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|
October 14, 2007 "Jacob's Dream
at Bethel" |
The St. Martin's Prime Timers Adult Bible Fellowship Welcomes You to Our Web Page!
We meet in the Payne Education Center, rooms 207-209, after the 9am Sunday Service, from 10:10 to 10:50am. We are studying the Book of Genesis for the next couple months, and you are invited to explore with us.
The St. Martin's Adult Bible Fellowships (ABF's) are following a course of study based on the work of the Committee on the Uniform Series, also known as the International Lessons. Bible students around the world are using this same framework, why not you?
Prime Timers Good News
At the beginning of our class we spend time hearing our members Good News. Presenting this news requires a $1 donation to our Good News chicken, Henny Penny. Currently we are donating this money to the Amistad Mission in Bolivia, a Christian partnership between North Americans and Bolivians for the benefit of their children in need.
Today one member's daughter's car died! The reason this is good news is that it happened and no one was hurt and mainly caused some inconvenience. Our teacher Richard told us that his granddaughter is moving out of town, but its to Boulder, Colorado. Richard thinks this will be a great place to visit! Linda celebrated her mothers 83rd birthday, and Lynn topped that with her mother having her 92nd!!
Esau and Jacob as Rivals
Our teacher for October is Richard Cruse. He picked up where Ben Welmaker left off in our journey through the Book of Genesis. Richard presented this as a story that can be looked at two ways, as an ancestor story and a story of sibling rivalry. As ancestors, Esau is the progenitor of the Edomites, and Jacob the forefather of the Jews. Esau's name means red or hairy and sounds like a mountain range near Edom. This "punning" continues when Esau asks for "red stew" in Genesis 25:29. Jacob's name is a play on the Hebrew word for heel, as in "he takes the heel" when coming out of the womb. It can also mean "he supplants."
These two children are in conflict, even in Rebekah's womb! Esau is
the outdoorsman, a hunter living in the wild, while Jacob is the
tent-dwelling farmer. It is a good indication that no good will come
between the two children when Rebekah is said to love Jacob, while
Isaac, the father, loves Esau. Rebekah is told by the Lord
in Genesis 25:23
"Two
nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will
be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger."
This prophesy starts to be fulfilled in our reading as Jacob acquires Esau's birthright, basically for a good meal! A birthright in those ancient times made the first born the head of the family when the father dies, and to get a double inheritance. So the fact that Esau gives it up so readily shows that he is more concerned about his present needs, to stuff himself, than with his future. Richard made a point about attention deficit disorder (ADD) here, bringing Esau's impulsiveness into a modern context. Isn't it possible that what we now call ADD is really the alertness and quick reflexes of the hunter? When you are chasing game, or when it might start chasing you, the present is your main concern!
Sibling rivalries can be very emotional, and ruinous affairs, and of course the Bible gives us many examples. The story of Cain and Abel in the Bible at Genesis 4 and in the Qur'an at 5:27-32 is one example. Richard is a lawyer and he described a family he dealt with in his practice, with a son and two daughters. Like many Texans, they had a weekend farm, and only the son made use of the property. The parents decided to give the farm to the son, and the two daughters sued the parents!!! Yikes!!
Then Richard shifted gears to remind us of what Jesus said of these
matters, in Luke 12:13-15 "Someone in the crowd said to him,
"Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed
me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15Then
he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of
greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his
possessions."
Class discussion centered around how material concerns can lead to some unsavory situations, and then it was time for the 11am service.
Peace be with you!
Prime Timers Contact names and numbers
Mentor
Rev. B. Massey Gentry
mgentry@stmartinsepiscopal.org
Leaders
Anne Berry
832/251-8868 H
anne.berry@comcast.net
Max Kech
713/802-0690 H
maxkech2003@yahoo.com
Marty Smith
713/464-6737 H
martys47@comcast.net
Teachers
Richard Cruse
Pete Seale
Ben Welmaker
bhwjr@flash.net
Outreach (inviting and welcoming new members)
Anne Berry
832/251-8868 H
anne.berry@comcast.net
Elizabeth Sleeper
jsleeperjr@comcast.net
Jacob and Esau by Israeli photographer Adi Nes, 2006. Its a chromogenic print, 70 x 90 inches, currently at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City. Note the red stew!
Isaac Blessing Esau, by Govert Flinck, 1638, oil on canvas, at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Abraham - Isaac - Jacob - Judah, by Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1511-12, Engraving, at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
Our own St Martin, by Jacob van Oost, the Elder, oil on canvas, at the Groeninge Museum, Bruges.
The Lesson for Sunday, October 14th is titled "Jacobs Dream at Bethel"
Key Verse: Genesis 28:15
Focus of the Lesson: Humans dream, though we do not always remember or understand our dreams. What is the purpose of a dream? In the story of Jacob at Bethel, a dream reassured Jacob of God's continuing covenant with him.
The reading is Genesis 28:10-22. This text is from the New International Version. (NIV)
Background Scripture: Genesis 27:41--28:22
10Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
16When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." 17He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."
18Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God 22and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."
NIV
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