Genesis
Rereading Genesis I found one huge message one usually doesn’t associate with the Old Testament.
Forgiveness.
We hear the overly used, often misrepresented “eye for an eye” passage constantly as Christians defend righteous punishment fo wrong-doers. Others say that is the Old Testament way of justice and that New Testament teaches forgiveness. (Matthew 5:38-39)“
So I was surprised to discover the ways in which the Old Testament also teaches freedom in forgiveness.
First is Jacob and his brother Esau. Using deception, Jacob steals his brother’s birthright and is prosperous and reaps many blessings. But years later he must return to his homeland where Esau lives and is fearful of what his brother might do in retaliation.
But instead of being attacked, Jacob is welcomed by his brother, tearful and overjoyed to be reunited. (Genesis 33)“
The story of Jacob’s son Joseph and his brothers is perhaps even more poignant. (You know…Technicolor Dreamcoat…Donny Osmond.) Joseph’s brothers get jealous because he is dad’s favorite and because he has prophetic dreams in which he sees himself one day ruling Egypt.
So they sold their brother into slavery … ah boys will be boys. To make a long story short, through a series of events, Joseph predicts a famine in Egypt and the king puts him in charge of preparing the country for the famine.
When the famine strikes, Joseph is in charge of distributing food to the nations … including a surprise visit by his brothers who no longer recognize him. He could have punished them, sent them away with no food, demanded they be put into slavery.
But instead he is ready to pee himself he is so excited to see his brothers and share with them all he has. He strings them along for a while, but ultimately reveals who he is.
And when his brothers ask for mercy, Joseph says it’s no big deal. He says if they hadn’t sold him into slavery, he never would have become the king’s right hand man.
Wow! I can’t say I’d be so nice. Would you?
Why do we never hear this Old Testament story when Christians want to wage war against their enemies? It seems clear that with forgiveness, God grants a freedom and joy unatainable with revenge.
More on the “eye for an eye” message when I get there.
June 6, 2007 at 12:15 am
I took a Sacred Texts as Lit class during my MFA, and we studied the genesis of Genesis–the different “strands” that scholars believe three writers contributed, the narratology (why this scene? why here? why written this way?), the meaning of exile throughout the text. The Abraham-almost-sacrifices-Isaac story is the one I remember talking about the most often, specifically because of its father-son theme and how it related to exile. But it strikes me that this story sets a precedence for sparing the knife, too.