To Be Blessed

Recently, I was reading the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 6: 20-31).  The Beatitudes are the address by Jesus to his disciples in which Jesus tells them who is blessed.  The address opens with, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”  Jesus goes from there to include others who are blessed – the hungry, those who weep, people who are hated on account of the ‘Son of Man’.  Considering this passage, I realized that I didn’t have as full a grasp on what it means to be blessed, as I would like.  Generally, I know that to be blessed is a good thing, but what does it actually mean for the person who is blessed?

Some versions of the Bible use happy in this passage rather than blessed.  However, to my mind, 'happy' does not capture the full meaning of blessed – happy sounds like a passing thing which is contingent on external conditions.  However, blessed seems to have a sense of a deeper state.

The earliest reference to blessing in the bible is in the creation story.  God blesses the living creatures and says, be fruitful and multiply.  He then blesses humans and tells them the same thing – be fruitful and multiply.  So, it would appear that to be blessed means you are going to be fruitful in life which at that time meant having many offspring.  Later we have the rather infamous case of Jacob – that patriarch of the church, stealing the blessing from his brother Esau – not great family values there.  One commentary noted that the meaning of the blessing that Jacob stole:

was to grant leadership to the one who received it, with Jacob becoming the head of a powerful family and nation, and with nations and brothers bowing down to him. This included not only material wealth but also spiritual significance and the continuation of God's covenant with Abraham, a legacy Jacob would carry forward. 

The covenant between God and God’s chosen people included God’s promise of land and offspring.   In effect, to be blessed, at least at that time meant to be fruitful and multiply as in the original blessing. 

So, in this case what does it mean to be fruitful?  This can have the meaning of receiving material prosperity i.e. having lots of material possession and material wealth.  This kind of meaning has led to the mistaken theology of the prosperity Gospel in my view. 

I believe that Jesus used the term blessed in the framework of the Beatitudes to describe the inner quality of a faithful servant of God. This blessedness is a spiritual state of well-being and prosperity—a deep state of peaceful contentment that cannot be shaken by external events such as poverty, hunger, or conflict because God is present with us through these difficult times.  We are blessed by God, therefore, we can be blessed by God in all things but not for all things.

May you be blessed on your journey. 

 

Reading the Bible 29: Genesis 36 – Esau – There shall be Kings

I can’t say that I was engaged with the generations of Esau as described in this episode.  Then again I have not been one who is interested in tracing my family tree unlike someone close to me who goes steady with Ancestry.com at times.  I’m sure that the compilers of the bible had their very good reasons for including all this information on the generations of Esau.  I am sure it was necessary from their perspective.  This gives me a good example of how important perspective is in attempting to discern God’s will for us what was the importance of generations to the Israelites?  Of course it showed the connection between their history from Abraham to their time.  It gave them an understanding of the covenant that God made with the Patriarchs and how it was still active in their lives.  It may also have been a way of establishing their right to the Promised Land.  That claim is still being made by the Jewish settlers in Palestine today as they encroach on the Palestinian territory.  They are being permitted to do so by the government of Israel today for its own political reasons and not because it is part of the land promised to them by YHWH. 

One verse jumps out at me among all the list of descendants in this passage.  Verse 3:These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites.  There seems to be an ulterior motive for placing this information about the neighbours of Israel and by inference about Israel.  It implies that there will be kings in Israel.  It raises the question, will this or does this (is this now in terms of the compilers) a good thing or a bad thing?  Should Israel have kings as the Edomites do/did?  They will be clamoring for a king as their neighbours have in the time to come – with mixed results.  Their heritage can be traced back to Abraham through Esau.  Does it mean that Israel has lost its way by going this route?   

All in all it is a reminder that religion and politics are seldom far apart and we should always be aware and wary when we try to use religious justification for a political agenda.  Beware in recruiting God to your side in an argument It might just as easily be the devil as God that is making you do it.

 

Reading the Bible 26: Genesis 33 The Prodigal Brother - A Fatted Calf of Another Kind

On this reading of the reunion of Jacob and Esau I found it striking how I was reminded of the reunion of the Prodigal Son with his father.  The return of the outcast family member is greeted by the injured party without hesitation and with literal open arms.  As with the father, Esau does not stand on ceremony and custom and rushes to meet Jacob.  The careful preparation by both son and brother are moot as the true outpouring of affection and emotion overrules all.

Despite these very similar reunions the two stories take markedly different turns.  The difference appears to turn on the lack of a fatted calf.  Jacob has prepared a gift of reconciliation for Esau.  While the Prodigal Son had nothing material to offer to his father, Jacob plans to offer Esau a portion of what God has blessed him with.  This seems to be on the surface a gift from the heart.  However, there is an undertone that Jacob has not met Esau with an open heart.  He is still using his wiles to ensure his safety.  He is depending on himself rather than God who he says has been gracious to him.   

This position of Jacob’s is confirmed when he again uses his wiles to separate from Esau again.  He uses the fragile state of his children and flock as an excuse not to journey with Esau saying he will follow at a slower pace.   He then follows a different path which may have believed he must follow.  Regardless he is still not able to put his trust in Esau or perhaps God.  When faced with a challenge he still falls back on his trickster nature and depends on his wiles to save him.

We can perhaps have one of the most difficult things for people to do is to accept that we cannot control everything in our lives.  As the success of 12 step programs show we need to acknowledge that there is a greater power than ourselves before we are able to move forward from a place where the illusion that we can do it alone is no longer enough.

Reading the Bible 18 Gen 27: Mom (and God) Always Liked You Best

Family dynamics are certainly are certainly front and centre in this episode of biblical Dynasty.  In any family the issue of favourites is an underlying theme.  The old comedy duo the Smothers Brothers played this up with Tommy giving voice to the eternal cry ‘Mom always liked you best’.   In modern parenting theory even if you are aware of preference for one child over others you are supposed to do everything possible to disguise it and certainly not overtly show your true feeling – as difficult as that may be at times.

Of course God – YHWH did not have compunction about showing favouritism as we saw with Cain and Able.  I wonder if Cain was the early type of Tommy Smothers – God always liked you best.  However, for us mortals we do not have that luxury – at least on a guilt free basis.  Rebekah did not have any compunction in plotting to ensure that her favourite Jacob received Isaac’s blessing. 

It is easy to be critical of Rebekah from our 21^st Century perspective.  However, putting aside the obvious favouritism that Rebekah showed Jacob perhaps she chose as she did because she knew her sons as only a mother can.  She knew that Jacob was the one to fulfil the covenant with YHWH.  He had what it would take to be the next step in the Abraham’s descendants who would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens.   In her mind Esau with his lack of foresight and planning could not fulfill God’s plan for His chosen people.  Given the benefit of hindsight can we say that Rebekah chose badly or selfishly?  IN any case it is always nice when God’s will and our egos are aligned.  That can be dangerous but that is another story.