Joseph: endurance Week 2: Friday Reading Genesis 37.12-18 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.’ He answered, ‘Here I am.’ So he said to him, ‘Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.’ So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. He came to Shechem, and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, ‘What are you seeking?’ ‘I am seeking my brothers,’ he said; ‘tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.’ The man said, ‘They have gone away, for I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.” ’ So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.’ But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, ‘Let us not take his life.’ Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him’—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. Reflection The Joseph narratives of Genesis are compelling and profoundly relatable to people who have been oppressed and must wrestle with the deepest of trials and betrayals. Joseph is sold into servitude by his brothers, out of jealousy. The family drama – from his grandfather Isaac through his father Jacob – finds its way into his own life. Joseph endures being betrayed and sold into slavery by his brothers, sexually harassed, falsely accused, imprisoned, ignored, and forgotten. In the midst of violence, trauma, and misfortune, he clings to God’s gifts and presence in his life. Joseph’s faith and his coming to terms with his traumatic past ultimately brings him to a place of exaltation. The one despised becomes the hope for the very ones who betrayed him. Joseph is a powerful symbol for the faith of Black people, who have similarly endured oppression yet remained rooted in God. Watch Reflect on any episodes in your own life that have involved trauma and adversity. ...and pray for peace and healing over all these moments of your life. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
Bethel: God moves closer Week 2: Thursday Reading Genesis 28.10-22 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.’ Reflection Genesis 28 is a pivotal point in the story of Jacob, but also in the story of the ancient Hebrews. Movement is key to understanding this text. In Jacob’s dream, a ladder appears between heaven and earth. Angels are ascending and descending. Jacob is moving – in fact, escaping – from one place to another. Amid all this, God comes close to him, and reveals himself, and blesses him. Jacob awakes and calls the place “Bethel”, the House of God. He comes to see that the God of his ancestors moves with him, no matter where he might find himself. God is present in our movement. The reality of forced migration for Black People across the globe has not meant the relinquishing of their faith. In fact, it’s in the upheavals of life that we come to know God more clearly and powerfully. Watch Think about the way migration and displacement of people has affected the history of faith. ...and pray for deep encounters with God in the journeys of others you meet. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
Shameful movement: Jacob Week 2: Wednesday Reading Genesis 27.41-46 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’ But the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, ‘Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, and stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury turns away— until your brother’s anger against you turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send, and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?’ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, 'I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?' Reflection The complex and difficult relationship between Isaac and Rebekah creates enmity between their sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob is very much a trickster, seeking the love of his father, but supported and defended by his mother. This is a fraught situation that leads to this ancestor fleeing his home. In this space of escape he finds the God of his forebears. Despite the deep shame that pursues Jacob, eventually his name is changed to Israel (Genesis 32.28). His shame becomes honour. Black Spirituality is born out of the complex and difficult lives of Black people which often means that they have to leave their homes and their loved ones just to make a life elsewhere. Often, it is only their enduring faith in God that sustains them. Watch Reflect on any journeys you might have undertaken out of shame or fear. ...and pray for God's deep healing within the relationships in your life. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
Sarah: forced movement Week 2: Tuesday Reading Genesis 12.10-20 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know well that you are a woman beautiful in appearance; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife”; then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.’ When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. When the officials of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels. But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, ‘What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, “She is my sister”, so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and be gone.’ And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had. Reflection These ancestral stories are not only about men. They are also centrally about women, named and unnamed. Sarai (later called Sarah) moves to Egypt with her husband Abram to escape famine. This is a story of survival. But there is another dimension. Sarai is beautiful and Abram fears that he would be killed by the Pharaoh should it be found out that Sarai is his spouse. He puts his wife in danger by lying, saying that she is his sister. God preserves Sarai from this political game among men. Tragically, forced migration remains a reality of our world as it was in these early stories of Genesis. Women – very often Black women – have too often borne the brunt of the pain and loss incurred during forced migration. It is often their faith that preserves not only themselves, but their partners and their children. Watch Are there other women of the Bible, like Sarai, whose stories deserve more attention? ...and pray for justice for women and children caught up in human trafficking. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
