The Life of Joseph - Week 3
Finishing up Genesis!
Hey there, friends!
This week we are finishing our first book of the Bible! That’s right, you’ll finish up Genesis this week!
By the way, let me know what you think of the new “Style” of the newsletter!
Here’s the reading for the week!
Total Reading Time: 63 Minutes 52 Seconds
Total Bible Read so far: 5.6%
Tips, Tools, and Insights*
Resources You might like
Learning to Pray using the Psalms - Honest Answers Video
Praying the Psalms - Ask Pastor John
Bible Reading Tip: Typology
When you read the life of Joseph, it’s help to know about something called Typology. Typology is basically a fancy term that deals with the literary idea of Foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is when themes and ideas are alluded to early that point to something that will happen later on in the story. Typology is foreshadowing with Biblical Characters. Joseph’s life story is filled with foreshadowing of Jesus.
Take, for instance, the story of Joseph being sold into slavery. Joseph was betrayed at the hands of people who should have loved him. He was betrayed for silver. Also, everyone thought he was dead, but he instead he was risen from the pit and brought into a new life. This idea echoes what will happen to Jesus in the future. Betrayed by the leaders of the day for a few pieces of silver. Everyone thought he was dead, but he was actually alive and will go on to provide life for other people later in Egypt.
As you read this week, look out for typology in Joseph’s life. When you come across one, send it to me and I’ll feature you in the next newsletter!
Hebrew Poetry: Types of Psalms
I wanted to give you all some tips on reading Psalms. There are a few different types of Psalms, called Sub-Genres, and understanding each sub-genre will help you understand them more. Hebrew Poetry isn’t easy to understand all the time, but I’m confident that if you keep reading with the help of a few tips, you will be able to understand them better!
Lament Psalm - An individual or group cries out to God in distress
Praise Psalm - Characterized by a prominent motif of praising God
Thanksgiving Psalm - Songs that thank God for answering the request of the worshipper(s)
Celebration Psalm - Celebrates God’s covenant relationship with the king and the nation
Royal Psalm - Celebrate the king of Israel as God’s ruler and representative of the nation
Songs of Zion - Songs that “thunder with praise for God’s choice of Jerusalem as the location of the temple and festivals” Jerusalem is often called “Zion” in these
Wisdom Psalm - A hybrid of song and wisdom literature
Penitential Psalm - Songs of repentance
Imprecatory Psalm - “Cursing Psalms” Psalms in which the speaker calls God to enact divine justice against an enemy.
Psalms often fit into more than one of these categories, so don’t stress out about making them fit neatly in one category or another. But I find it’s helpful to know that there are different types of Psalms that serve different purposes. As you read on Day 5 look out for the different types!
Why is this important?
The Book of Psalms accounts for 13% of the entire Bible and 16% of the Old Testament. It is also one of the greatest sources of worship we have in the Bible. It is important to understand Psalms because it is such a large chunk of the Bible. Hebrew Poetry accounts for over one-third of the Bible. This means spending time understanding the Psalms will help you understand one out of every three verses in the Bible. It’s worth the time to learn more about Hebrew Poetry.
*If you’re interesting in learning more about interpreting the Bible, I highly recommend this book by Dr. Robert Plummer 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible It has greatly helped me understand more about the Bible - including Hebrew Poetry and Typology!
Something I’m enjoying
The Whole Testament Podcast
I’m still enjoying The Pour Over and I encourage you to sign up. But I am getting back into a podcast called The Whole Testament. In their own words, their podcast is about removing the “pesky white page” in between the Old and New Testaments. They look at passages in the New Testament and help connect the Old Testament to the ideas that Jesus discusses. It’s the most interesting podcast I’ve heard in a long time and they are local! The hosts attend churches in Champaign, IL and Decatur, IL. It’s really neat to know there are people who love Jesus in our area putting out great content. Check them out at their website: thewholetestament.com, or they are available on all the major podcast players.
You can also follow them on all the social media’s @thewholetestament
Here we go, let’s finish out Genesis strong!
You got this!
-Woody