Poisoning the Heart of the Gospel

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Exodus 1 Listen: (2:32), Read: Matthew 12 Listen: (6:41)

Scripture Focus: Exodus 1.8-10, 18-22

8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”

18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” 20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. 22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Reflection: Poisoning the Heart of the Gospel

By John Tillman

“There’s too many detestable foreigners endangering our country.”

Sound familiar? It should. It’s the ideology of the wicked Pharaoh at the beginning of Exodus. Similar ideologies have gripped many governments throughout history.

The spirit of Pharaoh echoes in Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler. He described the threat of non-Germans “poisoning the blood” of the country. He claimed their bad genes weakened the human race and accused them of plotting to control the government and oppress true Germans. Those deemed to be “poisoning the blood” of Nazi Germany were first vilified, then isolated in ghettos, then forcibly relocated to prison labor camps, then executed.

Pharaoh had followed a similar path. The Israelites were isolated, crushed with oppressive, brutal forced labor policies and violence. Then, Pharaoh instituted policies to murder their children.

The spirit of Pharaoh also shows up in China’s persecution of the Uyghur people and Russia’s treatment of Muslim Tatars and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv in Crimea.

“Poisoning the blood” has also been heard with increasing frequency in the last five years of American politics. It is unusual how broadly this phrase has been accepted and normalized. In a poll last year, one-third of Americans (including 60 percent of White Evangelical Protestants) agree with the sentiment that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the United States. (Axios article)

The approval of the phrase “poisoning the blood of our country” among Christians is theologically wrong, morally reprehensible, and politically dangerous. This phrase poisons the heart of the gospel. To believe this phrase, we must call Paul (Acts 17.26; Galatians 3.28), Peter (Acts 2.14-17, 10.34-36; 1 Peter 2.9-10), and Jesus (John 17.21; Matthew 28.19-20) liars.

At The Park Forum, we do not and will not endorse or condemn any political candidate or party, but we pray that faithful Christians in any political party will openly condemn this phrase, its implications, and any policies based in its racist logic. We pray that faithful Christians who have endorsed this phrase will repent after understanding its source, its theological errors, and the logical outcomes of believing it.

We pray that, like Shiphrah and Puah, faithful Christians will resist unjust rulers and policies in any way that God enables. We pray that the hearts of many that have gone cold, will be renewed. We pray that the nations that come to our country, especially those who are fleeing persecution from Pharaoh-like governments in their countries, would hear and experience freedom through the gospel of Christ and the salvation of their souls.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Small Verse

The Lord is my shepherd and nothing is wanting to me. In green pastures he has settled me. — The Short Breviary

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

From John: Because this post condemns a phrase used in politics, I want to clarify how and when The Park Forum has and will speak about political issues. At The Park Forum, we do not and will not have a partisan affiliation. We do not and will not endorse or condemn any candidate or party. We do not and will not write according to the headlines of the day, but according to the text of the day. However, when the text brings up truths that are relevant to political issues of the day, we will speak to those issues according to the text and the whole counsel of scripture without regard or deference to any party or politician’s opinion. We do not seek to be “swayed by others, but…teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.” (Mark 12.14) We have readers from both major political parties in the United States and we need faithful Christians to be in both parties. If a Christian is in the Republican or Democratic party, they are not there to toe the line as a good Republican or a good Democrat any more than Moses was to be a good Egyptian, Esther a good Persian, Daniel a good Babylonian, or Shiphrah and Puah obedient subjects of Pharaoh. Whatever your partisan affiliation, rather than toe a party line, we pray you will stand on scripture and be a check on your own party in the name of Jesus Christ. The Park Forum does not exist to change politics but to inform, educate, and inspire a vibrant faith that disciples the reader, strengthens their community of faith, and blesses the world with the gospel of Christ.

Read more: Divide et Impera

There are both earthly and spiritual emperors who wish to divide and rule over us through the use of division and conspiracy. 

Read more: Gospel Heist

A good heist restores freedom or justice. The gospel is a heist which restores both.

Resisting Cultural Pressure

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 50 Listen: (4:07), Read: Matthew 11 Listen: (4:06)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 50.24-26

24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” 25 And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”

26 So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Reflection: Resisting Cultural Pressure

By John Tilman

Joseph assimilated a great degree into Egyptian culture.

It was impossible for Joseph to prevent or resist some assimilation to the culture he was unwillingly trapped in. Rising out of slavery did not make this easier. Greater levels of privilege create greater pressure to assimilate.

Joseph married into a powerful, prominent family. His father-in-law, Potiphera, was high priest of the Egyptian sun god, Re in the city of On, better known by its Greek name Heliopolis, meaning “City of the Sun.”

Joseph adopted Egyptian dress and cultural practices, including Egyptian burial practices for his beloved father and himself. (Genesis 50.2, 26)

However, Joseph maintained faithfulness to God and adapted to maintain his identity in many ways. He affirmed God as the source of his sexual ethic and his skills of interpretation. He named his children referencing his faith. He secured his family a separate area in which to live.

Regardless of his level of cultural assimilation or his comfort and privilege, Joseph recognized that Egypt was not his home, nor that of his descendants, nor that of the descendants of his brothers. Assuring his brothers that God would “come to your aid” (Genesis 50.25) meant assuming that they would need God’s aid.

Did “that dreamer” (Genesis 37.19-20) have another prophetic dream from God? If so, scripture does not report it. However, with or without divine revelation, Joseph saw trouble coming for his family in Egypt.

We also face these cultural pressures. Trouble is coming. Our culture does its best to get inside us and usurp our identity. Culture tells us that we are Americans first (or Indians or Europeans or Australians or South Africans…). Culture wants us to think we are primarily identified by our race or sexuality or gender or political party, but no cultural identity is our primary identity. (Galatians 3.28)

We are children of Abraham’s promise and carriers of his blessing to the world. That is our gospel identity. Anything else must submit to that or be swept away before it. We must adapt or avoid cultural mandates that conflict with our God-given identity.

Just as Israel claimed Joseph’s children as his, God lays his claim on us. We are not at home in this world or in our “home” culture. Let us not expect comfort but struggle, knowing that God will come to our aid and take us home.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. — Psalm 31.24

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Public, Prayerful, Persistent Protest

Those who wish to regulate protests often say to protesters, “Not here. Not now. Not like this.”

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Don’t Empower Villain Eras

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 47 Listen: (5:03), Read: Matthew 8 Listen: (4:09)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Read: Genesis 48 Listen: (3:43), Read: Matthew 9 Listen: (4:56)
Read: Genesis 49 Listen: (4:54), Read: Matthew 10 Listen: (5:07)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 47.20-25

20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land. 23 Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.” 25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”

Reflection: Don’t Empower Villain Eras

By John Tillman

The problem of sorting the Bible into “heroes” and “villains” is forgetting that the same person who is heroic in one moment can be villainous in another.

Joseph is one of the most wholesome characters in the Bible. But he has villain moments. It’s debatable how prideful he was as a young man with his dreams. However, his actions in Genesis 47 read as if he had entered a villain era.

Joseph’s plan to get through the famine was for the state to collect twenty percent of harvests during the plentiful seven years. Then, Egypt would be saved from being “ruined by the famine” during the seven lean years. (Genesis 41.35-36) But when the famine hit, Joseph didn’t distribute the grain freely. Joseph took the people’s grain. They had to buy it back.

Selling the grain might not be unreasonable, but Joseph’s villain era started in the final years of the famine, when people grew desperate. The sixth year, they had no money so Joseph took their livestock. The final year, they had no money or livestock, so Joseph took their land and made them slaves.

It’s possible that Joseph didn’t have a choice. Maybe Pharaoh ordered this? Maybe there were terrible administrative costs? But scripture seems to imply it was Joseph’s decision. Pharaoh said, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.” (Genesis 41.55)

Even if this was not Joseph’s villain era, it empowered a future villain era.

Joseph was complicit in using a crisis to consolidate power and wealth under Pharaoh. Egypt was already a monarchy, but after the famine it was a nation of slaves in which Pharaoh owned the land, livestock, and the lives of the citizens. The power and wealth Joseph gave Pharaoh, turned against future generations of Israelites. (Exodus 1.8-14)

Joseph was dealing with a real crisis. Many leaders today create fake crises in order to consolidate power for themselves. You may have the right or ability to grant leaders emergency power or approve their expansion of power, but what will happen when the crisis is over? What if the hero turns villainous? What will tomorrow’s leaders do with the power you give today’s leaders?

Whether national or local, political or pastoral, leaders who desire unaccountable power, loyalty without transparency, and removal of checks and balances are dangerous.

Be careful that you don’t unintentionally empower a future villain era.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

For your name’s sake, O Lord, forgive my sin, for it is great. — Psalm 25.10

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Playing the Game for Fickle Pharaohs

If they break rules to help us, they will break rules to harm us.

https://theparkforum.org/843-acres/playing-the-game-for-fickle-pharaohs

Read more: Divining the Truth by Actions

When reconciling with people, trust but verify. Watch for evidence of change. Don’t doubt their intentions, but divine the truth by their actions.

Playing the Game for Fickle Pharaohs

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 46 Listen: (4:47), Read: Matthew 7 Listen: (3:31)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 46.31-34

31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”

Reflection: Playing the Game for Fickle Pharaohs

By John Tillman

During a red, white, and blue-striped halftime performance a character played by Samuel L. Jackson warned Kendrick Lamar to not be too loud or too ghetto, and to play the game right to please the powerful.

In Dr. Esau McCaulley’s memoir, How Far to the Promised Land, he reflects on his survival. He played by the rules, never did or sold drugs, and stayed out of trouble. Yet, on multiple occasions his life nearly ended due to the “game” he was living in. Many around him also played by the rules, yet still lost their lives to a rigged system.

As powerful as Joseph was, he recognized his family’s position in Egypt was politically precarious. They were foreigners, immigrating for shelter and aid during a crisis. Joseph warned that Egyptian culture considered them detestable.

As we listen to Joseph carefully coach his brothers on speaking before Pharaoh, we can sense the tension. Much depended on gaining Pharaoh’s approval. They needed to play the game.

But playing the game doesn’t guarantee good outcomes in a corrupt and fickle system. Joseph knew this better than most. He saw Pharaoh restore one imprisoned servant and impale another on a pole. Just because the king favored him or his family today, tomorrow could be a different story.

Joseph was correct. A generation later, a new king saw Israel’s children not as blessings but as enemies of the state. God sent Moses to declare, “Game over.”

We may be tempted to apply this solely to a specific political figure—to this year’s or last year’s “Pharaoh.” Resist the urge to limit this application to one man or party. There are multitudes of past, present, and future pharaohs wanting us to dance to their tunes and play their games.

The powerful tell us to play their game and they will take care of us. But if they break rules to help us, they will break rules to harm us. Even if they don’t harm us, what will we do when they harm others? Will we speak up for those they call “detestable,” “sub-humans,” and “animals”?

Early Christians were known for protecting the detestable from the powerful. Christians saved unwanted babies, the sick, the poor, the outcasts, the foreigners, and freed those enslaved.

Are we still willing to do so? I pray we are. When the time comes, may we stand before pharaohs and say, “Game over.”

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me. — Psalm 69.7

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Dream On

Joseph was not forgotten in prison. Jesus was not abandoned in the grave. Certainly we are not forgotten or abandoned when the ups of our lives turn to downs.

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Reconciliation in the Family of God

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 45 Listen: (4:10), Read: Matthew 6 Listen: (4:35)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 45:1-2, 4-5, 24

1 So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.

24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way!

Reflection: Reconciliation in the Family of God

By Erin Newton

The events in Genesis 45, according to Sibley Towner, “are the stuff of shalom-making.” The stuff that makes happy endings. The stuff that we can use as an example.

And that is saying a lot, especially after all those chapters of misbehavior, scheming, abusing, and traumatizing done by the hands of God’s chosen family. Suddenly, the clouds break and the sun shines on the text with a story of peace, happiness, and wholeness.

What can we learn about reconciliation from Genesis 45?

1. Reconciliation is an emotional event. Joseph rattles the neighborhood with his weeping. I’m sure he cried and wept when thrown into the pit when his brothers tried to kill him. These are not the same sort of tears. These are the tears of joy—the impossible has become possible. Joseph was left for dead (or worse, wished dead!), and any hope of seeing his estranged family was zero. The tears at their reconciliation are tears for a renewed life together.

2. Reconciliation doesn’t ignore the pain caused by one another. Joseph’s brothers are nervous to answer his question about their dad. They were probably filled with shame for their actions and anxiety over whether he would retaliate in kind. Joseph encourages them to throw off self-loathing for their past behavior. He’s obviously reached a place in his heart to forgive them. (Mind you, it’s been decades since that fateful day.)

3. Reconciliation can end with blessings that outweigh the prior pain. Joseph recognizes the place of privilege he now has over the land as well as his brothers. He has the power to give them life, even when they dealt him death. Joseph’s reconciliation is enhanced by his own virtue of generosity.

4. Reconciliation avoids further conflict. Joseph yells after his brothers as they go home to fetch their dad, “Don’t quarrel on the way!” He seems to know the emotions would be tense. They’d likely want to argue over whose fault it really had been. Joseph’s attention is on the present peace.

Some of the worst conflicts happen between members of the same family. The family of God is not exempt.

How have we lamented over division with our fellow believers?

How have we addressed the real pain dealt to one another?

What power or privilege can we use today to help our brothers and sisters?

And are we willing to try and keep such peace?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Show us the light of your countenance, O God, and come to us. — Psalm 67.1

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Spiritual Twins

Forget the birthright-stew debacle. Remember when Esau showed unmerited forgiveness. He loved his brother…ran to him…hugged him…wept.

Read more: From Darkness to Light

Psalm 105 tells Israel’s story of moving from light to darkness to light. Joseph goes from favored son to slave and prisoner, then rises to the bright pinnacle of power.