BibleProject - Genesis 12-50: Q + R

Episode Date: April 2, 2017

This summer we are re-releasing audio of a Youtube Q+R series we did on Old Testament books. This week we are in the book of Genesis. We cover a lot of questions in this episode like why would God ask for a child sacrifice from Abraham and Isaac, when he forbids child sacrifice? Thank you to all of our supporters! You are so meaningful to us! Q's and Timestamps: Genesis 12-end How do you approach the theme that God’s approach to solving the mess, is a mess itself? Why does God keep working with screwed up people? (0:56) Who is “the Angel of the Lord” in Genesis? (9:07) Why would God request child sacrifice of Abraham/Isaac? (14:37) Why is Isaac limited in what he can bless Esau with after he blessed Jacob earlier? (21:27) Who is the author of Genesis? (27:38) Is Joseph in Genesis a type of Christ? (32:06) What is the deal with Melchizedek? (38:32) Links: Original video conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r-lOaDXrFE Genesis videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOUV7mWDI34&t=156s & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQI72THyO5I Additional Resources: Tim's lecture on the origins of the Bible. www.timmackie.com Music Credits: Defender Instrumental by Rosasharn Music

Hey, this is Cooper at Bible Project. I produce the podcast in Classroom. We've been exploring a theme called the City, and it's a pretty big theme. So we decided to do two separate Q and R episodes about it. We're currently taking questions for the second Q and R and we'd love to hear from you. Just record your question by July 21st

and send it to us at infoatbiboproject.com. Let us know your name and where you're from, try to keep your question to about 20 seconds and please transcribe your question when you email it in, try to keep your question to about 20 seconds, and please transcribe your question when you email it in. That's a huge help to our team. We're excited to hear from you. Here's the episode.

Hey, this is John at The Bible Project. If you've been following along the podcast, you've noticed that this summer we've been re-releasing audio from our YouTube Q&R series. These were originally live videos of Tim and I interacting with you and answering questions on different books of the Old Testament and different themes. Last week we released Genesis 1 through 11 and this week we're going to release our live discussion on Genesis 12 through 50. We cover a lot of ground in these Q and R's,

including why God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. That seems strange, especially because God says he opposes child sacrifice. We talk about who the author of Genesis was, and what's the deal with this strange character, Melchizedek? There's that and more in this episode. Here we go. Hey, welcome to the Bible Project. Live streaming number two.

This is the second one. We're gonna be talking about the book of Genesis. We made two videos on Genesis, the part two is about Abraham's family onward. So we are going to field questions about that video and the second half of the book of Genesis. But before we do that, I was thinking all week about the first live stream and some of the questions and discussions that we had. And I decided I wanted to start this week. Can we might do it every week with a preface a disclaimer

John wants to call it a disclaimer Call it a preface. Yeah, so Here's the thing this the spirit of the Bible project is we want to make Amazing video resources that help people change their paradigm about what the Bible is and what it's for namely that it's a unified story that leads to Jesus and has wisdom to offer the whole world. So that's the Bible project, but as we do these live, you know, Q and A times, you're guys are going to ask really good questions that are going to raise issues of interpretation that might be controversial or debated. And so when we respond to those questions,

it's good for you guys to know, in a way, we're not responding as the Bible project. We're, I mean, we are, because we make the Bible project, but we're responding as John and Tim. And the goal for us, we never wanna make a video about a topic that has 10 billion views and is going to be divisive. We want to make resources that any follower of Jesus and anybody who's

not religious can learn from and keep the main thing the main thing. So for example, last week we were in Genesis 1 through 11 and a lot of people are asking about creation. Is it literal or not? Yeah. The questions where we're never going to make a video on whether it was a seven-day creation or not, because that's divisive and it's not a part of the universe. No matter what view you hold, you can still see Genesis as a unified story that leads to Jesus. And so we've got viewers and supporters who are Catholic and all streams of Protestantism and people who aren't religious or people who are Jewish.

And so we're trying to shoot down the center. We're not trying to be controversial. But when we get asked a question, we're happy to give our view on something. So these live Q&A's, we're gonna have to go into areas that we wouldn't go to in normal videos. In a video. Yeah, that's right. That's the disclaimer. into areas that we wouldn't go to in normal videos.

In a video. Cool. That's the disclaimer. So let's go to the first question. Let's do. Trevor Hoffman asks a really interesting question that I liked because it really raises a question about the whole Bible. He put it this way, Trevor Hoffman, I think you can see his question. How do you guys approach the consistent

theme that God's remedy to the mess ultimately winds up being a mess itself? So like the action of Simeon and Levi and chapter 34 of Genesis or Rubin and chapter 35 and ultimately the repeated failure of Israel's history all throughout the Old Testament. So it's a great question, and I think it's a question that should strike any reader of the biblical narratives, but especially the Old Testament. Because so, just as 12 to 50 years in overview, because that's what we're talking about. Yes, yes. It begins with Abraham being called out amongst all these tribes. That's right.

And saying, I'm going to do something special with you for everyone. And then there's four generations, 12 through 50, of his son Isaac and then his son Jacob and then Jacob's 12 sons. And there's all these messy stories. And so why is God using like, if his plan is to rescue the world through this family, why use the screwed up thing? It seems to be snowballing out of control. Yeah, yeah, that's right.

So yeah, I think one way to frame it is go all the way back to pages one and two. The nature of the biblical story is that God, we live in a world created by a being who wants to partner and share with humans who are his image, this being for God's image. And so the whole story is set up as the future and the purpose of the world is for a shared responsibility. And so that sets the tone for the whole shape of the biblical story.

Whatever God wants to do in the world, the nature of the world is such that God is doing it in partnership with his creatures, specifically humans. So, and he's given humans enormous amounts of freedom and responsibility within certain constraints. And so that's essentially, that's the playing field for all of the screwed up cast of characters that he puts up with throughout the story of his life. Because why else could he do other than just stop working for him? Yeah, because it's a similar, you know, you can use the analogy and it's often done, you know, about any relationship with a good friend. Of course, you can bold those all your friends and just like you can make them hang out with

you and always do what you want to do. But to have a genuine relationship, there's give and take. And so there's room for error, there's room for mistakes, there's room. And so God chooses Abraham and his family, certainly not because they're like great moral examples. Most of the stories in Genesis are about them screwing up and putting God's plan into jeopardy. And so this is in God's freedom. He's chosen to commit himself to flawed creatures like ourselves. And he's chosen one family in the history of humanity

through which to bring about his own God's own entry into humanity, at the end of the story God ends up being in and through Jesus, the only human that can pull it off. The faithful human that he made us all to be, but that we fail to be. So that's the reason the story is so long and complicated is because God has given great dignity to the freedom and responsibility of humans and in the story of the Old Testament of Israel. So is the privilege? Yes, yeah.

Yeah, the question of, so how do I approach that theme? I approach it as good news to me, because what it means is that God's committed to us, I'm pure humanity, and that God's committed to me, despite my flaws and failures. And that's how this story, that's one way that the story of the patriarchs in Genesis and their flaws, I think, leads up to Jesus as the one human who does what we can't do.

Because in our video, we do not, we spend a lot of time showing the flaws. Yeah, mostly. Mostly. That's right. And we're showing how God's promise by them, we actually use like this coin that kind of are the base that drops and the coin is God's promise. And so we're gonna drop a ball. And the reason why we highlighted that in the theme, some people thought we were too hard on the characters and gents.

Yeah, because we want to look up to these guys. These are the heroes of our faith in some ways. Yeah, that's right. And I think there's an assumption. Oh, the Bible is a divine handbook on how to be a good person. And what these stories are about is models of good behavior. And there are a handful of times that their models for good behavior.

But the vast majority of the stories are showing the characters as a mixed bag at best and deeply flawed as the norm. So why is that? The author's trying to communicate something to us through that and it's not something that many modern readers even think to look for. So that's why we brought that theme out in the video. Cool, Caleb Riggs B.

I'll read this one. Who is the angel of the Lord as referred to a few times in Genesis? Is it an angel or is it an expression of deity? Is it the person of Jesus being expressed in the Old Testament as some claim? Yes, Caleb. All three of your guesses, angel, expression of deity or Jesus appearing are basically the three most common responses that people and thinkers have had throughout church history in Jewish and the Christian traditions. So this gets us into the depiction of God in the Old Testament narratives and it starts

on page one again, you know, in the beginning God created everything. And then it gets more into the story, well, how is that working out? And in the depiction of Genesis 1, it's not God, but God's spirit, who's the personal life presence of God and at work in the world bringing beauty and order out of chaos and goodness. So right there on page one, you start saying, wait, who created? Was it God? Or was it God's spirit?

There's something of a complexity to how these narratives present the identity of God in the stories. And so that continues, where you have a figure called the angel of the Lord. And part of this is the English word angel is loaded for us in English now in ways that it's not quite in the Bible. So the word angel in Hebrew is the word Malak. The book of Malakai, his name is a derivative of that word Malak, and it literally just means messenger. And humans

are called malach. Malachai, the prophet is called malach. But then there can also be spiritual or divine messengers on behalf of God that are also called malachai. So when I think of an angel, I think of the bright white, the wings, they're like, wings, don't't there is no Winged human in the Bible ever called an angel That is it's a it's a modern creation. There are animal-like creatures with wings like the seraphim They're called they're not called angels messengers. They're called Cherubim or seraphim. They're not called angels and The figures that are called angels in the Bible never have wings I don't know get that out of your head dude, and it's so pervasive Every children's book that I can find for my kids. These are like really like intense like warrior angels with wings

Yeah, it's like chubby little figurines that's right and none of the angels with no winged humans in the Bible There's one in a strange vision that Zachariah has of some women with wings, but they're not called angels. Anyway, I'll let's say that's a little known trivia fact, but an important one. So we were talking about angels, yes. So you do have, so essentially, what you have in the Genesis stories is this figure called the messenger of the Lord.

And sometimes it's depicted as a being who's distinct from God and talks about God in the third person, but then other times the angel of the Lord, all of a sudden becomes or speaks as if he is the God of Israel. And so I think these narratives, they fit into this bigger portrait of the biblical authors had an awareness that there's some level of, I just use the word complexity to God's identity, and that the way God interacts has, there's a complexity, is about the word, the only word that I want to use, because it's the seedbed of what would become the idea of the incarnation and the Trinity later on. And the New Testament authors will look back to these narratives and use the language of

spirit, or use the language of the Son of God to flesh out who Jesus is and who Jesus is and how that redefines the notion of God. So it's a much bigger question. So for the angel of the Lord, I'm just satisfied saying, for the biblical author, it's a being who is the Lord God of Israel, but at the same time is distinct from the Lord God of Israel. And the narrative just don't fall apart. Jesus is the Lord God of Israel. Yeah, in the language of the Gospel of John, the Word was God and the Word was with God. So that would lead you to say maybe it is Jesus in some way.

Potentially. Yeah, there's a very long-standing Christian tradition of reading the angel of the Lord as a pre-incarnation appearance of Jesus. So that's possibility. Yeah, I think it's a possibility that biblical authors have that in their minds? I don't think the Old Testament authors did. Well, because they had no idea about Jesus. You know, there is an interesting passage in the Gospel of John chapter 12 where John refers to Isaiah's vision of the Lord in the temple.

And he describes it as that he's seen that Isaiah was seeing Jesus in Throne. But there's a lot more to that. There you go. Cool. Thanks, Caleb. Good question. Final question is that we have pre-selected

that you guys emailed us. And Genesis 22, this is from Danny. Hey, Danny. What's up, Danny? And Genesis 22, God requested Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. I'm confused about why God would request human sacrifice, an action that God himself hates and condemns elsewhere in the Bible.

It just seems uncharacteristic. Weren't Israelites condemned for the worship of Mollak in sacrificing children? Great question. Yeah, super good question. Yes. So the simple part of answering that question is yes. The God of Israel, unequally in the Old Testament, is opposed to child sacrifice, which was widely

practiced in the Canaanite cultures around Israel, and that Israelites, who didn't care about the covenant with God of Israel, sacrifice children. Their narratives of Israelite is doing it, not approved by the God of Israel. So then that leads to the question is, well, what's going on in this story in Genesis 22 about Abraham? So, and this is one of those narratives

where you can approach a good explanation of what's happening, but at the end of the day, the story is supposed to bother you, but not for the reasons that you might think. So it's really significant that the first line of the story is a little embedded quote that gives you, what are you good at, Tim's computer? Oh yeah, you guys can see my screen here.

gives you, or do you go to Tim's computer? Oh yeah, you guys can see my screen here. The first line of the story has really important effect on the reader. It's one of the most artfully, literally crafted, beautiful stories in the Old Testament. And the first line of the story is, sometime later, God tested Abraham. Now, that right there, you need to stop

and just think about, how does that affect how you read the story? What it tells you is that God's gonna ask something of Abraham that's going to test him and don't think like, finally exams, you know, whatever, like doing your multiple choice. Yeah, so biblical testing, this is a theme. When God chooses people as leaders

or to a high degree of responsibility, He singles them out. It's very common that in their story, God will test them. Who else does He do that to? He does it to Israel in the wilderness and actually multiple times. He tests Israel when he gives the manna in the wilderness but he says only gather enough for each day. He tests Israel when he shows up on the mountain to see if they are truly committed to him.

So you have these themes of God testing people that he's called and given responsibility to. And the point of the test is not that God wants them to fail. The point of the test is to show how they can rise the occasion, but they'll learn and be matured in the process. So the first line of the story tells you, the command to sacrifice Isaac isn't at all God's intention or desire, but the question that Danny is asking is it seems uncharacteristic. So there you have to get to... Why ask someone to do something that you know is wrong?

Even if you're testing them. That's right. And so here, I mean, I'll give my response. I don't know if we can answer this question, but I think we can give a response. So what does Isaac represent in the narrative plotline? So God has chosen a family out from among the nations, and through this family, he's going to restore his blessing, his divine blessing to all the nations of the earth.

And then he calls Abraham and then Abraham has one kid. Right, so this is the one. This is the one. So God's own promise. Hinges on this guy. Hinges on this. Yeah. But at the same time, think about a very ancient traditional culture.

People's worth. At the same time, think about a very ancient traditional culture. People's worth, male and female and family. Their whole worth is built on their ability to produce children. So, you don't have a bank account. You have a family. Yeah, that's right. You don't have a retirement plan.

That's right. You have kids. That's right. So in Abraham, he's an itinerant, she perter. Yeah. Who's going to take care of you when you're old? That's right. You have kids. That's right. So in Abraham, he's an itinerant, sheep herder. Yeah. Who's going to take care of you when you're old? That's right. So everything's about family. So you can see, this is, you have to stop and kind of probe under the narrative. Why is it? Is there, there has to be something going on in Abraham's story where God knows that if Abraham is truly going to be faithful to his calling, that what he prizes and values most,

like he's going to have to reckon with Abraham. Or this is what Timothy Keller, if you're familiar with him, a pastor, an author would call your idols. So they're good things in your life, but that can become ultimate things. And the text doesn't say this, but it begs the question of God's asking Abraham, are you going to follow me and be faithful to me, even if it means giving up the thing that is most precious to you. Now God isn't actually going to take it away from him, but the whole point is that Abraham needs to undergo a deep level of transformation,

if he's going to truly God's really going to use him. And so that's I think essentially where the story's going. And the whole point is that Abraham received Isaac as a gift and All of his calling and what God called him to do is a pure gift And so the experience on the mountain Becomes this way of Abraham truly becoming open-handed. Yeah to receive this calling and so on So I I think that's well, let me ask you this way all the same Danny I recognize it seems very odd I think especially to modern readers, the nature of the test.

But that's true, I'm sorry, interrupted you. But that's true, I think that's true to our life experience. I think trying to follow Jesus, there come moments of crisis where hardship or difficulty come, and you're sitting there going, there's no way way God can be I can say that God is good how can God be good when this happens like we wrestle with those questions right and Those are real honest questions and yeah, that's surely what the story is trying to capture there is this is the ultimate test for Abraham, okay, yeah, David Charlton who you're in the UK and you're awesome

Thanks for watching and you're interested in the Bible project. So you asked a good question from the Genesis story about Isaac and Jacob and Esau. Why is it that Isaac was limited to what he could bless Esau with after he had already blessed Jacob? This is in Genesis chapter 27. So, yeah, it's a great question. So, again, the threat of the narrative,

actually all this goes back to, I have a hard time being concise. Every time we ask a question, I want to take it back to pages one and two. But the whole point is that after the the garden narrative and the rebellion of the man and the woman, the God says there's going to be two lines coming out, not necessarily physical lineages, but two types of people in the narrative. They're those who are of the line of the woman of the promise, and of that line are the people who is the line of the woman of the promise and of that line are the people who is the

line of the snake crusher. So those who resist evil and will conquer evil and that only points to someone who will destroy evil at its source. But then also it says that the snake is going to have a lineage as well. And what that story then sets you up to do is to say, oh, in the rest of this story, the world consists of two types of people, those who give into the same kind of temptation and evil as the serpent, and then those who choose to align themselves with God's plan to resist evil and its destruction. So that flows out of there. And then the rest of the story throughout Genesis

is of God just selecting people and tracing a family line through. So it goes right from the woman that all those genealogies that are boring, but they're important, because it's like a trail of breadcrumbs that leads you to Abraham, or Abraham. And then Abraham has more than one child, but Isaac becomes the lion of promise instead of say

ishmael, for example. And then from there, Isaac and Rebecca, then they have Jacob and Esau. And the narrative is really try and portray Esau as a chump. He's a, you know, short-sighted, selfish guy who doesn't value the fact that he's the first born. Oh yeah, I didn't talk about this, but in all these narratives, it's the first born who is never the one who actually becomes of the promised line. And sometimes it's something stupid they did, but other times it's just the whole point, and Paul picks up on this in Romans

9 through 11, is that it's God's freedom to choose people through history to carry the promise. So when it comes to Isaac, the point isn't that, because Isaac does actually end up blessing Issa. He does pronounce the poetic blessing over him, but IsSA has forfeited his right as the inheritor of the divine promise. And that goes to Jacob, who by the way doesn't deserve it any more than his brother. He's a cheater and a liar too. So the point more is it's a good question if all you're looking at is Genesis 27. But when you see it within the flow of the whole storyline of Genesis, that God keeps turning upside down human value systems. And the first born, the people that we think are the most important people

are never the people that God chooses to be the carriers of His promise. And so it's part of a broader portrait, is that a theme? It seems like it's a huge theme. It's a big theme. It's a big theme. But think of the story of David, right? So who gets selected as king? It's not his good-looking first brother, Elia,

but he's the runt out in the field. And it becomes a theme in that line that says, humans look at the outward appearance, but God discerns the heart. And therefore God has a way of choosing people to work with who are the exact opposite of who you would expect. And that goes all the way to Jesus, who's a suffering servant, and he says the first will be last and the last week. That's right. Yeah. So Jesus, yeah, is the epitome of the unexpected fulfillment of God's promises. Right down to the Poe-Don Hill country town that he grew up in of Nazareth.

So it's a great question. And the reason I liked it, David, is because if you're only looking at the narrative in Genesis 27, it seems arbitrary and weird. But when you see it in the flow of the book of Genesis, it gets put in a larger context. What does it mean that he blessed his son? I think that's something we just don't have that in our culture anymore. Oh, yeah. So there's a sense of like, okay, I blessed you, so now I can't bless you, Esau. I blessed Jacob already. Well, that's like Kenny. Why can't you just put this out? Yeah, it's not just, but it's the blessing specifically as who of these sons is going

to become, who's going to receive the gift of the divine covenant promise of God? Because that's about a family line. And so it can't be both of them. Only one of them can become the conduit of the line of the woman. And so as the narrative saying, this is up to Yisaw? Or not Yisaw up to Isaac? No, because that goes back to the promise, even when Rebecca was still pregnant,

that I've chosen, that he's chosen. And that's what Paul picks up in Romans 9 through 11. And so part of it is God's freedom to choose even the most unexpected people to become the vehicles of his... Probably a cool theme video. What would we call it? I don't know, the backwards... In the gospels, it's the upside down kingdom.

It's the least of these. Yeah, the least of these. Yeah, it's a good point. It is a very dominant theme. It's a cool theme. Through the whole Bible. Kick Puncher 3000. Yeah. You have an awesome name. Shout it out to already. Yep. We, you asked a great question about what does Tim think, who does Tim think is the author of Genesis? Yeah. That kick puncher 3000 is a wonderful question. So let's start first with who cares what I think. What does information do we have in the biblical text itself?

The book of Genesis doesn't indicate its authorship. If you're just looking at it as a distinct book in and of itself, there's nowhere, does it ever indicate its authorship. The traditions and the stories predate by a long shot the figure who's traditionally connected to it, and that's the figure of Moses. But Moses doesn't appear until Exodus. And then the first time Moses has ever

mentioned writing is in Exodus chapter 17, before there even a Mount Sinai, when he asked to write down the story of a battle that took place. So even Moses' literary activity in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, doesn't even start until they're almost to Mount Sinai. So, and then Moses is mentioned as someone who's writing a lot, but even then, Moses is not identified as the author of the full

Pentateuch as UNI have it, Genesis through Deuteronomy. He's connected specifically to writing out the narratives of Israel and certain amounts of the law, covenant codes in those books themselves. So the Pentateuch itself doesn't tell us who the author of the final thing is. But traditionally, people say to assume that he's the author of the whole thing itself. What's interesting, and Kickpuncher 3000, is go read Zechariah chapter 7 and 8, and go read Daniel chapter 9. And in both of those cases, those prophets mention what they call the books of the Bible, the Torah and the prophets. And what they simply say is that the Torah and the prophets came from and were produced by the prophets, plural. So even later biblical authors

don't attribute the authorship of the Pentateuch only to Moses. Rather, they see the Torah and the prophets as a whole literary section that comes simply from the prophets. So I think we have to think of stages. I think Moses was definitely involved in the literary production of some first or second edition of the Pentateuch because we have it. But of course, he didn't write Genesis. He received traditions and oral traditions and stories

from people before him. So the most we can say he was a compiler or an editor of, perhaps, some of the material. Maybe he was the final editor, but then the last verse. Yeah, but yeah, I mean Moses, we're talking, we're reflecting back on his death at the end of the, so he definitely didn't write the last chapter. So someone else compiled that part of it. That's right.

So the biblical text themselves gives us clues that the books came into existence through stages and through a succession of prophetic authors is what I call them. So there you go. If you're interested on my website, temaki.com, right on the front page. Let me go to it. Oh yeah, I have about an hour and a half long lecture that I gave, not long ago, on the origins of the Bible. And it's pretty abbreviated, but it gives a big picture of the authorship

of biblical books and stuff like that. So it's on Tim McEyde. Tim McEyde.com scroll down, it's on the homepage, but I do a whole session on the making of the books of the Bible that I think you might find interesting. Good question. And it would be really cool to do a whole series on how the Bible was made. Oh, absolutely. Yes, it would. I agree.

We should do that. I think we have time for one or two more of these questions. A few more? Cool. Robin Ripple asked a question about Joseph, the Joseph character in Genesis, as a type of Christ. Why are so many chapters given to the Joseph story? Robin. He's a great guy. He gets to that story and you're like finally I can root for someone. Yeah, you know, other than his like, not-nose punk moments right at the beginning where he

tattletails on his brothers and he's pretty excited to share his dreams about ruling the world. And what's that of that? That's right, what 17-year-old wouldn't, you know? You want to slap him around a little bit. After that, he becomes a really amazing character. One of the best moral example characters in the book of Genesis.

So why so much space given to that story? OK, first of all, I'll just recommend. I recommended his books last week, but John Salehammer. Here, just look at my screen. And I'm going to recommend the most significant commentary on the Pentateuch, I think, in the last 30, 40 years, by John Sailhammer called the Pentateuch as a narrative, a biblical theological commentary.

And he pointed out some things in the shape of the book of Genesis that are really significant for understanding how it works. So first of all, Joseph is one of the, you know, 12 sons and becomes one of the heads of the 12 tribes and families or his two sons do. So he's a significant. And the whole story begins with Joseph having these dreams that all of the brothers are going to come and bow down to him.

And then it's the whole story of God's providence of actually his way to being exalted is by being sold through the treachery and nearly getting murdered and he's in slavery and Egypt and all this kind of thing. But then God exalts him to become the second in command over the ancient Egypt. It's a remarkable story. But right, as the Joseph stories beginning is a very strange story, Genesis 38, about another son of Jacob, one of Joseph's brothers called Judah. And Judah is a scoundrel, and he's not a good man, although he did help Joseph out later on in the story. But it's the story about

how he sleeps with a prostitute and then goes about his way and like dishonors some agreements that he has with her, her name's Tamar. And then she uses his lying and treacherous leverage to get him to do what she needs him to do in chapter 38. If you guys know the story in Genesis 38, and then it goes back into the Joseph story. Yeah, and he was in a eruption. Here's what's interesting, is that that whole story is about the line of Judah being preserved

through the actions of this prostitute, Tamar, the Lion of Judah. And then you read on through the Joseph story, and Joseph ends up being exalted as ruler, and all his brothers come and bow down to him, and everybody in Egypt bows down to him, just like his dream said he would. Then you get to the end of the book of Genesis 49,

and it's Jacob's final words of blessing on all of his sons. And what, as Jacob goes through blessing the signs, who gets the blessing of the divine covenant promise, is not the first born, that's Ruben, and he slept with his dad, one of his dad's wives, he's lame. It's not Simian or Levi Levi because they are really angry, short tempered murderers, it's the fourth son, Judah. And then we're told from the line of Judah will come a king who will be like a victorious lion. And then Jacob says, and your brothers will bow down to you.

And so what's, Sailor Hammer points out is that this is the author of Genesis's way of showing you that the story of Joseph is actually about the line of Judah. And the story of the Joseph, all of a sudden, going into slavery, nearly being killed and being exalted. And then, when you get a poetic promise about the line of Judah killed and being exalted. And then when you get a poetic promise about the line of Judah and what the future is for the King from the line of Judah is precisely what happened in the story of Joseph that all of the brothers come and the whole world bowes down because you would think that since Joseph is so rad, it should be his line. That's right. That the King will come.

That's right. But it's not. The author of Genesis wants to show you that the snake crusher from Genesis 3 and the seed and the offspring who well-brain God's blessing to all of the nations is a king who's going to come from the line of Judah. That's what Genesis 49 says. And then Genesis 49 and the way the Joseph story is shaped tells you that the Joseph story is being put forward as a type or an image of the story of the Messianic King from the line of Judah. So it's a type of Jesus in a way? It's a type of the Messiah. So that's a little bit different than just saying, oh Jesus is a type of Christ.

Or Joseph, excuse me, Joseph is a type of Jesus. What I'm saying I'm just saying is that the author of Genesis has constructed the story so that you walk away going, whoa, the king coming from the line of Judah is going to have a story like Joseph's story. And you think that because everyone's going to bow down to that king in the same way all the brothers bow down to Joseph. So then there's this parallel between Joseph's story arc where he does the right thing, but then he gets punished for it and he rises to power. And then he blesses the world. That's exactly right. It's exactly the storyline of Messianic King from the book of Isaiah and the book of Zachariah.

Yeah. So, and the point is that the author of Genesis is trying to communicate this. And that's cool. It's not something that we look back and impose on the story. It's actually something that the story is trying to get us. Anyway, I could go on for a long time. Next question? We have time for another question.

Sweet. Are people asked about Melchizedek? Robert, we got Robert Hernandez. Can you explain the appearance of Melchizedek? Well, probably not. But I can tell you what I think about it. First of all, I can't explain. Tell us a story.

Like, look, Kizadak, how does he show up? Why? Yeah, so Abraham's nephew gets kidnapped by a bunch of king night kings, and so Abraham's ticked and he wants to rescue his nephew, and so he gets together in army and goes and rescues his nephew. So then the king of Sodom comes out and wants to give honor. So the king of Sodom comes out and wants to pay homage to Abraham and kind of give all of Abraham's good side and Abraham's like, hey, you know, sorry.

But then the king of Salem, which is the ancient name of Jerusalem, comes out. And we're told, there's a king of Salem. So he's some dude who runs a tribe, probably of some sort, some big civilization in the hills of this area. And he's in the, called Salem. That's right. Yeah, that's right. And he's not Jewish, he's not his realite. No, he's a king and a king.

But we're told is that he's also a king and he's a priest. He's like the big haunchah, a king and a priest in Jerusalem. And then he pronoun, he pronounces a blessing on Abraham. And Abraham gives to him an homage offering from the winnings. And then the story's over. So it's this very interesting story about a priestly king in Jerusalem, who Abraham pays homage to.

And that's the role in the story. And the significance of it, you just sits there as who is this king in Jerusalem, and you actually have to read on into later in the biblical story where you learn that Jerusalem is the place where David, from the line of Judah, establishes kingdom and then Psalm 110 comes along

and says that the future Messianic king is going to be both a king and a priest in the line just like Melchizedek. So I think it's significant in the Genesis story is another one of these pointers that the author gives to show that the city of Jerusalem, the line of Judah, of David, is going to be the place where the Messianic Priest King will rule from.

Boom! Boom! Hey, thanks for listening to this episode of the Bible Project podcast. You can check out all of our resources. We've got them on our website, thebibletproject.com or you can see our YouTube channel, YouTube.com slash the Bible project. We've got all of our videos on YouTube for free, for you to watch and share and enjoy and all this is possible because of people like you pitching in to help us make more resources that are free for everyone. So we

really appreciate you being a part of this with us. Thanks and see you next time. you you