Foreword
I was led to write a series of articles called
"Kith and Kin", (about the Patriarchal Fathers and their families), for T
he Australian Christadelphian Shield Magazine some years ago, when a friend said to me that she thought God would never accept her into His kingdom, because her family was so dysfunctional, and she could not seem to get things right. I knew that God would not penalise her for that, and so I set out to devote some time and thought, and then some writing, to these
Biblical, God loved and accepted, but dysfunctioning families.
God loves all who wish to make a relationship with Him, as long as we stay connected, and strive to do His will, moving from dysfunction to well function. That is the fact that helps those human beings who find life a disappointing experience, and that living is almost too difficult. The love of God compensates for the mediocrity of existence, and eases us through difficult life experiences. If we stay connected to God He will never disappoint us.
The "Kith and Kin" magazine articles has now been revised, and as well, greatly expanded into a book of 600 pages. There is freedom from the constraints of time and space that a magazine, of necessity, imposes. This later text is now in five independent books, though still interdependent as well. Each book is made up of more than one section, except that on Isaac.
The story is not dull and tedious, and hopefully the commentary is not told that way. There are many unanswered questions, and the characters that are assembled on this Genesis stage hold the keys to those. We may never know the answers, until God chooses to reveal them. But the consideration of the questions can only enrich our understanding of the delicate family fabric that is placed there for our benefit. The usefulness of questions for discussion may attract the interest of Bible Classes, particularly women's classes, or anyone interested in family related Biblical topics. Byron said, “A drop of ink may make a million think”. So whatever some people think, it is enough that they think, for they can enhance their spiritual dimensions thinking about Godly things, and come to some conclusions of their own, rather than believing what others say without question.
Perhaps, too often we portray Godly Biblical characters in such a glowing light, that they, in their perfections, become an unattainable model, and too hard for people to follow. Young people, especially, can feel frustrated at their own efforts, and can easily give up. Maybe looking at these Godly characters and discovering their deficiencies as well, is a positive move.
BIBLE STUDY
The benefit of Bible study is that it shows us how much we do not understand but we do learn that our spiritual flow is increased, the more our desire to know Him is fulfilled and then our potential to be “in Him” is realised. It is not easy to understand how the process works, and we are not required to do so. There are unfathomable mysteries, but the heavenly truths surpass the earthly show, and that helps us to more easily understand. As the sorrows and joys of our youth pass into treasured memories, with the serenity of old age, when the slanting rays of the sun lengthen, we understand better the futility of trying to define our being. The sculpture of the world, or indeed the universe, is beyond us, and it seems it matters not if we don't know everything. We just need to know Him.
If we fold the wings of intellect and allow the wind to drift us into the realm of trust in our Heavenly Father, we shall find great support in that hallowed place to enrich the treasures He has given us, in His name. We will look for His kingdom and welcome His will. He will provide our needs especially our spiritual bread, and that is enough. We need not focus on our sin, and certainly not on the sins of others, but it is with the grace of God that we will not endure too hard temptation, and be that we will be delivered from evil. If we keep in the shadow of His wings, growing in Him, we will eventually be with Him in His Kingdom. For His is the power and the glory, forever, Amen. And that is indeed enough
THE LESSONS FOR US IN KNOWING GOD - JOB AND PETER
Job answered God, finally, in chapter 42, when he ceased questioning Him, and said, “I know that you can do everything well”. He now sees with the eyes of faith and spiritual understanding, that God and His purposes are supreme. He says to God, “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak’”. He now has listened, and accepts suffering as part of his life, a sort of down payment. He had now “stilled and quieted his soul”, Psalm 131. We need to still and quiet our souls, understand and listen, let go and let God.
Perhaps Peter was an ideal New Testament scribe, preserved, because he fell, and revived, and fell again, like us. He wrote letters of encouragement to the first century believers, for when Rome put such harsh penalties upon those who were convicted of being Christians, they fell, and revived, and fell again, and he understood their frailties. Our own are no better. Peter, with an unshakeable and profound faith, even in the face of falling, can provide us with a philosophy that will transform our lives from a conglomerate of fortuitous changes into a meaningful divinely arranged plan, where we fit in the big picture. “I would have you believe that in everything God works for the good of those who love Him, according to His purpose”, Romans 8:28, said Paul.
Our times are in God’s hands. Because of that, it is possible for us to fulfil in every detail the purpose and plan He is working out for us, and endure the evil days. It is how we deal with the evil day which helps us to shine in the good day. It is useful to keep white stones and black stones, to remind us, like the messages from God, “yes” or “no”, or perhaps “maybe” or “not yet”. No man, or woman, can live a life full of contentment, assured, secure, and satisfied, but the man, or woman, who accepts all of the discontent that life turns up, and turns it into positive life experiences, is truly blessed. That is where Genesis is so comforting, that God loved this family of the patriarchs, as He did Job for all his arguments, as He did Peter, for all his vicissitudes. And He loves us as well.
BIBLICAL DRAMA AND SOME IMAGINATION MAKES IT REALISTIC
Some parts of Scripture need reading with great drama, and much of Genesis falls into this category. There are so many sad bits, and happy bits, and thrilling bits, and wicked bits and evil bits, and joyous bits, which can only be understood in the great dramatic settings which have been provided by Moses. If then we can suspend our cultural setting and enter into their setting, the benefits will be enormous. Sometimes the text of “Kith and Kin” can only survive, if that suspension takes place.
There is relief also in some chapters in the “Kith and Kin” text, such as when we read of
# Terah’s family in Ur
# How Abram heard about God
# Eliezer’s mission for Isaac’s wife
# Eliezer’s comfort of Jacob
# The Family Firm, Jacob and Sons - Shepherds, Sheep and Sheep Products
# The Midianite/Ishmaelite Trading Company
# The ten Cain heads
# The Memphis baker’s shop
# What Potiphar’s house was like
# The gilding of Joseph
# The houses of Egypt
# Jacob before Pharaoh
# Jacob’s burial
# What happened to Joseph while he waited for the bowing down family
These views might seem far fetched, or unnecessary for the story, but when we are filled with anxiety for the actual story being told in Scripture, there is need for some comforting relief. The facts may, or may not have applied, but like all tragedies have the literary tool of comic relief, this tale is not tainted by the extra comments of possibilities. Any worthwhile commentary will stretch our imagination without adding to God’s Holy Writ, and it is not untenable to fill out the stories where detail is missing, for example, that Jacob could have wrapped Rachel in silk, when he so sadly buried her in the earth near Bethlehem, outside the Machpelah family tomb
PRESENT DAY LESSONS
We have spiritually intense moments where we are transported to high and noble plains, where God is present with us, helping us to understand, as much as He was present with the Genesis family. We can feel Him with us if we believe He is. It would be foolish to diminish those moments when our personal faith can well be renewed. They save us from the despondency of what is ignoble in our lives, as their great moments saved them from their ignominy.
The lessons are often under the heading “Comment”. There are many times when we do not understand everything about this story and so questions are placed in great numbers under “Consider”. There is a FOCUS direction and a relevant text to direct discussion, and a CONCLUSION for each chapter. HEADINGS are numbered within the chapters to help the progression of that discussion. There are some Digression passages unrelated to the text, but considered interesting and appropriate to include. May it all help us towards the continuing need to apply these truths of God towards our own development, and to remind ourselves of the truth that God does love us if we stay connected to Him.
There is something for everyone in the book of Genesis. Certainly there are tales of success and great joy, but there are also tales of great sorrow and ill. Everyone will find themselves.
# There are the unloved, the abused, the left behinds, the neglected, and any other disadvantaged that you may conceive.
# There is child abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, substance abuse, and neglect, and any other abuse that you can imagine.
# There is incest and homosexuality and dysfunctional parent/child relationships, owner/slave relationships, inter racial relationships, poisoned gender relationships and any other soured relationships that you can think of.
Find yourself and see what happened. Was it a good result, could you have done better?
There are God/saint relationships, and those give us great joy
I have read with interest the discussions of the minimalists with the maximalists and have felt sorry for those who believe that the patriarchal narratives are folkloric, with everything late and fictional. The minimalists claimed that potential memory for oral tradition is 150 years, and some of the narratives told to this Genesis author are over 500 years old, so “they could not be true”. Now historical and archaeological evidence, recently uncovered, together with the Biblical internal evidence has proved this viewpoint untrue.
Consequently it is pleasing to record in the text, as they arise, some emphatic and stylistic viewpoints on the inspiration of the Pentateuch, and as well, for the early compilation of Moses, rather than a more recent redactor.
The brilliant narratives may not carry very many ancient memories but together with their overriding inspiration, they have a power and authority that is more compelling than ordinary history and so it is a record of an era in sacred time.
REFLECTIONS
I readily admit to feeling passionate about the subject, and that might have seeped into some of the text, and may seem obvious. The connections in the Patriarchal well functioning and dysfunctioning families, with our well function and dysfunction, is so keen that we are brought to the presence of God in the management of our lives, as they were in theirs. I have thrilled with all of the studies, more than I thought possible. I have cried and cried with that involvement, and had my heart in my mouth and a lump in my throat. For the five years that I have been involved, I have felt that a part of my brain never switches off from this saga, whatever view I see, wherever place I am, whatever happens in my family, for this Genesis family has become part of my own family, and, like my own biological family, they are “on my mind” all the time. “I am sure that I know” how they felt, and what they thought, and what they saw and heard. It is as if they were at my elbow, whispering, in my ear. I have heard God’s tune, “not yet, not yet”, until the “yet” has come, and His croon “soon, soon, soon” to the disappointed ones, when I, also, have been disappointed. Certainly I could hear the bleating of the sheep, the anguished cries to God for children, the continual pleadings of the seemingly abandoned women, the severe and painful cries of the neglected and the abused, and the grieved - and I could hear the chariot wheels. Anyone can, if they listen intently. I've never had a writer’s block, and so I fear some will criticise that I have included too much, but it has flowed freely, and for me it has been a truly spiritual experience. I don’t wish that to be disrespectful, nor to diminish the great privilege that has been mine to complete this work. I have learned enormous lessons, and have only thought to share those, not to pontificate about others.
To write so prolifically leaves one vulnerable and exposed. I am conscious that I am opening my private thoughts to scrutiny and to allow people to see what is “under my skin”. I wish, therefore, to say that I am not in any way presenting this as a definitive study, nor am I confident, with all my care, that it is error free, but I offer it as a study that may help us understand our Biblical brethren, and the dysfunction and conflict in their lives, and one that can help us to make wise decisions for ourselves, when we are in that same shadow of discontent.
There have been times when I have begun to think that the work would never be complete, for Ted would find me yet another resource on the subject. There is still so much more to be said, but there must be a conclusion now. This is not a book for skim reading, and with all the detail, there are ideas on how the incidents happened. There are many sources, and influences, and endless puzzles. Sometimes the questions are answered later in the text, but often, there are no easy answers to our questions. With all of that I hope that the readers find the text accessible and helpful in understanding the Patriarchal Fathers and their families.
RESOURCES
All Biblical quotations are from the Authorised Version, 1611, unless otherwise stated in the text. NIV refers to New International Version. Massoretic, Septuagint, Vulgate and Pentateuch texts are noted in the text, (but not in the bibliography); as are ancient documents such as the Apocrypha, Talmud, Book of the Dead, Code of Hammurabi, Nuzi Tablets, Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi Parchments and Mari Letters, and the Koran, except for direct quotes. Scripture references, and quotations, authors, book titles and sources, are all in italics. SOURCES are stated at the end of each book, that is, the bibliography, and permission noted, where applicable which may help with further reading. Some of the information is repeated, where a repeating relevance is necessary. An OVERVIEW of the 5 books in “Kith and Kin” follows this Foreword, and as well, a CONTENTS file of each book for reference, all before BOOK 1.
I would mention that there has been no little help from published Christadelphian works and in them also there lies a strong predilection for me. It would be difficult to enumerate the historical novels, newspapers, magazines articles, research papers, commentaries and concordances. There are records of lectures, exhibitions, museums and art galleries that have given me ideas. Some are contemporary, some are centuries old. I am indebted to fertile minds, with unique gifts, and have mentioned them within the text where possible, rather than with footnotes. Access permission to texts has been acknowledged where necessary, under the guidance of the Australian Copyright Council.
It is remarkable that the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures are now so readily available for our contemplation, in so many different English translations. We can now readily see the actual influence of translators in all the Biblical texts, and will eventually have more truth unveiled to us when the Dead Sea Scrolls’ research is made fully available.
Some commentaries have come to us through retranslation from German, like the books of Thomas Mann on which I have heavily drawn, and feel a debt. Some, like the Scottish theologians, were prevented access to the texts, so it is only comparatively recently that they have been privileged to add their ideas. I have found that the moderns are as helpful as the old commentators, especially as new knowledge develops for their interpretation.
Of interest might be a Multi Generational Transmission Chart and a Time Age Chart of the Patriarchal Family, both recorded at the end of BOOK 5. Also included, with permission, is a CONTEMPORY AGE REFERENCE CHART compiled by Denis Arthur of Brisbane
A course I have attended, with 24 sessions over this past year, on studies in “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement”, has included the writings of over 80 authors, and over 15 speakers on video. They have encouraged me towards the imperatives for missioning, either to be a “goer” or an “active sender”, or an “equipper” and I have not resisted the impulse to write about that. To fulfill the mission mandate is the reason that so many have gone out to the un-reached peoples of the earth, to live with them for decades, to translate their languages at great cost, to tell them about God, and to tell them about the Kingdom of God that will be established on earth. The work being done with our Australian aborigines in our interior, translating Testaments in their own languages, is quite remarkable. The histories of these missionaries are in the Bible bookshops now, for us to read and can only inspire us to follow them. We can read of those women and men who went fearlessly, under God’s hand, and with His blessings, to India, and Nepal. Many perished, but some lived to tell the tales. There are the stories of the 200 who went to China in the late 1800’s, all recent American University graduates, of whom only 100 survived danger and disease after two years. The remedy was to return with another 100 the next year. They helped to establish 20,000 house churches until the purges of Mao. The remnant people of those house churches, who survived the terrible atrocities of that revolution there, are a tribute to that work. Churches learned some hard lessons about missionary work in China and are now trying, once again, with different methods. There are stories of the cannibals of Samoa, and of those missionaries who were eaten alive, and of those who managed to escape. There are stories of the cannibals in New Guinea, and how the missioners persuaded them, with great difficulty, that killing and eating people, was not the same as God sacrificing His only son, and that the bread and wine, were only symbols of the flesh and blood of that son. It was, and still is, therefore, very important to explain that those elements do not change into the actual flesh and blood of Christ, our Lord. There is the story of the Peace Child, where an indigenous mother and father “willingly” gave up their loved child to another, to help to make the point, of God’s sacrifice. For us to be a piece of the puzzle, in the mission mandate which God gave to those who responded, is a great privilege.
The Mission Mandate, or The Great Commission of Matthew 28:19, 20, is the reason for the story of this book of Genesis. It is the reason for God’s very choosing of that patriarchal family and the reason for their record placed in our hands. It is the Will and Power behind the whole message of Creation. The mandate for this is found -
# In Creation,
# In the story of Noah, and
# In all the covenants made between God and men.
The great golden cord is paramount in this story -
# In the promises to Abraham and his family, and
# In the examples that follow in Scripture of Biblical men who evangelised for God outside their own ethnical groups.
We see it in Abraham, and then in Joseph in Egypt, and Daniel in Babylon. It is the message of Jethro and Rahab and Job and many others, who faintly heard, in their Gentile state, (how, we do not know), and responded to God’s call. Even these went on to evangelise, after their response, in God’s name, and it is remarkable, that even some of them, as well as the Jewish ethnic preachers, had Bible books named after them.
The mission mandate incentive is really the message of the whole Bible, and so it will inevitably creep into our story and will provide the protective layer over the faults that lay in these patriarchal families.
All of them, within their human frailties -
# Pledged to serve God,
# To glorify His name,
# So that all the families of the earth would be blessed.
Together with the Great Commandment, they had the Great Commission, no less have we, if we accept His blessings.
DEDICATION
There is here a dedication -
# To my resource producer, Ted, and live in research assistant, and great encourager, who is always able to refine a discussion.
# To my family, who have endured the focus that I have had,
# To the computer experts, who climb the cliff, and are so readily at my side, when I had difficulties with my word processing and printing and production,
# To my proof reader, who has known me all my life, and whose wisdom I appreciate.
# And to my dear friends, fellow labourers, really, who have helped me in discussions over difficulties, and who may see themselves in this book. They will recognise the valuable contributions that they have made,
# Above all, to my Silent Partner, and Friend of Abraham, there is an enduring gratitude for what He has done for us all. My prayer is for all families in the earth to learn the lessons, so that He may come to bless us all. May God continue to be with us in the days ahead, until that time, is the prayer of Beverley Russell, 1999.
Beverley Russell – Sydney, Australia, 2000
