{"id":39837,"date":"2018-09-12T13:27:05","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T10:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=39837"},"modified":"2022-04-05T17:33:53","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T14:33:53","slug":"on-theological-certainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/on-theological-certainty\/","title":{"rendered":"On Theological Certainty"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[384],"acf":{"old_id":"39837","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":36147,"related_cahpter":"45","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Maybe. That\u2019s all we can say right now: maybe...","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having taking the extraordinary step of revealing himself to his brothers, Joseph is met with what must have been silence born of terror. Instead of an emotional reunion, then, we hear a theological discourse, as Joseph fumbles for words and thoughts to put his brothers at ease:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDon\u2019t be distressed or be remorseful that you sold me here; it was to keep life going that God sent me ahead of you. \u2026 God sent me ahead of you to ensure your survival on earth, and to save your lives in an extraordinary deliverance, so it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether Joseph believed this prior to encountering his brothers is impossible to say. Earlier he had thanked God for helping him escape the oppression of his father\u2019s Canaanite house, and for helping him flourish in his new land of affliction (41:51-52). In our chapter, he seems to be convinced that that original understanding of the plan was flawed, and the real purpose was only now fully revealed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The role of God in the story of Joseph is, literarily, complicated. God disappears for the first time in the story of the sale (Genesis 37), and never \u201cappears\u201d to Joseph, although Joseph gives God plenty of credit throughout.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The idea that \u201cnow it all makes sense\u201d is a powerful one. But it is a fraught one, as well. Can anyone ever really be sure that it\u2019s all clear now? I prefer the honest approach of the farmer in the old Taoist story, whose horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. &#8220;Such bad luck,&#8221; they said sympathetically. &#8220;Maybe,&#8221; the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. &#8220;Such good luck!&#8221; the neighbors exclaimed. &#8220;Maybe,&#8221; replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. \u201cSuch bad luck!\u201d &#8220;Maybe,&#8221; answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. They passed by the young man with the broken leg. \u201cSuch good luck!\u201d &#8220;Maybe,&#8221; said the farmer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On my reading, this is the approach of the author of Esther, as well. Everything works out in the end, and Esther and the Jews live happily ever after. But did it all work out so well for Joseph, actually? \u201cA new king arose, who did not know Joseph,\u201d and the bondage of Egypt began. The author of Esther won\u2019t say, therefore. There is no comment at the end of the book that \u201cthis turns out to have been a divine plan all along.\u201d Many Jews have read Esther and said, \u201cAha! I see God in the king, in the interstices, in the absence, in the very hiddenness.\u201d And to this the author, perhaps slightly wiser than Joseph, says only, \u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":96292,"id":96292,"title":"lam3-maybe","filename":"lam3-maybe.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/lam3-maybe.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/maybe\/lam3-maybe\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"lam3-maybe","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":96291,"date":"2021-08-11 10:38:56","modified":"2022-04-05 14:33:50","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1357,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/lam3-maybe-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/lam3-maybe-300x212.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":212,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/lam3-maybe-768x543.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":543,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/lam3-maybe-1024x724.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":724,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/lam3-maybe.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1086,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/lam3-maybe.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1357,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/lam3-maybe-1200x848.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":848,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/lam3-maybe-594x420.jpg","home_baner-width":594,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"On Theological Certainty","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Maybe. 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