Exodus 32: 1-14 The narrative about God’s relationship with God’s people in the wilderness continues, (after seven intervening chapters of cultic law).  Moses,  who had led God’s people out of slavery, has been unseen and unheard from for forty days … Continue reading →

Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9 God identifies God’s-Self to Moses as the same God known by prior wondrous acts of deliverance– the God “who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery…” — is the … Continue reading →

Exodus: 17: 1-7 Just three days after their miraculous delivery from slavery, God’s people start to “murmur” against their leaders about the lack of water (Ex 15: 22ff); just two months later, they “murmured” about the scarcity of food and … Continue reading →

Exodus 16: 2-15 Just two months after God’s spectacular deliverance of God’s people from slavery, they complain  to their leaders: “If only we had died in Egypt, where we .. ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us … Continue reading →

Exodus 14: 19-31 The “angel of the Lord” and the “pillar of cloud” that had been in front of the Israelites as they fled Pharaoh and his army now moves behind them, coming “between the army of Egypt and the … Continue reading →

Exodus 12: 1-14 After 430 years in Egypt (v. 40) and worsening negotiations between God’s representative, Moses, and Pharaoh for the release of God’s people from slavery, they are on the eve of escape.  Moses and Aaron are given detailed … Continue reading →

Genesis 3: 1-15 Moses was tending the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro, near Mt. Horeb when a messenger/angel of the Lord “appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush,” which burned, but was not … Continue reading →

Exodus 1: 8- 2:10 The narratives of individual patriarchs and matriarchs now shifts to the story of the Israelites in Egypt.  In last Sunday’s reading, Joseph  promised that his father, brothers and their families would flourish  under his protection in … Continue reading →

Genesis 45: 1-15 Joseph has risen to great power in Egypt; the foreigner becomes the ultimate insider.  Desperately seeking food during a famine, Joseph’s brothers journey to Egypt and are taken to Pharaoh’s deputy.  They do not recognize their brother, … Continue reading →

Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28 Patriarchal and matriarchal and sibling rivalry continues into the next generation, but God still finds a way to extend the covenant.  Jacob/Israel and Rachel’s seventeen year old son, Joseph, was assisting his brothers in shepherding the … Continue reading →