The Books: “Sold into Egypt: Joseph’s Journey Into Human Being” (Madeleine L’Engle)

Religion/Theology Bookshelf:

Sold into Egypt: Joseph’s Journey Into Human Being , by Madeleine L’Engle.

This is the last book in L’Engle’s “Genesis Trilogy“. I think it’s my favorite one of the trilogy, although I love each of them. This book is the story of Joseph (you know, of the “amazing technicolor dream coat”). As always, L’Engle uses the story of Joseph being sold into Egypt as the jumping-off place for ruminations into all kinds of subjects: astronomy, grieving the death of her husband of 40 years (Hugh), creationism vs. evolution, how misguided “piety” is, how suffering can be ennobling … It’s just a really good and fulfilling read.

EXCERPT FROM Sold into Egypt: Joseph’s Journey Into Human Being , by Madeleine L’Engle.

And where was God, the Maker of the Universe who took Abraham out to ask him if he could count the stars, who sent the ram in the bush to spare Isaac, who wrestled with Jacob, during all this? Thoughts of God seem to be singularly absent in Jacob’s sons, and if there is any sense of God at all it is the tribal god, the one god among many gods, the masculine deity who is around to help his tribe. To the casual reader this rather chauvinist figure appears to be the God of the Old Testament. Our visions of God are partial and incomplete at best. But the God who shines through the Old Testament is the mighty Creator who made the brilliance of all those stars he showed Abraham, the God of the universe.

There have been many times in history when people must have wondered what kind of God we Christians have — for instance, when crusaders slaughtered Orthodox Christians in Constantinople; when the Spanish Inquisitors burned people at the stake for tiny differences in interpretation of faith; in Salen where a woman could be hanged as a witch if an angry neighbor accused her out of spite. Perhaps God needs less of our fierce protectiveness for his cause, and more of our love to El, to each other.

Did Simeon and Levi think they were doing God’s will when they slaughtered Shechem? Did the brothers even consider what God would think of their selling Joseph into Egypt? Did Reuben turn over his anguish to God when he was unable to save his brother? Perhaps he wanted to unburden himself to Bilhah, but whenever he even turned in the direction of Bilhah’s tent his father’s suspicious eyes were fixed on him. Bilhah’s consolations were denied him forever.