30:02 – Is the universe teleological, or merely logical? Who or what was the Gnostic demiurge? Did Egyptian cattlemen conduct range wars against Hebrew sheepherders in the Land o’ Goshen? Did Ancient Egypt suffer hyperinflation due to too much silver chasing too little bread? How can people with livestock aplenty suffer from a famine? (No, they weren’t vegan.) Was there an Agenda 2030 B.C.? These and other questions are asked and/or answered as the epic story of Joseph continues.
Show art: Joseph Recognized by his Brothers (1863) by Leon Pierre Urbain Bourgeois (1842-1911), Public Domain.
29:57 – After bringing in the sheaves throughout seven years of plenty, during the following lean years Joseph gradually releases surplus grain from the Strategic Corn Reserves. Word reaches famine-stricken Canaan that Egypt has plenty of food, so Jacob sends ten of his sons there to buy some, where they fail to recognize Joseph as their long-lost brother. He recognizes them, but he doesn’t let on. Instead he accuses them of being spies, frames them for theft, lets them cool their heels in jail for a few days, then releases nine of them but holds one hostage until they return with their other brother, Benjamin. Paybacks are hell.
Show art: The Silver Goblet is Found in Benjamin’s Sack (1831-1833) by Alexander Ivanov (1806-1858), Public Domain.
30:05 – Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh’s butler, Pharaoh’s baker and Pharaoh himself, and gives such accurate readings that he is not only released from prison; he becomes Pharaoh’s second in command and immediately launches a major government project to deal with a predicted catastrophe. Soon to become a major motion picture in an alternate timeline. Scenes include: “Take me, Mandingo,” “Pharaoh’s corn,” “’E’s an ‘Ebrew,” “I Married a Sun Worshipper,” and “Wouldn’t you like to be a prepper, too?”
Show art: Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife by Jean-Baptiste Nattier (1678-1726), Public Domain.
29:54 – Joseph’s brothers get tired of him tattling on him, so they sell him into slavery, where he must resist the persistent advances of his master’s promiscuous wife. The aptly-named Onan commits a capital offense by practicing the coitus interruptus method of birth control. The widow Tamar plays the harlot, and Judah gets his former daughter-in-law pregnant. There’s not much here about ancient alien astronauts, but it’s pretty hot stuff, so give it a listen anyway.
Show art: Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (1649) by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (1591-1666), Public Domain.
30:33 – Jacob’s sons play a dirty trick involving circumcision, and Jacob is outraged, though not in any moral sense. Accepting Yahwelian protection, Jacob banishes any other gods, real or imagined, and builds an altar to the Yahwelians. El Sadday, the Almighty God, appears to Jacob and renames him Israel before beaming back up. The lineage of Esau culminates in the dukes and kings of Edom. Who were these Edomites, and if they were a different race than the Israelites, how did that happen, since both groups sprang from the same pair of twins? Inquiring minds want to know.
Show art: Reconciliation of Jacob with Esau (circa 1640) by Giovanni Maria Bottala (1613-1644), Public Domain.
1:00:27 – The moveable feast of Easter isn’t until mid-April this year, but God only knows whether any of us will still be here by then, so let’s make some hay while the sun still shines. Join Dave in Kentucky and Father Charles Coughlin in Michigan for an hour-long look at resurrections both general and specific. Segments include several clips from Father Coughlin’s radio show from the 1939 and 1940 Easter seasons, Zephaniah’s prophecy of the coming “Day of Wrath”, and a public-domain recording of the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) section of Mozart’s Requiem in D minor from 1926! Also, Dave ponders (1) what it may or may not mean to be born again, (2) how one day could possibly be as a thousand years, (3) the significance of grave markers such as crosses, stars, pyramids and obelisks, (4) why the church frowned upon cremation for so many years, (5) St. Paul’s argument for a general resurrection of the dead, (6) whether that general resurrection will be more like Night of the Living Dead or Jurassic Park, and (7) exactly when and how the historical Jesus might have been raised from the dead.
30:38 – The Biblical soap opera continues, with Laban in hot pursuit of Jacob and his family. Once he catches up, Rachel proves herself to be a clever smuggler, whereupon a treaty establishes a demilitarized zone. Jacob happens upon an encampment of the gods, and wrestles with one of them until dawn. Esau greets Jacob’s party with a force of four hundred men. Dinah is defiled, but her defiler wants to make an honest woman out of her, which requires that he and the other men of his country submit to genital mutilation. Say what??
Show art: Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (1639) by Bartholomeus Breenbergh (1598-1657), Public Domain.
29:37 – The love triangle of Jacob, Rachel and Leah can be summed up in the words of the Lovin’ Spoonful: “Sometimes you really dig a girl the moment you kiss her, but then you get distracted by her older sister.” Except in this case, it’s the girls’ father who masterminds the distraction. A battle of wits ensues in which two con men attempt to out-con each other, and two sisters vie for the same man’s affection, by methods both normal and paranormal. It’s a Biblical confection with a musical surprise in the middle. Sit a spell, listen a spell, maybe even fall under a spell. Dave in Kentucky does the casting.
Show art: Jacob Fleeing from Laban (1686) by Filippo Lauri (1623-1694), Public Domain.
29:40 – The story you are about to hear may or may not be true. It involves cases of mistaken identity, disputes over water rights, receiving blessings under false pretenses, plots of revenge, and violations of airspace by unidentified craft. Some of the names may have been changed, but not for the purpose of protecting the innocent, since no one involved was innocent.
Show art: Jacob’s Ladder (1661) by Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1617-1682), Public Domain.
59:21 – Spend an hour with Dave in Kentucky as he plays public domain Christmas music, reads the public domain Christmas story from the public domain King James Version of the Bible, and puts his own views about what actually happened into the public domain of ideas. This Christmas Special arrives just in time for the twelve days of Christmas, so in case you don’t have a whole hour to spare, five minutes each day will suffice.
