The Good Book Club: Week 4

Genesis 36-50, Job 1-12: Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Job and the Gray Sackcloth of Suffering

This Week

We are reading:

• Genesis 36-50

• Job 1-12

• Proverbs 3:25-35, Proverbs 4:1-27, Psalm 16

Summary

We’re wrapping up our first full book of the Bible this week!

And WHAT a wild ride Genesis has been.

I think Genesis is my favorite book of the Bible.

It’s the Bible for people who like Bravo.

This book has EVERYTHING. And it sets up and ties together so much world history.

Genesis. New York’s hottest ancient book has everything.

Light fighting with darkness, a VIP section called the firmament, and two nudist vegans living in a luxury garden, where the dress code is nothing and the only rule is, ‘Don’t eat off-menu.’

God said — ‘Let there be light,’ and ‘Let’s make people… emotionally unprepared.’

There’s a farm-to-table sibling rivalry between two brothers, angels coming down from heaven like, ‘Hey, you up?’, and a global flood rave with one boat, two of every animal, and a 600-year-old man who’s basically a nautical doomsday prepper.

Genesis: it’s like the Bible said, ‘Let there be mess,’ and it was good.

And then we’re introduced to Job.

Job’s story tells us a lot about the structure of the physical and spiritual world in heaven and on earth, the nature of relationships between God and Satan and humans, that suffering is not simply a divine punishment, and that God doesn’t answer all of our questions in this lifetime. Wisdom lies in recognizing the limits of human understanding.

The Old Testament is organized into 4 main sections: Law, History, Wisdom, and Prophets. The Book of Job is in the Wisdom section of the Bible, so we’re jumping to the middle of the Bible, but since we are approaching this reading chronologically, Job’s is the story that’s next. Most scholars agree that, given his long life, Job likely lived around the same time as Abraham — definitely after the flood yet before Moses, and possibly even a bit before Abraham.

Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 19 — Monday, 1/19 — Genesis 36-39, Proverbs 3:25-27

• Day 20 — Tuesday, 1/20 — Genesis 40-43, Proverbs 3:28-32

• Day 21 — Wednesday, 1/21 — Genesis 44-47, Proverbs 3:33-35

• Day 22 — Thursday, 1/22 — Genesis 48-50, Proverbs 4:1-9

• Day 23 — Friday, 1/23 — Job 1-4, Proverbs 4:10-19

• Day 24 — Saturday, 1/24 — Job 5-8, Proverbs 4:20-27

• Day 25 — Sunday, 1/25 — Job 9-12, Psalm 16

For the sake of making this Bible study sustainable, my notes will be getting shorter with each week until I reach a more sustainable length — just like the lifespans of the patriarchs in the post-flood generations.

Day 19 — Monday, 1/19 — Genesis 36-39, Proverbs 3:25-27

• The name Baal-hanan in Genesis 36:38 means “Baal has been gracious,” indicating descendants of Esau/Edom had fallen into worshipping pagan gods

• Joseph. Why are you telling your brothers these pretentious dreams?! Just take your technicolor dreamcoat and run! (I’ve actually never seen Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, I think I’m going to watch it this week.)

• Joseph’s immaturity about being favored provokes jealousy, Judah comes up with the idea to sell him into slavery, and Joseph ends up getting sold 5 times on the way to Egypt — ultimately getting the ball rolling on God’s plan

• Speaking of fulfilling God’s plans in surprising ways, Tamar ensures the existence of her progeny (King David, Mary, Joseph, and ultimately Jesus) in a SUPER surprising way. Despite his obvious faults, God ultimately redeems Judah following his repentance.

• Joseph just can’t catch a break. Contrasting Judah, he rejects the advances of Potiphar’s wife — and suffers for it anyway. But God is with him.

Day 20 — Tuesday, 1/20 — Genesis 40-43, Proverbs 3:28-32

• Joseph interprets dreams from prison while attributing the analysis to God, illustrating how God refines us before calling us into important positions of authority

• Joseph’s brothers arrive in Egypt. Oh, how the tables have turned.

Day 21 — Wednesday, 1/21 — Genesis 44-47, Proverbs 3:33-35

• Joseph tests his brothers’ moral character before revealing himself — and proving just how correct his teenage dreams were.

• Joseph talks about his divination cup, while he has attributed all his foresight to God.

• Judah continues to redeem himself by offering to stay in place of Benjamin.

• We learn that while bad things can still happen to us — God’s ultimate sovereignty rules in our favor. (An important note to remember as we embark on the Book of Job.)

Day 22 — Thursday, 1/22 — Genesis 48-50, Proverbs 4:1-9

• God’s blessing continues to favor the righteous younger rather than the expected first born.

• It’s interesting how important it is for Jacob to have his bones taken back to the land of his ancestors. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

• Jacob issues a prophetic blessing to each of his children that can be seen playing out for generations to come — even today.

Day 23 — Friday, 1/23 — Job 1-4, Proverbs 4:10-19

• Job is packed with theological wisdom:

  • First, we again have the bene Elohim — Hebrew for sons of God. This term consistently denotes heavenly beings, not humans — and is the same phrase used in Genesis 6.

  • We also learn about the existence of the Heavenly Court, where haśśāṭān (“the accuser” or Satan) presents himself to the divine council. So, Satan is a lawyer.

• We see clearly the interplay of heaven and earth. We learn that Satan is legalistic, while God is not. Job is introduced as genuinely righteous, not merely prosperous, establishing that what follows is not retributive justice. Satan thinks Job’s piety exists only because of the rewards he has received in this lifetime. Satan is only allowed to test Job within the limits set by God. And while Job curses the day he was born — he never curses God.

• I think Eliphaz sees a demon in Job 4. One of the bene Elohim roaming the earth with Satan.

Day 24 — Saturday, 1/24 — Job 5-8, Proverbs 4:20-27

• Job’s friends insist that Job’s suffering must be a corrective action from God. The logic is coherent but theologically hollow, as Job has never shown himself to be anything but submissive and dedicated in faith. Job insists that his agony is not due to any wrongdoing on his part and accuses his friends of betrayal masked as wisdom. Job’s friends exhibit a theologically rigid moral symmetry, reducing God to a predictable system and pushing the retributive principle to a cruel logical extreme.

• Job insists he has never done anything wrong, and begins to address God directly, describing divine scrutiny as excessive and oppressive.

Day 25 — Sunday, 1/25 — Job 9-12, Psalm 16

• Job laments that he cannot take God to court. He asserts that God’s power makes genuine justice inaccessible to humans and he wants a mediator to bridge the gap between human frailty and divine transcendence — isn’t this partly the job of the angels? Don’t they look down and hear our cries and bring our pleas to God? It’s curious here that Satan and the fallen angels are tormenting Job but we don’t see interference from the other angels; perhaps because God has made a decision to put boundaries on Job’s torment.

• Job’s friends continue urging repentance as the only rational response. Job decisively rejects his friends interpretations, noting that God’s governance includes destabilization as well as order.

We will continue Job’s story next week — and hear from God Himself.

What came up for you this week? Let me know in the chat and in the comments below!