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    • Woa. Something about the way you put that... Gives a whole new understanding (to me, at least) of "the kingdom of god is within you." See, I always kinda thought of the kingdom of God as...

      1 hour ago by Jesse Evans

      in The Kingdom of God

    • Well I was always under the impression that "freedom costs a buck-o-five." Seriously though, I think I like the heart of what you're saying here (we're offered salvation (freedom)...

      1 hour ago by Zack Allen

      in Independence day sort of

    • Yes, I suppose that could describe our experience of it, Jesse. But I'm more interested in the reality of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. If it comes slowly to us because we're not...

      12 hours ago by paul munn

      in The Kingdom of God

    • I see what you're saying Paul. As another possible perspective, it could be one of those things that just "creep up on you." Like, all the signs are there but you just don't see...

      20 hours ago by Jesse Evans

      in The Kingdom of God

    • No interest in this question? Maybe it would help if I was a little more explicit. Here's a piece from a journal entry on this subject, from several years ago, referring to a Methodist belief...

      1 day ago by paul munn

      in The Kingdom of God

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“Now a New King…”

Started by markvans · 1 year ago

The story of Joseph is usually told as a hero tale, and in general it wants to be read that way. We might interrogate it for more meaning — there might be some significance to the roles of the other brothers in light of the later tribal relations that probably color the telling of the […]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "“Now a New King…”", ... Continue reading »

5 comments

  • markvans

    1 year ago

    Ted...I love this article. I've never heard that sort of interpretation of Joseph's tale...where could I read more on this?

    Over the past few years I've begun to read the OT differently. It isn't so much that I no longer see it as inspired, per se, but I definitely don't read it in the same way that I read the NT. I'm convinced that most of what Christians read out of the OT is almost exactly opposite of what the OT teaches.
    reply
  • hewhocutsdown

    1 year ago

    That's....really interesting. I'm not sure it's so much a point of the passage as perhaps an assumption, which is why so many miss those undercurrents.

    I'll have to go back and read Genesis myself, but that definitely jives with later tales in Kings. Ahaz leans on Assyria, the current empire, for military support when the prophets call on him to lean on God. Hezekiah rebels, breaking the treaty and is rescued barely. Rinse, repeat; on a small and a large scale there is a distinct theme going on here. I find Jeremiah particularly interesting: calling for capitulation to the enemy and openly advocating treason. It puts his initial calling in a new light:

    "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you" says the LORD.
    reply
  • Ted

    1 year ago

    Mark -- Yoder and Brueggeman are always good places to go. There's a collection of Yoder essays called _The Jewish-Christian Schism Revisited_ that is very interesting in this light.

    hewhocutsdown -- I think you're right about the distinct theme, especially if we read the OT in light of what Jesus confirms and disconfirms in the trajectory of God's people.

    The typical evangelical take on the OT is a kind of pro-Constantinian reading inspired (at least in part) by the Puritans. If we look at how the NT interprets the OT, we see the undercurrents given interpretive priority.

    Ted
    reply
  • Luke

    1 year ago

    This is a brilliant analysis. It reminds me too of Samuel's lecture to the people about kingship. Short term benefits (you won't be serving the Ammonites), long term misery (you will be serving the king).
    reply
  • Sara

    1 year ago

    I LOVE alternative readings like this! Well written, too. I don't know how many times I've been told that Joseph and Daniel are examples as to why Christians should be involved in the government.
    reply

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