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Online Summer Bible Study, 2004
Week 4 (June 27-July3): Genesis 37-50

Hello all,

Genesis 37-50 contains the familiar story of Joseph (plus the definitely odd-to-modern-ears story of Tamar in Genesis 38, which is mostly known today for the bit about Onan spilling his seed on the ground). There's a lot that can be said, but in the context of the discussion we have been having on TheoTalk, I wanted to lift up the question of how Joseph's story relates to theme of liberation we are used to identifying in the Hebrew Bible.

On its face, it seems to stand in opposition. Joseph succeeds not through liberation, but bondage; not only through his own bondage, but through binding the Egyptian populace tighter and tighter to Pharaoh throughout the years of famine; and not only the Egyptians, but his own people, bringing them to Egypt in what we know is the setup for the misery and release of Exodus. What sense can we make of this?

I will quote Walter Brueggemann yet again, from his book "Genesis" (John Knox Press, 1982), which is part of the "Interpretation" series:

"The visible agent is his Egyptian master...[b]ut the real cause is this other One: 'The LORD was with Joseph'...This affirmation is the decisive claim of the entire narrative...It is not claimed that because of Yahweh everything will work out. Nor is it promised that the key actor will be easily saved from trouble. But the narrator offers an understanding of reality that is an alternative to every imperial presupposition of control...[and a] cluster of themes--"being with," giving a blessing, causing prosperity, protecting and feeding...it is God, not royal power or imperial planning, who will cause the future." (pp. 316-331)

Brueggemann identifies this message with Numbers 6:24-26...

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace." (NRSV)

In this sense, Joseph's story is a continuation of the idea that God will fulfill God's promises in God's own way. However bad, or as is more often the case for the mainstream of American Christianity, however good things may look at any given moment, humble trust in God is more important and appropriate than either triumphalism or despair.

For me personally, the passage which sinks its hooks into me deepest is found in Genesis 45:4-8...

"I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life...God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors...So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt." (NRSV)

It is hard for me to even get my thoughts into a coherent form. Where is the call for the brothers to repent? Why would an anti-imperial God reward God's faithful chosen with...an empire? My answer to the first question, as a universalist, is an immense sense of gratitude for the undeserved grace of God. My answer to the second question, as a citizen of a current empire, is that we must always be aware of how we take God's grace and think we are making blessings from it--and then find out in the next book that we have somehow allowed it to slip into a curse. Which brings us neatly back to my answer to the first question, since we desperately need a continual supply of grace from God.

Peace,
Mark Kille
John P. Webster Library

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