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Books on Tape or Disk, continued
(Books #8: May 3, 2001)
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Gap Creek
Robert Morgan, read by Kate Forbes
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Julie Harmon is a young woman growing up on a mountain in South Carolina, Appalachia, at the turn of the century. She starts her story by plainly stating that everyone in her family always gives her the hardest jobs. It's because she's the oldest, she says, and though she complains silently, she does her tasks faithfully.
And she's capable of doing the work. She washes, tends livestock, kills pigs, fetches water from the spring, and ultimately tends her sick brother and father and watches them fade and die. Despite her hard lot, Julie seems happy and has internal resources and dignity modeled by her poor, but proud family. At an early age, Julie meets dashing Henry Richards at church and marries him. They move down from the mountain to the little settlement of Gap Creek, where Henry works in a mill. The young couple move into a house owned by Mr. Prendergast, a slouching landlord who trades their rent for Julie's housekeeping servitude. She finds it's a hard life in Gap Crek, too, where she has to please demanding Mr. Prendergast and Hank's critical mother. Soon Julie's pregnant. But Hank loses his job at the mill after a fight with his supervisor, and the couple's meager resources begin to dwindle. Shortly before the baby is born a flash flood inundates Julie's and Hank's house and barn. It's a terrible experience for the two young people with no money and little food. After the flood Julie is depressed. Realizing she needs some women friends, she accepts "Pastor's" invitation and returns to her faith. She joins Gap Creek Baptist Church, an open door to new friends and associations, which she's missed in Gap Creek. Hank joins the church, too, and begins to accept the responsibilities of being a more mature young husband and father-to-be. The baby is born prematurely, and Julie, who's contracted an unspecified "fever," is unable to nurse her weakening daughter. In spite of all the care Hank and his mother and Julie lavish on little Delia, she dies and they bury her in the orchard. Not much later the couple decide to move back up on the mountain and away from the tragic memories of Gap Creek.
Remember that Gap Creek is first a book, and as such it has won several awards. But as a book I would never have read it, never even have opened it. As a book on disk, however, I thought it might be pretty good listening. I wasn't wrong.
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And One From The Good Book
"I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be distressed or take it amiss that you sold me into slavery here; it was God who sent me ahead to save men's lives..." -Genesis 45: 4-6
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"The Story of Joseph"
Genesis chapters 37-50
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So begins one of the Bible's most emotional scenes, the
reunion and salvation of Joseph's family. It's a theme repeated
throughout the Bible, and it's part of one of the very best
stories of the Bible.
I'm a fundamental Christian, and I spend most of my study time in the New Testament. But my salvation came from the Jews. To ignore my great Old Testament heritage would be a terrible omission. The Story of Joseph belongs to me, too. | |
| A Dysfunctional Bible Family |
The patriarch Jacob had twelve sons. The last two, Joseph
and Benjamin, were born to him late in life by his favorite wife, Rachel,
so they became his obvious favorites. This disturbed the ten, and
they came to hate Joseph.
Young Joseph had an irritating habit. Whenever he went to visit his brothers in the field, he would return to his father and tell him everything wrong his brothers were doing. Jacob came to depend on this from Joseph. He loved him very much and had a beautiful coat or tunic made for him. Now, whenever he sent Joseph to observe his brothers, this fancy cloak accentuated their father's favoritism and further enraged them. Young Joseph had another trait, one that would save his life one day, but that simply infuriated his brothers now. He had dreams! And he described them! "Here comes The Dreamer," they would say when he came to see them in the fields. And they hated him even more. One dream particularly enraged his brothers. "We were cutting wheat and binding sheaves. My sheaf stood upright and your sheaves all bowed down to mine," he told them excitedly. Quickly they decided to kill him. He told his father and mother another of his dreams. "The sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." "What kind of dream is this?" his father asked. "Must your mother and I and your brothers bow low to the ground before you?" But Jacob did not forget the incident. One day when Joseph had found his brothers near the town of Dothan, where they were not supposed to be, they made a fateful decision. "Now's our chance; let's kill The Dreamer and throw him into one of these pits. We can tell his father that a wild beast has eaten him." But Reuben, the oldest brother, came to Joseph's rescue with a different plan. "Let's have no bloodshed. Throw him into this pit, but don't harm him." His plan was to return later and save him. They stripped off his special tunic and threw him into the pit. While they were eating they saw a caravan in the distance and changed their plan again. "What shall we gain by killing him? Let's sell him as a slave instead." But while they were talking, some other traveling merchants discovered Joseph in the pit and rescued him, only to sell him to the caravan the brothers had seen. When Reuben came back to the pit he found no sign of Joseph. He tore his clothes in despair, realizing that his plan had failed and he'd have to tell their father. To cover their tracks, the brothers killed a goat and dipped Joseph's coat into its blood. Then they tore the robe as wild beasts might have done. They took the robe to Jacob as if they had found it in the fields and asked him if he recognized it. Might it not be Joseph's? Jacob went into mourning over Joseph's death and couldn't be comforted. "I'll go to my grave mourning my son!" Meanwhile Joseph's real adventures were beginning. | |
| 'The Dreamer' goes to Egypt |
The caravan, with Joseph, had traveled on into Egypt. There
they sold Joseph as a slave to a man named Potiphar, one of the
Pharoah's trusted commanders.
As Potiphar's slave, with God's Grace, Joseph prospered and so did Potiphar. Joseph was so impressive that Potiphar put him in charge of all his household and business affairs. From that time God caused Potiphar to prosper. Joseph was making all Potiphar's household decisions. Since Potiphar was a eunuch, and Joseph was young and handsome, Potiphar's wife began to take a romantic interest in him. Finally she attempted to seduce him. But Joseph respectfully demurred, he said because his master trusted him so much. Joseph began trying to avoid the woman, but finally she became physical, grabbed him, and demanded that he come to bed with her. Instead, he pulled away and ran out, leaving his cloak in her hands. In her anger she accused Joseph of attempted rape and showed his cloak as evidence. She also played her racial card, saying that "this Hebrew" had been mocking them all. Potiphar threw Joseph into the Round Tower, a prison reserved for enemies of the king. The Bible account makes it clear that God was still very much with Joseph. He quickly won the favor of the prison governor as he had Potiphar's. The man recognized that Joseph was a man protected by God, and he put him in charge of all the other prisoners. While he was in the Round Tower, Joseph was put in charge of two influential royal prisoners who had been incarcerated: the king's butler and his baker. One night, after a considerable time in the prison, the two men had dreams which, they felt, needed interpretations. When Joseph saw them in the morning he could tell they were worried. "We've each had a dream, and there's nobody to interpret it for us." Joseph answered, "Doesn't interpretation belong to God? Tell me your dreams." The butler began. In his dream he saw a vine with three branches. Each budded, blossomed, and bore clusters of grapes. He took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharoah's cup, which he put into the king's hands. "The three branches are three days," Joseph said. "In three days the king will restore you to your post. Please, when things go well for you, remember me." When the baker heard the good interpretation, he told Joseph his dream. He saw himself carrying three baskets of white bread on his head. Birds were stealing and eating the bread from the top basket. "This is the interpretation," said Joseph. "In three days the king will raise your head and hang you on a tree. There the birds will eat your flesh." Three days later the Pharoah sent for the two men just as Joseph had foretold. | |
| The Dreams Come Back |
It was nearly two years later when the Pharoah had a dream.
He saw himself standing by the Nile when seven sleek, fat cows
came up out of the water and began to graze on the luxurious
grass. After them came seven gaunt cows, which devoured the fat
cows but remained as thin as before. The dream startled the king
awake, but he fell asleep again and had another dream.
This time he saw seven full, ripe ears of grain growing on one stalk. Another stalk grew up alongside bearing seven shriveled ears of grain blowing in a raw east wind. The blasted ears swallowed up the fat ears but were no better for it. When the king told his disturbing dream to his butler, the man remembered his and the baker's dreams and Joseph's accurate interpretations. When the king called for him, Joseph shaved and washed his face and put on clean clothes. "I have heard that you can understand and interpret dreams," the king said. "Not I, but God, will answer for Pharoah's welfare," answered Joseph. The king repeated his dream for Joseph. | |
| Read On for the Rest of the Story |
As interesting as this story is so far, it is still only
getting started. In the rest of the passage Joseph's early dreams
of bowing sheaves and stars and planets is completed. His ill
treatment at the hands of his brothers is vindicated. And...but
if I simply recount the story you'll miss the heart of this
incredibly emotional adventure. Why don't you read it all
directly from the Bible?
What does God show us in the Story of Joseph? Many things, of course, but especially: 1. That our faith that God will be with us is important; 2. That God will do whatever is necessary to protect those He loves; 3. That God will rescue those He loves, but usually not without a period of trial, pain, and waiting; 4. That God will reunite His family. This theme, rescuing and reuniting His family, is repeated throughout the entire Bible. It is obviously important, and it's there for us in black and white.
See you next time for more reviews of interesting books. To read book reviews from previous issues see "Back Issues" in our "Library."
-Z-
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To get the most from your Bible studies, may I suggest that you ignore the verse notations and read it in paragraphs; read it only for what's written in the passage, not what you may have heard before; read it in at least one modern language translation, like The New International Version, and one older translation, like the King James Version or the Revised Standard Version. You can find several Bible translations in our Online Bookstore. |
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