling the tabernacle. The locations of the tribes campsites were as follows:
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| Thoughts: | A rather tedious chapter to read, this chapter basically arranges the tribes of Israel in their positions in camp, as well as their marching order when traveling. Obviously by the arrangement of the troops we can discern that the Israelis were most likely traveling primarily towards the east as the heaviest amount of troops are flanked there, and they are first in the marching order. As God had apparently decimated the Egyptian army, little threat appears to be coming from the west so the thinnest of the herd is stationed there. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chapter 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summary: | At the time of God speaking to Moses, the ancestry of Aaron and Moses were as follows: The names of Aaron's sons were Nadab (the eldest), Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. All were anointed as priests and consecrated to minister at the tabernacle. Nadab and Abihu however "died before God"* when they offered "strange fire" before God in the wilderness of Sinai, neither had any children. Eleazar and Ithamar were left to minister under their father Aaron. God then tells Moses to bring the tribe of Levi out to Aaron so that they may minister under him. The Levites are to follow Aaron's instructions and to perform the services of the tabernacle on behalf of the people of Israel. They are to be in charge of all the furnishings and maintainance in the tabernacle. Only Aaron and his sons however may carry out the duties of the priesthood, anyone else will shall be put to death. God explains that he has taken claim over the Levites in substitution of taking the lives of all of the firstborn sons among the people of Israel, and therefore the Levites will "belong to" God. God continues to explain that since the day he killed all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, all of the firstborn males - both man and animal - belong to God. God continues speaking to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, telling him now to take a census of all of the male Levites aged a month old or older, noting their clans and their leaders. As Moses did this, God assigned each clan a specific responsibility to care for the tabernacle:
Anyone who was not a Levite but came into the tabernacle shall be put to death. The number of Levites one month and older counted in the census was 22,000*. God then tells Moses to take a census of all the firstborn males, one month and older, amongst the entire population of the people of Israel, and to register each name. God says that he will claim the Levites instead of the firstborn, and will take the Levites'cattle instead of the firstborn among the cattle belonging to the children of Israel. Moses did as God commanded, and in his census counted 22,273 firstborn males one month or older amongst the people of Israel. God tells Moses that he is now claiming the Levites instead of the firstborn counted in Moses' census, as well as the cattle belonging to the Levites instead of the people of Israel's cattle. However, God says further that the people of Israel will have to make up the difference of the "273 extra men" by having the people Israel pay five shekels (a shekel being worth twenty gerahs) for each of the 273 "extra men". The resulting money is to be given to Aaron and his sons. Moses took the "redemption money" for the 273 men that were "over" the population of the Levites - 1,365 shekels - and gave it to Aaron and his sons as God commanded. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes: | 1.) God intentionally killed both Nadab and Abihu by immolation for using the wrong fire to light incense in Leviticus Chapter 10. 2.) Using the figures given, the total number would actually be 22,300 (or 22,304 - if Moses, Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar were to be counted) not simply 22,000. 3.) Again, the math here appears faulty as the number of Levites given as 22,000 does not correspond with the actual count of 22,300 by adding up the numbers given for the individual tribes of Levi - which would be 22,304 if we counted Moses, Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The count of the Levites would actually be 27 (or 31) more than the amount of firstborn males - not 273 less. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thoughts: | The chapter begins by listing the names of Aarons sons and once again glossing over with misleading phrasing, the violent deaths of Nadab and Abihu - whom God barbequed for not using the right fire to light incense. Again, the problem here is in the wording which seems to appear as if Nadab and Abihu died under mysterious circumstances, when in Leviticus Chapter 10 we see that it is clearly God's wrath at his instructions not being followed precisely which lead him to immolate both Nadab and Abihu - and threatened the surviving members of Aarons family not to grieve over their deaths. I commented upon this questionable wording at greater lengths in my thoughts about Leviticus: Chapter 16. It is also mentioned that neither Nadab or Abihu had any children, which left only their father and two brothers (Eleazar and Ithamar) to carry on the priesthood. God now shows favoritism towards the tribe of Levi within his broader favoritism towards the people of Israel. He tells Moses that the Levites are to be given special tasks to care for the tabernacle and has Moses take a census of all of the tribes of Levi. He then divides them up by their tribes and places their campsites to the west, north, and south of the tabernacle giving each group a special task to care for a particular section of the tabernacle. God makes it clear that only a Levite is to attend to the tabernacle and that anyone else will be put to death. Again, God doles out death threats for the "wrong group of people" touching his church in a tent. Regardless of whether one's intent is noble, if you're not of the right bloodline God commands that you be put to death for going near his tent. If one were to assume that the events depicted in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers truly occured, it would be a reasonable suspicion to think that perhaps the reason for this extreme punishment for the "crime" of the wrong people coming near the tabernacle, would more likely be apt that the Levites might simply have something to hide. Much like I alluded to in my thoughts about Exodus: Chapter 19 it's not unreasonable to suspect that perhaps Moses and Aaron were hoaxing the Israelis with "the man behind the curtain" routine - especially when we factor in how greatly the Levites - and moreover the families of Moses and Aaron - benefit from "mandatory sacrifices" of livestock, food, wine, and money from the rest of the people of Israel. Back to the chapter, God explains that the Levites "belong to him" and that he is taking them in exchange for the lives of the firstborn sons of Israel - whom he claims to own by default ever since he decided to slay all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt in Exodus: Chapter 12. God now has Moses take a census of all the males one month and older, among the Levites and to note the names of the their clans and the leaders of those clans. Each clan would be camped on a different side of the tabernacle and given a specific responsibility in caring for the tabernacle. God places the 7,500 Gershonites on the west side of the tabernacle, entrusting them with taking care of the drapes, screens, and ropes; places the 8,600 Kohathites on the south side of the tabernacle, entrusting them with the care of the ark, the table, lamps, altars, utensils, and the veil; and places the 6,200 Merarites on the North side of the tabernacle, entrusting them with the care of the tabernacle's frames and posts. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar take to camping at the east side of the tabernacle. Furthering our suspicion of the "man behind the curtain" theory, among the Levites, only Aaron's family is allowed to perform any priestly duties - the punishment of course, is death. If we do the math here, we have 7,500 + 8,600 + 6,200 which equals 22,300. However, God and/or Moses rounds this down to the nearest thousand and comes up with a figure of 22,000. Why this is important will soon be apparent. God now has Moses take a census of all of the firstborn males one month and older, amongst all of the people of Israel and comes up with a result of 22,273. Because God is exchanging his claim upon the 22,273 firstborn Israelis with the entire tribe of Levi, he want this exchange to be "fair and balanced" - however, instead of using the actual calculation of the amount of the Levites - 22,300 (7,500 + 8,600 + 6,200) - he uses the amount rounded down to the nearest thousand, 22,000, and makes the people of Israel pay a tax of five shekels for the "273 men" over the 22,000 estimate - which of course, goes into the pockets of Aaron and his sons(!) Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar pocket a cool 1,365 shekels due to God's and/or Moses' bad math! The all powerful supreme being of the universe can supposedly create the earth and all the life upon it in seven days, commit mass genocide by means of a world wide flood, but he just can't handle simple fourth grade arithmatic - either that or our "benevolent" deity Yahweh likes to cheat people out of their money on faulty premises. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Friday, July 31, 2009
NUMBERS: Chapter 1
| Chapter 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summary: | God speaks to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, on the first day of the second month*, in the second year after leaving their slavery in Egypt. He tells Moses, that along with his brother Aaron, he is to take a census of all of the men twenty years old and up who are fit to go to war, and to make note of their tribes and families, as well as the leaders of each tribe. The following table shows the tribes of Israel, their leaders, and the number of men twenty years and older fit for war counted in the census:
God, however, exempts the Levites from the military draft and tells Moses that their numbers are not to be counted in the census. God explains to Moses that the Levites are appointed to work in the tabernacle, everything it contains, and to care for its transportation. The Levites are to camp around the tabernacle, and wherever it is moved, the Levites are to tear it down and set it back up again. Anyone else touching the tabernacle is to be put to death. Every tribe of Israel is to have its own camp, but the Levite camp surrounding the tabernacle shall serve as a barrier separating the tabernacle - and God's wrath - from the people of Israel. The people of Israel did as God had commanded to Moses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes: | 1.) Approximately April 15th by our modern calendar. 2.) This total number of eligible men is exactly the same number as taken in a previous census, as stated in Exodus: Chapter 38, which took place prior to the building of the tabernacle. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thoughts: | The first chapter of the book of Numbers takes place approximately two years after the Exodus from Egypt in the middle of April. God tells Moses that him and Aaron are to take a census of all the tribes of Israel to prepare for a military draft of all men over the age of twenty. The first strange thing we notice is that the Levites are curiously absent from the list, yet the tribe of Joseph is split into two (by his sons Ephraim and Manasseh) in order to preserve the number of tribes to twelve. Much like the number seven (which is peppered throughout the book of Leviticus), the number twelve also holds mystical significance throughout the bible (most notably as the number of apostles that Jesus takes). A common theory as to the significance of the number twelve (as well as the superstition as to why the number thirteen is considered unlucky) is that it correlates to how people began to count. It is thought that man initially counted on his fingers (totaling ten digits) and then adding their two feet thereby "running out of numbers". Also, many biblical myths also seem to be borrow heavily from astrology, which separated the astrological signs into twelve signs - which also contributed to our modern calendar. Regardless of what the truth may be, the number twelve tends to be mystically revered much in the same way as the number seven. The chapter continues on to list the twelve tribes, their leaders (as well as the names of their fathers), and conveniently round numbers. It begs the question as to what real purpose the census has if its accuracy isn't a concern and that it's simply an estimate. Surely we're not meant to believe that twelve tribes of people somehow managed to have completely round and even numbers of draftable men? However, even more puzzling is the grand total of men listed - 603,550. If that number sounds familiar, it's because it's the exact same number we were given in Exodus: Chapter 38 when a census was taken prior to the building of the tabernacle. This earlier census was taken to impose a tax upon the men of Israel in order to raise money to build the tabernacle. It is believed by biblical scholars that the tabernacle was built about a year prior to the events here in the first chapter of Numbers, so it should be expected that a census taken the following year would report a similar number, but there are many problems as to why this number shouldn't be exactly the same. It doesn't make sense that the earlier census figures would only include men twenty years of age and up that were fit to serve in the military when the sole purpose of that census was simply to raise money - I'm sure that the money of disabled, crippled, or old men would probably have been collected for the tabernacle construction. Even if the prior census was only counting the number of military fit men, what would be the purpose of having another census a year later unless there were either many nineteen year olds running around or many deaths of military age men? Did Moses accidentally throw out the results of last year's census? Honestly, it seems far more plausible that this number was just thrown into "Exodus: Chapter 38" either after it was arrived upon here (to show some sort of connection) or it is simply a made up number that has some other sort of significance. I could find this more acceptable if we were just given a vague number like we were given in Exodus: Chapter 12 of "over 600,000 men", but when we're making a point to just throw random numbers around for each of the "twelve tribes" in order to reach the specific "grand total" number of 603,550, the accuracy and credibility of the bible comes into serious question - if you weren't already tipped off by 900+ year old people running around and talking snakes. Absent from our list of tribes of course is the Levites - Aaron and Moses' tribe - who are apparently exempt from military duty as they'll be too busy moving the tabernacle around and slaughtering animals to be bothered with helping to invade other civilizations - and apparently in our earlier census, also couldn't be bothered to help pay for the building of the tabernacle either. God obviously favors the Levites and entrusts them with caring for and moving the tabernacle as the camp moves along in the desert towards the "promised land". He tells Moses that only the Levites are to move and care for the tabernacle, and that anybody else who comes near it is to be put to death. If there was ever a good reason for stoning someone to death, I fail to see how touching or helping to move a "church in a tent" would qualify. To further the point of his favoritism, God explains that the Levites will also have to camp outside and around the tabernacle - effectively forming a barrier of sorts to protect the rest of the common folk from "God's wrath". This is basically God saying that the Levites are protecting the people from God having to come down and slaughter them all. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monday, March 16, 2009
GENESIS: Chapters 49 & 50
| Chapter 49 | ||
| Summary: | Jacob/Israel called together all of his sons, explaining what would happen to them in the days to come. To Reuben, Jacob says that although he is the oldest son, and at the head of the list in rank and honor, he is unruly and will therefore be demoted in rank due to Reuben having slept with Bilhah*. He then speaks of Simeon and Levi, stating that they are two of a kind and are both evil men. He states that they are men of violence, citing their murdering and animal cruelty. Therefore, Jacob curses that their descendants will be scattered throughout the land of Israel, that they will not receive land as their brothers so. To Judah, he tells that his brothers will praise him, he will destroy his enemies, and that his father's sons shall bow before him. To Zebelun, he says he will dwell on the shore and will be a harbor with borders extending to Sidon. To Issachar, he calls a strong beast of burden. He appreciates the countryside and willingly goes to task, serving his masters with vigor. To Dan, he claims he shall govern like the other tribes of Israel, but compares him to a snake biting at the heels of horses to dismount a rider. He then predicts that a marauding group will stomp Gad, but that he shall rob and pursue them. He says of Asher, that he shall produce rich foods, fit for a king. He compares Naphtali to a deer on the loose, producing offspring. About Joseph, he states that despite having been severely injured by those who have persecuted him, their weapons were shattered by God. He then blesses Joseph again in the name of God. He compares Benjamin to a wolf that prowls and hunts in the morning, dividing his spoils by nightfall. Finishing his blessings to his twelve sons, he informs them that his death is at hand. He insists that he must be buried in Canaan, in the cave in the field of Mach-Pelah. Stating that Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Rebekah; as well as his own wife Leah are all buried there. Jacob/Israel laid back in bed and took his final breath and died. | |
| Notes: | 1.) This occurs at the end of Chapter 35. | |
| Thoughts: | There's not really much to comment on in Jacob's/Israel's deathbed vigil to his sons. He condemns Reuben, Simeon, and Levi for their acts and makes vague and often strange prophecies about the rest, barring Joseph - who gets his utmost blessing. One interesting note however, is that we find out that Leah was buried in the family cave in Canaan, as opposed to Rachel who got buried near the side of the road going to Bethlehem. It would appear that although you could have many wives, you could only take one (possibly only your first) into the family cemetery. It's rather interesting that Rachel, being the one that Jacob/Israel was truly in love with gets buried by the side of the road, while Leah got the honor of being interred in the family plot. | |
| Chapter 50 | ||
| Summary: | Joseph threw himself over his father's body, wept, and kissed him. He then had his palace morticians embalm his father's body, which took forty days to complete. A period of national mourning commenced for seventy days after. When the period of mourning was over, Joseph requested to speak to the Pharaoh, asking for permission to go bury his father in Canaan, assuring the Pharaoh that he would return promptly to Egypt afterward. The Pharaoh agreed, and sent along a great number of his staff to accompany Joseph and his family, with the exception of the younger children, to Canaan. When they arrived at Atad (meaning "Threshing Place of Brambles"), beyond the Jordan River, they held a great yet somber funeral service, with a seven day period of lamentation for Joseph's father. The local Canaanite residents named the place Abel-mizraim (meaning "Egyptian Mourners"). His sons now did as Israel/Jacob had commanded them, and carried his body into the land of Canaan burying him in the cave of Mach-pelah. Joseph then returned to Egypt with his brothers, who now became frightened that with their father now gone, that Joseph would seek vengeance upon them for all the evil they had done to him long ago. The brothers decided to send Joseph a message claiming that their father had requested that he forgive his brothers for all the evil they had done to him. When Joseph read the message, he broke down in tears. His brothers then came and bowed low before him informing him that they were slaves to Joseph. Joseph, however, told them not to fear him, and explained again that God had turned what they had meant as an act of evil into an act of good. He continued by saying that God had given him this high position to save the lives of many people, and reassured them that he would in turn take care of his brothers and their families. So Joseph, his brothers, and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age of 110, surviving to see the children of his son Ephraim, and the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh. Before his death, he told his brothers that he was near the end of his life, but that God would surely come and bring them out of Egypt and back to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He then made his brothers promise that they would take his body with them when they returned to Canaan. Joseph died at the age of 110, was embalmed, and his body laid to rest in a coffin in Egypt. | |
| Thoughts: | Just as we wrapped up the story of Jacob/Israel, we now spend the rest of the chapter finishing off Joseph's story as well. After burying their father in Canaan, Joseph's brothers now become fearful that perhaps their father was the only lynch pin keeping Joseph from seeking revenge upon them for that whole business of attempting to kill him and then selling him off in slavery all those years ago. They decide to make up a last request from their father telling Joseph to forgive them in their father's name, but Joseph upon reading it still can't understand his brothers' hang up. He tells his brothers once again, that the whole being sold into Egyptian slavery business turned out to be a good thing after all, telling them to look at all the power he managed to assume, and with that power he saved a whole bunch of people - including his family, who surely would have starved during the famine. So life goes on, until Joseph starts nearing the age of 110 and realizes he's not as fortunate as his 900 year old ancestors, and even missing the mark set by his father who lived to age 147. He tells his brothers (whom we shall remember are all significantly older than him, except for Benjamin) about his last wishes, to be brought back to Canaan when the people of Israel return there, and they see to it that he is embalmed after his death, where Joseph's remains sit and wait resting in an Egyptian coffin until that fateful day. | |
Sunday, March 15, 2009
GENESIS: Chapters 47 & 48
| Chapter 47 | ||
| Summary: | Upon the arrival of his family, Joseph went to see the Pharaoh to inform him that his family had arrived with their flocks and herds, and wished to settle in the land of Goshen. He took five of his brothers and presented them to the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh asked the brothers as to what their occupations were, to which the brothers replied that they were shepherds. They further explained that due to the famine, there were no pastures left in Canaan, and they requested of the Pharaoh to allow them to live in Goshen. The pharaoh agreed, and added that if any of Joseph's brothers were capable, to put them in charge of the Pharaoh's flocks as well. Joseph then brought his father Jacob before the Pharaoh, and then Jacob blessed the Pharaoh. Asking how old he was, Jacob replied to the Pharaoh that he was 130, but not nearly as old as some of his ancestors. Then Jacob blessed the Pharaoh again before he left. Joseph then assigned the best land of Egypt - the land of Rameses - to his father and brothers, as the Pharaoh had commanded. Joseph furnished food to them according to the number of dependants. The famine grew worse and all the people of Egypt and Canaan began to starve. Joseph collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan in exchange for grain and brought the money to the Pharaoh's treasure houses. When the people ran out of money, they came again to Joseph begging for food. Joseph told the people that he would take their livestock in trade for food. Soon all the horses, flocks, herds, and donkeys belonged to the Pharaoh. The next year the people returned once again begging for food, having nothing to offer but their land and themselves. So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for the Pharaoh and all the people became serfs. The only land that wasn't purchased was that of the priests, for they were assigned food from the Pharaoh and therefore didn't need to sell. Joseph gave grain to the people and told them to sow the land. He explained that when they harvest the land, one fifth of the crops will belong to the Pharaoh. Joseph made it a law that the Pharaoh's tax would be 20% of all crops, except those grown on the land owned by the temples. Israel/Jacob lived in the land of Goshen and soon the people of Israel began to prosper, and there became a population explosion among them. Jacob/Israel would live for another 17 years after his arrival in Egypt, making him 147 at the time of his death. As his death grew closer, he made Joseph swear to him that he would not be buried in Egypt, but that he would instead be taken back to be buried with his ancestors. | |
| Thoughts: | Joseph takes his brothers and his father up to see the Pharaoh and to plead their case to be allowed to live and work in Egypt. The Pharaoh pretty much feels that any family of Joseph is a-okay in his books and lets them settle in Goshen. When Joseph brings his dad to see the Pharaoh, he blesses him, and tells him about his relatively old age - which he notes is peanuts compared to some of his 900 year old ancestors - and blesses the Pharaoh once again before he leaves. Of note once again, Jacob/Israel is mostly referred to as Jacob in this chapter with the exception of two mentions in the final paragraphs. As the famine worsens, the people of Egypt begin to trade first their livestock, and then their land and freedom in exchange for food, effectively becoming serfs and the Pharaoh owning all of the livestock and land throughout Egypt - except for the priests, as religion always seems to get a free pass from having to pay their own way. It's noted that the priests are getting free food from the Pharaoh, and are exempt from paying taxes on their land as well. Some things never change, I guess... Anyways, Jacob/Israel has a last request to make to his son Joseph, that upon his death he makes Joseph promise to bury him in the cave near Ephron's field at Mach-pelah - the one that Abraham bought all those years ago. The thing that strikes me as odd about this request is that he really didn't seem to mind burying his beloved wife Rachel by the side of the road she died giving birth to Benjamin on. | |
| Chapter 48 | ||
| Summary: | Word came to Joseph that his father's health was failing, so he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim with him to visit him. When Jacob/Israel heard that Joseph had arrived he mustered his strength to sit up in bed and greet him. He tells Joseph that God had blessed him at Luz in Canaan, giving the land to him and his descendants. He continues on telling Joseph that he is adopting his sons Ephraim and Manasseh as his own, meaning that they will inherit from Jacob/Israel just the same as Reuben and Simeon will. He adds that any other children Joseph has will be his own, and will have to inherit Ephraim's and Manasseh's portions from Joseph. Israel/Jacob then looks over at the two boys asking Joseph if they are indeed his sons. After Joseph confirms that they are his sons, Israel/Jacob tells Joseph to bring them closer so that he can bless them. Joseph takes the boys by their hands and bows low before his father, leading the boys to their grandfather's knees - Ephraim at Israel's left hand; Manasseh at Israel's right.  Israel however, crosses his hands as he lay them across the boys heads, placing his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger boy, and his left upon Manasseh. He begins blessing Joseph, but has upset him when he sees that Israel's right hand was placed upon Ephraim's head. He tells his father that he's got the wrong hands upon the wrong child and tries to lift Israel's right hand off of Ephraim, but Israel refused, stating that he knew what he was doing. He explained that although Manasseh would become a great nation, his younger brother Ephraim would become even greater. He then blesses the boys and tells Joseph that he's about to die. He continues to tell him that God will be with Joseph, and that Joseph will inherit the land of Shekem - that Israel himself had taken from the Amorites with his sword and with his bow. | |
| Thoughts: | Even in his last few chapters, the Jacob/Israel swap continues as he lay on his death bed. The news of Israel's fading health reaches his son Joseph, who takes his two sons down to see their grandfather. Israel then adopts the boys as full fledged sons, explaining that they will inherit the same amount as Reuben and Simeon, and offers to bless them. However, grandpa put his right hand on the younger boy Ephraim, instead of the older boy Manasseh to Joseph's displeasure. The significance of this is fueled by the superstition that the right hand is more pure and virtuous than the evil left hand. In the ancient Hebrew beliefs, the hand symbolized power and custody, where the left hand was used to shame society and was a metaphor for natural evil, and to invoke punishment from the gods. In many languages the term "right" (including English) is synonymous with justice and being correct and due to the overwhelming prevalence of right handed people, was considered the "proper hand". Even more interesting is that the latin root for "left" is "sinister". Therefore, fueled by the superstition of the day, Joseph is horrified to see that the "right handed" blessing was being bestowed upon Ephraim, his younger son, while Manasseh, the older child gets the "left handed" inferior blessing. Today, we can see that this is all just nonsense and superstition, but even as recently as within the past 50 years, left handed Catholic school children were forcefully made to write and eat with their right hands based on their superstitious beliefs. Even today, in some religious cultures (such as in the Arab world) it is customary to shake hands with the right, and considered rude and insulting to offer out your left hand. | |
GENESIS: Chapters 45 & 46
| Chapter 45 | ||
| Summary: | Joseph couldn't keep his deception going any longer and ordered his servants out of the room. He wept aloud and his sobs were heard throughout the palace, and the news quickly carried to the Pharaoh's palace. He tells his brothers that he is Joseph and asks his brother's if his father is still alive*. His brothers just stared in stunned silence. Joseph asks them to come closer and again tells them that he is their brother Joseph, whom they sold into slavery - which he tells them not to be angry at themselves for, as he tells them that God had planned for him all along to venture into Egypt, sending him ahead to preserve their lives from the famine. He further explains that he has been made into a counselor to the Pharaoh, and manages the entire nation of Egypt. Joseph then tells his brothers to return to their father and tell him that he, his son Joseph, is alive and well in Egypt and tells them to bring their father and their children back to Egypt and live in the city of Goshen. He explains that there is still five years of famine to be had and that Joseph will take care of them in Goshen. Weeping with joy he embraces his brothers - and the news soon reached the Pharaoh that Joseph's brothers had come, who was pleased to hear the news, as were the Pharaoh's officials. The Pharaoh told Joseph to have his brothers return to Canaan to get their families and that he would assign to them the best land in Egypt for them to live in. The Pharaoh then gave Joseph a fleet of wagons for the brothers to use to move their families to Egypt. Joseph prepared the wagons with provisions, gave them to his brothers along with new clothes - but to Benjamin, he also gave him three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of clothes. He sent along with them ten donkey loads of goods, along with ten donkeys loaded with grain and all sorts of other foods for his father to eat along his journey. Sending his brothers off, he shouted after them to not quarrel along their journey. They returned again to Canaan and to their father Jacob*/Israel telling him that Joseph is alive and ruling Egypt. Although Jacob/Israel at first refuses to believe it, somehow seeing the loaded wagons convinces him that his sons are telling the truth about Joseph. He states that he will go and see his son before he dies. | |
| Notes: | 1.) Despite having asked this just yesterday in Chapter 44 to his brothers before the feast. His brothers couldn't possibly have answered any differently. 2.) Again, Israel is referred to by his old name of Jacob again. | |
| Thoughts: | Joseph finally comes clean to his brothers, tells them not to feel badly about how they had sold him into slavery, and credits his good fortune to God's will. He tells his brothers to fetch their father and their families to come live in Egypt where he can better look after them during the famine. Word gets back to the Pharaoh that Joseph's brothers had arrived in Egypt and the Pharaoh (despite being noted in the previous chapter that Egyptians despise Hebrews) is happy to have Joseph's family come and live amongst them in Egypt. He gives Joseph a slew of wagons to give to his brothers to help them move and tells him that they can live in the choicest pieces of land in Egypt. As Joseph sets them off with supplies for their journey, he once again shows favoritism towards Benjamin, giving him a bunch of money and four extra sets of clothes more than the rest of his siblings. The extreme lengths that Joseph takes with giving Benjamin more than his brothers just seems to come off a bit silly in the story. It also seems like there may be some numerological significance with the number five as mentioned with Joseph's dinner portions being five times that of his brothers, and now being given five sets of clothes. Again the chapter reverts back to Israel's original name of Jacob which adds to the confusion of identifying them as one and the same. It also makes one question whether the whole "Israel" name change is going to stick or not. Jacob/Israel has a hard time buying his son's story that Joseph is alive and ruling Egypt, but for some inexplicable reason is convinced when he sees all the goodies they brought with them from Egypt. The chapter ends foreshadowing that Jacob/Israel is not far from death and that his story in the book of Genesis is coming to a close. | |
| Chapter 46 | ||
| Summary: | Israel sets off with all his possessions and came to Beer-sheba where he sacrifices animals to God. During the night God speaks to him in a vision, calling out "Jacob! Jacob!" As his typical introduction God announces that he is God, the god of Jacob's/Israel's father Isaac. He tells Jacob/Israel not to be afraid to travel to Egypt, reminding him once again that he will make him a great nation there, and that he will bring his descendants back from there, but tells Jacob/Israel that he will die there with Joseph at his side. So Jacob leaves Beer-sheeba, with his sons bringing him to Egypt, along with their families, in the wagons the Pharaoh had given them. The chapter now gives another listing of Jacob's/Israel's family that traveled with him to Egypt:
Jacob's children from the slave-girl Zilpah also traveled with him to Egypt and are listed as follows:
Back to our story, Jacob sends Judah on ahead to tell Joseph that they were on their way, set to arrive in Goshen. Joseph jumped into his chariot and met his father in Goshen, and they embraced and wept together. Israel*/Jacob tells Joseph that he can now die peacefully, as he has finally seen his son Joseph alive and well. Joseph then tells his brothers and their families that he will tell the Pharaoh that they have arrived safely. He also instructs them to tell the Pharaoh that they are all shepherds, and that have been shepherds since their youth, and that their family has been shepherding for generations. He explains to them when the Pharaoh hears this, he will let them live in Goshen. The chapter finishes by noting that shepherds were hated in other parts of Egypt. | |
| Notes: | 1.) Despite the fact that God himself renamed Jacob to Israel - stating the he "will no longer be called Jacob" in both Chapter 32 (while wrestling with the strange Man) and in Chapter 35 when he appears to him at Bethel - he reverts back to calling him Jacob again here. 2.) For some reason the chapter notes that Shaul's mother was a girl from Canaan. 3.) The chapter inexplicably lists Er and Onan, and then goes on to explain that they both died back in Canaan. 4.) Inexplicably, the chapter - which has been using the name of Jacob thus far - instead uses the name Israel here. | |
| Thoughts: | The first thing that springs to mind when reading this chapter is the flip-flopping between the names Jacob and Israel throughout. He is referred as Israel curiously only at the beginning and end of the chapter, with the rest referring to him by Jacob. Even more curious is that God calls out to him addressing him as Jacob. This is strange as it was God who changed his name to Israel (twice), and even stating that he "will no longer be known as Jacob" (both times). God also gets a bit morbid by telling Jacob/Israel that he will die in Egypt, even going so far as to tell him that he will die by Joseph's side. Most people generally don't want to know when and where they're going to die, and probably more so, details about their death. The chapter continues on giving us yet another long series of lists of Jacob's descendants, initially under the premise of stating everybody that is traveling to Egypt from Canaan, but curiously also includes Judah's sons Er and Onan - whom God killed way back in Chapter 38 which occurs roughly around the same time that Joseph was sold as a slave to the Ishmaelite traders. The interesting thing to note, however, with these lists is the numbers they produce. The descendants of Jacob and Leah total 33 (not including their daughter Dinah, but including Er and Onan); the descendants of Jacob and Zilpah total 16; the descendants of Jacob and Rachel total 14; the descendants of Jacob and Bilhah total 7. Combined this count makes 70. Now, taking out Joseph and his sons (who are already in Egypt), Er and Onan (who were killed), and now counting Jacob we have 66 descendants traveling to Egypt. I don't think these numbers are accidental or coincidental, I suspect that they were picked intentionally. I don't know a lot about numerology to explain the entire significance, but the number seven has been considered mystical and magical far predating Judeo-Christianity. There are seven days of the week, seven phases of the moon, the creation story took place over seven days, the seven years of harvest vs the seven years of famine, we will see later on that there are seven deadly sins, etc. Here we have 70 descendants: 7 descendants hailing from Jacob and Bilhah; 14 descendants (14 is a pair of sevens) from Jacob and Rachel; 16 descendants (1+6=7) from Jacob and Zilpah; leaving us with 33 (another notable number) to contend with from Leah, which is exactly half of the total descendants traveling to Egypt - 66. Perhaps I wouldn't make a big deal out of this issue so much if the chapter itself wasn't stressing these numbers in the first place, which is drawing attention to their significance. Moving along, the chapter finally closes out with Israel/Jacob (being referred to as Israel again) finally at peace with dying now that he has laid eyes once again on his son Joseph seeing him alive. The last thing we're treated to is an odd instruction by Joseph to his family to explain to the Pharaoh their professions in Shepherding to ensure that the Pharaoh lets them settle in Goshen - as it's mentioned that shepherds are despised and hated in other parts of Egypt(?). So far we've come to learn the the Egyptians hate shepherds and Hebrews, so I'm pretty sure Hebrew Shepherds would aspire even more hatred. | |
Friday, March 13, 2009
GENESIS: Chapters 41 & 42
| Chapter 41 | ||
| Summary: | One night two years later, the Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the Nile when suddenly seven sleek, fat cows emerged from the river and began grazing on the grass nearby. A second set of seven cows, these being skinny and emaciated, emerged from the river and ate the seven fat cows. The Pharaoh woke up, but he drifted back to sleep having a second dream. This time he dreamed of seven heads of grain on one stalk, with every kernel being well formed and plump. Suddenly seven more kernels appeared on the stalk, but these were shriveled by the eastern winds. Finally the shriveled kernels swallowed the plump kernels before the Pharaoh once again woke up. The next morning, as the Pharaoh pondered about the dreams meaning he summoned all the magicians and sages of Egypt to interpret his dreams to no avail. Finally the Pharaoh's wine taster spoke up about Joseph and told him about the dreams that he and the baker had, and how Joseph had predicted their futures with perfect accuracy. The Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, who was rushed out of prison, washed, shaved, and given a fresh set of clothes before appearing before the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh asks Joseph if he can interpret the dreams that his sages and magicians could not, and Joseph tells him that although he alone cannot, God can interpret his dreams. The Pharaoh then repeats his dreams to Joseph.  Joseph tells him that both dreams meant the same thing: that God was telling him what he is planning to do in the land of Egypt. He explains that the seven fat cows and well-formed heads of grain meant that seven years of prosperity lay ahead, and that the seven skinny cows and withered heads of grain signified a famine would follow for the next seven years. He further explains that the double dream gives double impact and will surely happen as God decreed it. Joseph then suggests to the Pharaoh that he find the wisest man in Egypt and place him in charge of administration of Egypt's farming, and to appoint officials to collect a fifth of all the crops to store away for the seven years of famine. Pharaoh was impressed by his interpretation and his suggestions, and noted that since God has revealed the meaning of these dreams to Joseph, that he must be the wisest man in Egypt. He then appoints Joseph to become the administrator of the land, only to be outranked by the Pharaoh himself. The Pharaoh placed his own signet ring on Joseph's finger and dressed him in lavish clothing to signify his authority. He also gives to Joseph a chariot and a wife - a girl named Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis - making Joseph famous throughout Egypt at the age of 30. Just as Joseph had predicted, the next seven years yielded a crop surplus that Joseph stored in the granaries over various cities throughout Egypt. Over the next seven years the granaries were either full overflowing. Before the arrival of the first year of the famine, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath. He named his oldest son Manasseh (meaning "Made to Forget*") and the youngest was named Ephraim (meaning "Fruitful"). As the years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted, people began to starve. They pleaded with the Pharaoh for food, and the Pharaoh sent them to Joseph, who sold grain to the Egyptians and to travelers from other lands who came to Egypt in search of food. | |
| Notes: | 1.) Alluding to God making up to him the anguish suffered in his youth. | |
| Thoughts: | Joseph's dream interpretations come to his own rescue from prison when the wine taster finally remembers about Joseph in the Pharaoh's time of need. Much like I wrote about in my thoughts about Chapter 40 the fortune telling aspect of dreams makes little sense in regards to what we know about dream states today. Even with our knowledge aside and for the sake of argument allowing supernatural elements to explain things, the notion that dreams can or are predicting the future - or God's will - still makes little sense at all. What is actually being implied here in this chapter? That all dreams are prophetic (which we know is not true), that God can choose to reveal prophecies through dreams, that God feels the need to reveal prophecies to select people or to everyone? Why does God need to communicate messages in the forms of riddled symbolism and metaphor (recall that this is not limited to just the Egyptians, Joseph had these riddled dreams as a child as well), when at other times he appears to people in dreams giving clear and concise messages (such as to Laban in Chapter 31)? Also, quite frankly, these riddled dreams aren't very impressive in their terms of difficulty to discern, which makes it very hard to swallow that no-one in Egypt could have guessed the same - or at least similar - answer that Joseph provided. Nowadays we have all sorts of unqualified "professional psychics", mystics, and mentalists who literally have boatloads of guesses and hunches to what people's dreams may mean and often try their hands predicting the future with comical results. I find it difficult to believe that with the tendency of human nature to clamor towards fame that nobody in Egypt could take a stab as to what the Pharaoh's dream meant. So, Joseph becomes a wealthy celebrity around Egypt and immediately becomes the Pharaoh's second in command (even before waiting around to see if Joseph's prophecies come true or not) and is entrusted with the country's agriculture stock. He's given a wife and a fancy ride and manages to have two sons before the famine comes, only to now become richer from selling the grain he stocked to not only the citizens of Egypt, but to those traveling from other nearby countries. | |
| Chapter 42 | ||
| Summary: | When Jacob*/Israel heard that there was grain available in Egypt he sends his ten oldest sons there to buy some. Jacob however, wouldn't let his youngest son Benjamin join his brothers out of fear that something might happen to him, as like had happened to Benjamin's older brother Joseph. As Joseph was governor of all Egypt, and in charge of selling the grain, it was to him that his brothers came and bowed low before him. Joseph recognized them immediately but pretended as though he didn't. As Joseph asks them where they are from he remembers the dreams from his childhood, but he accuses his brothers before him of being spies, charging that they came to judge how destitute the land of Egypt had become during the famine. The brothers swore their innocence, further explaining that they were of 12 brothers from Canaan, that their youngest brother was staying behind with their father, and that another of their brothers had died. Joseph continued to feign disbelief in their story and told them that he needed proof to verify their story. He told the brothers that they could confirm their story by bringing their younger brother before him, but that he would allow only one of them to retrieve him while the other nine brothers would be kept in prison. Before a choice was to be made, he threw all ten of them into prison for three days. After three days in prison, Joseph tells them that he will take a chance on assuming them as honorable, by allowing them all to leave except one, and that the rest may go home with grain for their families. However, he insists that they must still bring their youngest brother before him if they wish to be spared. Speaking amongst themselves the brothers began blaming themselves for their situation on account for what they had done to Joseph years ago. Reuben chimed in claiming that he had insisted all along that killing Joseph was a bad idea, believing that they were now all going to die on account of it. The brothers were unaware that Joseph was able to understand them as they spoke as he had been speaking to them through an interpreter. Joseph left the room to weep in private, and upon his return he selected Simeon to remain in prison while he released the rest of his brothers. Joseph then ordered his servants to fill the men's grain sacks with grain and secretly told his servants to also put each brother's payment at the top of his sack. The brothers loaded up their donkeys with the grain sacks and headed back home. When they stopped for the night, one of the brothers* opened his sack to get some grain to feed the donkeys and spotted his money at the top of the sack. Trembling they wondered aloud what was it that God was doing to them. When they returned to Canaan they told their story to their father Jacob, and as they emptied their sacks they all discovered their money at the top of each bag. Fear engulfed them as well as their father. Jacob cried that he had been bereaved of his children, stating the loss of Joseph, Simeon not coming back, and now losing Benjamin too. Reuben offered to Jacob permission to kill his two sons if he doesn't bring Benjamin back, but Jacob refuses to let Benjamin go, stating that without Joseph, Benjamin alone is the only child left from his mother (Rachel), and that if anything should happen to Benjamin, Jacob would die. | |
| Notes: | 1.) Israel is inexplicably referred to again by his former name of Jacob in this chapter. 2.) It is not specified as to which brother. | |
| Thoughts: | We begin chapter 42 with a strange reversion back to Israel's birth name of Jacob for reasons that aren't clear. As the famine affects Jacob's family, he sends his sons to Egypt where there is a surplus of grain to purchase. Out of fear of losing him, Jacob does not allow Benjamin to accompany his brothers to Egypt. When the brothers arrive, they're unaware that they're attempting to buy grain from their long lost and forgotten brother Joseph, however Joseph recalls them instantly. Joseph then begins messing with his brothers' heads by accusing them of being spies, locking them in jail for three days, insisting that they bring up Benjamin from Canaan to prove(?) that their story about being brothers is true(?), and by secretly giving their money back to them - filling them with terror that they may now be accused of being thieves as well as spies if they return. It's difficult to understand how - for the sake of logic - that bringing Benjamin up from Canaan would prove anything, and why the brothers didn't think of possibly bringing one of their sons to pose as Benjamin. In the context of the story we know why Joseph wants them to bring Benjamin and why the brothers are frightened at the prospect of having to do so, but the whole plot doesn't seem to make sense out of just using a bit of logic and common sense. How would they suspect that Joseph would be able to see past the rouse of bringing up one of Jacob's grandsons instead of Benjamin, or how Benjamin's presence proves that they aren't spies. Anyways, upon freaking his whole family out by placing their money into their grain sacks, Jacob doesn't seem to be willing to budge on letting Benjamin travel out to Egypt, so I guess Simeon can rot in jail for all Jacob cares. | |
Thursday, March 12, 2009
GENESIS: Chapters 37 & 38
| Chapter 37 | ||
| Summary: | Jacob/Israel settled once again in the land of Canaan when his son Joseph was seventeen years old. Joseph's job, like his half-brothers, was to shepherd his father's flocks, but he often would tattle-tale on the bad things his brothers were doing. Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, due to the fact that Joseph was born to him in his old age, and gave Jacob a special gift of a brightly colored coat. His brothers of course noticed their father's partiality and thus hated Joseph for it. One night Joseph had a dream that he couldn't wait to share with his brothers. He told them that in the dream, they were out binding sheaves when his sheaf stood up and his brothers sheaves bowed low before it. His brothers scoffed at Joseph's dream and his arrogance for apparently desiring to become a king over them. Shortly after, Joseph reported another dream he had, this time being that the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down before him. This time he also told his father along with his brothers, but his father was having none of it. While Joseph's brothers began to hate him even more for his seemingly arrogant dreams, his father pondered what Joseph's dreams might mean. One day when Joseph's brothers had gone off and taken their father's sheep to graze in Shechem, he asked Joseph to follow them out there to check on them. When Joseph arrived however, he didn't find his brothers. A man who noticed him wandering about tells Joseph that his brothers had left, but that he overheard that they were headed to Dothan. Joseph travels to Dothan, but when his brothers notice him coming in the distance they hatch a plan to kill him. They planned to kill Joseph and toss his body into a well, and that they'd tell their father that he was attacked and eaten by a wild animal. But Reuben, hoping to spare Joseph's life, persuades his brothers not to kill Joseph, but to simply throw him down into the well alive, so that he would die without leaving his blood on their hands. When Joseph arrived, his brothers pulled off his brightly colored coat and tossed Joseph into an empty well. When the brothers sat down for supper that evening, they noticed a caravan of camels coming towards them in the distance. Judah tells his brothers that instead of leaving Joseph to die, that they should sell him off to these Ishmaelite traders passing through. After they pulled Joseph out of the well, they sold him to the traders for twenty pieces of silver. Reuben, who's idea it was to spare Joseph's life, had been away when the traders passed through, and when he returned to the well later that night to rescue his brother. When he found the empty well without his brother, Reuben tore at his clothes out of anguish and frustration.  The brothers then killed a goat and splattered it's blood upon Joseph's coat. When they returned home they showed the coat to their father Israel, telling them that they had found it out in the fields, and asked their father if this was Joseph's coat. Israel broke down in sobs and mourned his son for many weeks.Meanwhile, in Egypt, the traders had sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer to the Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard, and chief executioner. | |
| Thoughts: | This chapter basically serves to set up the story of Joseph, who through his boastful dreams, tattle-tales, and being his father's favorite has earned the ire of his brothers who decide to kill him. Reuben is made to appear as the only remorseful brother of the bunch, by convincing his brothers to not kill Joseph right away, but to leave him to die alone in the well - under the guise that Joseph's blood wouldn't be on their hands. However, Reuben's real intentions were to free Joseph from the well late that night, a plan that was thrown askew by brother Judah who noticed some traders passing by and opted to sell Joseph into slavery. The brothers then slay a goat and splatter its blood onto Joseph's coat, bringing it to Israel for a positive identification. Israel goes into mourning, while Joseph has been sold off in Egypt to a palace guard and executioner. | |
| Chapter 38 | ||
| Summary: | Around this time Judah left home and moved to Adullam, and lived there with a man named Hirah. There he met and married a Canaanite girl - the daughter of Shua. They lived at Chezib and had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. They were named by their mother except for Er, who was named by Judah. When his oldest son Er grew up, Judah had arranged for him to marry a girl named Tamar. However, God deemed Er a wicked man and killed him. Judah then tells Onan that according to their laws, Onan is now required to marry Tamar so that her sons could with him would be Er's heirs. However Onan was not very keen on the idea of fathering any children that would not be counted as his own, so whenever he slept with Tamar he refused to ejaculate inside of her* and in turn angered God enough to kill him also. Judah then told his daughter-in-law Tamar not to remarry, but to return home to her parents as to wait until Shelah was old enough to marry her. Judah however had no intentions of letting his now only son Shelah marry Tamar, fearful that God would kill him too. After some time, Judah's wife died, and after the period of mourning was over, Judah and his friend Hirah went to Timnah to supervise the shearing of his sheep. Tamar realizing by now that she was not going to be permitted to marry Shelah, as he was fully grown by now, she laid aside her widow's clothing and covered herself in a veil and sat beside the road at the entrance of Enaim, which was on the way to Timnah. Judah noticed her as he went by, thinking she was a prostitute, and propositioned her. He offered to pay her with a goat from his flock up in Timnah, but she asked Judah to leave behind his walking stick and identification seal as collateral for his payment. He gave them to her and proceeded to sleep with her, in turn impregnating her. When Judah later asked Hirah to bring the goat back to her and collect his collateral, Hirah was unable to find the prostitute. Hirah asked the men of the city about the prostitute and was told that the city didn't have any prostitutes. Hirah returned to Judah and explained to him what he had been told. About three months later, word got out that his daughter-in-law Tamar was pregnant, and was obviously the result of prostitution. Judah upon hearing this exclaimed, "Bring her out and burn her!" As she was being taken out to be killed she sent a message to her father-in-law Judah explaining that the man who owns the identification seal and walking stick that she possessed, was the father of her child. Judah admitted that these were his and realized that he was now more in the wrong than she was for not keeping his promise to allow her to marry Shelah. Judah however, did not marry Tamar. When Tamar gave birth it was to twin sons. As they were being born, the midwife tied a scarlet thread around the wrist of the child who appeared first, but he drew back his hand and the other child was born first instead. The first born was named Perez (meaning "Bursting out"), while the baby with the scarlet thread around his wrist was named Zerah. | |
| Notes: | 1.) The bible specifically says that Onan "spilled his seed upon the bed". | |
| Thoughts: | A quite colorful chapter detailing Israel's son Judah, his sons, and the "daughter-in-law of death". Er seems to be doomed right from the get go by his wickedness that causes God to kill him before he can have children with Tamar. Onan now has to step up to the plate to impregnate Tamar, however the offspring according to customs would in fact be Er's descendants and not Onan's own. Onan, not too happy with that arrangement opts to employ messing the sheets as a form of birth control and is killed by the wrath of God as well. It's really difficult to figure what the whole motive and point for God's killings are here. First we kill off Er, as God deems him wicked, but he kills him before he can have any heirs. Now Onan, as little as he is described, doesn't appear to be doing anything wicked, but more over just being defiant and self-centered. Now God's official reason for killing Onan in this chapter is because he feels it is very wrong of Onan to deny his brother Er a descendant...however isn't this whole mess partially God's fault to begin with? Why is God so concerned with these bizarre man-made customs (there is nothing that states that this is God's mandate) of marriage and descendants that are obviously now obsolete to the majority of Abrahamic religions nowadays that he feels death is an appropriate punishment to serve. Essentially God strikes down Onan for practicing birth control as he's unwilling to clean up a mess that God helped make in the first place. Now with two sons down and one not quite old enough to go, Judah has Tamar go back home to her family and play the widow for a while. Judah's wife's death is very casually mixed into the story, which to me appears to serve only to absolve Judah from being guilty of adultery in the next part of our story. Apparently realizing that Judah had no intentions of letting her marry his last surviving son, Tamar pretends to be a prostitute along the road that Judah is traveling. Judah hasn't got any money to pay for hookers, so he gives his I.D. and his walking staff to his lady-in-waiting as collateral until he can pay her for her services. Tamar returns gets back into her widow clothes leaving Judah's buddy unable to find the town hooker to pay her and get Judah's stuff back. When Tamar turns up pregnant, and the rumor going around town is that it was from prostitution, Judah declares that she should be (and apparently will be) set on fire. Set on fire! Fire... I'm thinking that might be a bit too extreme for having a child out of wedlock from prostitution, and is also a bit hypocritical and sexist of a man who is apparently okay with bedding prostitutes himself. I repeat, he wants to set his daughter-in-law on fire...that is until she tells him that she's got his I.D. badge and his cane. Judah apparently doesn't marry her - which I'm still having trouble figuring out how and when people are actually considered married back then, as all that had to be done with Judah's dad Jacob was a simple bride-swap in the bedroom in Chapter 29, and once the deed was done, Jacob was stuck with Leah. Anyways, Tamar gives birth to twin boys while a mid-wife manages to tie a scarlet thread around the arm of the first baby poking out, but instead his brother beats him to the punch to be born first. They name the first born Perez, as he "burst out" of the womb, and his brother got stuck with the name Zerah. | |
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