Gen.1 by Rikki Watts

Gen.1-3 is foundational for a biblical worldview. This paper about Gen.1 in light of the Ancient Near East context by Rikki Watts, professor at Regent College looks at this foundational and fascinating chapters in the context of the ancient world it was written in.

Much modern discussion of Gen.1-3 is weighed down or distracted by talk of science/evolution and modern controversies relative to readers of the 21st century. While these things are important, and I don't want to disregard them at all, it must be said that we often forget to ask the question: What did Gen.1 mean for the ancient Israelites wandering around in the wilderness? What would this text have sounded like or meant for them as they were recently released from slavery and awaiting a promise land? The below paper by Rikki Watts is an in-depth quality look at Genesis in light of it's ancient near eastern context. Watt's explenation of Ancient Eastern creation myths and how they compare/contrast to Ezekiel opens up for me the fascinating and foundational nature of the opening chapters of the Bible!

Robert Jenson on the Reading the OT

I was back in the states for two weeks on vacation and the only talk I listened to during that two weeks was this one. My brother was listening to it and I sat along. Enjoyed it. It was my first time listening to Robert Jenson, but it will not be my last.

Joseph Charachter Sketch

(I'm teaching Genesis in Bangladesh in a few weeks. here is a summary of my notes on Joseph, he is one of the characters in the book I have not really gotten to cover too much when I taught it the last two times..but this time I concentrated my preparation time on the last section of Genesis and for the first time his story and character really came alive to me)

The Joseph story is a highly complex, interesting, deep and multifaceted story that weaves several different directions to bring to culmination the story ranging from the creation of the cosmos to how Abraham’s family ended up in Egypt. The focus given to Joseph in this book rivals (if not greater) then the amount of text and focus given to Abraham. The story on the surface is somewhat simple, Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers and ends up rising to a powerful position in Egypt where he then reunites with his brother and family and ends up helping them in a time of famine; the result of this is that Israel and his family move to Egypt and thus concludes the book of Egypt. Beyond this simple chain of events is a much deeper and complex story, that deals with the dreams, the interpretation and fulfillment of dreams, and coinciding with this how divinity interacts and affects this world full of men who do just as much acting and affecting; the story also shows how evil and selfish motives run rampant and the world and yet in the end are “used” by God for good. Dreams, evil, the Lord’s favor, blessing, cult prostitutes and lying adulterous wives, famine and abundance fills the great story of Joseph. 

Joseph as a character in the Bible grows in glory when compared to all the other saints his life parallels and echoes and echoes and repeats, for always in some way Joseph was the first. Joseph is a symbolic man of wisdom, like Solomon and Daniel after him, whose wisdom (from the Spirit of the Lord) far outweighs the wisdom of the nation around him and yet he is used to council and guide the kings of the nations like Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and Daniel and the kings of Babylon; men of wisdom whose wisdom blesses the nations. Joseph and Jesus have parallels that are quite obvious and not just the result of stretched interpretation. Both Joseph and Jesus come to power and rule through hard times, Joseph betrayed by his brothers and put in prison, Jesus betrayed by his disciples and sent to the cross. In both stories the suffering servant becomes the royal ruler. 

Ultimately, Joseph’s story is a story about God. God’s providence and power to do “what he means to do” inspite of and even sometimes through the evil and wicked intentions of man. Joseph is a picture of what it looks like when the spirit who hovered above the waters at the beginning of creation fills a man and uses him to bring wisdom through times of abundance and famine. I believe Joseph is a sort of picture of what it looks like to “be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it”. Someone who functions as an image of God whether they are in power over egypt or in prison with the baker and cupbearer. Joseph’s story is a story about God because it begins with a dream from God and then tells the story of how God goes about fulfilling that dream. This is God’s dream for the world- to use the betrayed, forgotten younger sons and prisoners to be a blessing to the nations in times of abundance and times of famine. 

Weekly Talk- Hays on the Gospels teaching us how to read the OT

This is a great talk by Richard Hays, dean of duke divinity, on how the gospels teach us to read the OT. This is one of the last talks at the end of a conference, so if you like it there are more on youtube.

My favorite thing about this talk is how he clearly summarizes the unique and distinct aspects of each gospel. It is worth listening just to hear his summary and thoughts about each gospel.

Genesis 3:15- Jesus?!

Read this blog article today, on Genesis 3:15, and it just so happened to be the day of my first Genesis lecture. I went through chapter 3 in class today, but i did not feel like bringing up the discussion of is this verse messianic prophecy or not. However this is my personal conclusion that I came to as studying:

" Though this has traditionally and often been looked at as Messianic prophecy. The language is describing to a "plural" seed and not a singular seed- in it’s initial context it describes a constant battle or opposition between the offspring of Eve and the offspring of the Serpent. This is played out in the contrast between cain and able, cain and seth, noah and wicked generation. The theme of offspring and chosen and promised offspring is constant throughout the whole book. It is very clear that Jesus does come and offer relief to this long spread tension of the two offsprings, however to say that this is what Moses was predicting is a stretch "

In conclusion, I think it would be better to refer to Gen.3:15 not as prophecy but as the beginning of an Old Testament theme that is resolved and fulfilled in Christ.