Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.

• Genesis 10:1

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

• Genesis 15:9-11

Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

• Genesis 20:1-2

Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.

• Genesis 23:1

Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death.
Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.”

• Genesis 38:6-8

Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

• Genesis 48:1-2

I wrote recently about a book that I wanted to read within the first 3,000 books that I have read (since I started tracking that in 1993).  This was 32 years, but there were six years where I did not read any books, other than the Bible.  Thus, over one hundred books per year.  I am actually slowing down, and I have few books left to read.

But the book that I added to my reading list, which became book 2985, was Bible for Young People, Thomas Nelson and Sons, and approved for publication by Queen Elizabeth II prior to her becoming queen, by one week.  I think it might be a collector’s item, but I have no idea whom of my relatives would appreciate it’s worth.

The book uses a lot of KJV quotations, but the book is really a series of Bible stories, rewritten so that young people could understand.  So, it interested me as to what was missing.  I might run a series of these, or this may just be a sampling to illustrate what might be missing in any young reader Bible.

Not every story within the chapters is paraphrased when the chapter is quoted, but of the fifty chapters of Genesis, thirteen are not quoted.  They are: 10, 14, 15, 16, 20, 23, 26, 30, 34, 35, 36, 38, 48.

I had a feeling the story of Judah, his daughter-in-law Tamar, and Judah’s three sons would not be included (Genesis 38), and the stories of Abraham and then Isaac going to King Abimelek and passing their wives off as their sisters are not mentioned either.  This brings sexual misconduct into play.  The rape of Dinah is not mentioned.  The inheritance aspects of the first born, as in Genesis 38, would not be well understood.  And on that subject, the chapter on the blessings of Ephraim and Manasseh, thus Joseph getting a double share of the blessing, is not mentioned.  So, these omissions make sense.  The characters of Hagar and Ishmael are mentioned but not in detail.  Children may understand jealousy, but they may not yet have the tools to deal with it.  For the sexual issue, Song of Solomon (Songs) is completely skipped, along with Esther, for much the same reasons.

I quoted Genesis 10:1 above, and that chapter is completely about a genealogy of Noah’s sons, and that would not be understood by a young audience.  I have had adults ask me what those genealogies are all about.

The story above from Genesis 15 is graphic in that Abram cut the animals in half and walked between the halves.  It was symbolic, but the visions of all the blood might be frightening.  The rescue of Lot by Abraham’s well-trained military force is not mentioned either.  The death of Sarah is one of the chapters eliminated.

Thus, there is a lot that is covered, but when Princess Elizabeth reviewed the book, probably with an entire team helping, it was decided to not cover bloody events unless it was David and Goliath benchmark types of events and sexual activity is not covered.  Genealogies and rules and practices about inheritance and blessings are glossed over or eliminated entirely.

These days, people pick and choose what they want to believe in the Bible.  That was not the case here.  Stories were skipped due to the graphic nature of the story or nuances that would be hard for a child to understand.

That is why adult Sunday school is so important.  When you only have less than 10 percent attending adult Sunday school, they are missing out on the things that get omitted, and many of those stories are things we face every day, whether we want to admit it or not.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.