Middle Eastern Lenses: Part 2

0:17 Welcome to the Rabbi Way, where we don't just read scripture, we posture our hearts like the disciples to sit at the feet of Rabbi Jesus. Through this podcast, we will be stepping back in time and rediscovering the stories we thought we already knew. As we learn together, we will begin to see the details we missed, the stories we've forgotten, and the thread that ties the entire Bible together. I'm Vic Harmon, and on this season, we're diving deep into the story of Joseph and his multicolored coat, exploring the history, culture, and geography that surrounds his story. Our exploration will be slow, yes, but intentional. As we learn about Joseph and his life, we will begin to understand him better, see his purpose in the biblical narrative, and how his story still impacts us today.

1:04 So, grab your Bible, your curiosity, and maybe some sandals, and get ready to learn with us, the Rabbi Way.

2:20 The first being function over form, and the second was asking the question, why would God do that? Both of these lenses gave us new perspectives on Joseph's story. Today we're going to continue shifting our perspective as we look at three more Middle Eastern lenses.

3:07 In the modern Western world, we are trained to say, I will believe once I understand. Show me the evidence, explain it clearly, resolve the tension, then I will trust it. Western readers often come to Genesis 37 asking questions like, Why didn't God stop this? Why didn't Joseph speak up? Why didn't Jacob protect him? Why does God allow suffering like this? And when answers don't come quickly, Western readers grow uncomfortable. We say, I can't trust God, I don't understand. So belief becomes conditional. Trust is delayed until clarity arrives. But in the ancient Middle Eastern world, scripture is approached very differently.

3:52 The posture is not understand first, the posture is believe first, and then over time that informs your understanding. Middle Eastern readers approach the text with a covenantal assumption that God is good, God is faithful, and God always keeps his promises. So instead of demanding answers first, they stand on that belief and let understanding grow slowly, often across years or even generations. They don't ask, do you believe this? Instead, they ask, what is God revealing through this passage? This is not blind faith.

4:34 This is relational trust. Genesis 37 makes very little sense if you require understanding before belief. Joseph doesn't understand his dreams. Jacob does not understand his son's calling. The brothers certainly do not understand what God is up to. And yet, God is still moving. From a Middle Eastern perspective, the original audience would not say this doesn't make sense. They would say God is trustworthy, even when the story is unfinished. Belief comes first, meaning comes later. Joseph's life is a living example of believing before understanding.

5:17 He believes the dreams but doesn't understand them. He is sent away but doesn't see the purpose. He is betrayed, but still walks forward. He descends into the depths before he rises to power. At no point in Genesis 37 does Joseph receive an explanation. He receives a calling, not a roadmap. And that is deeply Middle Eastern. When we read Genesis 37 through this lens, we learn something powerful about God. God does not always explain himself, but he always proves himself faithful. Belief is not the reward for understanding.

5:58 Understanding is often the fruit of belief. So as we are reading Genesis 37, instead of asking, do I understand this yet? Ask the Middle Eastern question, Am I willing to trust God while I don't? Genesis 37 invites us into a faith that is patient, relational, and deeply rooted into trust. A faith that believes first and understands later. Which brings us to another major difference between Middle Eastern and Western lenses: story versus moral lessons. Western readers are taught to bring the assumption that the Bible is primarily a book of rules, principles, and moral lessons.

6:43 So when we read a passage like Genesis 37, we instinctively go looking for this. We look for the rules to obey, the principles to extract, and the moral lesson to apply. We ask questions like, what did Joseph do right or wrong? How should I live differently? What lesson can I take from the story? But this approach is very Western. The ancient Middle Eastern world did not read scripture as a rule book first. They read it as a story. In the Middle Eastern mindset, truth is primarily conveyed through narrative, not abstraction. The Jewish rabbis would say a teaching without a story is like a basket without handles.

7:29 You cannot pick it up. Middle Easterners are not extracting isolated verses to gain understanding of a rule or principle. They are instead taking in the whole story. Genesis 37 is not a lesson plan. It's the opening chapter of a long unfolding drama. And the Middle Eastern readers know you cannot understand the story until you let it finish. Westerner readers often stop Genesis 37 too early. We pause as soon as we get uncomfortable and rush to conclusions. We see Joseph's immaturity and we think, well, Joseph should not have shared his dreams with his family.

8:12 We see the brothers' jealousy and think the brothers, they're definitely the villains. We see the betrayal and Jacob holding the bloody coat and think, Jacob, you failed as a father. How could you have done this? And while these observations may be true, they are also incomplete because Western reading tends to freeze-frame the story. Narrative truth requires time. Middle Eastern readers are comfortable sitting in an unresolved moment. They do not rush to explain the pit because they know the pit is not the conclusion.

8:53 They do not demand justice in chapter 37 because they trust the story is still moving. In Middle Eastern storytelling, meaning comes later. Faith is not built on immediate clarity. It's built on trusting the author. The story of Joseph is doing something very specific in the biblical narrative. It is not asking, what should you do? It's asking, can you trust God while the story is unfinished? Middle Eastern readers assume that God reveals himself through the arc of the story, not through instant explanation. As Westerners, we want God to show up as teacher, giving us instructions, correcting behavior, or explaining outcomes.

9:38 We want it now, immediately. But in the narrative scripture, God appears more like an author. He allows failure, delays, and misunderstandings because transformation happens through story, not shortcuts. Genesis 37 is not about behaving better, it's about becoming someone over time. God is way more interested in who we are becoming than quick moral outcomes. God allows the story to unfold slowly because long obedience forms deep faith. Genesis 37 invites us to stop rushing to resolution and start trusting the storyteller.

10:24 The Bible is not a rule book first, it is a redemptive narrative, and we are all being invited into it. Which brings us to the next Middle Eastern question. We as Western readers often come to Joseph and the multicolored coat and instinctively assume the story is about Joseph. So we analyze Joseph, we critique his immaturity, we debate whether he should have shared his dreams or not. We ask, was he right or was he wrong? But when we shift into a Middle Eastern reading, the center of gravity moves. The Middle Eastern reader says the story is not primarily about Joseph.

11:06 Rather, the story, like the rest of the Bible, is about God. That shift leads us to one of the most important Middle Eastern questions we can ask. What does this passage tell me about God? This question does not rush toward application. It slows down to observe God's character, God's patterns, and God's purposes. And when we ask that question of this passage, a stunning portrait of God begins to emerge. The first thing we notice about God in this chapter is God is a God who prepares long before we understand. Joseph doesn't understand his dreams.

11:47 Jacob doesn't understand the dreams either. The brothers certainly do not understand the dreams. But God does. Before the famine ever comes, before Joseph ever reaches Egypt, before Israel ever needs to be rescued, God is already setting events in motion. This tells us that God's plans are often unfolding far beyond our awareness. Preparation comes long before the explanation. Secondly, God is a God who works through human sin without endorsing it. Genesis 37 does not excuse the brothers' actions.

12:28 Their jealousy, deception, and violence are clearly wrong. And yet God still works through their choices. This reveals a God who is not dependent on human perfection. Rather, God does not approve sin, but he is never limited by it. Redemption does not wait for ideal circumstances, it advances through the broken ones. Thirdly, God is a God who enters dysfunctional families. Genesis 37 is not a story of a healthy household. It is a story filled with favoritism, rivalry, silence, and resentment. And God does not avoid this family.

13:10 He does not look at them and decide to pick a better, more put together family. No. He steps directly into the mess. This tells us something profound. God does not wait for families to be fixed before he works. He works within the dysfunction to bring out restoration. God is a God who begins redemption in the darkest places. The pit feels like the end, but it's the beginning. Egypt feels like punishment, but it's positioning. Slavery feels like abandonment, but it's preparation.

13:52 Middle Eastern readers immediately recognize a pattern here. God often brings his greatest work where all hope seems lost. Throughout the Bible, dissent often precedes deliverance. Fifth, God is a God who stays present even when he stays silent. One of the most striking features of Genesis 37 is that God ne is never named as acting directly. There is no, and the Lord said, There's no visible intervention. But when we reach Genesis 39 and the text tells us four times that the Lord was with Joseph, which means God didn't suddenly appear in Egypt.

14:38 He was present the entire time. Silence does not mean absence. It means God is working in ways that do not yet require an explanation. Six, God is a God who sees what no one else can see. Joseph sees betrayal. The brothers see a threat. Jacob sees a loss. But God sees the famine coming. God sees Egypt's infrastructure. God sees Israel's future. God sees the lineage that will lead to the Messiah. Where humans see chaos. God sees continuity. Where humans see endings.

15:20 God sees outcomes. When we read Genesis 37 and ask the Middle Eastern question, what does this passage tell me about God? The story becomes a portrait of divine faithfulness rather than human failure. Even though God is unnamed in this chapter, he is everywhere in this narrative. As Western readers, we tend to center this passage on the human response. We tend to ask, where is God when Joseph is enduring this traumatic experience? But Middle Eastern readers know this passage centers on God's ongoing activity. God has always been there. He is just setting the stage for deliverance.

16:01 When we read scripture through ancient eyes, everything slows down. Middle Eastern readings do not rush to apply the text. It first asks the two fundamental questions. Why would God do that? And what does this reveal about who He is? And only after sitting with those questions do we finally ask, so what does this mean for me? And that order matters because it produces a very different way of reading and a very different understanding of the Joseph's story. This perspective helps us read Genesis 37 in a way that it's meant to be read, not as a story of moral lessons, but as a story of revealing a faithful God.

16:46 In our next episode, we're going to retell the entire Joseph story again, but this time with all the lenses we've explored firmly in place. The basic questions that we've talked about, the genealogy, geography, and culture, redemptive history, theological themes, and the Middle Eastern lenses. You'll hear the story not as modern readers, but as the original audience would have heard it. The same story, but with ancient eyes and ears. Once you hear it that way, you will never read the story of Joseph the same again. Until next time, remember every story in the Bible is intentional.

17:27 Every detail is significant. Every person is critical. This is the greatest story ever told, and if we take the time to slow down and pay attention, we will experience God like never before. See you next time. Thank you for listening to The Rabbi Way. This episode was written and produced by me, Vic Harmon. Music is historic cinematic adventure by Demetrius. If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and review the channel. It really does help us out.

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