November 1, 2025 • 27 mins
Episode 54: Hermeneutics & Why Christians Disagree Part 6Why do sincere, Bible-believing Christians often come to such different conclusions about Scripture? In this episode of Brains, Bibles, and Beyond!, we dive into the world of hermeneutics—the art and science of interpretation. Whether it’s theology, ethics, or church practice, how we read the Bible shapes everything. Join us as we explore the key principles behind biblical interpretation, the historical and cultural filters we often overlook, and how differing hermeneutical approaches lead to a variety of Christian beliefs. It's a thoughtful, honest conversation about unity, diversity, and the deep importance of how we read God's Word.www.brainsandbibles.comwww.thinklikechrist.org
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(00:01):
Hey everybody, and welcome back to another episode of Brains,
Bibles and beyond. And beyond and beyond.
I am Nate Day and this is Joel Willoughby, and we are so glad
that you have joined us. Very glad.
So come along with us as we explore worldview apologetics.
Yes. All right.
On today's episode, we are goingto continue our series on Why do
(00:26):
Christians Disagree and and hermeneutics.
And we're going to be looking atspoke five of seven.
Yes. So why don't everybody grab your
theological receptacle and let'sget started.
(00:51):
Juicy. OK.
All right, so on our last episode we wrapped up with.
We finished up 3 and did 4. Yeah, of the seven spokes.
And so we're going to get right into spoke #5 this is a special
episode, not a full podcast. We are just doing spoke 5 today.
(01:12):
Knocking this stuff out. Yeah.
So dude, make sure you watch allthe episodes in order and the
spokes in the wheel. Essentially they're all taught
in an order, but in realistically when you use them,
you're going all over the place.You know different times, so
it's going from spoke. 1 you have text and context.
The number 2, compare translations. 3 historical and
(01:33):
cultural context. 4 is literary structure now. 5 is biblical
theology. Biblical theology, OK.
That seems important. So yeah, it's it's one of those
little bit of a misnomer because, you know, the next one
we're going to talk about not inthis episode.
The next one will be systematic theology.
And so some people might say, hey, make sure your theology is
(01:54):
systematic. And then someone else might try
to be a little more spiritual and say you need to keep your
theology biblical. It's like, OK, well, it's not to
say that anything else is non biblical theology.
It's just simply the idea of showing that Scripture has
continuity. It flows together beautifully.
(02:15):
There's themes and concepts thatstretch from Genesis to
Revelation. That's biblical theology.
So you're like looking at the whole Bible in a snapshot.
You're making sure that things are not disjointed, but they are
connected appropriately. Well, every text is a part of
the whole of Scripture. You're you're having that
mentality. So some big picture ideas that
(02:38):
really span Genesis to Revelation.
OK, the covenants of all the covenants, the dispensations, if
you are such a one as I the, theKingdom of God or King of
heaven, same thing, but you knowdifferent names, the Kingdom in
general, the the nature and attributes of God.
Huge. OK, the revelation of the
(02:59):
Messiah. So starting in Genesis 315 all
the way to the second coming of Revelation 19, you know.
So it's him, him being revealed through time and then the
schemes of Satan as you see withthe first temptation, Genesis 3,
all the way till he even deceives the nations when Jesus
ruling on earth, you know, the schemes of Satan throughout the
(03:19):
whole thing. So just big picture items like
that really help us out. And I'm going to give us an
example, Joseph, the Joseph of Genesis.
And this one is interesting. So let's just jump over to
Genesis 39 and we're going to look at starting in verse 11.
(03:41):
So Genesis 3911. And so just kind of I'm, I'm
trusting that our, their audience will have a good
appreciation of the context of the narrative of Joseph.
That's the idea. The favorite son, the rest of
the brothers hated him, sold himin the slavery.
He ends up in Egypt, right? Yeah, basically goes goes to
(04:01):
prison. And yeah, there we are.
So then this would be just as 39verse 11 picks it up where he's
already working in Potiphar's house.
OK, this is but one day when he went into the house to do his
work, Joseph and none of the menof the house was there in the
house. That's a bad sign.
First off, something's going on.She, Potiphar's wife, she caught
(04:25):
him by his garments, grabbed himby his clothes, saying lie with
me. But he left his garment in her
hand and fled and got out of thehouse, Just ran off, OK?
Yeah. So that's the proper response.
By the way, guys, when when, when that nasty lady tries to
catch a run, run for your life. Yes, well, spiritually nasty.
(04:46):
I mean, I'm sure physically there was a lot of appeal there.
But Joseph had a bigger picture in mind, you know.
So what is the interpretation and application of the text?
You know, perhaps Satan tempted Joseph, but he walked with the
Lord and so ran from temptation.So we should also what I hear a
(05:11):
lot in a lot of Sunday school type stories or even, you know,
some big church type preaching is simply basically avoiding
sexual immorality or how to endure temptation.
That's essentially what it is. I do think that that is an
application we can draw from this passage, one of many, but I
(05:32):
don't think that's the main point of the whole passage.
Sure. So this is where we're going to
strap on the helm of Bible studyto navigate this sea.
We're going to go through it. So we're focusing on biblical
theology. So First off, you know, what
genre of literature is this? What would you say with Joseph
here in Genesis? Historical Narrative.
(05:53):
Hey I like that that works. I mean.
Yeah. So then narrative here, is it
prescriptive or merely descriptive?
What do you think about that one?
Well, historical narrative is descriptive.
Is there a prescriptive part in here?
Yeah. Yeah, run away from temptation.
(06:15):
So it's definitely descriptive. And then there is a little bit
of a prescript here saying you ought to do this.
Yeah, right. Yeah, there is.
We read that and you're like, yeah, that's that was the right
response. I can apply that to my life.
So. And then, you know, considering
we're, you know, going to study this passage here.
(06:35):
So what context might be helpful?
You know, you can just generallyspeak to that.
You don't have to have exact. What context?
Might be helpful in understanding the interpretation
and application of those couple verses we read.
I have no idea where you're getting at here.
Well, just think through like, you know, if you're going to
study it for yourself, what whatwould be helpful to understand
(06:58):
those couple verses? As far as historical description
goes. Well, history.
History is part of it. Historical context.
OK, where? Where is that?
Is that what you're looking for?Well, yeah.
As broadly enough, where is thatin history?
Well, this. That's one thing.
This happens obviously in the the the broader scheme.
(07:19):
It's God's using this whole thing to, to bring the nation of
Israel down to Egypt for a time,right?
And had Joseph never gone to jail, he would never.
Let's stop there. Let's.
Stop. He would never you're.
Going to get ahead of me, right?You said that, he said.
He said the. Context.
We're just no, no, we're just sowe're mentioning like.
Where does it fit in the? Where's it fit in the timeline
(07:40):
or? What categories of context we
have to consider? So First off, history.
OK, that's I get what you're saying now we're.
Just gonna. We're not going to talk about it
all. Right.
So the context, historical context as in where it fits in
the timeline. Sure.
Yep, Yep. OK.
You know, even some cultural context specifically of, you
know, why was she there? Why were none of the men there?
(08:02):
What sort of position was he actually in?
And that can kind of intensify the moment, sure, when we
realize what's going on here. Because he was a slave of
Potiphar, but he did a such a great job, Potiphar kind of
elevate him up to like top slave.
Yeah, yeah. Which at that point you're not
really a slave. You're like, really holding a
(08:24):
pretty awesome place of honor. Well, you know, slavery, it's a
broad term and it includes bond service and things like that
too. But you know, most of the time
ancient slavery, places like Rome and whatnot, it's not the
typical slavery that we grow up knowing.
We know of the dark side of agricultural slavery in America,
(08:44):
you know, and there was some real messed up stuff within that
you, you end up sending like crazy when you lose track of the
idea that this is a human being bearing the image of God.
There's sanctity of life, there's value, right?
So when we will lose that, that's when everything all goes
downhill. But even like in Rome and stuff,
you'd have slaves that could be like doctors and lawyers and
(09:05):
things. So it was not the same, not the
same at all. Anyway, that's a side note.
That's a side note, all right. But but you have the cultural
context of we're we're in ancient Egypt.
There you go. We're yeah, we're on track still
a little bit here. So then, you know, we just, we
covered this last time literary structure.
OK, So think, think about this part.
(09:28):
How many years of history does the book of Genesis cover?
Just to give me a rough guess, the most conservative, like the
most conservative number of years you could use?
From from Adam and Eve to to. To.
Joseph to well, to Moses, basically.
(09:50):
Well, no, we're just looking at the narrative history, you know
what I mean? So like narrative history,
you're only going through Josephin Genesis, even though Moses
wrote it. So just the narrative.
Yeah. So you have.
Yeah. Creation through Joseph's life.
So let's see, you have, gosh, how long is that?
(10:14):
That's probably 2500 years. Yeah, I'd say on the most
conservative end. 2000 you're. Looking at like 3000 years at
least 3000 minimum. OK, that long because how long
is it from the flood to Jesus? Well, so it depends on, so if
you use the usher's dates, whichis the most conservative number
(10:38):
of years. And I don't necessarily, I don't
agree with all the points of history, but I don't think he's
too far off. I I think he's in the ballpark
and so he would have creation at4004 BC and then the flood was I
get them mixed up. It's either 17 or 1300 years
later, I forget exactly which iswhich now off off the top of my
(11:02):
head. But then so then you got to
think like Moses was leading Israel out like 1440 BC.
So so. That's 2600 years.
Yeah, yeah. So.
It was real close to my guess of2500.
I think, I think no. Yeah, 23 but but.
You got to take 400. They were in Egypt for 400
years, wasn't it? Well, yeah.
(11:23):
Yeah, 20, yeah, 2200 years. Most.
Conservatively. If you mean like slaves in Egypt
rounded to 400 years, yes. So so this is this most
conservatively then would be 2200 years span of book of
Genesis. It'd be.
(11:44):
If it's if it's 2600 years from.Yeah, it doesn't matter.
We get the idea. If, if if if if creation was at
4000. Yeah.
And and Moses left in 1400. That's 2600 years.
But take 400 off of that. That's 2200.
So you have OK. So that would be most
conservative. So when I guess 2500 to maybe
(12:06):
2000, I was right in that ballpark, most conservative.
Yeah, yeah. All right.
I'll give it to. You you you can count
differently if you want, but either way.
It's fine, yes. You're a couple thousand years.
We're way off of history in Genesis.
You asked the question. The whole point is.
You asked the question. Yeah, yeah, it's.
Too too long, too long. So the, the point is there's,
there's like a few thousand years here and the whole point
(12:27):
is you look at Genesis one through 9, even Genesis one
through 6 really that's that's covering like 1700 years of
history right there of just those few chapters.
And this is not that long after the flood when you really look
at it. Yeah, it's relative, relative
(12:48):
terms, right? Well, just because of how long
the people, the first couple generations as the flood lived.
Yeah, so, so then. You have like the guys that got
off the boat would have just been dying not long before this.
So Shim would have been alive when Abraham was alive, Yeah.
That's only a couple generationsahead of Joseph there.
So, so just as 37, you first start hearing about Joseph,
(13:13):
Chapter 38 takes a break to Judah and Tamar deal, which is
very relevant actually, but thatmight be another talk of how
that fits exactly. But then then you picked it up
back in 39. So basically just as 37 through
50 -, 1 chapter, you have just Joseph.
(13:33):
So why is it that less than 100 years gets like triple the time
as? It was important for.
Some reasons there. So this is biblical theology.
He's really setting the stage for the Exodus, obviously.
But but why? Why is it more important than
that? Yeah.
So it becomes, it comes like, like just because of the way the
(13:57):
the literature is structured. I understand that the most
important take away from the whole book of Genesis is the
life of Joseph. OK.
That can be argued, I'm sure, but just as far as time spent
right, it becomes the most important figure.
So then we so so then we think about more context.
(14:20):
OK, so when we think about history, you know, Moses writes
to wandering Israel. So whenever a scripture is being
written, you always have to think what is the goal of the
author to communicate? What's the goal like for the
audience to do or change? You know, to some extent there's
(14:41):
always a response, the desired response coming from the
original readership. And So what, you know, what was
that that Moses was trying to communicate to wandering Israel
when he wrote Genesis? OK.
So that, you know, keep that thought in your head.
And then, you know, we've we've talked about this before, but
who is the hero of every narrative is God.
(15:04):
God is, and you know, the whole Bible, right?
But we're just, you know, narratives are easy to get
confused because we have Samson as our hero.
David Moses is our hero, you know, and we're missing the
point. Yeah, some subplot heroes.
Yeah. Yeah.
But there is that. There is an ultimate goal of the
Bible. So already we know that with the
(15:24):
story of Joseph or the narrativeof Joseph, Joseph's not actually
the hero of the story. God is, which is, you know, it's
hard for people to swallow that down sometimes.
You know, when we have that famous story of Joseph running
from Potiphar's wife, we really easily make him the hero.
And this is the model we need tobe like Joseph.
(15:45):
Sure, and that's an application you can make out of it it.
Is a good application, but it's not the primary.
Point of the story. Yeah, right.
Exactly, exactly. So what is it?
What is it? OK, so really, really neat stuff
here. Let's see, let's go to.
So in Genesis 50, the end, Joseph shows an understanding of
(16:10):
his life situation. So sometimes you know, you're,
you're speculating through it out throughout the whole thing.
Well, is Joseph cool and calm? Is Joseph courageous?
Is he fearful? What's he thinking about as as
these life events are happening?How is he actually processing
this? Well, so Genesis 5019 through
21, it says this, but Joseph said to them, so his brothers,
(16:34):
this is after the whole everything's exposed.
Joseph said to them, Do not fear, for am I in the place of
God? This is after his dad just died,
right? Yes, and they thought like they
were the only reason we're alive.
Yeah, because he's like, oh, hey, now dad's gone.
Because dad lived, what, 17 years in Egypt, I think
something like that. I don't remember roughly.
(16:54):
It wasn't real long because he was old when he came and he
lived a little while and now hisdad dies and they're like, uh
oh, now what's Joseph going to do?
We didn't treat him very good. Father's gone.
Now he's going to kill. Us all.
What's he going to do? Yeah.
So then he says verse 20, As foryou, you meant evil against me,
(17:15):
but God meant it for good. This isn't the first time he
told him that either. He told him that when they when
he first revealed himself to him, right?
Not in these words anyways. What do?
What can you look up you at the?Past you're thinking I'll find
what I'm looking at. Because this is definitely at
least the most pointed, most blunt.
Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, As for you, you meant
evil against me, you know, selling slavery and stuff like
(17:37):
that, but God meant it for good.That's a really interesting
thing to what purpose he says tobring it about that many people
should be kept alive as they aretoday.
So he's thinking about like all the nation of Israel, the nation
of Israel. And he wraps up with verse 21.
So do not fear. I will provide for you and your
little ones. He saw the big picture.
(17:59):
He saw what God's plan was for his life.
The whole reason that Joseph gotsold into slavery into Egypt and
everything else was to help Israel, the nation.
So this this is the what the first I was thinking of Genesis
45 five. This is right when he reveals
himself to him. I'm Joseph, your brother.
Right. Who?
Who? Whom you sold in the Egypt.
(18:20):
Yeah, I remember. But now do not therefore be
grieved or angry with yourselvesbecause you you sold me here.
For God sent me before you to preserve life.
Yes, yeah. Very good.
So he's revealing like, hey, this is this was God's whole
plan. Later on, he reminds them, hey,
you guys were evil. But but God still meant it for
good. Yeah.
(18:41):
So anyway that that's what I wasthinking of.
That's good. I'm going to throw that in here
and act like I knew it ahead of time.
OK, I knew I knew it was something there, but that is
really good. I want to remember that for next
time I do this. OK, so that's Psalm 45 way and.
In 40 and 45 seven, he says, andGod sent me before you to
preserve a posterity for you on the earth and to save your lives
(19:03):
by great deliverance. So even then he's like I'm I'm
here to save the whole family. Now, you know, but then he
would, he would have known. He would have known the promises
of God of like, you know, this future nation of Israel.
Thing is, you know, this is supposed to be a good thing.
Yeah. What?
Was that second verse you said? 45 Seven.
(19:24):
O457 OK. Yeah, so I read 45 five, and
then I basically skipped 6, which is at least two years of
famine and land. There are still five years which
remain. And then, you know God sent me
here to preserve a posterity foryou.
Yeah. Meaning I'm going to I'm here to
preserve your family. I was actually.
(19:44):
Which is also his family. Out of another passage, which is
interesting that you brought that up is really good.
I'm going to make the same point, but for, just from a
different passage of scripture. So I hope I just read that this
week. That's why it was fresh on my
head. Yeah, well, you know, they say
humility is telling the full truth.
And so it's like, yeah, this is this is how I That's good.
(20:04):
All right, So we see Joseph's understanding even before I read
the other passage, his understanding even in his
children's names. Which is really interesting.
Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh, he's the older one,
the twins, right. But Manasseh means cause to
forget. So in other words, the goodness
(20:24):
of everything has made him forget the trials.
You know, Ephraim means double fruit.
So the idea is God's given him so much more it's caused him to
forget about. He's not.
He's not bitter. He's not dwelling in the past.
Yeah. He's recognized that the the
temporary time I spent maybe, what, two years in prison?
(20:45):
What was more than that? It was.
I wasn't. Oh yeah, yeah, I know.
He was in there for a long time.Well, two years after the other
guys got out, was that it? I.
Just remember it was a long timewith the Baker and the the other
dude, the cupbearer guy. It was like they they forgot
about him. You.
Keep going. I'll interject at some point,
(21:06):
yeah. Yeah, it's fine.
So yeah, yeah, he had a lot of bad situations there.
I want to read from Psalm 105 though, and for time's sake I
can cut it down to verses 6 to 25.
But Psalm one, O 5, beautiful retelling of Israel's history.
And notice, you know the big thing to notice is God's place
(21:29):
for Joseph here. So it says, O offspring of
Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob has chosen once he is
the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the
earth. He remembers his covenant
forever, the word that he commanded for 1000 generations.
The covenant that he made with Abraham is his sworn promise to
Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute to Israel's
(21:50):
an everlasting covenant, saying to you, I will give the land of
Canaan as your portion for inheritance.
When they were few in number, Israel of little account and
sojourners in it, wandering fromnation to nation, from one
Kingdom to another people, He allowed no one to oppress them.
He rebuked kings on their account, saying touch not my
anointed ones, do my profits no harm.
(22:13):
When he summoned a famine on theland and broke all supply of
bread. So God made that famine happen.
He had sent a man ahead of him, Joseph, who was souls a slave.
So he took full credit for him going to slavery.
His feet were hurt with fetters,his neck was put in a collar of
iron until what he had said cameto pass.
The word of the Lord tested him.The king sent and released him.
(22:35):
So that's like a part of the Potiphar's wife thing, you know,
tested him as part of it. There's more to it than that.
The king sent and released him, the ruler of the people set him
free. He made him a Lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions, to bind his
Princess at his pleasure and to teach his elders wisdom.
Then Israel came to Egypt, Jacobsojourn in the land of Ham.
The Lord made his people very fruitful, made them stronger
(22:56):
than their foes. He turned their hearts to hate
his people, to deal craftily with his servants.
So it goes on different things. The whole point of biblical
theology is this, the whole thing with Joseph running away,
and yeah, yeah, that's good personal application.
But the what's the whole point? It's to show that God is going
(23:17):
to be faithful to his covenant promises.
So he used Joseph to do it. That was really important for
wandering Israel to hear from Moses.
Hey guys, God's going to be trueto his covenant promises.
So it becomes a huge encouragement for them as they
go through it to remember, like,yeah, as bad as it is, yeah, God
has a plan. God's working it all out.
(23:37):
He's in charge, Yeah. SO411 this is this is.
Genesis, OR. Yeah, then it came to pass at
the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream and behold,
he stood by the river. So this is 2 years after the
other guys got out of prison andforgot about him.
He then Pharaoh had a dream and then they went and got Joseph
(24:00):
and they're like, he's like, oh,hey, I remember this one guy.
I was the only one of them remember the guy because the guy
hadn't been hung. So, but I don't, I don't know
how long Joseph was in prison before that, but we know, we
know at least two years after orhe was in prison at least two
years, but before that point, I don't know it.
Might have been 7 before that, but I.
Can't remember. I don't.
I don't remember. Any who.
(24:21):
Anyway, what is? But that's this wasn't like 2
weeks either way. I mean, this was a while long
enough that your buddy got out and he's like, Oh yeah, I
remember you. I mean, after two years you'll
be like, I think you forgot, I guess wrapping this up then and
making some application of it. So really it's just biblical
theology is just having the fullbig picture of the entire Bible
(24:42):
start to start to finish. How does all this stuff fit
together? Everything does fit together.
There is a point to the Bible right start to finish,
obviously, that the main centraltheme of the Bible is, is really
how God has reconciled us back to himself.
You know, Jesus, Jesus is the, the, the scarlet threat of
salvation that is weaved all theway through the Bible from
(25:02):
Genesis to Revelation. And so every story in there fits
into that narrative and, and the, and the bigger picture in
the in what is being taught. So just keeping that in mind as
you're reading through. So in this case, like you
brought out, yeah, there's some applications to draw out of the
story of Joseph. He was a good guy who who did
(25:26):
the right thing in a lot of in alot of tough situations.
And we can, and we can make application that, you know, we
can model our lives even after how some of the things done, you
know, we're mistreated, still work hard, you know, you know,
if you're tempted, run away. I mean, these are good things to
learn, but that's not the the central point of the story.
The central point of the story is God has a plan and he used he
(25:50):
did this in Joseph's life to make his plan happen.
You know, getting sold in the slavery by their brothers, saved
his entire father's family and really laid the groundwork for a
nation to be born inside of another nation, which eventually
then left in the Exodus. And you have the whole thing
with Moses and coming on after that.
(26:10):
I think a good safeguard when you're doing Bible study, make
sure you're doing it right is, you know, let's say I come to a
narrative like Joseph, because I'll pick another example, but I
want to start with something else.
And so the idea is like, OK, I think I understand this
narrative, but I don't really, unless I know why it's here in
(26:31):
between this and that, like whatever is before and after it,
you know, kind of you kind of figure out like the, the whole
chronology of the Bible, you know, in a sense.
And so you then you'd understandlike, OK, this next portion's
actually important because it shows or teaches or whatever and
then goes the next, next, it should have a flow to it.
And the the trouble we get is when you have like David and
(26:52):
Goliath and it's like, well, whyis this battle taking place?
What? You know what's going on?
Seriously, little micro things inside of of the bigger picture.
So, yeah, lots of things, little, little narratives, like
the little sub narrative and we make it the thing and it's a
little out of order. Yeah, we we can do, there's,
there's lots of that. You can do that with it, but you
(27:14):
always need to teach people what's going on around it.
Why that's that, Yeah. Yeah, and, and whatever you
think the the interpretation is,it can't contradict the major
narrative, Right, Right, right. Because it won't.
It won't. And so if you're like, hey, this
is my application, but it it stands in the face of what the
(27:35):
rest of the Bible teaches. What?
You clearly didn't get it right,so go back and start over.
So all right, no, that makes sense.
Let's wrap this up. That was spoke #5 and we will be
back shortly with spoke number six.
Done, done, done. All right.
OK.
Hey everybody, and welcome back to another episode of Brains,
Bibles and beyond. And beyond and beyond.
I am Nate Day and this is Joel Willoughby, and we are so glad
that you have joined us. Very glad.
So come along with us as we explore worldview apologetics.
Yes. All right.
On today's episode, we are goingto continue our series on Why do
(00:26):
Christians Disagree and and hermeneutics.
And we're going to be looking atspoke five of seven.
Yes. So why don't everybody grab your
theological receptacle and let'sget started.
(00:51):
Juicy. OK.
All right, so on our last episode we wrapped up with.
We finished up 3 and did 4. Yeah, of the seven spokes.
And so we're going to get right into spoke #5 this is a special
episode, not a full podcast. We are just doing spoke 5 today.
(01:12):
Knocking this stuff out. Yeah.
So dude, make sure you watch allthe episodes in order and the
spokes in the wheel. Essentially they're all taught
in an order, but in realistically when you use them,
you're going all over the place.You know different times, so
it's going from spoke. 1 you have text and context.
The number 2, compare translations. 3 historical and
(01:33):
cultural context. 4 is literary structure now. 5 is biblical
theology. Biblical theology, OK.
That seems important. So yeah, it's it's one of those
little bit of a misnomer because, you know, the next one
we're going to talk about not inthis episode.
The next one will be systematic theology.
And so some people might say, hey, make sure your theology is
(01:54):
systematic. And then someone else might try
to be a little more spiritual and say you need to keep your
theology biblical. It's like, OK, well, it's not to
say that anything else is non biblical theology.
It's just simply the idea of showing that Scripture has
continuity. It flows together beautifully.
(02:15):
There's themes and concepts thatstretch from Genesis to
Revelation. That's biblical theology.
So you're like looking at the whole Bible in a snapshot.
You're making sure that things are not disjointed, but they are
connected appropriately. Well, every text is a part of
the whole of Scripture. You're you're having that
mentality. So some big picture ideas that
(02:38):
really span Genesis to Revelation.
OK, the covenants of all the covenants, the dispensations, if
you are such a one as I the, theKingdom of God or King of
heaven, same thing, but you knowdifferent names, the Kingdom in
general, the the nature and attributes of God.
Huge. OK, the revelation of the
(02:59):
Messiah. So starting in Genesis 315 all
the way to the second coming of Revelation 19, you know.
So it's him, him being revealed through time and then the
schemes of Satan as you see withthe first temptation, Genesis 3,
all the way till he even deceives the nations when Jesus
ruling on earth, you know, the schemes of Satan throughout the
(03:19):
whole thing. So just big picture items like
that really help us out. And I'm going to give us an
example, Joseph, the Joseph of Genesis.
And this one is interesting. So let's just jump over to
Genesis 39 and we're going to look at starting in verse 11.
(03:41):
So Genesis 3911. And so just kind of I'm, I'm
trusting that our, their audience will have a good
appreciation of the context of the narrative of Joseph.
That's the idea. The favorite son, the rest of
the brothers hated him, sold himin the slavery.
He ends up in Egypt, right? Yeah, basically goes goes to
(04:01):
prison. And yeah, there we are.
So then this would be just as 39verse 11 picks it up where he's
already working in Potiphar's house.
OK, this is but one day when he went into the house to do his
work, Joseph and none of the menof the house was there in the
house. That's a bad sign.
First off, something's going on.She, Potiphar's wife, she caught
(04:25):
him by his garments, grabbed himby his clothes, saying lie with
me. But he left his garment in her
hand and fled and got out of thehouse, Just ran off, OK?
Yeah. So that's the proper response.
By the way, guys, when when, when that nasty lady tries to
catch a run, run for your life. Yes, well, spiritually nasty.
(04:46):
I mean, I'm sure physically there was a lot of appeal there.
But Joseph had a bigger picture in mind, you know.
So what is the interpretation and application of the text?
You know, perhaps Satan tempted Joseph, but he walked with the
Lord and so ran from temptation.So we should also what I hear a
(05:11):
lot in a lot of Sunday school type stories or even, you know,
some big church type preaching is simply basically avoiding
sexual immorality or how to endure temptation.
That's essentially what it is. I do think that that is an
application we can draw from this passage, one of many, but I
(05:32):
don't think that's the main point of the whole passage.
Sure. So this is where we're going to
strap on the helm of Bible studyto navigate this sea.
We're going to go through it. So we're focusing on biblical
theology. So First off, you know, what
genre of literature is this? What would you say with Joseph
here in Genesis? Historical Narrative.
(05:53):
Hey I like that that works. I mean.
Yeah. So then narrative here, is it
prescriptive or merely descriptive?
What do you think about that one?
Well, historical narrative is descriptive.
Is there a prescriptive part in here?
Yeah. Yeah, run away from temptation.
(06:15):
So it's definitely descriptive. And then there is a little bit
of a prescript here saying you ought to do this.
Yeah, right. Yeah, there is.
We read that and you're like, yeah, that's that was the right
response. I can apply that to my life.
So. And then, you know, considering
we're, you know, going to study this passage here.
(06:35):
So what context might be helpful?
You know, you can just generallyspeak to that.
You don't have to have exact. What context?
Might be helpful in understanding the interpretation
and application of those couple verses we read.
I have no idea where you're getting at here.
Well, just think through like, you know, if you're going to
study it for yourself, what whatwould be helpful to understand
(06:58):
those couple verses? As far as historical description
goes. Well, history.
History is part of it. Historical context.
OK, where? Where is that?
Is that what you're looking for?Well, yeah.
As broadly enough, where is thatin history?
Well, this. That's one thing.
This happens obviously in the the the broader scheme.
(07:19):
It's God's using this whole thing to, to bring the nation of
Israel down to Egypt for a time,right?
And had Joseph never gone to jail, he would never.
Let's stop there. Let's.
Stop. He would never you're.
Going to get ahead of me, right?You said that, he said.
He said the. Context.
We're just no, no, we're just sowe're mentioning like.
Where does it fit in the? Where's it fit in the timeline
(07:40):
or? What categories of context we
have to consider? So First off, history.
OK, that's I get what you're saying now we're.
Just gonna. We're not going to talk about it
all. Right.
So the context, historical context as in where it fits in
the timeline. Sure.
Yep, Yep. OK.
You know, even some cultural context specifically of, you
know, why was she there? Why were none of the men there?
(08:02):
What sort of position was he actually in?
And that can kind of intensify the moment, sure, when we
realize what's going on here. Because he was a slave of
Potiphar, but he did a such a great job, Potiphar kind of
elevate him up to like top slave.
Yeah, yeah. Which at that point you're not
really a slave. You're like, really holding a
(08:24):
pretty awesome place of honor. Well, you know, slavery, it's a
broad term and it includes bond service and things like that
too. But you know, most of the time
ancient slavery, places like Rome and whatnot, it's not the
typical slavery that we grow up knowing.
We know of the dark side of agricultural slavery in America,
(08:44):
you know, and there was some real messed up stuff within that
you, you end up sending like crazy when you lose track of the
idea that this is a human being bearing the image of God.
There's sanctity of life, there's value, right?
So when we will lose that, that's when everything all goes
downhill. But even like in Rome and stuff,
you'd have slaves that could be like doctors and lawyers and
(09:05):
things. So it was not the same, not the
same at all. Anyway, that's a side note.
That's a side note, all right. But but you have the cultural
context of we're we're in ancient Egypt.
There you go. We're yeah, we're on track still
a little bit here. So then, you know, we just, we
covered this last time literary structure.
OK, So think, think about this part.
(09:28):
How many years of history does the book of Genesis cover?
Just to give me a rough guess, the most conservative, like the
most conservative number of years you could use?
From from Adam and Eve to to. To.
Joseph to well, to Moses, basically.
(09:50):
Well, no, we're just looking at the narrative history, you know
what I mean? So like narrative history,
you're only going through Josephin Genesis, even though Moses
wrote it. So just the narrative.
Yeah. So you have.
Yeah. Creation through Joseph's life.
So let's see, you have, gosh, how long is that?
(10:14):
That's probably 2500 years. Yeah, I'd say on the most
conservative end. 2000 you're. Looking at like 3000 years at
least 3000 minimum. OK, that long because how long
is it from the flood to Jesus? Well, so it depends on, so if
you use the usher's dates, whichis the most conservative number
(10:38):
of years. And I don't necessarily, I don't
agree with all the points of history, but I don't think he's
too far off. I I think he's in the ballpark
and so he would have creation at4004 BC and then the flood was I
get them mixed up. It's either 17 or 1300 years
later, I forget exactly which iswhich now off off the top of my
(11:02):
head. But then so then you got to
think like Moses was leading Israel out like 1440 BC.
So so. That's 2600 years.
Yeah, yeah. So.
It was real close to my guess of2500.
I think, I think no. Yeah, 23 but but.
You got to take 400. They were in Egypt for 400
years, wasn't it? Well, yeah.
(11:23):
Yeah, 20, yeah, 2200 years. Most.
Conservatively. If you mean like slaves in Egypt
rounded to 400 years, yes. So so this is this most
conservatively then would be 2200 years span of book of
Genesis. It'd be.
(11:44):
If it's if it's 2600 years from.Yeah, it doesn't matter.
We get the idea. If, if if if if creation was at
4000. Yeah.
And and Moses left in 1400. That's 2600 years.
But take 400 off of that. That's 2200.
So you have OK. So that would be most
conservative. So when I guess 2500 to maybe
(12:06):
2000, I was right in that ballpark, most conservative.
Yeah, yeah. All right.
I'll give it to. You you you can count
differently if you want, but either way.
It's fine, yes. You're a couple thousand years.
We're way off of history in Genesis.
You asked the question. The whole point is.
You asked the question. Yeah, yeah, it's.
Too too long, too long. So the, the point is there's,
there's like a few thousand years here and the whole point
(12:27):
is you look at Genesis one through 9, even Genesis one
through 6 really that's that's covering like 1700 years of
history right there of just those few chapters.
And this is not that long after the flood when you really look
at it. Yeah, it's relative, relative
(12:48):
terms, right? Well, just because of how long
the people, the first couple generations as the flood lived.
Yeah, so, so then. You have like the guys that got
off the boat would have just been dying not long before this.
So Shim would have been alive when Abraham was alive, Yeah.
That's only a couple generationsahead of Joseph there.
So, so just as 37, you first start hearing about Joseph,
(13:13):
Chapter 38 takes a break to Judah and Tamar deal, which is
very relevant actually, but thatmight be another talk of how
that fits exactly. But then then you picked it up
back in 39. So basically just as 37 through
50 -, 1 chapter, you have just Joseph.
(13:33):
So why is it that less than 100 years gets like triple the time
as? It was important for.
Some reasons there. So this is biblical theology.
He's really setting the stage for the Exodus, obviously.
But but why? Why is it more important than
that? Yeah.
So it becomes, it comes like, like just because of the way the
(13:57):
the literature is structured. I understand that the most
important take away from the whole book of Genesis is the
life of Joseph. OK.
That can be argued, I'm sure, but just as far as time spent
right, it becomes the most important figure.
So then we so so then we think about more context.
(14:20):
OK, so when we think about history, you know, Moses writes
to wandering Israel. So whenever a scripture is being
written, you always have to think what is the goal of the
author to communicate? What's the goal like for the
audience to do or change? You know, to some extent there's
(14:41):
always a response, the desired response coming from the
original readership. And So what, you know, what was
that that Moses was trying to communicate to wandering Israel
when he wrote Genesis? OK.
So that, you know, keep that thought in your head.
And then, you know, we've we've talked about this before, but
who is the hero of every narrative is God.
(15:04):
God is, and you know, the whole Bible, right?
But we're just, you know, narratives are easy to get
confused because we have Samson as our hero.
David Moses is our hero, you know, and we're missing the
point. Yeah, some subplot heroes.
Yeah. Yeah.
But there is that. There is an ultimate goal of the
Bible. So already we know that with the
(15:24):
story of Joseph or the narrativeof Joseph, Joseph's not actually
the hero of the story. God is, which is, you know, it's
hard for people to swallow that down sometimes.
You know, when we have that famous story of Joseph running
from Potiphar's wife, we really easily make him the hero.
And this is the model we need tobe like Joseph.
(15:45):
Sure, and that's an application you can make out of it it.
Is a good application, but it's not the primary.
Point of the story. Yeah, right.
Exactly, exactly. So what is it?
What is it? OK, so really, really neat stuff
here. Let's see, let's go to.
So in Genesis 50, the end, Joseph shows an understanding of
(16:10):
his life situation. So sometimes you know, you're,
you're speculating through it out throughout the whole thing.
Well, is Joseph cool and calm? Is Joseph courageous?
Is he fearful? What's he thinking about as as
these life events are happening?How is he actually processing
this? Well, so Genesis 5019 through
21, it says this, but Joseph said to them, so his brothers,
(16:34):
this is after the whole everything's exposed.
Joseph said to them, Do not fear, for am I in the place of
God? This is after his dad just died,
right? Yes, and they thought like they
were the only reason we're alive.
Yeah, because he's like, oh, hey, now dad's gone.
Because dad lived, what, 17 years in Egypt, I think
something like that. I don't remember roughly.
(16:54):
It wasn't real long because he was old when he came and he
lived a little while and now hisdad dies and they're like, uh
oh, now what's Joseph going to do?
We didn't treat him very good. Father's gone.
Now he's going to kill. Us all.
What's he going to do? Yeah.
So then he says verse 20, As foryou, you meant evil against me,
(17:15):
but God meant it for good. This isn't the first time he
told him that either. He told him that when they when
he first revealed himself to him, right?
Not in these words anyways. What do?
What can you look up you at the?Past you're thinking I'll find
what I'm looking at. Because this is definitely at
least the most pointed, most blunt.
Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, As for you, you meant
evil against me, you know, selling slavery and stuff like
(17:37):
that, but God meant it for good.That's a really interesting
thing to what purpose he says tobring it about that many people
should be kept alive as they aretoday.
So he's thinking about like all the nation of Israel, the nation
of Israel. And he wraps up with verse 21.
So do not fear. I will provide for you and your
little ones. He saw the big picture.
(17:59):
He saw what God's plan was for his life.
The whole reason that Joseph gotsold into slavery into Egypt and
everything else was to help Israel, the nation.
So this this is the what the first I was thinking of Genesis
45 five. This is right when he reveals
himself to him. I'm Joseph, your brother.
Right. Who?
Who? Whom you sold in the Egypt.
(18:20):
Yeah, I remember. But now do not therefore be
grieved or angry with yourselvesbecause you you sold me here.
For God sent me before you to preserve life.
Yes, yeah. Very good.
So he's revealing like, hey, this is this was God's whole
plan. Later on, he reminds them, hey,
you guys were evil. But but God still meant it for
good. Yeah.
(18:41):
So anyway that that's what I wasthinking of.
That's good. I'm going to throw that in here
and act like I knew it ahead of time.
OK, I knew I knew it was something there, but that is
really good. I want to remember that for next
time I do this. OK, so that's Psalm 45 way and.
In 40 and 45 seven, he says, andGod sent me before you to
preserve a posterity for you on the earth and to save your lives
(19:03):
by great deliverance. So even then he's like I'm I'm
here to save the whole family. Now, you know, but then he
would, he would have known. He would have known the promises
of God of like, you know, this future nation of Israel.
Thing is, you know, this is supposed to be a good thing.
Yeah. What?
Was that second verse you said? 45 Seven.
(19:24):
O457 OK. Yeah, so I read 45 five, and
then I basically skipped 6, which is at least two years of
famine and land. There are still five years which
remain. And then, you know God sent me
here to preserve a posterity foryou.
Yeah. Meaning I'm going to I'm here to
preserve your family. I was actually.
(19:44):
Which is also his family. Out of another passage, which is
interesting that you brought that up is really good.
I'm going to make the same point, but for, just from a
different passage of scripture. So I hope I just read that this
week. That's why it was fresh on my
head. Yeah, well, you know, they say
humility is telling the full truth.
And so it's like, yeah, this is this is how I That's good.
(20:04):
All right, So we see Joseph's understanding even before I read
the other passage, his understanding even in his
children's names. Which is really interesting.
Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh, he's the older one,
the twins, right. But Manasseh means cause to
forget. So in other words, the goodness
(20:24):
of everything has made him forget the trials.
You know, Ephraim means double fruit.
So the idea is God's given him so much more it's caused him to
forget about. He's not.
He's not bitter. He's not dwelling in the past.
Yeah. He's recognized that the the
temporary time I spent maybe, what, two years in prison?
(20:45):
What was more than that? It was.
I wasn't. Oh yeah, yeah, I know.
He was in there for a long time.Well, two years after the other
guys got out, was that it? I.
Just remember it was a long timewith the Baker and the the other
dude, the cupbearer guy. It was like they they forgot
about him. You.
Keep going. I'll interject at some point,
(21:06):
yeah. Yeah, it's fine.
So yeah, yeah, he had a lot of bad situations there.
I want to read from Psalm 105 though, and for time's sake I
can cut it down to verses 6 to 25.
But Psalm one, O 5, beautiful retelling of Israel's history.
And notice, you know the big thing to notice is God's place
(21:29):
for Joseph here. So it says, O offspring of
Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob has chosen once he is
the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the
earth. He remembers his covenant
forever, the word that he commanded for 1000 generations.
The covenant that he made with Abraham is his sworn promise to
Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute to Israel's
(21:50):
an everlasting covenant, saying to you, I will give the land of
Canaan as your portion for inheritance.
When they were few in number, Israel of little account and
sojourners in it, wandering fromnation to nation, from one
Kingdom to another people, He allowed no one to oppress them.
He rebuked kings on their account, saying touch not my
anointed ones, do my profits no harm.
(22:13):
When he summoned a famine on theland and broke all supply of
bread. So God made that famine happen.
He had sent a man ahead of him, Joseph, who was souls a slave.
So he took full credit for him going to slavery.
His feet were hurt with fetters,his neck was put in a collar of
iron until what he had said cameto pass.
The word of the Lord tested him.The king sent and released him.
(22:35):
So that's like a part of the Potiphar's wife thing, you know,
tested him as part of it. There's more to it than that.
The king sent and released him, the ruler of the people set him
free. He made him a Lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions, to bind his
Princess at his pleasure and to teach his elders wisdom.
Then Israel came to Egypt, Jacobsojourn in the land of Ham.
The Lord made his people very fruitful, made them stronger
(22:56):
than their foes. He turned their hearts to hate
his people, to deal craftily with his servants.
So it goes on different things. The whole point of biblical
theology is this, the whole thing with Joseph running away,
and yeah, yeah, that's good personal application.
But the what's the whole point? It's to show that God is going
(23:17):
to be faithful to his covenant promises.
So he used Joseph to do it. That was really important for
wandering Israel to hear from Moses.
Hey guys, God's going to be trueto his covenant promises.
So it becomes a huge encouragement for them as they
go through it to remember, like,yeah, as bad as it is, yeah, God
has a plan. God's working it all out.
(23:37):
He's in charge, Yeah. SO411 this is this is.
Genesis, OR. Yeah, then it came to pass at
the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream and behold,
he stood by the river. So this is 2 years after the
other guys got out of prison andforgot about him.
He then Pharaoh had a dream and then they went and got Joseph
(24:00):
and they're like, he's like, oh,hey, I remember this one guy.
I was the only one of them remember the guy because the guy
hadn't been hung. So, but I don't, I don't know
how long Joseph was in prison before that, but we know, we
know at least two years after orhe was in prison at least two
years, but before that point, I don't know it.
Might have been 7 before that, but I.
Can't remember. I don't.
I don't remember. Any who.
(24:21):
Anyway, what is? But that's this wasn't like 2
weeks either way. I mean, this was a while long
enough that your buddy got out and he's like, Oh yeah, I
remember you. I mean, after two years you'll
be like, I think you forgot, I guess wrapping this up then and
making some application of it. So really it's just biblical
theology is just having the fullbig picture of the entire Bible
(24:42):
start to start to finish. How does all this stuff fit
together? Everything does fit together.
There is a point to the Bible right start to finish,
obviously, that the main centraltheme of the Bible is, is really
how God has reconciled us back to himself.
You know, Jesus, Jesus is the, the, the scarlet threat of
salvation that is weaved all theway through the Bible from
(25:02):
Genesis to Revelation. And so every story in there fits
into that narrative and, and the, and the bigger picture in
the in what is being taught. So just keeping that in mind as
you're reading through. So in this case, like you
brought out, yeah, there's some applications to draw out of the
story of Joseph. He was a good guy who who did
(25:26):
the right thing in a lot of in alot of tough situations.
And we can, and we can make application that, you know, we
can model our lives even after how some of the things done, you
know, we're mistreated, still work hard, you know, you know,
if you're tempted, run away. I mean, these are good things to
learn, but that's not the the central point of the story.
The central point of the story is God has a plan and he used he
(25:50):
did this in Joseph's life to make his plan happen.
You know, getting sold in the slavery by their brothers, saved
his entire father's family and really laid the groundwork for a
nation to be born inside of another nation, which eventually
then left in the Exodus. And you have the whole thing
with Moses and coming on after that.
(26:10):
I think a good safeguard when you're doing Bible study, make
sure you're doing it right is, you know, let's say I come to a
narrative like Joseph, because I'll pick another example, but I
want to start with something else.
And so the idea is like, OK, I think I understand this
narrative, but I don't really, unless I know why it's here in
(26:31):
between this and that, like whatever is before and after it,
you know, kind of you kind of figure out like the, the whole
chronology of the Bible, you know, in a sense.
And so you then you'd understandlike, OK, this next portion's
actually important because it shows or teaches or whatever and
then goes the next, next, it should have a flow to it.
And the the trouble we get is when you have like David and
(26:52):
Goliath and it's like, well, whyis this battle taking place?
What? You know what's going on?
Seriously, little micro things inside of of the bigger picture.
So, yeah, lots of things, little, little narratives, like
the little sub narrative and we make it the thing and it's a
little out of order. Yeah, we we can do, there's,
there's lots of that. You can do that with it, but you
(27:14):
always need to teach people what's going on around it.
Why that's that, Yeah. Yeah, and, and whatever you
think the the interpretation is,it can't contradict the major
narrative, Right, Right, right. Because it won't.
It won't. And so if you're like, hey, this
is my application, but it it stands in the face of what the
(27:35):
rest of the Bible teaches. What?
You clearly didn't get it right,so go back and start over.
So all right, no, that makes sense.
Let's wrap this up. That was spoke #5 and we will be
back shortly with spoke number six.
Done, done, done. All right.
OK.
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