BIBLE CHARACTERS IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BIBLE LESSON*

May 22, 2011

Compiled by C. Norman Wood, 5440 Mt Corcoran Place, Burke, VA 22015

703-898-8818, woodcn@aol.com

SUBJECT: SOUL AND BODY

FROM OUR EXCHANGES, Sentinel, Vol. 14 (17 August 1912), p. 1017. [from the Watchman.]

The Christian faith has more than mere endurance of the ills that imperil body and soul, for it is supplied with the power of Christ in which to subdue those ills themselves. It is not obliged to keep itself in patient waiting for relief, but is capable of providing a full remedy. Christian faith has power to meet "spiritual wickedness in high places"….Christian faith makes peace in human experience. It accomplishes those changes in government, society, and hearts which remove persecutions and all the ills of life. It works for healing the passions and excesses of human nature. It attacks the spirit of war in the heart of man. It is today bringing its power to bear upon disease, poverty, intemperance, and all the forces that disturb the health and happiness of human beings.

SECTION III: The dispersion of the nations by confusing their language at Babel (Gen 11: 1, 4-9 [to ;])

AUTHOR AND TIME LINE: Ascribed to Moses, written after the Exodus (c. 1445 BC), but before c. 1405 BC. The event occurred three centuries earlier at Babel “in the land of Shinar [in Babylonia/Iraq].”

"BABEL. Self-destroying error; a kingdom divided against itself, which cannot stand;

material knowledge. The higher false knowledge builds on the basis of evidence obtained

from the five corporeal senses, the more confusion ensues, and the more certain is the downfall

of its structure." (S&H p. 581)

“The stories of humanity’s and Israel’s ancestors in Genesis provide no simple standpoint or doctrinal principle for viewing ethnicity and diversity. They are a valuable resource for contemporary reflection, rather, because they reflect in their own place and time the common human struggle to embrace one’s own ethnic particularity and also to live among, respect, and build relationships with those of other ethnicities.” (Theological Bible Commentary)

"God, who made man as the one creature with whom He could speak (1:28), was to take the gift of language and use it to divide the race, because the apostate worship at Babel indicated that man had turned against God in pride (vv.8,9)." (MacArthur Bible Commentary)

“children of men”

"We…reach the end of the first epoch in the history of man, as conceived by the pious Israelite. The human race has been brought into being, in a world especially prepared, and the interest has gradually narrowed till it rests on a single family. One great critical event, the Flood, stands half-way down the story, and a minor occurrence, the building of Babel and the scattering of nations, has been mentioned." (Abingdon Bible Commentary)

Key, Lt Col Robert Ellis, RA (Ret.) (CSB, Lecturer, Associate Editor, Editor, President, and Normal Class Teacher), “From Babel to Pentecost,” EDITORIAL, Journal, Vol. 69 (April 1951), p. 199.

--In the eleventh chapter of Genesis we read that at one time the people of the earth had one language and one speech.

• The Bible narrative records this fact and goes on to say, “And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.”

---What followed this journey into the land of Shinar is well known to Bible readers.

• The city and tower of Babel were built, and a confusion of tongues ensued.

--As humble and grateful students of Christian Science we come together in the one Mind to heal and be healed.

• We find our release from the medley of tongues, divers ideologies, and conflicting philosophies in the oneness and allness of Mind, and thus we share the Pentecostal feast of spiritual understanding, which has the power to break down all barriers, not only of race and language, but of differing opinions also.

Aylwin, Alan A. (CSB and Associate Editor), "Let's Confound the Confusion," Journal, Vol. 89 (December 1971), p. 651.

--The current scene is typified by the linguistic disorder that occurred in the land of Shinar, according to the Old Testament story, when the inhabitants tried to reach heaven by building the tower of Babel (see Gen. 11).

• So Babel has come to signify confusion, chaos, and when defining the word “Babel” in Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy brings out this sense. [See definition above]

--…confusion goes unchecked because mankind accepts without question the reality of material phenomena.

--…what appear to be material persons, circumstances, and conditions are dreamlike phenomena of the minds of mortals.

• They are insubstantial counterfeits of spiritual reality.

--Diseased matter, depraved matter, confused, turbulent, unbridled matter, are subjective states of mortal thought.

SECTION IV: Joseph resists the temptation of Potiphar’s wife (Gen 39: 2, 6-12)

AUTHOR AND TIME LINE: Ascribed to Moses, written after the Exodus (c. 1445 BC), but before c. 1405 BC. The event occurred three centuries earlier.

"Joseph begins as a trusted slave in the house of Potiphar. The key was that 'the Lord was with him;" and also note, 'his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.' God's guidance in Joseph's life was to prepare for Jacob's household a way out of the dangerous conditions depicted in chapter 37-38. Because of the Lord's blessing Joseph was made 'overseer in his house, and over all that he had.' This was a common Egyptian title for Semitic slaves." (King James Bible Commentary)

"This [in the house of his master, v.2] involved authority as the steward of the whole estate (v.5, 'house and field' and v.9, 'no one greater), one of the criteria for which was trust." (MacArthur Bible Commentary) “In its positive development, when Joseph’s master saw that whatever Joseph did prospered ‘in his hand’ (v.3), he put all his possessions ‘in his/Joseph’s hand’ (vv.4,6).” HarperCollins Bible Commentary)

“The attempted seduction is described three times. First, accurately by the narrator in vv.7-12, then by Potiphar’s wife to the slaves in vv.14-15, and finally to her husband in vv.17-18.” (Eerdmans Commentary) "Her incessant efforts to seduce Joseph failed in the face of his strong convictions not to yield or be compromised. At flashpoint, Joseph fled! Based on false accusations, Joseph was deemed guilty and imprisoned." (MacArthur Bible Commentary)

Joseph

[Jō’sif] (Gr. “may God add”)

“JOSEPH. A corporeal mortal; a higher sense of Truth rebuking mortal belief, or error, and

showing the immortality and supremacy of Truth; pure affection blessing its enemies.” (S&H 589: 19)

(Abbreviated)

Joseph was the elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel (Jacob’s favorite wife), and the 11^th son fathered by Jacob. He was a child of probably six years of age when his father returned from Haran [southcentral Turkey] to Canaan [Israel] and took up his residence in the old patriarchal town of Hebron [southern West Bank].

Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he "made him a garment long and full and of divers colors,” such as was worn by the children of nobles.

When he was about seventeen years old Joseph incurred the jealous hatred of his brothers. They "hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him." Jacob desiring to hear tidings of his sons, who had gone to Shechem [northern West Bank] with their flocks, some 60 miles [north] from Hebron, sent Joseph as his messenger to make inquiry regarding them. Joseph found that they had left Shechem for Dothan, and he followed them. "As he comes upon his brothers, they decide to kill him, but at the intercession of Reuben and Judah, he is spared; he ultimately falls into the hands of traders." (Oxford Guide to People & Places)….

These merchants were going down with a varied assortment of merchandise to the Egyptian market, and took him there, and ultimately sold him as a slave to Potiphar, an "officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard, and Potiphar made him overseer over his house.

“Joseph was also very handsome, and unfortunately he caught the eye of Potiphar’s wife.” (All the People of the Bible) She “became infatuated with Joseph and tempted him to commit adultery with her. When he refused, she accused him of the crime” and he was at once cast into the state prison, where he remained for at least two years (Who Was Who in the Bible). After a while the "chief of the cupbearers" and the "chief of the bakers" of Pharaoh's household were cast into the same prison. Each of these new prisoners dreamed a dream in the same night, which Joseph interpreted, the event occurring as he had said.

This led to Joseph's being remembered subsequently by the chief butler when Pharaoh also dreamed. At his suggestion Joseph was brought from prison to interpret the king's dreams. “Joseph not only foretold seven plentiful years to be followed by seven years of famine, but also advised Pharaoh to prepare for the coming leanness by gathering the surplus of the good years (Gen 41:14-36).” (Eerdmans Dictionary) Pharaoh was well pleased with Joseph's wisdom in interpreting his dreams, and with his counsel with reference to the events then predicted; and he set him over all the land of Egypt, and gave him the Egyptian name of Zaphnath-paaneah….

"his master the Egyptian"/Potiphar

[Pot’i far] (“dedicated to the sun god”)

"His name was apparently a short form of Potiphera, the name of Joseph's father-in-law. (Gen 41:45; 46:20)" (Eerdmans Dictionary)

Potiphar is "the Egyptian to whom the Ishmaelites (Gen 39:1) sold Joseph when he was brought to Egypt as a slave." (Who Was Who in the Bible) “He was ‘captain of the guard’, i.e., chief, probably, of the state police, who, while they formed part of the Egyptian army, were also largely employed in civil duties. Joseph, though a foreigner, gradually gained his confidence, and became overseer over all his possessions.” (Easton Bible Dictionary).

"Potiphar recognized Joseph's special talents but cast him into prison because of a false accusation by Potiphar's wife (Gen 39:6-20)." (HarperCollins Bible Dictionary)

"his master's wife"/Potiphar's Wife

“H.V. Morton in his sketch of Potiphar’s wife says that ‘she occupies a prominent place as the first sensualist in the gallery of Scriptural women. The sins against mortality committed by women up to this point in the Bible story were committed for dynastic reasons, or were due to the customs of the times.' The immortal story of this ruler’s wife’s lust for Joseph is ‘a picture of a woman, spoilt, rich and beautiful, the product of a luxurious and licentious civilization’ coveting one of the holiest and most attractive men in Egypt.” (All the Women of the Bible)

“Beauty either in men or women, often proves a snare both to themselves and others. This forbids pride in it, and requires constant watchfulness against the temptation that attends it. We have great need to make a covenant with our eyes, lest the eyes infect the heart. When lust has got power, decency, reputation, and conscience, are all sacrificed. Potiphar's wife showed that her heart was fully set to do evil. Satan, when he found he could not overcome Joseph with the troubles and the frowns of the world, for in them he still held fast his principle, assaulted him with pleasures, which have ruined more than the former. But Joseph, by the grace of God, was enabled to resist and overcome this temptation; and his escape was as great an instance of the Divine power, as the deliverance of the three children out of the fiery furnace. This sin was one which might most easily beset him. The tempter was his mistress, one whose favour would help him forward; and it was at his utmost peril if he slighted her, and made her his enemy. The time and place favoured the temptation. To all this was added frequent, constant urging. The almighty grace of God enabled Joseph to overcome this assault of the enemy. He urges what he owed both to God and his master. We are bound in honour, as well as justice and gratitude, not in any thing to wrong those who place trust in us, how secretly soever it may be done. He would not offend his God. Three arguments Joseph urges upon himself.

1. He considers who he was that was tempted. One in covenant with God, who professed religion and relation to him.

2. What the sin was to which he was tempted. Others might look upon it as a small matter; but Joseph did not so think of it. Call sin by its own name, and never lessen it. Let sins of this nature always be looked upon as great wickedness, as exceedingly sinful.

3. Against whom he was tempted to sin, against God. Sin is against God, against his nature and his dominion, against his love and his design. Those that love God, for this reason hate sin.

"The grace of God enabled Joseph to overcome the temptation, by avoiding the temper. He would not stay to parley with the temptation, but fled from it, as escaping for his life.” (Henry’s Concise Commentary)

"Despite her attempt at seduction, this woman fills a positive role; she initiates the story line that will bring the Hebrews to Egypt, thus setting the stage for the exodus—perhaps the most important event related to the Hebrew Bible." (Women in Scripture)

Turner, John Montgomery, “Joseph,” Journal, Vol. 33 (May 1915), p. 93.

--As a servant in Potiphar's household, [Joseph] made the best of his situation and faithfully executed the tasks set before him.

• He did not allow himself to argue that to serve Potiphar was not his work, that the Egyptian was not his master rightfully, and that he owed him no obedience or loyalty.

--So faithfully did Joseph adhere to and live up to his ideal of true service, that his worth was recognized and his fidelity rewarded.

• We read that "his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper," and "the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake," and Potiphar "left all that he had in Joseph's hand."

--Then he was tested.

• Subjected to severe temptation, he continued faithful and loyal to his high ideal of purity, and was in consequence loyal to his employer as well.

Schoppe, Rev. W. G., “Joseph’s Success,” Sentinel, Vol. 12 (20 August 1910).

--WE are told in the 39th chapter of Genesis that "the Lord was with Joseph,…and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison."

• When considered in its setting this statement is of striking significance.

--In Egypt, Joseph became a servant in the house of Potiphar, who confided all to his care.

• When tempted by his master's wife, his moral stamina appeared: "How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" was his reply to the tempter.

---For this noble stand he was slandered and cast into prison, where he was left for a term of years.

--…the pure faith of Joseph turned banishment, envy, slavery, falsehood, and imprisonment into "altar stairs that lead upward unto God."

--In Science and Health (p. 589) Mrs. Eddy gives a definition of Joseph that penetrates to the heart of his spiritual mission, and reveals the principle of his success: "A higher sense of Truth, rebuking mortal belief, or error, and showing the immortality and supremacy of Truth; pure affection blessing its enemies."

Odegaard, Mrs. Rebecca MacKenzie (CSB and Contributing Editor), “Employment statistics don't tell all,” Monitor (7 July 2009), p. 18.

--Joseph's closeness to God appears to be linked to his prosperity: "And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man" (Gen. 39:2).

--Our nearness to God is a forever fact. Joseph's account, though, can be encouraging when we see his steady faith and spiritual resilience as he faced daunting inequity and injustice.

--Joseph's life was as colorful as the coat of many colors that was famously stolen from him by his brothers.

• Through rejection, captivity, scandal, unjust imprisonment, even being forgotten by some who might have helped him, he stayed close to God.

--Joseph's refusal to be daunted, and his evident ability to retain trust in God, in good, as the source and sole support of life, provide a model worth holding to for whatever we face.

Lutz, Miss Alma, “The Naturalness of Good,” Sentinel, Vol. 23 (20 August 1921), p. 927

--"We know that all things work together for good to them that love God," was the message of cheer which Paul left to the world.

--There is no Bible story which illustrates more beautifully than the story of Joseph that "all things work together for good to them that love God," that no jealousy, hatred, or human environment can keep man from his rightful work or from doing good.

• Neither jealousy nor the hatred of Joseph's brothers nor his years in a heathen land nor the intriguing of Potiphar's wife could harm him, because, as the Bible says, the Lord was with him.

---Neither did these things keep him from fulfilling his destiny.

• They were opportunities to prove the ever presence and availability of God.

SECTIONS V: Jesus heals a deaf mute (Mark 7: 32. 34-37)

TIME LINE: 29 AD, probably summer, in Decapolis (The Year of Opposition and Development, Jesus’ 3^rd year of ministry)

“one that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech

“This story is found only in Mark. Since it has several features that could be understood as casting Jesus in the role of a typical Hellenistic magician or ‘divine man,’ this is likely the reason both Matthew and Luke omit it.” (People’s NT Commentary)

“The miracle…is in some ways strange and probably for this reason is omitted by Matthew and Luke (the former vaguely alludes to it in 15:29-31).” (Eerdmans Commentary) "The ears of the deaf must be opened and their tongues loosed so they can praise and glorify the good news announced by Jesus." (On Your Mark)

“Jesus traveled twenty miles north from Tyre and passed through Sidon, which was deep in Gentile territory.” (MacArthur Commentary) However, there is uncertainty as to whether Mark thinks that the healing of the deaf mute concerns a Gentile or not.

“Usually (Jesus) healed instantaneously, here by stages; usually by a word, here by material means. The reason for the difference of treatment must be sought in the spiritual state of the sufferer. The miracle was done privately that the man in the absence of the multitude, might be able to concentrate his attention. Jesus made use of the language of signs, because the man was deaf. He put his fingers in his ears, indicating that he would pierce through the obstruction. He touched his tongue, indicating that he would remove the impediment in his speech. Having thus produced faith in the man, He worked the miracle.” (Dummelow Commentary)

“In contrast to his disciples and compatriots who hear but do not listen, the once deaf and mute Gentile becomes a herald of Jesus’ mighty works (7:37),” (HarperCollins Bible Commentary)

Chapin, Mary Jane, "The mighty works: Healing deafness and blindness," EXPERIENCING THE GOSPEL OF MARK, Part twelve, Journal, Vol. 116 (June 1998), p. 28.

--Still in Gentile territory, Jesus departed from…Tyre and Sidon, going from city to city along the coasts of the Decapolis.

• One day they brought unto him one that was deaf, having an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to put his hand upon him. Although their identity is unspecified, we have every reason to believe that "they" and the man are all Gentiles.

--Taking the man aside from the multitude, Jesus put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue.

• Looking up to heaven, he sighed, saying, Ephphatha…Be opened.

---Rather novel actions from one who has been healing in plain view and with only a word or pronouncement!

• Perhaps it was because the man was deaf and Jesus had to communicate with him, get his full attention, let him know what was about to happen. Straightway his ears were opened,…his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. Contravening Jesus’ charge to them that they should tell no man, the people talked about it a great deal.

C., W., “’See thou tell no man,’” Journal, Vol. 20 (January 1903), p. 611.

--A single demonstration may not be sufficient to carry much weight with a prejudiced antagonist, and even seekers after Truth often find occasion for doubt in the first few apparent results of their efforts; but when a number of such demonstrations are combined, they constitute a testimony which ultimately overcomes all opposition.

--How important, then, that the Christian Science student consider thoughtfully each demonstration that comes under his observation before referring to it publicly.

--We find emphasis for this suggestion in the constant reiteration of the Master's command to those whom he healed: "See thou tell no man."

• Not that the mighty works of God were to be concealed. That were impossible.

--It may often be wise, however, for the healed to remain silent until the full significance of the demonstration is comprehended and they have become "steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord."

SECTION VI: The restoration of sight to two blind men (Matt 9: 27-30 [to ;])

TIME LINE: Near the end of the Year of Popularity (Jesus' 2^nd year of ministry)

“two blind men”

In this story, “boundary-crossing faith restores community, sight, and the capacity to hear and speak.” (Theological Bible Commentary) "This colourless healing story closely resembles [Matt] 20:29-34 of which it may be a redactional doublet." (Oxford Bible Commentary)

"This incident is…peculiar to Matthew's gospel….Two blind men call out, Thou son of David, which was a messianic designation. The implication of their address seemed to indicate that they had put their faith in Jesus as the Messiah." (King James Bible Commentary)

"Though the very request to be cured of blindness implies confidence in Jesus' power to heal, as it does in other healing stories, here Jesus explicitly asks the two blind men if they believe he can cure them." (Eerdmans Commentary)

Petch, W., “’According to your faith,’” Sentinel, Vol. 25 (26 July 1913), p. 925.

--WE are always rewarded according to our desire.

• Jesus said, "According to your faith be it unto you," and the blind received sight, the perception of infinite and present possibilities.

---Divine Love is ever present, and is reigning forever within the real man; therefore true desire is of the heart, independent of outward things.

• Speaking [of] true vision, Jesus said, "Having eyes, see ye not?"

---He taught that the "kingdom of heaven," true happiness, is within man.

• If our desire is spiritual, the satisfaction thereof is sure.

--Jesus had no other desire than to glorify God, and today Christian Science is the impersonal, spiritual desire of all nations, the Science that makes plain the allness of Spirit, and of Spirit's perfect and only ideal, man.

Gregory, Louis A., “The Blind See,” Journal, Vol. 36 (May 1918), p. 91.

--[Jesus]opened many blind eyes, but his supreme accomplishment was the correction of seeming spiritual blindness or sin.

• Following Christ Jesus as the Wayshower, Christian Science heals both physical and mental blindness through the power of God, and proves that the restoration of physical sight is inseparably connected with increased spiritual discernment.

---The physical healing of this Science is, as Mrs. Eddy tells us (Science and Health, p. 150), “to attest the reality of the higher mission of the Christ-power to take away the sins of the world.”

--The means at hand for the manifestation of sight is Truth.

• Every good vision, hope, or desire for heaven is fulfilled in the revelation of the Christ-teaching that man is the likeness of God and sees perfectly.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

The Bibliography is provided only in the notes of the first Sunday of the month.

*The weekly Bible Lessons are made up of selections from the King James Version of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.