The Bible Message without Patriarchy Awake Deborah

In this podcast episode, we read Genesis chapter 48 from the New Heart English Bible.  In this chapter, one of the Hebrew names for God compares the provision of God to the life giving nurturance of a mother.  We also see that God disregards patriarchal tradition by passing over first born sons to grant blessings to younger siblings.  We also see that patriarchy has nothing to do with the message of salvation--a message that is received only through repentance and faith.

In this podcast episode, we read Genesis 47 from the Good News Translation, Today's English Version.  In this story, Joseph's leadership saves Egypt during a time of famine.  History and archaeology give us an in-depth look at the culture of ancient Egypt.  Central to this culture was the religious concept of Ma'at.  Ma'at taught that male authority was part of the "order of nature" ordained by the gods.  It was believed that observing Ma'at would bring prosperity to the land.  We trace the influence of this belief from ancient Egypt to Greece, and finally to the Roman church of the 4th century AD.  Borrowing from these ancient sources, today's complementarian leaders continue to confuse the core beliefs of an idolatrous religion with the gospel message of Jesus Christ.

In this podcast episode, we read portions of Genesis chapter 46 from the Berean Study Bible.  In this story, Israel and all of his family move to the land of Goshen in Egypt.  Unfortunately, a Bible commentary on this passage wrongly depicts racial segregation as God's will.  The author of the commentary similarly believed that God made women subordinate to men.  Today, this commentary and others like it are used to defend both racism and sexism.  Neither of these examples of social injustice reflect an accurate reading of the Bible, or the loving heart of God.

In this podcast episode, we read Genesis chapter 45 from the Good News Translation, Today's English Version.  In this passage, Joseph reveals his true identify to his brothers.  He also makes provision for his whole family to be cared for in Egypt, during a time of famine.  Certain English translations of this passage modify the text to support a deterministic view of God.  These modifications are absent from our oldest available Bible manuscripts.  Theologians who held these deterministic views also insisted that women must be subject to the will of men.  Through this podcast, the errors of these men are highlighted and corrected.

In this podcast episode, we read Genesis chapter 44 from the Good News Bible, Today's English Version.  In this story, Judah shows us what it means to repent.  His actions also prophetically foreshadow the Easter Story of Jesus' atoning death on the cross.

In our 50th podcast episode, on International Women's Day, we focus on exposing and removing a sexist bias from the following passages, as they are wrongly portrayed in the ESV Study Bible:-Genesis 3:16
-Ephesians 5:22
-Titus 2:3-5
-Romans 16:7
Male authority is nowhere depicted in the Bible as God's plan.  Rather, it is portrayed as the tragic outcome of humanity's decision to turn away from God, and try to make our way without Him.The Christian message is one of hope and deliverance from social injustice: "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."  (Galatians 3:28)