Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, October 1, 2012 Read – Genesis 49 & 50 The first thing we need to notice about chapter 49 is that it is poetic writing – not narrative prose. Most Bibles demonstrate this by putting the text into “verse.” What are we to make of this? Perhaps you have already noticed that the story we are reading is sometimes not “seamless” but occasionally a little “ragged” – that is, the sequence is sometimes broken. What this most likely reflects is that the finished product we have in the Bible is really the weaving together of a number of “sources” of material. Chapter 49 is one of those sources – actually a poetic song of the ancestors. Was it older material or more a recent summary? We don’t know for sure, but the point is that it is beneficial for us to recognize that the Bible as we have it is a compilation – a blending of sources. Recognizing this helps us to understand the message – or is it really messages? – better. Of course it does make listening to the Bible a bit more complicated. I suppose we think we really would like a Bible that was delivered to us “right from the hand of God.” But the truth is that what we have in the Bible is a reflection of the relationship between God and human beings – both have a hand in the story. I for one think that is far better. God takes us seriously and we can take God and one another more seriously too. And with this attitude we do the Bible more justice. Chapter 49 does have a couple of things to reveal to us. The two tribes highlighted are Judah and Joseph. The tribe of Joseph is known to us in the rest of the story by the name of Ephraim, one of Joseph’s sons, and it does seem that these two are dominant in the story. Perhaps it is best to listen to this chapter as a “song” meant to tell the people something of their heritage – long since slipped into history’s past – something like our stories of “ancient” American history – things like George Washington and the cherry tree. They function also as Jacob’s way of summarizing the story and “blessing” all his sons – though some of the declarations don’t sound much like “blessings.” The end of chapter 49 and on into chapter 50 bring the story of the “patriarchs” to a fitting end. We ought to notice the intense mourning of the Egyptians in this story – as well as the Israelites. The story reflects a positive connection between Israel and Egypt – that will end soon enough and the next time we listen to this story it will be one of intense hatred between Egypt and Israel. But for now we need to ponder the harmony. Does such a reality provide us any hope as we think about enemies in our world? I am struck by the surprises of Ishmael and Isaac burying their father, Abraham; of Jacob and Esau burying their father, Isaac; and Egyptians and Israelites mourning together at the burial of Jacob – and it gives me hope. As we leave the book of Genesis a few comments about the whole book might be helpful. First of all we can now see that this book falls into four cycles of stories. Chapters 1-11 stand apart as stories about the origins of all things and they are foundational to the rest of the story and some of the most important chapters in the Bible. Chapter 12-25 are a cycle of stories about Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel and the first truly historical character in the story. Chapters 26-36 are a cycle of stories about Jacob and the establishment of the twelve tribes who will play such an important part in the rest of the story. And Chapters 37-50 are really one “short story” about Joseph and how God’s people found themselves in Egypt. There is purpose in how this story has been weaved together. Those who gave us the story that we now have are really brilliant in their work. And in the end it is the story as we have it now that really matters.