The Anchor Stories

0:31 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 this season we are diving deep into the story of Joseph and his multicolored coat, exploring the history, the culture, the 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.

1:21 So grab your Bible, your curiosity, and maybe some sandals, and get ready to learn with us the Rabbi Way.

2:42 The Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, all memorized by their thirteenth birthday. This gives every practicing Jewish person the same foundation. If you want to know what it means to be fundamentally Jewish, you read and embody those five books. In our Western American culture, we also have a common foundation that unites most Christians. Some would argue that it's the Christmas and Easter stories, which is partially true. While others would argue it's the entire New Testament, which is also partially true.

3:22 But I believe the commonality taught to most Western American Christians are these five main stories of the Bible. Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, David, and Jesus. These are the stories that are fundamental to the Western Christianity. But there is so much more to the story of God than these five stories. As I was working on my first doctoral project, one of the people I was interviewing made this metaphor. Pretend like you were looking at a blank coloring sheet that has the outline of a picture. And though you can see what the picture is, it is not beautiful until you add color to it. Until you add shadows and light.

4:03 These are what give it color, depth, and make the picture come to life. For the Bible, these five stories serve as the outline. We understand the point of scripture based on these stories, but it's the stories that fall between these five that bring the color. It's the historical and cultural and geographical backdrop that brings the depth. And it's the Middle Eastern lens that makes it come to life. So today, as we begin our journey together, I want us to pause and take some time to do a quick overview of these five anchor stories to refresh our memory of the story we are encountering. You have likely heard these stories before. I don't think anything about today's episode will surprise you, but I want to start very broad and invite you to uncover where the story of Joseph fits between these stories we already know.

5:29 At the beginning. God created light, land, space, animals, and humans from absolutely nothing. It was a perfect world designed for humanity to live in perfect unity with God. There was only one rule in this perfect world. Don't eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But the serpent came and deceived Eve, convincing her that God was holding out on her. She ate the fruit of the tree and gave it to Adam, and he ate it, and sin entered the world.

6:09 What was once perfect unity with God was now division and shame. We fast forward a few hundred years, and Noah enters the scene. By this point, humanity is so deep into sin that everyone did what they felt was right. Genesis 6, 5 says, The Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only on evil all the time. But Noah found favor with God. In a world full of wickedness, Noah was righteous. God came to Noah and commissioned him to build a boat because he was going to flood the earth.

6:50 This was strange and out of the ordinary because no one had ever seen rain at this time. So Noah starts building the ark just as God had instructed. God told him to put two of every kind of animal on the boat, and so he did. Once the ark was completed and two of every animal made it onto the boat, Noah gathered his wife and his three sons and their wives, and they all boarded the ark. God shut them in, and then the rain started. It rained, it rained, it rained some more. It rained for forty days and forty nights. But then the rain stopped.

7:30 And it took a full year for the water to recede. And when it did, Noah, his family, and all the animals left the Ark and were tasked with this one mission: be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. God made a covenant with Noah through the rainbow, promising he would never destroy the earth by flood ever again. Then we fast forward a few thousand more years, and we have reached the story of Moses. Moses' story is found in Exodus 1 through Deuteronomy 34.

8:10 But we typically talk about the highlights of his life. Specifically three. The first being his birth story. Next time we see Moses is in the Burning Bush encounter, where he is shepherding in the wilderness and he sees a bush on fire, but it's not burning up. God speaks to him through that bush and tells him to return to Egypt and confront Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go from slavery. Moses goes to Pharaoh and reports what God has said, but Pharaoh refuses.

8:52 And God brings ten plagues upon Egypt, ending with the death of the firstborn child. And God brings Israel out of slavery. Lastly, we get the story of the Ten Commandments. Moses has been leading the people of Israel in the wilderness, and God calls him up to the top of the mountain and gives him a list of rules to follow. God establishes a covenant with Moses and with the people of Israel that if they will commit to following these commands, God will always be their God, and they will always be his people. Then, if we fast forward another few thousand years, David enters the story.

9:35 David was a shepherd boy who was anointed to become the next king of Israel. But it didn't happen overnight. He is most known for his battle against Goliath, where he defeated a giant with a slingshot and a stone. But David grows up to be the greatest king of Israel. He has his downfalls for sure. But he is still known as a man after God's own heart. God established a covenant with him that his descendants will always be on the throne. Lastly, if we fast forward another couple thousand years, Jesus is born to a virgin girl named Mary and her fiance Joseph.

10:16 This miraculous birth we celebrate every year at Christmas time when we remember that God made himself a human so that he could dwell among his people. As Jesus grows up and begins his rabbinic ministry, we hear stories of how he healed the sick, fed the hungry, calmed the storms, and went to the darkest places, all culminating at this public display of a gruesome yet innocent death. This is what we celebrate on Easter, where Jesus, who never sinned, died on the cross for the sins of the world. However, his story did not end there because he rose again on the third day, ascending into heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father, and is still alive today.

11:05 This is the outline narrative of the Bible. Hopefully, this was reviewed for you. But if not, welcome to the journey of studying scripture. There is always more to learn. Now, as you may have noticed, we did not talk about Joseph or his multicolored coat in these five main stories. But there is a reason for that. In our Western culture, we usually skip over the story of Joseph. Now, you may have encountered the story in Sunday school, or perhaps you saw the musical. But fundamentally, our culture, more often than not, skips the story. Yet Joseph's story is vital, not just for the existence of humanity, but for the story of God.

11:52 Joseph's story falls perfectly between Noah and Moses. After the flood, but before being enslaved in Egypt. Joseph's story falls during a time period known as the Patriarchs. The biblical patriarchs are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are known as the Patriarchs because they are the beginning of the Israelite people. God made a covenant with Abraham that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars. Joseph is one of those descendants. His life is a bridge from the promise God made to Abraham to the fulfillment of that promise with the nation of Israel.

12:34 Joseph's story doesn't begin with a coat or with a dream. It begins with a family tree. So next time we'll trace that tree and find out how Joseph's roots tell us everything we need to know about his future. Until next time, remember every story in the Bible is intentional. 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.

13:22 This episode was written and produced by me, Vic Carman. Music is historic cinematic adventure by Dimitri Torres. If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and review the show. It really does help us out. For more details about the show, be sure to follow us on all social media at The Rabbi Way. You can email us any questions to therebyway at gmail.com. See you next time.