BibleWorm

Episode 604 Ritual and Memory (Exodus 12:1-13 and 13:1-8)

This week we’re reading the story of the first Passover as told in Exodus 12:1-13 and 13:1-8. We talk about God setting the people free from Egypt, and wrestle with the violence that seems necessary for God to enact judgments against Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. We marvel at the resetting of the calendar and the ritual of the Passover that are both instantiated before the Exodus even takes place. And we think about the role of ritual both in preserving the memory of the past and in creating space for new generations to claim the story as their own.

Episode 603 Evil Made Good (Genesis 37:3-8, 17b-22, 26-34 & 50:15-21)

This week we are reading the story of Joseph in Genesis 37: 3-8, 17b-22, 26-34 and 50:15-21. This is an emotionally complex story- a novella maybe like none other in the Hebrew Bible. It's a story where love unequally distributed causes hatred among brothers; a story where obligation and affection get mixed up in complicated ways, and people get so turned around that they actually think deception will make everything less complicated. And it raises the question – why do things turn out the way they do? That question and the rocky emotional landscape of this story surely ring true in our messy human lives.

Episode 602 Trusting the Promise (Genesis 15:1-21)

This week we’re reading the story of God’s promise to Abraham as told in Genesis 15:1-21. When Abraham expresses anxiety about the future, God shows him the stars as a sign of the good things to come. So, too, we think, the signs of God’s promises are all around us, if only we can step outside of our small worlds to see them. Yet this text also speaks of promises delayed, of generations passing before God’s promises will be fulfilled. In times when things feel hopeless, this text invites us to trust in God rather than being overwhelmed by our present circumstances God receives Abraham’s trust and reckons it as righteousness. Perhaps God will do the same for us.

Episode 601 The Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17, & 3:1-13)

This week we are back to the beginning, reading parts of the second story of creation and the story of the Garden of Eden as they are found in Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17, 3:1-13. For stories that we’ve heard a thousand times, we had a lot of questions. Is there a relationship between the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, in the story or in our own lives? What does our knowledge of good and evil – of complexity, of our mortality, of our own shortcomings – do to us and for us? Is it possible to hold that knowledge alongside a full and trusting relationship with the Divine – without hiding, without deception?

Episode 557 FORGOTTEN BOOKS Resisting Ethnic Nationalism (Esther 3:1-11 and 7:1-10) REPLAY

This week BibleWorm meets Queen Esther, winner of some biblical version of The Bachelor. We learn about the blood feud between the people of Haman and the people of Mordecai, and see the all too familiar trope that Jews - or anyone deemed an “outsider,” really - is a danger to the kingdom. We see loyalty without uniformity in action. And we see all kinds of different models for standing up to the artificial and dangerous power structures in the world.

Episode 556 FORGOTTEN BOOKS Resisting the Patriarchy (Esther 1:1-22) REPLAY

This week BibleWorm continues our summer series on the Forgotten Books of the Bible with a look at Esther 1:1-22, the story of the Persian Queen Vashti and her refusal to appear before the king. We discuss the fragile egos of the king and his courtiers who fear the capacity of women to say no. We talk about the power of the patriarchy and the lengths it will go to to suppress voices of dissent. We admire Vashti’s courage to protect her own sense of dignity and the dignity of all women even though it costs her the crown. And we wonder about the ripple effects of such acts of courage, which make ruling ideologies tremble, if only for a moment.

Episode 555 FORGOTTEN BOOKS Reading Ruth Against the Grain (Ruth 1:14-18 and 3:1-15) REPLAY

This week BibleWorm explores Ruth chapters 1 and 3, trying to imagine Ruth’s own perspective and calling out some of the ways that the book portrays painful parts of the immigrant experience. We see how the scene at the threshing floor plays on the worst stereotypes of Moabite women, and how Ruth’s beautiful statement of loyalty to Naomi also carries with it an erasure of her own heritage. We try to recognize our own blind spots, and lean into the scholarship of others who can help shed new light.

Episode 554 FORGOTTEN BOOKS Making Ancient Israel Great Again (Ruth 2:1-20 and 4:9-17) REPLAY

This week BibleWorm continues our summer series on the Forgotten Books of the Bible, with a look at the book of Ruth 2:1-20 and 4:9-17. We look at the way the book of Ruth challenges anti-immigrant sentiment in the time of Ezra-Nehemiah and in our own day. We discuss how the book lifts up the foundational contributions of Ruth the Moabite, whose persistence saves the family line of King David, without whom ancient Israel would never have been great in the first place. We think about how the book tries to counter anti-immigrant sentiment by depicting Ruth as hardworking, culturally astute, and dedicated to her Israelite mother-in-law Naomi. We also wonder what damage such rhetoric might do to Ruth—but that’s a conversation for next week.

Episode 553 FORGOTTEN BOOKS Solidarity and Allegory (Song of Songs 5:2-9 and 8:5-10) REPLAY

This week BibleWorm continues our study of the Song of Songs, learning more about the awesome and fearsome passion of our young lovers, and seeing the jarring ways in which the world around them - well, to be more specific, the men around them - seeks to control that passion. And in case you weren’t sufficiently challenged to read this as both erotic poetry and an allegory about our relationship with God, how bout we flip the roles in that allegory and see what happens then? You know you want to try.

Episode 552 FORGOTTEN BOOKS The Joy of Sex (Song of Songs 1:1-12-2:6 and 7:1-13) REPLAY

This week BibleWorm continues our summer series on the Forgotten Books of the Bible, turning our attention to Song of Songs 1:12-2:6 and 7:1-13. We wonder at the presence of erotic love poetry in the biblical canon and wrestle what it means for our understanding of bodies, sexuality, and God. We explore themes of sexual empowerment, invitation and consent, and the joy of sex. We think about how the Song invites us to admire and respect human bodies, challenging a culture that alternately shames and sexualizes bodies for profit. Mostly, we consider how this ancient text, set free in our churches and synagogues, might empower us to speak more authentically about human sexuality.