Abraham Lincoln was known to speak out against the heresy of fatalism which says that you can do nothing about your future, while at the same time opposing the opposite heresy of humanism which says you can control your own fate. In today’s lesson, Jacob will play the role of the humanist as he sends a bribe to the leader of Egypt, while at the same time speaking as a fatalist when he says, “If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!” His theological confusion caused a lot of difficulties in his life–difficulties we want to avoid. So in today’s study of Genesis 43, we’ll try to find the correct middle between these two extremes.
George