Joseph - Grace Abounding.

I am not sure what kind of stories you like reading or hearing.  I like crime fiction.  The mystery of “who did it?” keeps me reading.  I have just finished a bit of a marathon of reading the novels of an author who wrote his first story in 1935 and wrote his final story in 1975 – 76 novels and novellas in all.  I read them all in chronological sequence – to get a feel for the development of the characters.

I think one of the things that I really liked about this series of stories was the author’s acute insight into human behaviour in extreme circumstances.  He painted very realistic or plausible sketches of what people would do given certain circumstances.

I think this kind of thing is what has made the Joseph stories favourite reading among both Jews and Christians.  In this story we have greed, jealousy and sibling rivalry, sex, politics and palace intrigue.  It is not hard for any one of us to relate to the humanity in this story – even though it is describing events that happened 3500 to 4000 years ago.

We began this story last week as we looked at Joseph being sold off as a slave and taken to Egypt.  To get to today’s story we have skipped over stories of things that happened back in home in Palestine as well as in Egypt. 

Two stories involved scandals – the story of Judah and his daughter-in-law; and the story of Joseph and the wife of his owner Potiphar.  While Joseph preserves his character in the incident with Potiphar’s wife it certainly seems to have been a set-back for him because he is consigned to gaol for a couple of years.

But things happen while he is in gaol and he is eventually recognised as someone who could help the Pharaoh who was troubled by dreams that none of his other advisers could interpret.

Of course we know what happened then.  The Pharaoh was so impressed by both Joseph’s ability to make sense of the dream and the reports from others of his genius at getting things done successfully.  So he was promoted.  He became the Pharaoh’s right-hand man – the effective ruler of all Egypt.

The famine he predicted came along after the seven years of bountiful harvests, and it spread right across the eastern coastlands of the Mediterranean – up into Palestine.  So it wasn’t long before the sons of Jacob came to Egypt to see if they could buy some of the grain that was in abundance in Egypt.

Of course they did not recognise Joseph, even when he started playing little games with them, getting them to bring his little brother with them when they came next time, and then planting his chalice among the goods they were taking back home.

So we arrive at the story we had read to us today.  I must admit I always get caught up in the emotion of it when I hear it – 

·        Joseph’s emotion at finally revealing himself to his brothers; and

·        His brothers’ emotions at realising who they have been dealing with all this time.

I wonder if Joseph ever contemplated getting them back for what they did to him.  He might have been tempted, but it seems that the over-riding goal he had was to see his father again, and after revealing himself to them he makes plans for the whole family to have a safe and accessible place to live near him in Egypt.

It seems to me that there are two amazing ideas embedded in this story that reveal something wonderful for us all to live by.

The first relates to the bad stuff that happens in life.  I don’t know about you, but over the years I have come across a few people – not many really – who have had really terrible things happen to them and their reaction to those circumstances, as far as their faith was concerned was that they rejected faith and God.  If God countenanced those terrible things happening to them, they figured what was the point of God?

This could have happened to Joseph after what happened to him.  He might have even regarded his eventual elevation as the result of his own genius or his just desserts after putting up with all the crap that went before it.

But the Joseph story leads us to a different conclusion. We discover that in spite of the most awful tragedies in which God seems to be utterly absent, God’s grace and care can travel with us through those circumstances in ways in which we ultimately find something good has been made out of it.

The Joseph story is a bit like a parable of what the grace of God can do in human life – the grace that can transform a curse into a blessing.

But the Joseph story is also a parable of God, of what God is like.  Joseph’s actions towards his family after the things they had done to him are a faint echo of the One who has every reason to reject a wayward human family, but who instead loves them even to the point of personally participating in their suffering.

Now that has to be good news.

The Price of Conflict

Today we begin a series of stories centred on the 11^th son of Jacob, Joseph.

Those of us who grew up in church and had Sunday school stories will have fond memories of this story.  Joseph was often portrayed as a young boy – lending itself to being told to children.  Well, he was young – just 17 years old – but he was a young man, not a child.

In the text between the story we had last week, and this one there are three basic stories followed by brief accounts of the death of Jacob and Rachel and then some genealogies.

The story of Jacob’s reunion with Esau in Genesis 33 is a lovely story of reconciliation.  If you haven’t read it, please do when you get home. 

Then there is a scandalous story about the rape of one of Jacob’s daughters and the blood-thirsty revenge that his son’s Simeon and Levi imposed on the family and tribe of the perpetrator.  There is a terrible consequence for Simeon and Levi for this violence.  When their father’s last words are recorded Genesis 49 he has no good words to say to them.  Their violence was scandalous and had long-term consequences.

The third story explains how it was that Jacob came to take his family back to Bethel – the place where he had met God on his way up to Haran and where he had built an altar making it a holy place.

The Genealogy in chapter 36 gives us an explanation of the origins of many of the different tribes who live in the lands around the Israelites.  And this leads into our story today.

When Jacob returned to the land of the Canaanites he had 11 sons.  And only one of these, the youngest, was born to him by Rachel, his most beloved wife.  This sets the scene for what is to follow – which is a story that recalls a previous theme: Favourites.

We reflected on the problem of the favouritism of Isaac over Ishmael some weeks ago, and then the favouritism of Jacob over Esau.  Both these stories showed us the problems that can be created when one child is preferred over the other.

So, again today, we have one child who is preferred over the others – and all of them with precedence in the natural order of things.  And the outcome is not pretty.

It is aided and abetted by a rather obnoxious child – who seems intent on proving to everyone else in the family that he was headed for something better.

It seems to us quite understandable that the older siblings would be seething with anger and jealousy as a result of Joseph’s behaviour.

But doesn’t this emotion lead them to do, or consider doing some terrible things – murder for their brother and lies & deception of their father.  These are the rottenest things a person can do.

We see a glimpse of character in the person of Reuben, the eldest son, when he seeks to deflect his brothers from the intention to murder Joseph.

In the end they sell Joseph off to some travellers and they think that is the end of the story of Joseph as far as they are concerned.  But that was not to be – as we will see.

But what has this got for us as God’s people today – far away in time and place from that ancient place in Palestine? 

Let me describe what it puts me in mind of.

It makes me think of quite a number of circumstances I am aware of as happening in churches where factions of support or opposition for one person or another in leadership in the church have cause good people to do things that are completely out of character for them as followers of the Way of Jesus.

Rivalry or preference of one over others in the community so often leads to bad things happening and in my experience of it no-one wins.  The one who is being preferred or opposed doesn’t win, and the community doesn’t win.

The rivalry of leaders leads to polarisation in the community and everyone is destroyed by it.  It leads people who are good people to do things they wouldn’t normally do.  They tell tales, they bully people, they collude with others to hurt another.

I have listened to a few stories about the life of Holy Cross over its 40 or more years and I suspect you have been through times like this.  I also suspect that every parish falls into this trap at some time or another.

I would like this story today to be a warning to us all – a story never to forget – about the dangers of letting such conflict arise among us.  One of the most important parts of the Gospel as both Jesus and Paul taught the early Christians was that no matter what we might have used to differentiate ourselves from others in the past – our birth place, our gender, our theological preferences, our religious piety – as men and women called into the community of the Beloved Son, these differences are meaningless now.  Remember these words of Paul to the Galatians:

²⁶ It is through faith that all of you are God's children in union with Christ Jesus.  ²⁷ You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself.  ²⁸ So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.  ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God has promised.

We must always be on our guard to preserve this unity into which we have been called.  You might think that we are doing alright just now.  There is no hint of conflict or rivalry.  That makes this a good time to remind us all of how important it is for us to avoid it at all costs.

The Blessing and the Name

When I first discussed the Baptism Service with the family, I said I was not sure if the Old Testament Reading for the day would be suitable for my sermon, even though I had challenged myself to preach on these readings for the rest of the year.

But when I looked at the story this week, I thought there might be some possibilities in it.  Let’s see how we go.

Let me fill you in on a bit of the story – especially the part between what we looked at last week and what we heard here today.

After Jacob had worked off his 14 years of indenture to his Uncle in return to his two daughters as wives, Jacob thought it was probably time to go home.

There has been a common theme of cheating in these stories.  Jacob cheated his father and brother.  Jacob’s uncle Laban cheated Jacob into working for 14 years instead of 7.  But now it was time for Jacob to return to his family.

His Uncle offers him a deal, saying he should have some pay because Laban had prospered while Jacob was there.   Jacob suggests that he simply be allowed to take the blemished sheep and goats.  Laban agrees, but then secretly removes them all and sends them three day’s journey away.  But somehow more and more blemished sheep and goats are bred.  Eventually Jacob leaves with so many sheep and goats that Laban’s sons felt like they were losing all their inheritance.

In this context, as Jacob starts heading home, he begins to realise that he will soon meet his brother Esau.  He wondered if Esau would be willing to forgive him after all this time.  He was rather afraid that Esau would still remember and want revenge.

So he sent advance parties taking peace offerings to his brother.  He sent so many that eventually all that was left was his immediate family and a few belongings.  This is when the story we just read happened. 

Finally he sends his family across the river but he stays behind and during the night a man comes and fights with him.  They fought and fought all night until at dawn the man said he had better go.  But Jacob would not let him go unless the man gave him a blessing.

So the man asks Jacob his name and then offers him the new name – Israel – which means he “struggled with God”.  In this way the man is identified as God or at least God’s close representative.  Then the mad gave Jacob a blessing and left.

Now we could make all sorts of things out of this story, but the context we have today, of the baptism of Isaac gave a couple of good thoughts that will do.

When Jacob encountered this man he didn’t really know who he was but eventually he realised that he was somehow very close to God, and that in meeting him he should receive a blessing.

A little man come into their lives of this family.  In this little life they have been reminded of the miracle of birth and the wonder of each new generation.  The instinctive response they had as parents was that they wanted to seek God’s blessing because this little man had come.  So they came to us and asked about doing what we are doing here today and it is wonderful that we can join with them in this celebration.  We certainly pray that Isaac will continue to be a blessing to them.

Before the man gave his blessing to Jacob, he gave him a new name – the name that is better remembered in many ways – Israel.

Even today, but more so years ago, when a baby was brought for baptism the parents would give him a new “Christian Name” when the minister asked them to “name this child.”  That is how Baptism came to be known as Christening.  That seems to be a nice link for us today with that old old story and Jacob wrestling with God.

We pray for his blessing and we pray that he will carry his name with pride as a member of the great family of God, just as we are.

The Double-crosser is Double Crossed

Nobody hates being tricked more than someone who usually does the tricking.  I once had a friend who I thought was a bit of a shyster in his business life, and one time he told me about the time he thought he would try out running a small suburban Deli.  He got it cheap and thought it would be easy money.  Not long after he took over the business he discovered some the traps Deli owners have to deal with every day – like the bread delivery being short on what was ordered and what was charged – especially if you weren’t there when the delivery was made at 5.30am.  Similarly, the dairy delivery was often short and if you weren’t there to check it as it was delivered, there was no recourse, because anyone could have taken it.

I remember smiling to myself at the level of his indignation over this, knowing that he had done similar kinds of skimming for his own benefits in business many times.

At the heart of our story of the Great Family today is a double cross – meted out on the double-crosser.

Jacob had twice cheated his brother Esau, and here in this story his Uncle cheats on him.  I wonder if he knew the story of Jacob and wanted to teach him a lesson – I guess we will never know.  As a result Jacob stayed a long time in Haran, maybe also out of his fear that Esau would harm him if he went home.  But I wonder if there was something more to Jacob’s willingness to work that enormous period of time for his uncle.

We read four very short parables from Matthew’s Gospel today, parables illustrating what the kingdom of Heaven is like.  In one he says:  ⁴⁵ "The Kingdom of heaven is like this.  A man is looking for fine pearls, ⁴⁶ and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.” 

As I look at the way Jacob stuck at the task of getting himself the wife he wanted, working for no pay for 14 years, I think you could say there was something of the Kingdom of Heaven in him.  He had found something of great value and he gave everything he had to get it.  The way I read this story the quality of the Kingdom is not the pearl.  It is the willingness of someone to give up everything to get the prize.  This is a quality Jesus is calling up in us all – to be willing to sacrifice everything we have in order to have the prize – which is true and abundant life in Jesus.

The other thing that comes out of this story for me is the overflowing grace of God in the face of people doing the wrong things – over and over and over.

Despite the acts of treachery that are at the heart of these stories, God is able to make good out of them.  It is not in the nature of God to achieve his means through foul methods – that is the earthly and failed way of us sons of Adam and daughters of Eve (as CS Lewis calls us).

We see this kind of grace from God again and again in the record we have of what we call Sacred History.  God tries to reveal his plan to people.  Sometimes they are good at getting it.  Other times the go their own way.  God then by God’s grace he can still work out his plan despite that.

Now I want to finish on a little note that really is drawn from what follows in the story – that we did not read here today.  I want to draw your attention to God’s compassion in the story of Jacob and his two wives.

The business of favourites comes up again in this story.  ³¹ “When the LORD saw that Leah was loved less than Rachel, he made it possible for Leah to have children, but Rachel remained childless.”

It does not say “Because Jacob loved his wife Leah less than he should have, he prevent Jacob’s favourite wife from having children.”  This is not about punishing bad choices.  It is about graciously and compassionately looking after those who are being treated badly.

These are good things for us to be reminded of:

1.     We need to be willing to give up all we have to possess the fullness of live Jesus is offering us.

2.     God’s grace can still achieve his purposes despite the wilfulness of people, or even just the thick-headedness of people (they don’t get what God is trying to get us to get)

3.     God’s compassion is always offered to those who are being hurt by others.

Stairway to Heaven

A while ago I took the opportunity to tell the Sunday School children a story.  I told them the story of the Great Family, and this is the story we are exploring over the remainder of the year.  The Great Family is the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

It is a wonderful story and there is so much to learn from it. 

Last week we had a peak at the birth and early life of Jacob and Esau.  We could tell that they were headed for trouble.  I wonder how many of you have not read the story in between that and the story we had today.  I had better assume a few of you and fill you in before I get into it.

So last week we finished with the story of Jacob breaking the traditional rules of hospitality by making his brother Esau pay for a meal when he was famished.  In this way Jacob secured what rights the first-born might have had in the family.

After this Isaac takes his family to a town called Gerar in the land of the Philistines.  There, they were blessed with abundant crops and his herds of sheep and cattle grew enormously.  Interestingly, he repeated the same mistake as his father Abraham.  You might remember a story of Abraham telling the King Abimalech that Sarah was not his wife but his sister, thinking it would be safer for himself as well as Sarah.  Well Isaac did the same to the same King, telling him that Rebekah was his sister not his wife.

Eventually the King wants to get rid of Isaac.  His family had become too powerful.  But they parted friends and Isaac went back and settled in Beersheeba.

The next part of the story – where Jacob gets that special blessing from his old and blind father, further cheating Esau, is preceded and followed by a little bit of the Esau story.  Firstly it says that Esau married two Hittite women and life very unpleasant for his parents.  Then, just  before our story for today began we are told that Esau thought he ought to get some better wives so he went back to Ishamel’s family and found a cousin to marry.

The story of Jacob getting his father’s final blessing sets the scene for our story today because Esau gets so mad when he realises he has been cheated again that he declared he would kill Jacob.

So Rebekah and Isaac agreed that it would be best for Jacob to take a little trip away – back to the home country and the town of Haran where Rebekah’s brother Laban lived.  Laban had daughters.  It was time for Jacob to have a wife.

Our story today happens on the way.

Jacob is sleeping and he has a dream or a vision – a stairway to heaven with angels and everything.  God, the Lord, was even there, and God restated the promise that he had made so emphatically to both Abraham and to Isaac. 

“I will give you this land and innumerable descendants.”

Two things struck me from this story.  Firstly, this is clearly a turning point for Jacob.  In his story up to this time there has been little reference to God.  Maybe that is not so strange in families – the grandfather being faithful, the father knowing about the faith a bit, but the son not knowing and not caring.

But here, Jacob encounters God in such a powerful way that his life would never be the same.  From being an agnostic he is now a believer.  "The Lord is here!  He is in this place, and I didn't know it! It must be the gate that opens into heaven." 

And so he dedicates that place as a holy place – Bethel – the House of God – and it was Israel’s most holy place right through until David secured Jerusalem as first the political and then religious capital of Israel.

So for me this story is a reminder of that moment when I encountered God so amazingly that my life has never been the same since.  It is good to remember these things.  We don’t experience God like that all the time, but the memory of it keeps us from throwing it all away as if it meant nothing.  I hope it reminds you of that part of your own story, too.

The second thing that strikes me in this story is that Jacob sets out on his journey as a frightened solitary person.  He was all alone on this journey.

Then the promise of God comes along, reminding him that that he is still destined to become the father of many people, a great nation.  From being isolated from his family he is thrust right into the middle of an inescapable community.  It is in and through that community that the greatest work of God was going to be accomplished.

"I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying.  ¹⁴ They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth.  They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations. 

It is through this great family that all the nations of the world will be blessed.  God is declaring right there at the outset that an integral part of the plan he has for this great family is that everyone on earth should know God’s blessings, not just the great family.

And God’s declaration finishes with these wonderful words of assurance:  ^“Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.  I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you."

So we can join with our Nuba brothers and sisters in saying:

God is good – all the time

All the time – God is good

Alleluia!!

From Little Things Big Things Grow

One of my favourite song-writers, Paul Kelly, teamed up with aboriginal singer and song-writer Kevin Carmody a few years ago to write a very powerful song about Aboriginal Land rights.  It was called “From little things, big things grow.”

This could be a theme song for the life of Abraham. 

The beginning of Genesis chapter 25, which you may all be thankful we did not read out loud, gives some of the substance to this.  The genealogy is expanded in Chapter 36 and its purpose seems to be to provide an explanation of the origins of the nations living around Israel.  But it is also concerned with showing just how small the beginning was.

Now you all thought Abraham had just two sons, didn’t you?  Ishmael and Isaac are the ones we all remember, but we are reminded in this chapter that after Sarah died Abraham got himself another wife and fathered six more boys – who knows how many girls along the way.  And while Isaac had just two boys, Jacob & Esau, Ishmael fathered a dozen sons, as did Jacob, and Esau had six sons.

Not a bad start towards progeny outnumbering the stars in the sky.

The selected readings for today could be gathered together under the theme “How wonderful and mysterious are the ways of God”.

One of the things we heard about last week was that Abraham thought it was important to have a wife for Isaac from among his relatives.  This was not to be the pathway to marital harmony – and this idea is reiterated in the story of Jacob going to Laban to find himself a wife.  This is something that the descendants of Abraham struggled with over and over – even Esau recognises it and looks for a wife from among his relatives.  But it still creates trouble.

But let’s focus on this story.  What is there here for us to notice today?

THE CRISIS OF BARRENNESS

It is interesting that Rebekah is afflicted with the same problem as Sarah – she was unable to conceive.  We might think of this as a biological issue, but the writer is not interested in biology.  He is interested in theology.  “Where is God and what is God doing in this story?”  That is a theological question.

This theological crisis drives Isaac to prayer.  He recognises that he and Rebekah do not have between them the resources necessary or the capacity to generate their own future.  A future would only be possible by God’s continuing action.

The future that is thus opened up for Isaac is possible only because YHWH gives good gifts in answer to prayer.

THE FIRST SHALL BE LAST AND THE LAST FIRST

What did all you instincts for good family life feel when you read about Isaac preferring Esau and Rebekah preferring Jacob?  It is not going to end well, is it?

While many people think this story is laying down the foundation for the concept of Israel as the “elect” people of God, I can’t help thinking that even in that concept is a hint of the wonderful Gospel idea that Jesus got into trouble for – the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

But there is a really interesting twist in this – and I’m still not sure of what to make of it.  Jacob takes precedence over his older twin brother by treachery, and his mother colludes with him in this treachery a bit later on in chapter 27.

When I think of the idea of the first shall be last and the last shall be first, I get the sense that the proud will be brought down and the humble raised up.  Yet as we look over the story of Esau and Jacob in its entirety Jacob seems to be the proud and ambitious one and Esau seems to be the humble one – just look at how gracious Esau is in Chapter 32 and 33.

However we might like to explain all this, there remains the sense that God works things out in most unexpected ways – and probably despite the failings of those who end up being the agents of God’s blessings for all.  When you look at the whole of Jacob’s story it is a wonder, sometimes, why on earth God chose him.  But then, so many of the heroes of the faith had feet of clay.

Maybe this is enough for us to take from the story today. 

A long time ago, I was grappling with a choice that I thought could take me “out of God’s will for me life.”  This had been drummed into me as something of great peril for me, if I chose wrongly.  I was committed to going to seminary in about a year but then heard about two missionary-teacher positions that Eira and I could have filled.  But I was afraid that taking the teaching position might deflect me from going to seminary after all.

My dad showed some remarkable wisdom then that I have relied on now for many years.  He said that rather than facing such a black and white choice, we were often faced with a choice between two good things.  He then said :  “God will bless you whichever you choose – even if you later think you chose wrong.”

Time and again we read stories of our heroes in the faith who go about achieving what they believe God has called them to in less than the best ways.  Yet God’s grace is sufficient to enable them to bring blessings despite their failings.

Now this is encouraging to me.  I hope it is to you.  We mostly recognise, at least privately, that we are often abysmal failures at being what God wants us to be.  Yet again and again, God chooses to “overlook” those failures and bless what we do in his name and for the sake of his glory – not ours.

A Road Less Travelled

Many years ago M Scott Peck wrote a best-seller book called “A Road Less Travelled.”  I want us to embark on such a journey for the next little while.

Usually on Sundays I preach a sermon based on the Gospel reading.  I might refer in passing to the First reading, or the Second or the Psalm.  Most often my thoughts for you are focussed on the Gospel.

A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of a “Preachers’ Day Out” organised by Elizabeth Smith.  The Dean of Studies at Wollaston led us through the First Readings for the remainder of the year.  All these readings are from the Pentateuch or what the Jews now call their Torah.  These are the first 5 books.

Inspired by all this I wondered how I would go using these stories for inspiration for my preaching.  This is certainly a road less travelled by me.  But we will be exploring some wonderful stories.

These are the foundation stories of The Great Family.  Abraham was called into relationship with God through a covenant.  It is through this Covenant that the God-Human journey began.  That journey reached a climax in the coming of Jesus – the Son of Man / Son of God.  And ever since God has been seeking us out to be in relationship with him.

In order to help make some sense of this I encourage you all to read the stories yourself.  I have copied a page for you with the set readings from now till Advent.  But don’t just read them.  Start at the beginning of the Abram story – Genesis 12. 

We will be reminded of the Isaac story with Hagar and Ishmael at the heart of it.

We will spend a few weeks on the Jacob story.

We will spend a couple of weeks on the Joseph story.

Then we will travel with Moses and the people of Israel into the wilderness for many weeks until Israel crosses over the Jordan.

As you read these stories take note of the names of people – especially in those boring little ancestry lists.  I am sure you will come across some unexpected names. 

Notice the names of places – for example BeerSheeba.  It crops up repeatedly.  Consider the meaning given for the name.  That should be in a footnote of your Bible – otherwise check it on the internet.  Think about who goes there.  What happens there? 

When we gather for Morning Prayer in Thursdays, I will offer the text for the following Sunday for discussion there.  So if you are available why not come and see what we can learn together.

What I want to do for you in the rest of my time this morning is give you some idea of how to read these stories.  I want you to be able to get the most out of them.

To begin with I want to say that I am discovering in later life that seminary was really a bit like going to pre-marriage counselling.  It was a necessary part of my preparation for ministry, but I am not sure I remembered much of what I was told.  I think I might even have thought some things were entirely irrelevant to modern ministry.

You might be surprised to know that the OT was not written down until about 500BC.  Now it is generally agreed that the Abraham story began about 2000BC

And the King David story about 1000BC.  So the stories we are considering had floated around as oral tradition for a very long time before someone wrote them down.

They were written down after one of the most significant times in the life of Israel – the Exile in Babylon.  There they learned something about God that was a bit like what Buzz Aldren said on the moon: “One small step for man.  A giant leap for mankind”.  From then on the people of Israel had a different idea of God.

Prior to this experience, the people of Israel shared the world view of their neighbours.  Most people believed that each nation’s God was only effective within the nation’s borders.  This meant that when a country was overtaken in war, the best way to disempower the people was to take them away from their God.  All you had to do to do this was take them back to the winner’s country.

While the people of Israel were in Babylon they got a consistent message from God through the prophets.  They were told to settle down and live in the land.  If they did that God would bless them and the nation in which they were being held prisoners.

So, when Daniel came along with his three young friends, the Babylonian King promoted them to positions of power and influence.  When their enemies tried to cut them down to size, the King discovered something amazing about the God of Israel.  Daniel was saved from the lion’s teeth.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were saved from the fiery furnace.  If the God of Israel could do this so far away from Israel, then that God must be the greatest of all Gods.

It is after this mind-boggling event that the people of Israel return to rebuild Jerusalem and take up residence in Canaan again.  Even then during this time they were under the control of foreign powers in their own land.  The Greeks and the Romans in particular.

I think what we will find two things again and again in the stories we read over the next few weeks.  Firstly we will see a gradual reorienting of the people to the idea that God’s blessings are for all the nations, not just Israel.  We will also discover how central hospitality to the stranger is in all these stories.  I trust we will all have something to look forward to.