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From Annette Huizenga
As I read the first few chapters of Genesis and Matthew, I was reminded again that the first line of any book gives significant information about what's in store for you as the reader.
"It was a dark and stormy night . . . ."
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . ."
This is true even for jokes:
"knock, knock. . . . "
"A priest, a rabbi, and a minister walk into a bar . . . ."
That's why the first verses of the books of Genesis and Matthew need to be remembered as we read for the next several weeks. Genesis, of course, starts the entire biblical journey with God's activity of creating the world, moving on to more specific parts of creation, and landing on the ancestors of the people Israel.
Centuries later, the author of Matthew refers back to this first book of the Old Testament, although you can't see that in most English translations. Matthew 1:1 in Greek literally reads: "Book of genesis of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham." Quite different from the NIV, which has "An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ . . . ." or the New English Bible's "A table of the descent of Jesus Christ." These translations were chosen because of the genealogy that follows in verses 2-17.
But Matthew 1:1 is much more than a section heading for the genealogy. It tells us what to expect in this gospel: a story like the long involved saga in the book of Genesis, where God repeatedly acts on behalf of humankind. "Father Abraham" is a key figure here because the covenant God makes with him is not just with Israelites, but extends to "all the nations." Matthew is sometimes thought of as the "Jewish gospel" (more on that in later posts), but the author is looking beyond that toward how salvation also comes through God's Emmanuel to the nations/Gentiles (it's the same word in Greek). Notice: the magi are Gentiles, and they are the first to recognize and worship Jesus.
We know that the first generation or two of believers conflicted over how to handle the fact that God unexpectedly redeemed people from the "nations/Gentiles." This makes me think about the broader issue of how Judaism and Christianity have dealt with exclusion vs. inclusion. As I read, I'm going to keep an eye open for this struggle in all of the biblical books.
By the way, I've never blogged before, so I'm going to be wrestling with how to make these comments sound "interesting" rather than "educational." Your feedback would be most welcome.
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I think that "educational" IS interesting! Thanks for going back to the Greek, it is cool to understand the different translations and their interpretations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Danika. Thanks Annette!
ReplyDeleteI was doing the daily reading for the One Year Bible project and was
ReplyDeletecurious if you had some insight, or could point me towards some
interpretation of Genesis 4:22, where God says "See, the man has become like one of us..." - - who in goodness' name is God talking to? Not Adam & Eve, and not himself, as he says "one of us." And back when Genesis was
written there wasn't this idea of a triune God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit,
right?
From Debbie:
ReplyDeleteI am very energetically doing my readings for our reading through the bible in a year undertaking. (Mike and I are reading together daily.) I have never previously been able to read most of the Bible (could never get through Genesis). This read opened me to a deep healing, partially from a marvelous commentary on the beginning Chapters of Genesis I found on-line.
The commentary allowed me to set aside all the "patriarchal stuff" and blame and condemnation that has made it impossible for me previously to read Genesis.
Anyway, this particular commentary drew me into the story itself and an experience of Genesis similar to experiences I have had of being "naked before God" . . . I found the commentary opened me to a deep meaning and experience of Genesis that was incredibly powerful. Likely, it is old hat to you all. Still, in case it might be useful to anyone, I include it here:
http://www.crivoice.org/gen3.html
@ Debbie, Dennis Bratcher,the author of the commentary you mentioned, is respected in a lot of quarters. He is from the Nazarene tradition. Like a number of denominations, the Nazarenes don't emphasize "the fall" to the degree of the Reformed traditions. Thanks for the suggestion.
ReplyDeleteAnother good commentary and translation of Genesis anyway is the work of Robert Alter, a literary critic from Stanford University. He's a wonderful scholar and his work is extremely insightful.
@ Dankia, re: "US" Interesting isn't it? The plural pronoun is used for God in several places throughout the Bible. We saw it right from the beginning in Gen. 1:26, Let us make....And we will see it again - some may be thinking of the opening scene of Job where 1:6 notes "one day the heavenly beings came to present themselves..." Thinking about Job and a few other places have led many scholars to suggest God is addressing the divine council. Other scholars believe that the "us" here is like the royal "we" of me, myself and I. Or in this case, the Trinity.
Interesting huh?
Thanks Annette! This is so important and almost overwhelming, starting at the beginning...of the WHOLE Bible?! What was I thinking? I have a one year Bible it took me over 4 years to read last time I tried this.
ReplyDeleteReading the Bible seems to be idealized as this early morning thing, cup of coffee, sun rise, probably singing birds. I'm not sure about you all, but that just doesn't work for me as much as I want it to and have tried desperately for years to try.
So I did something that makes me cringe a little to write it out: I signed up for the daily email and set not one but two reminders on my iPhone. I read as soon as I get to work before anyone else is in the office, unless I forget and then I don't read until later or not even at all. Reading my Bible on an iPhone because I programmed the software to remind me seems so ridiculous, almost embarrassing.
But I've come to smile when I see the notification pop up. Here's hoping that in a few weeks or months I can whittle it down to one reminder or maybe even none!
This last week and a half has been a hit for my "idealized devotional time" pride, but like all great epics, the beginning seems so long. Glad to be on this journey with you all!
-dar
Genesis has some wild and disturbing stories, but my question is about the discrete issue of longevity. Does anyone think that Methuselah and his comrades actually lived over 900 years? If so, why would God make that happen? If you do not think they lived that long, why would the authors of Genesis say they did?
ReplyDeleteYes, great blog, Annette and I also enjoy the educational, especially since you make it very interesting! I'm really interested in the idea of reading the Scriptures this year looking for inclusive vs. exclusive language. So far, it definitely seems that there is a lot of 'us vs. them' in the old testament, but seems to be the opposite in the Matthew readings (where Jesus heals those who have faith and are from different nations). Thanks again for this, Annette! Sandy Reed
ReplyDelete