The Bible by David Alley

by David Alley

Season 1

Genesis 40 -The Dreams of Pharaoh's Cupbearer | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 40 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Genesis 40 we start to see dreams and their interpretation figure in the Bible. A theological statement is made by Joseph when he says ‘Don’t interpretations belong to God?’ Finally someone here has their thinking straight. Previously of course his father Jacob experienced God at Bethel in a dream, and prior to that Abraham had dreams in which God spoke to him. So God had frequently spoken through dreams, and Joseph is clued up. When he understands what the dreams mean, which is a gift of the spirit, he has to take great courage in telling the baker he has only three days to live. But if he was uncertain about the meaning that would have been a dumb thing to do, so he was clearlry certain it was from God. In the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 12 we are told of the gifts of the Spirit, and there are nine listed. Dream interpretation is not among them, but clearly requires the work of the Spirit, so the gifts are not nine, but more. As a believer, you should with wisdom, seek other gifts like Joseph did. Finally, we realise that Josephe must surely have remembered his own dreams as a younger person. He knew that God was taking him somewhere, and he trusted the Lord. Now we know why Joseph served with a whole heart. Not only was God with him, but he saw a bigger picture and he trusted as Abraham did for so long when it looked impossible.

S1 · E40

Apr 12, 2022

9:11

Genesis 39 - Joseph in Potiphar's House | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 39 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Genesis 39 Joseph is sold into the house of a prominent Egyptian, Potiphar. He serves wholeheartedly and rises to a good position. The Lord is with him. Potiphar’s wife notices Joseph and tempts him with sex, and very strangely for the times, he doesn’t go through with it. This is very contrasting to the previous chapter about his brother Judah who seems to have no qualms about being immoral. There is of course no law or ten commandments given yet, so where does Joseph obtain his sense of righteousness. He is filled with the Holy Spirit. The temptation however does not go away, and Joseph resists until eventually he is despised and accused. The writer of the book of Hebrews says that some of us haven’t “resisted until the shedding of our blood.” (Hebrews 12:4-6) This is the type of overcoming Joseph demonstrated here - he resists to his own hurt, but to the glory of God. Although he could easily have been killed for the indiscretion he was accused of, he is somehow shown mercy by only being imprisoned. Prisons were unusual in ancient times, with capital punishment being much more common. The Lord was in that. Finally, Joseph serves in the prison with a whole heart as before. Paul wrote to slaves who had become believers in Ephesians 6:5 to serve their masters as though serving the Lord. Joseph does that here without even being instructed. Joseph is a truly remarkable biblical figure worthy of emulation.

S1 · E39

Apr 11, 2022

9:38

Genesis 38 - Judah and Tamar | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 38 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Genesis 38 there seems to be an interruption to the Joseph story, but it is placed here for a reason. It is going to starkly compare Joseph’s righteous behaviour to follow, with the unrighteous things going on by his family left behind. Joseph still had much to learn, but he had the grace of God, and was righteous in his heart. It's hard enough to be righteous when you know you should and you have good examples around you, but try to be righteous where there is nothing to demonstrate it, and the ten commandments don’t yet exist. This is the difference between Judah and Joseph. The chapter then outlines the sin of Onan, who is supposed to produce a family line for his brother as a moral obligation, but deliberately doesn't’. When having intimate moments, he deliberately spills his semen on the ground. This is because he doesn’t want any children to be his responsibility when the honor of the children is his dead brother’s and not his own. This isn't a passage about birth control as many assume, but about his immoral motivations. Finally Judah does the wrong thing by not giving his third son to Tamar to fulfil legal and moral obligations in the culture of the time. Tamar takes matters into her own hands and tricks Judah into sleeping with her and it becomes a great fiasco resulting in twins. The twins are part of the ancestry of Christ. This demonstrates how such crazy and outlandish behaviour is accounted for by Christ in his sovereignty. God is able to still be sovereign while handling the wild human choices that occur. One lasting thought seems clear. Judah and his sons were selecting wives from among the Canaanites. This was something Abraham and Isaac didn’t want, but Jacob seems to have had little power over. The problem was the corrrupting influence of the other cultures. But by eventually settling in Egypt this would stop… because the egyptians detested shepherds and would not mix with them. So the time that was about to follow would prove crucial for the settling of the national identity of Israel.

S1 · E38

Apr 10, 2022

11:11

Genesis 37 - Joseph's Dreams | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 37 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Genesis 37 the effects of Jacob’s favoritism of Joseph end up hurting him. It’s a powerful reminder that having a favorite child is not good for your family. If you have non natural children such as foster children, step children, or others under your care, you need to seek God for grace, and determine to be fair with them. God can provide you with an affection for them that is not natural but just as good. Joseph has his first recorded dreams in this chapter, and the sun, moon and stars bow to him. These were symbols for people in his life, and remind us firstly that dreams are symbolic, but secondly that so often in scripture, references to stars and other heavenly bodies are also symbolic. We see this in the prophets, and also in Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 24. In the second half of the chapter Joseph is sold to Ishmaelites… or is it Midianites? The chapter seems to keep calling them different names. Various commentators, such as the Enduring Word commentary show us that this was a common language feature of the Israelites and also happens in Judges 8:22-28. They equated these two groups as the same. Finally Jacob begins a whole new period of pain in his life. HIs favourite wife just died, and now his favourite son is apparently dead. He must have wondered where God was in this. Later of course, Joseph’s words come back into the situation when he says to his brothers, “you intended it for evil, but God intended it for good.” It demonstrates why when we face pain, and have no answers, we need to trust God and even praise Him. He is at work to bring about good.

S1 · E37

Apr 9, 2022

13:30

Genesis 36 - The Descendants of Esau | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 36 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Genesis 36 we have the one chapter in the Bible that goes into the family tree of Esau, Jacob’s brother. The land of Edom has a place right through scriptures. There are prophecies in Isaiah and elsewhere about Edom. Also King Herod who ruled Judea much later was an Idumean, that is an Edomite. Also the incredible city of Petra, in modern day Jordan was part of ancient Edom. Because Jacob and Esau were brothers, these two nations of Israel and Edom were considered closer than other nations. However the Lord was displeased when he judged Israel, and Edom gloated over the destruction. The prophecy of Obadiah was the result of that displeasure. Malachi 1:3 also tells us that God loved Jacob but hated Esau. If God hated Esau, why did such a prominent part of Genesis be given entirely to his family tree? God’s hate must be for dramatic purpose only, to indicate he chose Jacob and didn’t choose Esau. Rather when the Israelites, and us, see a passage like this, it should cause us to contemplate that if God is so interested in them to know the details of their history, that we should not hate them, but treat them with dignity.

S1 · E36

Apr 8, 2022

13:19

Genesis 35 - Jacob Returns to Bethel | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 35 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Genesis 35 the deaths of three people are recounted, first being Deborah’s Jacob’s mothers nurse, who would have been quite elderly, perhaps, 140. The second to die was Rachel, Jacob’s favourite wife and Joseph’s mother at a young age of perhaps 36, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/art...), and Isaac at the age of 180. Rachel died in childbirth giving birth to Benjamin, the only one of the twelve brothers to be born in Canaan. Here Rachel names her son, ‘son of my sorrow’ or Ben Oni on her death. However Jacob overrules and renames him ‘son of my right right’ or Ben Jamin. Here we see the purpose of God at work. Because each of us have entered into life with sorrow because of sin, but when we come to Christ, we have sorrow overruled, and become sons of the right hand. Christ of course sits at the right hand of the Father. Finally Isaac dies at 180, and the memory of his deceit is an old one. The boys, both aged 120 each, bury their father together.

S1 · E35

Apr 7, 2022

9:36

Genesis 34 - The Rape of Dinah | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 34 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Genesis 34 we see the behaviour of some of Jacob’s sons. Firstly in deception, then in murder and brutality. They also acted without thought of the future consequences of their behaviour. Jacob’s daughter Dinah is taken inappropriately, and the young man Schechem wants to marry her. He is willing to pay a high price, but the brothers deceitfully only ask for the entire city to be circumcised, which happens. Two of the brothers then attack and kill all the adult males while they are in pain healing, and unable to defend themselves. This causes Jacob to hate their action, and we see he has wizened in life, although he is now 100 years old. The young men here likely will be late teens to early twenties of age, and no doubt thinking came slower than reacting. So who is right and who is wrong in the story. It seems everyone has done something wrong. It's an indication of life because none of us are guiltless, and all of us need the mercy of God.

S1 · E34

Apr 6, 2022

10:58

Genesis 33 - Jacob Meets Esau | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 33 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Genesis 33 Jacob gets ready to meet Esau’s coming army of 400 men. He orders his family by how much he loves them, and this must have felt terrible to the women and children. Later we see in the story of Jacob how this favouritism played out. Jacob probably wasn’t aware of how his attitudes would affect his family, but today we are aware of these things, and know the wisdom of them. Jacob of course was tricked into his unique family situation, but sometimes today people find themselves also in unique situations. Sometimes parents have step children, or grandchildren, or foster children, or others that are not natural children, adn they need equal love alongside the natural children. This calls for determination, but ultimately God’s grace must be added. This will be for the long term good. Finally when Esau arrives, he is friendly, and this must have been a huge relief. God no doubt was a part of that. A real answer to prayer. The third of Jacob’s adversaries (Laban, the Lord and Esau) turned out to be fear instead.

S1 · E33

Apr 5, 2022

9:10

Genesis 32 - Jacob Wrestles with God | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 32 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Genesis 32 Jacob gets the terrible news that his brother is coming with an army of 400 soldiers to meet him. It cannot possibly be good news. Jacob does what is practical, dividing his family into two groups, giving better odds for one group to survive, and he also sends a messenger and gifts to his brother. But he also deals with the news by going to prayer. First he prays alone, but then he finds a strange man who wrestles with him. Jacob is unwilling to give up, and so prevails against a stronger opponent, who ends up being the Lord. This is an all night affair. This alludes to our call to wrestle with God in prayer, until we breakthrough, even if it takes all night. Jacob’s situation was desperate, but we often face desperate spiritual circumstances which don’t bother us much. In overcoming, Jacob was given a new identity of Israel, and that shaped the rest of the entire scripture, and salvation history. It also shows us that we are called to wrestle with God. No longer was Jacob a deceiver, he was a perseverer. Finally the name Israel suggest that God started the wrestle. It suggests that God puts us into some predicaments for our own overcoming and good.

S1 · E32

Apr 4, 2022

11:39

Genesis 30 - Jacob's Children and Wealth | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 30 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Genesis 30 infertility is again an issue in the scriptures and Rachel is unable to have children. She copies Sarah - her grandmother in law and gives her servant to her husband. This time there is no competition between servant and owner, but there is competition between sisters and wives, Leah and Rachel. Infertility can happen for many reasons, but in this chapter we see it was the Lord, for his own undisclosed reason, that closed Rachels’ womb. At Peace, we have had the blessing of seeing many infertile couples blessed with children, and John Alley, long-time senior minister here has a grace for those type of prayers. I (David Alley) was the result of such a type of situation where the Lord opened my mother’s womb. Finally a heap of children are born to the two sisters and their two servants - a total of eleven sons, with one more to come later. In this chapter we see competition between wives in a polygamous sitution and it demonstrates why God never intended this. Jacob was deceived into polygamy, and his culture allowed it, but the scriptures show it was never God’s plan. When women compete for a husband’s attention it puts stresses on everyone that were never meant to exist. Finally the chapter ends by Jacob now working for real wages and wealth, that is for sheep and goats. Once again he uses trickery to get again, and this time Laban reaps what he sows.

S1 · E30

Apr 2, 2022

13:19

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