Author Topic: Bible in a Year! v. February (Read 46201 times)

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #315 on:** January 16, 2011, 07:06:38 AM »

I guess I'm the only one posting about the "daily" reading lol.

Today's reading is Genesis 46-47. Almost done with Genesis, yay!

In chapter 46, we get the story of Jacob's family moving to Egypt and settling in the land of Goshen. In chapter 47, we learn of Joseph's administration of the people of Egypt throughout the rest of the famine, as all of the people of Egypt became slaves and giving a reason for the practice "which is in effect to this day throughout the land of Egypt (verse 26)" that 1/5 of everything produced in Egypt belongs to Pharaoh. We also learn of the approaching death of Joseph's father Jacob, and his desire to be buried with his forefathers.

ReaPsTA · « **Reply #316 on:** January 16, 2011, 07:46:18 AM »

Quote from: el jefedaddy42 on January 16, 2011, 07:06:38 AM

I guess I'm the only one posting about the "daily" reading lol.

I go in massive spurts. Not sure if it's smart or not, but eh.

ReaperKK · « **Reply #317 on:** January 16, 2011, 07:47:35 AM »

I'm still doing my daily reading. I'm a little behind because I was on vacation at the start of the year so I'm doing 2 readings a day although I'm going in chronological order.

ReaPsTA · « **Reply #318 on:** January 16, 2011, 08:19:03 AM »

Bosk: I did read your post and appreciate it. I couldn't muster whatever I need inside of me to post a reply though. Sorry about that.

Genesis 27

I guess Rebekah isn't an awful person because God specifically commanded Jacob be the one who gets everything, but wow. And I have no idea why Issac couldn't have said "Oh, I thought your brother was you, so really the blessing was meaningless."

The sensibilities of the time this was written in are so totally incongruous with my own.

Genesis 28

Esau marrying Ishmael's daughter is funny.

Genesis 29

I like how the language is rendered as "water the sheep" in this version.

I don't even know how to process the rest of this chapter.

Here's I guess the question I want to ask. Why is Christian entertainment so sanitized? The Bible doesn't have any swearing so far, I'll grant you that, but it is filled with hardcore violence, sexual relations more perverted than most pornos, and just the dirty horribleness of humanity. Why can't Left Behind the movie feature the anti-christ's harem of lesbian twin sisters?

I still can't even think straight. Why is this story in a religious text? I don't get it. I don't have any theories as to why.

Genesis 30

I seriously feel that tightness in my throat that happens when I'm on the verge of puking. All this stuff is just so depraved.

I normally like to read more at a time, but I'm going to just stop at the end of this chapter. Once again, I'm clearly not understanding something. Right now I just feel like I'm reading a divine version of the Aristocrats, where it gets worse and worse in an attempt to see if it can crack me. I think the Bible is winning.

If I sound like a disrespectful prick, I swear I'm not trying. But my ability to process things is being stretched to its limit.

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #319 on:** January 16, 2011, 08:37:04 AM »

It's not "just" a religious text. It's a cultural text. These are the stories of the formation of Israel's culture. And it's awesome.

I don't understand your inability to process what you're reading. What's the problem?

rumborak · « **Reply #320 on:** January 16, 2011, 08:52:49 AM »

That's so far been my biggest hindrance in reading the OT more than just a few chapters. It's about random people who seem to have no significance in the grander scheme of thing, in a cultural setting I eventually don't connect with.

rumborak

ReaPsTA · « **Reply #321 on:** January 16, 2011, 08:53:10 AM »

Quote from: el jefedaddy42 on January 16, 2011, 08:37:04 AM

It's not "just" a religious text. It's a cultural text. These are the stories of the formation of Israel's culture. And it's awesome.

I don't understand your inability to process what you're reading. What's the problem?

I'm sure in actuality this comparison is off base, but it reflects my feelings on reading it - I feel like I'm watching Saw or the Human Centipede. From my perspective it feels like the authors were thinking "Okay, so earlier in the book, Lot's daughters got him drunk and raped him. How can we do something more ridiculous? Oh, okay, this time we'll have Jacob's wives compete for his affections by trying to bear him more children, and they'll even use their maids as Jacob's sex toys to conceive children in their place since they're unable." I feel overwhelmed by this sense that the text is trying to plumb the depths of human depravity for a purpose I can't discern.

I'm sure to some degree this reflects behaviors that were more normative at the time and my sensibilities now are somewhat naturally incompatible. Okay, fine.

But at some point it's hard to even see the text as internally consistent. How much less sinful are these people than the ones God burned with sulfur in Sodom? And yet they're the ones who will spawn the nation of Israel? What does this say about ancient Hebrew culture?

Maybe I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to get out of this. I'm really hoping there's some kind of religious enlightenment (for lack of a better word) present here. So far I'm turning up no results.

rumborak · « **Reply #322 on:** January 16, 2011, 09:03:45 AM »

I think you're reading the OT with the wrong expectations, Reapsta. The OT is a collective memory of a people, stories they accumulated over centuries and wrote down. There is no grand design or plot to the whole thing; sure, God appears frequently in the texts, but there is no grand illumination to be expected, I think.

rumborak

Ħ · « **Reply #323 on:** January 16, 2011, 02:36:04 PM »

Shoot, ive gotta catch up by about a week.

Any good audio bibles that people use? Sometimes my attention span just dies and I need to read it aloud or have it read aloud to me.

yeshaberto · « **Reply #324 on:** January 16, 2011, 04:52:23 PM »

sorry I haven't posted in here much, but I am keeping up. actually a bit ahead.

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #325 on:** January 17, 2011, 04:33:40 AM »

Quote from: ReaPsTA on January 16, 2011, 08:53:10 AM

What does this say about ancient Hebrew culture?

It says that they were no better than we are. Things just as crazy happen today.

Perpetual Change · « **Reply #326 on:** January 17, 2011, 07:45:32 AM »

Finally I'm all caught up. I should be posting more regularly from now, which is good since we just finished Genesis.

Weird. Reading Genesis has totally been a flashback of all those days we read it aloud in school. Some of these stories I remember feeling MUCH longer. Others, not quite as long. It was interesting to see Babel's treatment. Man, I could have sworn that there was much more about Babel in there.

I also didn't remember that Genesis ends on Joseph in Egypt. That has always been one of my favorite stories. And next time we see the descendants of Jacob, they'll be enslaved, right? That is always something which confused me. Joseph is like 2nd in command over Egypt, yet in the next book all the Hebrews are enslaved.

Perpetual Change · « **Reply #327 on:** January 17, 2011, 08:40:10 PM »

Looks like I　answered my own question as soon as I did today's reading.

Though I still find the tribes' slavery to be kind of weird. I mean, if I were Joseph, the 2nd guy in charge next to the Pharaoh, my people would have already completely taken over all the jobs in the Egypt bureaucracy.

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #328 on:** January 18, 2011, 06:13:52 AM »

Yay, Genesis is over! Now on to Exodus!

Today's reading, Exodus 1-3, we get the blessings of God to the Hebrews while in bondage, the attempted murder of the Hebrew sons by Pharaoh, the birth of the deliverer Moses, and Moses murdering an Egyptian and fleeing to Midian, where he spent much time and started his family. We also have God remembering his people and calling Moses to his service. Now we're getting to some good stuff. Everything prior to here was just to give a sense of history and place the Hebrew people in Egypt.

bosk1 · « **Reply #329 on:** January 18, 2011, 07:30:53 AM »

SLAVES! Hebrews born to serve to the Pharaoh!

GuineaPig · « **Reply #330 on:** January 18, 2011, 07:33:37 AM »

Best Metallica song. It's definitely a metal story

Ħ · « **Reply #331 on:** January 18, 2011, 06:08:27 PM »

So I recently bought a center-column reference Bible on Amazon and it came today....

I don't wanna miss any references, so I'm heading back to square one. But I'll catch up.

bosk1 · « **Reply #332 on:** January 18, 2011, 06:12:17 PM »

Keep in mind that while those can be helpful, not all references are good references.

Ħ · « **Reply #333 on:** January 18, 2011, 06:14:36 PM »

How so? I thought you said comparing scripture with scripture was an OK way to go.

bosk1 · « **Reply #334 on:** January 18, 2011, 06:17:33 PM »

Well, of course, but those references were put there after the fact because an editor, in his opinion, thought certain passages might have something to do with each other. In some cases, the person's opinion may be wrong and the passages may have nothing whatsoever to do with each other.

Ħ · « **Reply #335 on:** January 18, 2011, 06:23:16 PM »

Ah ok. Well, thank you for the warning. I'll watch out for that.

Perpetual Change · « **Reply #336 on:** January 18, 2011, 11:47:57 PM »

Just finished Exodus 1-3. Looking forward to tomorrow's. This is obviously one of those biblical stories that everyone knows.

Jamesman42 · « **Reply #337 on:** January 19, 2011, 08:59:24 AM »

I have a week and a half to catch up on tonight, kicking myself for that.

Perpetual Change · « **Reply #338 on:** January 19, 2011, 07:03:06 PM »

Got to the plagues today. Crazy stuff. Part of me does wonder why God didn't decide just to soften Pharaoh's heart instead of harden it-- but this is OT God we're talking. I guess part of what'll make the New Testament and the new Covenant with Jesus so special is that we'll eventually be liberated from this vengeful, wrathful (but at the same time pretty damn badass) God.

Tomorrow, we get to the really fun plagues.

(And I do believe, thanks to my time-zone, I'm at least a half-a-day ahead of everyone. So if I do my reading at 10 am, it's 10 PM the day before for you ESTers. If that's an issue just let me know, and I'll save my readings for the night.)

Perpetual Change · « **Reply #339 on:** January 20, 2011, 06:56:08 PM »

...And now we're on to the even crazier plagues.

I do find the ancient Hebrews' obsession with circumcision to be pretty funny. "God just spread disease, hail, famine, and death over an entire nation to set you free! You guys BETTER do what he says and make sure all of you are circumcised!!!"

bosk1 · « **Reply #340 on:** January 20, 2011, 07:03:55 PM »

Well, it was required to be in a covenant relationship with God, so...

Perpetual Change · « **Reply #341 on:** January 20, 2011, 07:51:08 PM »

Whether it was by God's hand or the hand of an anonymous ancient Hebrew author, it's equally inexplicable and, to me anyway, equally amusing.

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #342 on:** January 21, 2011, 04:24:46 AM »

For the first time, I have gotten a couple of days behind. I will catch up this weekend.

bosk1 · « **Reply #343 on:** January 21, 2011, 08:12:41 AM »

Me too, but only by a little. But I'm thinking even if my schedule doesn't loosen up, my 35-minute commute and my audio Bible will be my friend.

Perpetual Change · « **Reply #344 on:** January 21, 2011, 08:56:54 PM »

Today we get the parting of the red sea.　Awesome.

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #345 on:** January 22, 2011, 05:15:49 AM »

Finally caught up with my reading. All the way from Moses being called by God, to the confrontations with Pharaoh, the ten plagues, the deliverance from Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the defeat of Pharaoh's army, culminating in the Song of the Sea. Whew!

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #346 on:** January 23, 2011, 05:50:18 AM »

In today's reading, Exodus 16-18, we get the stories of the provision of manna, water at Massa and Meribah, the victory over the Amalekites, and Jethro's advice to Moses. Strange days indeed. But wow, you have to feel for Moses.

Perpetual Change · « **Reply #347 on:** January 23, 2011, 06:18:55 AM »

Almost forgot to do today's readings. Anyway, as I read this I my 2nd grade teacher was trying to explain to us the whole 'water-from-the-rock" thing. Tomorrow, we'll be halfway done Exodus. And then, Leviticus. I really wonder what that will do to the level of activity in this discussion since we've finished Genesis.

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #348 on:** January 23, 2011, 06:50:37 AM »

I, for one, am NOT looking forward to Leviticus. Uggh.

I'm looking forward to getting past the Pentateuch altogether.

Perpetual Change · « **Reply #349 on:** January 23, 2011, 06:54:11 AM »

I just can't wait 'til Judges.

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Author Topic: Bible in a Year! v. February (Read 46201 times)