Let’s get into “I Am Joseph.”

What’s Inside this Episode…

Grief Personified

We begin the story with a depicition of Jacob’s grief. To be sure, Jacob is a man who is shaped (or better, misshapen) by loss. I believe this posture was always a part of him, but it seems that Rachel’s death sends Jacob on a sorrowful descent that will eventually require divine rescue. In this episode, we see him at the nadir of that journey.

For this reason, I thought it appropriate to imagine Jacob’s grief as an animate force—hungry, dark, and slowly but surely consuming him.

Did Joseph Worship Yahweh in Egypt?

Yes, of course. But how? When? As this series has continued, I’ve found myself wondering about the details of Joseph’s faith life. In a place like Egypt, as the lone Yahweh worshipper, how did he pursue his devotion to the Lord? In a culture saturated with pagan religious observance, what did it look like for him to forge an identity as a conscientious objector? The feasts? The prayers? The sacrifices? The ceremonies?

Somehow, it seems, Joseph’s character and clear evidence of divine accompaniment gave him the cachet required to walk a unique path amongst his peers and coworkers. It makes me think of this scene from Hacksaw Ridge.

Anyway, I imagine a couple of these moments in this episode. What a beautiful thing to picture.

A New Character

We met Joseph’s steward in the last episode, and I’ve chosen to make use of his POV throughout this one as well. As a storyteller (and especially in a series like this), you’re always looking for ways to deliver new exposition, reiterate details in an unburdensome way, and see moments from unexpected angles. The steward enabled all three of these things.

As I mentioned in the last issue of The Latest, he’s definitely an Us character.

Musical Threads

“The Atrocities”—You may recognize the musical piece scoring the moment when Benjamin finds himself framed for the theft of the silver cup—it’s the same piece you heard when Joseph was propositioned by Potiphar’s wife. In this series, it’s the sound of a trap.

“Asphyxia”—Another repeat musical moment. You heard it first in Part 1 when Joseph’s brothers exert their power over him and throw him in the pit. This time, it’s the soundtrack to Joseph exerting power over his brothers and taking them captive after the silver cup is discovered in Benjamin’s bag. I love the sound of scraping against the strings, bringing them almost-but-not-quite to the point of breaking.

Irreversible?

You’ll hear me imagine Judah carrying the guilt of his betrayal. Then this: “Judah blinks the images away. Wipes a tear from his eye. Shakes his head in morbid wonder at the irreversibility of it all.” That’s something all of us have felt: the horrible permanence of our unrighteous acts. Once something is done there is no undoing it.

And yet…

To me, the story of Joseph’s post-slavery rise and the reconciliation with his brothers testify to the incredible truth of Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:26: ““With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

What is Joseph Doing??

As you listen to this episode and watch Joseph’s actions, it will be important to remember the crux of Joseph’s pursuit as he interacts with his brothers. As I’ve said, I think Joseph is bothered by one key question (Have they changed, or are they the same selfish men who left him in that pit?)

So far, he’s seen them exercise kindness to one another (coming back for Simeon, not begrudging Benjamin’s quintuple dinner portion). But still unconvinced, he employs the test of the silver cup. As we watch this test play out, we’ll be delighted at the outcome. Joseph certainly is.

An Interesting Possibility

Alistair Roberts points out that the silver test cup may have an added layer to it. According to the text, the cup was somehow associated with Joseph’s powers of divination. It’s possible (probable?) that in stashing the cup in Benjamin’s bag, he was offering the brothers a chance to be triggered. To enviously connect the dots and decide Rachel’s other son was attempting to gain a sort of “dream power” similar to Joseph’s.

Joseph’s Home

Throughout this series, we’ve imagined Joseph residing in and governing from a city called Itjtawy. Though not mentioned in the Genesis text (the location of Joseph’s home is unnamed), this would likley have been Egypt’s administrative captial during Joseph’s time. That’s if, indeed, Joseph ruled during the 12th or early 13th Dynasty, as is often proposed.

Interestingly, we don’t know for sure where exactly Itjtawy was situated. It was somewhere around 55-75 miles south of Memphis, the prior capital, but archeological digs have yet to discover its ruins.

To be clear, I’m not making an impassioned case for Itjtawy in this series; I’m just naming the most likely location for the purposes of narrative specificity.

From Betrayer to Jacob’s Passover Lamb

Christological foreshadowing abounds in this story, and you’ll hear me ramping up the allusions in this episode. Among these parallels is Judah, who continues to be an imminently likeable person. In this episode, the fulness of his transformation is manifest: the one who acted as a Judas 22 years earlier has now become a Christ. Like the lamb whose surrendered life enabled Israelite fathers to escape the Destroyer’s theft of their beloved children, Judah offers himself to protect Jacob from the loss of Benjamin.

Knowing & Unknowing

With our after-the-fact quasi-omniscience as readers, it’s easy to forget how many layers of knowing and unknowing have stacked up by the time Joseph and Judah interact in Genesis 44. If you lose sight of these layers, the narrative tension leaks like air from a pool float. I’ve tried to remedy this with a fun section at the beginning of the scene that starts with “Joseph stands face to face with his brother Judah…”

Connected to this, remember: until this moment, Joseph has had no actual information about what happened after he was thrown into the pit. Up to now, he’s been plagued by questions and mystery. How did his brothers react to his disappearance? What did they tell his father? How did his father respond? Why didn’t his father try to find him? Joseph must be on the edge of his seat as Judah reveals details about that day and its aftermath.

You Can’t Miss it in the Second Draft

After reviewing the first draft of this episode, my editor offered one main criticism: “There’s so much of the gospel in this story—I just don’t want people to miss it. I think we could use a more explicit connecting of the dots.” Thanks to this feedback, you’ll hear a scene toward the end of the episode that begins with these words: “And in the heavens, Yahweh…” I cried as I wrote it, and I cried again as my family cried when we listened to the finished episode together.

Final Words

Keep an ear out for the last thing Joseph says to his brothers—it sounds like something I made up. As usual, it is not.

More To Come

While there’s certainly a lot of emotional resolution in this part of the series, it’s not the end of Joseph’s story. The text of Genesis gives us quite a bit more about his life, and we’ll journey through all of it over the course of three more episodes in this season. I’m really excited about what’s to come, especially since the big reunion is the last thing most folks remember about Joseph’s story. Because of this, I suspect the rest of this series will feel like a collection of deep cuts from a well-known band. Can’t wait.

Listen

I’m delighted to share this one with you. I hope it brings joyful tears to your eyes as you experience the goodness of a God who, in all things, is working for the good of those who love Him.

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That’s the latest! If you’ve listened to “I Am Joseph,” I’d love to hear your impressions—just reply to this email.

Gratefully,
Justin

But before we talk about it: a very brief rant. To be clear, I am not so much a nerd about Bible stories or the Bible. I am, I suppose—but not hardly as much as this other thing, which completely eclipses my Bible nerdness. If being a ‘nerd’ means being super interested in something, inordinately devoted to it, or some level of obsessed about it, then what’s much more true is this: I am a nerd about Yahweh.

I was a preacher for 20 years, and if you heard many of my sermons you were likely to hear this more than once: “God did not give us the Bible so that we would know the Bible. God gave us the Bible so that we would know Him.” I believe that in my bones.

So—having issued that qualification, I feel comfortable inviting you to spend a few minutes nerding out with me about the Joseph story. As long as we understand that we’re really, in the end, nerding out about this incredible Being who thought this story would help us to know and love Him more deeply.

(Oh, and since I didn’t send an email with part 7, I’ll include some stuff on that further down. Bonus!)

First off, I loved creating this episode. One of the scenes (I’ll tell you about it in a moment) surprised me and brought me to tears as I was writing. That’s what I adore about these stories—every which way you turn them, they show you something new. Endless facets of meaning, pathos, and theophany.

This one centers on Joseph’s brothers’ return to Egypt. It’s part 8 of what I think will be 12 episodes in this series, and definitely the beginning of the overall story’s climax. Here are some items of interest:

BITS AND BOBS

The Question

Throughout this part of the story, one question dominates the narrative: Will Joseph’s brothers behave differently this time? First it was Joseph, now it’s Simeon—will they again abandon a brother to Egyptian slavery? First it was Joseph, now it’s Benjamin—will they again mistreat their half-brother, the favorite son of Jacob? The narrator seems intent on presenting this question, and Joseph seems intent on finding out the answer. (In the past, I’d catagorized Joseph’s behavior as the kind of erratic stuff one might do in the midst of emotional upheaval. Hiding the money, changing his mind about whether he keeps all the brothers but one or just one brother until Benjamin’s brought back, having the silver cup hidden in Benjamin’s bag—is he messing with them? Yanking them around to be vindictive? Following emotion-driven whims? No, actually. I don’t think he’s acting erratically at all. Instead, I think Joseph’s bothered by that one question (Will his brothers behave differently this time?), and he’s pursuing the answer until he’s satisfied.

Brothers vs. Half-Brothers

An important detail to keep in mind as we read the story—one we’re aware of, but that often isn’t front-of-mind: Though we use the term “brother” again and again as we reflect on and tell this story, only some of Jacob’s sons were full brothers. Most were half brothers. And that “full brother”/”half brother” divide seems to be significant in the family dynamic. Jacob and Benjamin are full brothers—both sons of Rachel—and it’s clear Joseph feels this connection strongly. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun are full brothers—sons of Leah. They seem to interact more closely with one another than with Jacob’s other sons. These ‘families within a family’ contribute to variations in trust, closeness, etc—especially in a family that’s categorized by generations of favoritism/inequality (remember the conflict between Sara & Hagar/Ishmael & Isaac, Isaac’s favoring Esau vs Rebecca favoring Jacob, and now Jacob’s blatant favoritism concerning Rachel’s sons).

Mannaseh? Benjamin?

Joseph’s firstborn son makes an appearance in this episode. He might have been about 6 or so at this time, which is likely the age Benjamin was when Joseph last saw him. I imagine them both favoring Rachel.

Jacob Has a Control Issue

In the details about Episode 7 below, you’ll find a mention of Jacob’s character arc this season. A part of that arc is his insistence on control. Read through the text of Genesis with this in mind and you’ll find this penchant of Jacob’s popping up again and again. (I think he got programmed early by his mom.) I imagine Yahweh reflecting on this as Jacob tries to manage his sons’ return to Egypt in the second scene of this episode. (And in true Yahweh fashion, He graciously makes use of Jacob’s neuroses—we see that in this episode as well.)

Joseph’s Steward is You

If Joseph is a Christ figure in this story (and he is, of course—I’ve taken pains to pepper each of these episodes with not-so-hidden allusions to this parallel), it seems his steward is an Us figure. :) He’s doing Joseph’s bidding, playing a significant part in this unfolding drama. And all the while—let’s not forget the many layers of known and unknown in this story—he is unaware of the fact that these are Joseph’s brothers. He wonders, surely—right? How much did the staff know of Joseph’s past? We know from Downton Abbey how much the staff talk about the ‘primaries.’) Surely there were rumors. But for this steward, that’s all they are—whispers, rumors, possibilities. Meanwhile he’s being faithful to his call, which is simply to obey his master and play the part he’s given. Understanding of the larger plot is a bonus, not at all guaranteed. …….Sounds a lot like us with our Master, no?

The Gifts

This is the scene that brought me to tears as I was writing. The Nile Delta, while unbelievably fertile and prolific, is completely different from the Cannanite hill country in terrain, soil, and climate. The items Jacob sends to his son (without knowing it’s his son he’s sending them to!) are artifacts—tastes, smells, and sights that, for Joseph, would have been flashbacks of home. I’d never spent time meditating on that until I wrote this episode. It continues to amaze me, the way our God orchestrates moments so thoughtfully and tenderly. He’s done it for me before (many times), and He’s doing it here for Joseph, I’m sure of it.

Oh—and Gen 43:11 names “aromatic gum and resin” among the gifts. You’ll hear me name two specifics in this category (crystallized in golden and reddish-brown ‘pebbles’). The two I mention are not named speicifically in the text, but would without question have been included in the Cannanite “aromatic gum and resin” category. Just wanted you to know that I wasn’t making it up. :)

The Cup

The text is clear—Joseph had a great time feasting with his brothers. (Though, again, his identity is still unknown to them.) However, even after how much he enjoys them and how he’s seen them be good to one another (coming back for Simeon, not begrudging Benjamin’s quintuple dinner portion), he still employs the test of the silver cup. This, I think, speaks of the depth of Joseph’s wounds—the multitude of assurance he needs as he pursues the answer to the question: Have his brothers changed?

Listen

I hope this one brings you joy. I hope that as you listen you see your Father’s goodness. He is a master composer, orchetrating events in profoundly intentional ways, working in all things for your good.

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An Easy Way to Help

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A Big Way to Help

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So if you travel a lot for work or just have some miles saved up and would like to help us this way, reply to this email and let me know. We’d be so grateful.

Speaking of Shows…

We’re leaning into live shows in 2027 and getting stuff on the calendar right now—if you think we should come to your city/church/school/organization, let me know. I’d love to see if we can make it happen.

Now To Catch Up On Episode 7…

Things got a bit hectic and I wasn’t able to send an Episode 7 email. So here’s a bit about “So Much Trouble” if you’re interested!

Jacob is a Feeler

The text of Genesis gives us such a great sense of who Jacob is. Some of this comes by way of his actions, but I’m thinking specifically of a couple of slices of dialogue. As a storyteller looking for—and then trying to express—the personalities of the people in Scripture, moments like these are a real gift:

“When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, ‘Why do you keep looking at each other?’” (Gen 42:1)

“Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me!’” (Gen 42:36)

You’ll hear that second passage in this episode—I just wanted to make sure you know I wasn’t making it up.

“I Fear the Deity”

This statement from (the as yet unrecognized) Joseph to his brothers is fascinating to me. (“On the third day Joseph said to them, ‘I fear God—do this and you will live…’ Gen 42:18). Why did he say that? How, exactly, did he see that truth connecting to their conditional release? Or was he simply encouraging them to be honest, saying “If you commit to fearing God (as I have), you will live”?

See what you think about how I’ve imagined it in this episode (though I’ve left some room for different possibilities), and let me know if you have thoughts about why Joseph says this to them in this moment.

Jacob Is Blind

We’ve got a handful of different character arcs going in this season, one of the main ones being Jacob. He’s a complicated person, to be sure (aren’t we all), but one of the threads we’re pulling on is his inability to see certain things—even amidst his keen ability to see others. This reality encompasses more than this episode, but in this particular one pay attention to all of the language about him seeing. When he “looks” or “sees” or “notices,” and even language about his eyes. Pay attention to what you find. What does Jacob continually struggle to see? What kind of things does he see in this episode?

Many thanks to HGS script editor JL Gerhardt who noticed this theme emerging and encouraged me to lean into it by adding a scene that wasn’t in the original draft. It’s the one that features “a black wall on the horizon.”

As the series continues, we’ll want to pay attention to this aspect of Jacob’s development (or lack thereof).

Dust Storm?

We usually associate these with the American Dust Bowl, but mega drought conditions like the one in the Mediterranean world at this time would likely have resulted in similar weather phenomena. It’s easy for us to under-imagine all that a 7-year dought/famine would have included. This scene is an attempt to help us envision a more accurate picture of the conditions Jacob and his family would have endured.

Calling an Audible

In your previous reading of the text, have you noticed the way Joseph changes the conditions of his brothers’ release? First, he tells them one brother must go fetch Benjamin while the rest of them remain detained in Egypt. But after their three days in prison, it’s reversed—he tells them one must stay while the rest go. Why is that?

See what you think about my explanation in the episode and tell me if you have an alternative in mind.

Tables Turned

Astute listeners will notice an echo in the language at the beginning of the second scene, underscoring the reversal Joseph and his brothers have experienced:

S8E7
“Pre-dawn morning in the dungeon. Rats in the corner. Roaches on the walls. Judah lies on his mat staring at a cracked ceiling, his surrogate sky for the last two nights.”

S8E5
“Nighttime in the dungeon. Rats in the corner. Roaches on the walls. Joseph lies on his mat staring at a cracked ceiling, his surrogate sky for the past…how long has it been?”

A Yahweh-Informed Conscience

I’ve taken the liberty at one point in this episode to imagine Joseph’s thought process as he considers the power he wields over his brothers. In that moment, you’ll hear an allusion to the thought that drove him away from the arms of Potiphar’s wife: “How could I do that immense evil and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9). This devotion seems to characterize Joseph’s life, so I thought it appropriate to call back to it here.

I Love Judah

You’ll be able to tell, I think, that I hold an affection for Judah. To be honest, I’d not paid much attention to him in years past, but thanks to my time with Judah in Holy Ghost Stories I’ve come to hold him in high regard. I love the way his development finds itself highlighted during this part of the story.

Too, it’s fascinating to pick up on the power/influence dynamics that seem to exist within Jacob’s family. They’re not what one might assume they’d be.

Listen

If you haven’t listened already, here’s part 7: “So Much Trouble.”

That’s the latest! I hope “Treasures” and “So Much Trouble” bless you. Hit me up about those airline miles if you’d like to gift some to Hazefire Studios.

Gratefully,
Justin

Surplus, Famine, (Awkward) Reunion

We pick up this episode of the Joseph story in Canaan with Joseph’s brothers and father haunted by the past. From there, we’re off to an imagined conversation between Joseph and his new wife, several good years, and then the brutal famine that provokes one of the most famous reunions in history.

I’m loving this series and I hope you are as well.

BITS AND BOBS

Sheesh, Dad - I love Genesis 42:1. Jacob’s sons are in a stupor, the entire clan in danger of starvation. The patriarch looks at his grown sons and delivers one of my favorite lines: “Why do you just keep looking at each other?”

Immediately, I know so much about this man and his relationship with his kids. Details like this in narrative Scripture are gold.

Leah - We don’t know when (or how), exactly, Leah dies. But the way she stops being mentioned in the narrative indicates a death sometime during Joseph’s time in prison and the years of famine. With this in mind, I’ve opened this episode with another allusion to illness. Before the end of the episode, she’ll be gone. (Surely that’s part of why Jacob finds himself clinging so tightly to Benjamin. He’s lost the love of his life, his favorite son, and now his longtime wife. The man’s heart has been broken a few times over.)

Joseph’s New Name - As a part of his promotion, Pharaoh bestows a new name on Joseph—an Egyptian one: Zaphenath-Panea. While its exact meaning is unclear to scholars, the consensus seems to be something like “The One to whom Secrets Are Revealed.”

Joseph’s New Wife - Pharaoh also gives Joseph a wife: Asenath, the daughter of a (likely high-ranking) priest in On/Heliopolis. Surely Joseph told her about Yahweh. Based on what they name their two boys, it seems she was on board with (and shared?) Joseph’s allegiance to his family’s God. Oh—and his father-in-law’s name is Potiphera. Interesting; hope that didn’t trigger Joseph too badly.

Asenath’s Hometown - In the second scene of this episode, I imagine Asenath remembering her home and mentioning a towering obelisk. That monument is the oldest obelisk still standing in its original location—you can travel to the ruins of Heliopolis and see it today.

The Sons of the Son of Israel - The names Joseph gives his children serve as poignant markers of the healing that’s happened over the years in Egypt.

Manasseh (“Forgetting”) bears a bittersweet meaning. Joseph says at his birth, “God has made me forget all my hardship [wonderful] and my whole family [ugh].”

When Joseph names his second son Ephraim (“Fruitful), he says, ““God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” (Which is certainly true.) It made me think of Genesis 49, when Jacob blesses his sons at the end of his life. This is the blessing he gives to Joseph:

Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.

God’s Quiet Faithfulness - I was telling someone this week that the Joseph story strikes me as especially relatable to a modern audience, thanks to how little audible communication we get from God. It’s not an Esther-level ‘hiddenness,’ but for as much of Genesis as the Joseph narrative occupies, God is surprisingly silent. Not at all absent, of course—not uncommunicative, even, but not “speaking” the way He does in other narratives.

As a nod to His understated presence, we continue a refrain in this episode that’s become a familiar one in this series: “Yahweh nods and continues His work.”

The Source of the Nile - While researching for this episode, I found myself down a bit of a rabbit hole regarding the source of the Nile (Blue Nile, White Nile, etc.)—it’s really fascinating. Here’s a picture of Lake Tana, the enormous lake in the highlands of Ethiopia I mention in the episode:

Oh—and if you’re in the mood for some very intellectual postulations regarding the Nile’s true source, I recommend this episode of Top Gear:

Through an Interpreter - The interpretation aspect of Joseph’s interaction with his brothers adds an interesting layer to the dynamic (as translation always does). Here’s a great video essay from Evan Puschak on how the creaters of the recent Shogun series leveraged a similar dynamic:

Unseen Brothers - It’s impossible to miss the echo of the Jacob/Esau/Isaac story in the Joseph-and-his-brothers reunion scene. Both feature mistaken identity highlighting an unmet longing to be seen (the Tamar/Judah story includes this as well). I’ve underscored this parallelism by using language that hearkens back to a prior episode of HGS:

S8E6:
Joseph leans closer. Looks into the eyes of his brothers, searching for recognition. Nothing.

S1E5:
“Are you really my son Esau or not?”
Jacob walks closer. Looks into the eyes of his father, searching for recognition. But those eyes are dim—unfocused—staring beyond him.

Episode Artwork - The above graphic features Bloemaert’s depiction of Joseph and his brothers. It’s beautiful. I think it’s also safe to say they weren’t dressed in quite the same wardrobes as Bloemaert imagines. (Nor, I suspect, were they quite as…caucasian.)

ENJOY

I hope “The Sons of Israel” blesses you. Always happy to hear your impressions.

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How We Make This

People ask me all the time: So how do you fund Holy Ghost Stories? Sometimes it feels like the honest answer would be, “Sporatically.”

The entirety of HGS is enabled by listeners who refuse to just consume and decide to contribute. And monthly giving is our lifeblood, providing a modicum of predictability/consistency to a budget that brings people all over the world into faith-shaping encounters with Yahweh.

Do you give yet? We’d be so grateful if you did. If you want to be on the team, click here and choose “monthly.” Thanks so much.

One Cool Thing

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front - A friend recently introduced me to this poem my Wendell Berry. It’s wonderful.

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
 vacation with pay. Want more
 of everything ready-made. Be afraid
 to know your neighbors and to die.
 And you will have a window in your head.
 Not even your future will be a mystery
 any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
 and shut away in a little drawer.
 When they want you to buy something
 they will call you. When they want you
 to die for profit they will let you know.

 So, friends, every day do something
 that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
 Love the world. Work for nothing.
 Take all that you have and be poor.
 Love someone who does not deserve it.
 Denounce the government and embrace
 the flag. Hope to live in that free
 republic for which it stands.
 Give your approval to all you cannot
 understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
 has not encountered he has not destroyed.

 Ask the questions that have no answers.
 Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
 Say that your main crop is the forest
 that you did not plant,
 that you will not live to harvest.
 Say that the leaves are harvested
 when they have rotted into the mold.
 Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

 Put your faith in the two inches of humus
 that will build under the trees
 every thousand years.
 Listen to carrion – put your ear
 close, and hear the faint chattering
 of the songs that are to come.
 Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
 Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
 though you have considered all the facts.
 So long as women do not go cheap
 for power, please women more than men.
 Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
 a woman satisfied to bear a child?
 Will this disturb the sleep
 of a woman near to giving birth?

 Go with your love to the fields.
 Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
 in her lap. Swear allegiance
 to what is nighest your thoughts.
 As soon as the generals and the politicos
 can predict the motions of your mind,
 lose it. Leave it as a sign
 to mark the false trail, the way
 you didn’t go. Be like the fox
 who makes more tracks than necessary,
 some in the wrong direction.
 Practice resurrection.

That’s the latest! Excited for you guys to listen to “The Sons of Israel.”

Gratefully,
Justin

The Answer He Desires

This one picks up with Joseph in prison just before he’s summoned by Pharaoh. Along the way, we cut back and forth to/from Judah’s story as it unfolds a few hundred miles away in Canaan.

This one’s a bit longer than the other parts of this series, so congrats—more for your money! :)

BITS AND BOBS

Prologue - Every once in a while, we’ll begin an episode of HGS with a prologue of sorts. This is one of those times. The choice grew from a desire to offer a counterpoint (as the text does twice in Genesis 39) to the apparent absence of Yahweh in Joseph’s circumstances.

I Didn’t Make It Up - That mural I describe as Joseph walks through the palace? If you’ve been listening to Holy Ghost Stories for long at all, you might have suspected this was based on an actual artifact. If so, you were right. While researching, I came across this marshland mural from the royal palace in Amarna during the reign of the pharaoh Akhenaten. It dates to about 300 years after Joseph, but it’s fairly representative of the art that would have adorned the palace walls during his time.

Beyond the art itself, it’s fascinating to get a look at paricular species of birds that were indigenous to the area all those years ago. Of special interest is the Kingfisher, which has become a bit of an HGS shorthand for Christ:

S8E1
Joseph lies in bed that night rehearsing the day, perhaps. The ridicule, his prayers, the fox he saw at the creek—the way it looked at him, studying him, as if it were sizing him up. The way it startled when that kingfisher dove and troubled the water.

S7E19
Daniel’s gaze swings upward to the man’s eyes. Bright, blazing—like flaming torches. His arms and legs gleam like burnished bronze. He is a colossal kingfisher painted in orange and blue.

[…]

Misty-eyed, he shakes his head at the sight of the Kingfisher Man with the torchlight eyes suspended above the water.

S8E5
Joseph whispers a prayer and looks beyond the idols, to a sprawling mural detailing marsh scenes and all manner of birdlife: brightly colored depictions of rock pigeons, turtledoves, palm doves, white wagtails, butcherbirds. And, most striking of all, the the pied kingfisher—wings outstretched in its storied dive, descending from the heavens.

Here’s a gift link to a NYT article on the mural.

Racism is Old - In Genesis 43:32, we’re told “Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, since that is detestable to them.” This adds an interesting layer to Joseph’s elevation within Egyptian society. (And highlights both Joseph’s irresistible competence and his full-scale acclimation/integration.)

Perhaps you though, like me, find yourself wondering “But how could widespread prejudice have developed against the ‘Hebrews’ when the only ‘Hebrews’ that existed were a small-ish clan in Canaan who had only been around for 3 generations?” Good question.

Herodotus (Histories 2.41) observed a longstanding posture in which the Egyptians avoided sharing utensils or food with non-Egyptians. Redford says the Egyptian’s xenophobia was especially acute regarding nomadic herders from the Levant/Canaan—so the Hebrews would have found themselves included in that category (Redford, D. B. 1992. Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times. Princeton University Press.)

Tamar’s POV - Our purposes in this series necessitate the treatment of the Judah/Tamar story from Judah’s point of view. But for a consideration from Tamar’s perspective, check out S3E3 of Holy Ghost Stories: “The Kinsman, the Widow, and the Mark.”

Why Does Joseph Talk Like That? - You’ll notice a certain way of referring to Yahweh peppering Joseph’s speech as he interprets Pharaoh’s dream. I’m attempting to capture what must have sounded strange to Pharaoh—the singularity of Joseph’s references to God. What’s fascinating is (and all this is in the text) the way that, before the end of it, Pharaoh adopts Joseph’s way of speaking. (This is one more layer behind the final words of the intro.)

Braided Stories - Genesis 38 (Judah & Tamar) often feels like a strange interruption to the Joseph narrative in Genesis 37 and following. I’m hoping this series (especially Episode 4 & this one, along with a future episode) can help us see the Writer’s decision as a very intentional one.

Arrival - The piece you’ll hear during the final scene of this story (when Yahweh’s steady fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams becomes more apparent and His companionship becomes unmissable) is music I’ve used once before in Holy Ghost Stories.

You’ll hear the same piece at 13:10 in “The Father and the Awakened One” (S6E2), scoring the moment Yahweh comes to Joseph’s father Jacob in a dream, showing him a staircase on which angels ascend and descend. (You shoud revisit that scene and think about Joseph as you listen to what Yahweh says.)

In this way, I’ve linked two moments: 1. When Yahweh affirms to Jacob the Emmanuel truth, and 2. When Yahweh makes the same truth unmistakably clear to Joseph. To Jacob: “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” In Joseph’s story: “And Yahweh was with Joseph” (Gen 39:2,21).

Emmanuel took a major leap forward with Christ, but it did not begin with Him.

LISTEN

With that, I’ll leave you to it. I hope this one blesses you.

LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | WEB | AUDIBLE

What Book Would You Give a College Grad?

My wife and I lead a weekly Bible study/small group comprised of about 25 college students. It’s one of the great joys of our life. Last week, we said a tearful goodbye to the 9 of them who are graduating. We gave each one of them a book we’d chosen with them in mind.

I’ll share them here because I’d love to know one or two titles you might reach for in a similar situation. Always looking for more ideas.

3 Cool Things

Please Use AI - This quick essay from Shawn Smucker is wonderful.

My Wife Is 85. She Takes My Breath Away. - This opinion piece brought tears to my eyes. Hear, hear. Amen. Hallelujah.

The Green Book - Saw this in 2018 in the theater and loved it. Watched it last night with my wife and daughter and loved it again (so did they).

That’s the Latest! Would love to hear your thoughts on “The Answer He Desires” when you listen.

Gratefully,
Justin

“The Butcher, the Baker”

There’s no candlestick maker in this episode, but we’ve got a baker and Pharaoh acting like a butcher. Excited for you guys to hear this one.

First, a few things of note:

BITS AND BOBS

Are we forgotten? - What must Joseph have felt as he, after those dreams of his, endured year after year of suffering and humiliation? Surely he had some long nights.

I wrote the introduction to this episode with Joseph’s story swirling in my head alongside the words of Psalm 56:

You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.

If you happen to be in a place where you’re feeling what Joseph must have felt, I hope David’s words are a comfort to you. The thought of my tears in a bottle on the Almighty’s shelf, each tear sacred, no tear unnoticed, every tear one day redeemed…

Did Joseph Ask For This? - Surely Joseph is hungry for another revelation. Years (as many as ten?) have passed since his initial dreams. That’s a long time to carry something, waiting for its fulfillment. It’s hard not to picture Joseph asking for another dream to confirm Yahweh’s word. To show him he’s not crazy. To give him a fresh dose of faith and peace.

And then…the baker and cupbearer show up, each with a supernatural dream.

This is why you’ll hear me say, when the cupbearer recounts his vision, “Joseph watches him intently, hungry to hear a message—even for someone else—from the Almighty.”

Too, it’s interesting to wonder about Joseph’s thought process in this moment. Does he ask the two about the dreams out of curiosity? Human concern? Does he explicitly ask Yahweh for the power to interpret their dreams? We think of Joseph as ‘the dream guy’ but that’s not necessarily true from the beginning—it’s not clear, for instance, that he carried a clear interpretation of his own dreams.

“Itja-what now?” - You’ll hear me mention Itjtawy in the ‘Pharaoh’s birthday’ scene. Most scholarship places Joseph’s time in Egypt during the Middle Kingdom (~19th-18th century BC), when a new city called Itjtawy was likely being used as the capital.

Impaled or Hanged? - Depending on the translation you read, you may have pictured the baker’s execution as a hanging. I’ve opted to to with impaling thanks to the fact that there’s little evidence hanging (as we know it today) was employed at all in the ancient near east. Impaling, however, is well attested to. Take, for instance, this relief carved by the Assyrians I saw in the British museum—it commemorates their siege of the Judean town of Lachish:

The Hebrew here does indicate that the baker was “hung” “upon a tree,” but historically speaking the great likelihood is that the ‘tree’ was a stake and that impalement was actually the ‘hanging’ method employed.

Judah’s POV - I really enjoyed the chance to drop in on the Judah-and-Tamar story (Gen 38) in this episode. You may remember the HGS treatment of it in “The Kinsman, the Widow, and the Mark”—if so, you may also remember that I told the story then from the perspective of Tamar. This revisit allows us the chance to imagine the events from Judah’s point of view. Yahweh is leading Judah through a character arc of his own—one that will continue when the brothers meet back up with Joseph in due time. In order to have a fresh sense of that when the brothers unite, we’ll spend a few key moments with Judah as Joseph’s adventure continues. (Genesis 38 offers a truncated timeline, relating events that would have transpired throughout the Joseph-oriented plot of Genesis 39-41).

While we’re with Judah, we take time to explore questions like these:
-What led to his sons being so evil? How did Judah feel about this?
-In spite of moving away, Judah eventually reunites with Jacob and his brothers—why?
-Why would Judah have treated Tamar the way he did?
-Even as he behaves badly, can we see or imagine embryonic aspects of God’s work in Judah’s heart?

(By the way, Tamar here reminds me of the Ark in the Philistines’ hands.)

Vizio Divina - Here’s a visual imagining of Joseph interpreting the prisoners’ dreams, painted by Guerrieri Giovanni Francesco in about 1617:

God in the Shadows - Perhaps you’ve noticed: the whole Joseph narrative (Genesis 37-50) is startlingly short on explicit appearances from Yahweh. The Almighty is giving dreams and enabling their interpretation, He’s on the tip of Joseph’s tongue (Jacob’s too), but we don’t see Him or hear His actual voice at all. Not once in a story that lasts fourteen chapters. Curious, no? From a narration perspective, the strongest mention of Yahweh is the famous refrain, “Yahweh was with Joseph”—a refrain which, by the way, occurs only in Genesis 39.

So what are we to make of this? That’s a good question for you to consider.

Listen

Without further ado, here’s part 4 of Joseph’s story:

2 Cool Things

Music to Cook by - I defy you to find an album better suited to soothing your subconscious while you’re preparing a weekend meal. Chet Baker, you’re a legend.

(Do you have a good cooking playlist? I’d love to add to my roster.)

Banish the Noise - This is a PSA for all the super-late-adopters out there: If you’ve never used noise-cancelling headphones, you are living a tragedy. Music, (certain) podcasts, audiobooks—the great stuff deserves a great listening experience. I’m telling you this because I noticed that the headphones my daughter loves are marked down right now from $180 to $98. Might be a good time to change your life…

That’s the latest! I do hope “The Butcher, the Baker” blesses you.

Gratefully,
Justin

Joseph, part 3

Can’t wait for you to listen to this one.

We pick up the Joseph story this week on Holy Ghost Stories with the famous Joseph-and-Potiphar’s-wife interaction—it’s a moment that gives us a glimpse into Joseph’s character and propels the story into its fascinating next chapter.

(If you haven’t jumped into this series yet, here are Part 1 and Part 2)

BITS AND BOBS

Framing & Composition - Once again, you’ll find a layered meaning in this episode’s title. But of course you knew that already, because HGS listeners are astute.

Joseph is Magnetic - It becomes apparent in Joseph’s story that Yahweh has given this man an extraordinary amount of charisma.

cha·ris·ma |kə’rizmə| noun

1. compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others

2. a divinely conferred power or talent

First, Joseph’s father is drawn to him to the exclusion of his brothers. Then Potiphar cannot increase his authority fast enough. Potiphar’s wife is attracted to him. In prison, the warden finds himself favoring Joseph. The cupbearer and the baker confide in him.

The list will grow longer as Joseph’s story continues.

Joseph’s Enneagram - A question for those of you familiar with the Enneagram: What type would you say Joseph probably is? I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of weeks now and I’d be interested in your opinion.

More at Stake - Toward the end of the first scene, you’ll hear me reflect on how much Joseph’s integrity matters in that moment. For all of us, it’s a good reminder that Yahweh may be calling people to play momentous parts in his symphony and that, in the immortal words of Hamilton’s George Washington, history has its eyes on you.

Musical Echo - You’ll hear a memorable piece playing behind the second scene of this episode. It first appeared in Part 1 when Joseph is abducted by the Midianites and sold into slavery. This time, I’ve used it to score Potiphar’s wife’s pursuit of Joseph—given that it’s another attempt at subjugation by an enemy, it seemed a fitting moment for a musical echo. The piece is “Annihilation,” by Heretic:

Falling, Again - To underscore Joseph’s parallel descents, I’ve used language that mirrors the prior episode:

Part 3:

A blur of colors as Joseph’s position is ripped from him. The sound of Potiphar shouting and the pain of the guards’ fists landing. His heels dragging across the ground, the sensation of falling, hope leaving his heart as he tumbles to the ground of his cell inside Pharoah’s prison.

Part 2:

A blur of colors as the robe is ripped from his body. The sound of his brothers shouting. The pain of their fists landing. His heels dragging across the ground, the sensation of falling, and the wind leaving his body as he hits the bottom of the pit.

Thank you, Mr. Hopkins - I’ve pulled imagery from Gerard Manley Hopkins’s wonderful poem “Carrion Comfort.” I’m glad Joseph chose not to feast on the rancid flesh of Despair.

Jacob & Leah - Jacob and Leah get a tender moment in this episode, and I really enjoyed imaginging them together. At this point, Rachel has died. Leah, it seems from timeline clues, will pass while Joseph is in prison. So this is our last moment with her for a while. (You can hear more of Leah’s story in “The Forebear, the Bait, and the Switch,” where in the last scene I speculate as to the state of her relationship with Jacob toward the end.) I feel like this scene is a tender moment with Yahweh as well, and a sort of antidote to the will-He-keep-His-promise mystery of Joseph’s current situation.

Tracing the Thread - You’ll hear one more verbal arrow in this episode pointing to a prior moment in the story:

Part 3, when Potiphar is shown Jacob’s garment by his wife:

Her husband’s eyes follow her finger to the discarded fabric. He bends. Picks it up. Turns the fabric over in his hands, every ounce of him wanting to drop it, to get as far away from this damning evidence as possible...and at the same time unable to stop looking at it, unable to turn away from this symbol of trust marred by the betrayal of his servant.

Part 2, when Jacob receives Jacob’s garment from the messenger:

The old man turns the crimson-stained fabric over in his hands, a macabre kaleidoscope…….every ounce of him wanting to drop it, to get as far away from this morbid evidence as possible...and at the same time unable to stop looking at it, unable to turn away from his son’s blood staining this symbol of their mutual affection.

LISTEN

Alright—this one’s all yours. Enjoy!

Listen On: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | AUDIBLE | WEB

3 Cool Things

The Buffalo River - Somehow, we’ve lived in the Ozarks for almost 4 years and just got out to canoe the Buffalo for the first time this week. WHAT A PLACE. If you’re within driving distance, get there and float that thing.

Deep Water, Slow Reading - Hazefire Studios partner JL Gerhardt (who happens to be my incredible wife) just began the second iteration of a slow Bible reading journey. It’s fantastic. Fresh, substantive, and full of Spirit-filled people who add layers of richness to the experience. The whole thing’s free (incredible). Sign up here and you’ll receive one email a day. We’re just 3 days in, and it’ll be 49 days total (all in John 14-16)—it’s a great time to jump in.

Have You Heard of a Sunshine Recorder? - What a cool instrument!

That’s the latest! I hope “Framing & Composition” blesses you.

Gratefully,
Justin

Joseph, Part 2 Is Live

As I suspect you’re aware, we’re devoting the entirety of Season 8 of Holy Ghost Stories to the incredible story of Joseph’s life. Part two is now ready for you, and it picks up with Joseph in the custody of Ishmaelite traders. His fortunes will turn more than once by the end of the episode. It’s a wild ride.

If you haven’t yet listened to the first installment of this Joseph series, you might want to do that before you check this one out. You can find part one here.

And now, a few things of interest as we turn our attention to part two: “Taken.”

BITS AND BOBS

Parallel Caravans - You’ll notice that the first two scenes of this episode begin in a similar way with corresponding language. This happened during a revision I made to the manuscript after an astute observation from Hazefire partner JL Gerhardt, who noticed an interesting parallel between Joseph and his brothers after Joseph is trafficked. I won’t say more about that here, so that it’s fresh when you listen.

Sounds Familiar - Certain moments in Biblical narrative (or, better, in divinely orchestrated history) rhyme. For instance, the story of Joseph’s abduction and exile corresponds thematically and circumstantially with a couple of other key Old Testament moments. Esther and Daniel were both young Hebrews who found themselves far from home, were given a place in the shadowy halls of power and were used by Yahweh to shine light and bless others.

(If you’d like to listen to the HGS telling of those stories, you can find Esther here and here. Daniel is here and here.)

Oh—and one more of these correspondences: I love the way Alistair Roberts sums up the parallels between this deception and the Jacob & Esau narrative: “We’ve seen a story of goats and coats before.” (Jacob deceived his father by wearing goat skins and Esau’s coat, and now Jacob is the father deceived by a coat and the carcass of a goat.)

Who Brought the Coat? - If you raised an eyebrow at my take on who actually sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites, you might raise the other when the coat is given to Jacob in this episode. I’m of the mind that the brothers don’t bring the bloody robe to Jacob, but instead send it to him. To me, the language in Gen. 37:32 indicates as much. “They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, ‘We found this. Examine it. Is it your son’s robe or not?’” Sounds like they send the robe along with a message.

Not Quite Yet - Throughout this episode, I use the name “Yahweh” in reference to God. I admit, this name does not seem to have been known or used by those who lived before Moses. (This is why I’ve used it sparingly, especially when it comes from the perspective of one of the people in the story.) The text of Genesis 39, though, uses the name Yahweh—so I’ve allowed myself to do the same.

Egypt Must Have Been Something - During the writing process, I took some time to imagine the profound impression Egypt must have made on Joseph when he arrived. Urban, cosmopolitan, technologically advanced…you couldn’t design a more significant contrast to the surroundings this rural shepherd’s son was used to. His eyes must have been the size of dinner plates. It was helpful to have spent a few hours in Cairo’s Museum of Egyptian Civilization; much of that scene was drawn from the things I observed there. (One that didn’t make it into this episode, but that was fascinating to me, was a water clock used to keep time at night [when a sundial just wouldn’t do the trick]).

Smells Like Death…or Life? - I couldn’t help but channel the spirit of 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 in this episode. (“Thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. […] To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life.”) Paul alludes to the Roman practice of triumphal procession—a military parade in which conquering soldiers would lead conquered people captive through the streets. Incense would usually be burned during these parades; to the Romans that incense would smell like life and victory, and to the captives it would smell like death and defeat. Same smell, completely different impression. That’s how I envision all of the smells of Egypt working on Joseph as he makes his way through the chapters of his story there.

“Taken” - I chose this title for the second episode because I liked its layered significance. Joseph is, of course, taken into custody by the Midianites and Ishmaelites. But also, this episode features the moment Joseph is propositioned by Potiphar’s wife—a woman who fails to recognize her romantic status as taken. Eventually, she will discover the depth of Joseph’s commitment to God—in this way, it turns out Joseph is already taken.

ALL YOURS

Enjoy! As always, I’d love to hear your impressions—just reply to this email.

LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | AMAZON/AUDIBLE | WEB

The Storied Marriage

My wife and I had the chance to head to South Carolina last weekend to talk marriage with some wonderful folks and realized (again) that we never market this thing (“The Storied Marriage” workshop) we’ve spent years developing. So I resolved to tell you guys about it, in case it might be of benefit to your church, the parent community at your Chrisitan school, etc.

We’ve incorporated this set of messages, conversations, and exercises into retreat weekends or single day events, and both work well.

Here’s a quick outline of the content (each session is delivered in tandem by Jennifer and me, each session is rooted in Scripture and story, and each session involves audience participation):

Session 1: It’s a love story

How understanding the genre of the story you’re living together enables healthy expectations and empowers you to live the part you’ve been given

This session is almost entirely about the gift of love—how to receive it from God and how to give it like God.

Session 2: Dragons, Tempests, and the Monsters Within

On embracing conflict as an essential part of your story together

This session looks at how God might use hardship, weakness, failure, disagreement, or dis-alignment in your marriage to demonstrate His glory, transform you into His image, and bind you together as partners in hope and perseverance.

Session 3: The Power of Moments

Why and how to engineer and integrate high stakes, memorable scenes into the rhythms of your marriage

Paying attention to the spectacular, surprising way God loves Israel and the church, we spend this session discovering how to “punctuate time” with dates, parties, meals, experiences, altars, music, traditions, setting, etc.

Session 4: Tell Me About It

On the power of remembering together and dreaming together

Rooted in God’s love letter to Israel in Hosea chapter 2, this session considers the way God woos Israel and offers a pathway to reconnection and long-term commitment.

Session 5: On Display

What it looks like to let God use the story of your marriage (whatever that story might be) to bless His people and bring Himself glory

This session explores how to share what God’s done (and is doing) in your marriage, offering practical suggestions and helpful examples.

—

We love teaching this material and learning from the couples in the room. We are huge fans of marriage—as an institution, as a system, as a tool, as a model of God’s love, and as the most delightful gift.

If you want to talk about possibilities, just reply to this email and I’ll get you all the details.

4 Cool Things

Have You See Strandbeests? - Been following this genius’s work for a few years now. Here’s the latest round of his wind-powered creations.

Liturgies of the Wild - Currently loving this book by Martin Shaw. No surprise. Perhaps I can give you no greater recommendation of Shaw’s voice than the words of my dear friend Mitch, who, not knowing I was aware of Shaw, said recently in a text:

“This guy is like a time traveler from a land of bards who love nature and sing her praises to the glory of God. His speech is frolicking and majestic and I could listen to him quote poems I don’t understand for a long time. I really think this dude is right up your alley. …No. He created your alley. He lives in the alley. He has a secret society in your alley.”

Guite So - For a guy who’s never read Lord of the Rings (I know; I’m sorry), I sure love visiting the office of poet, Arthurian expert, and inveterate pipe smoker Malcom Guite every so often to hear him talk about Tolkien and whatever else he fancies.

Project Hail Mary - Saw it without reading the book (read The Martian and dug it). Delightful.

That’s the latest! I do hope “Taken” blesses you.

Gratefully,
Justin

Complicated family dynamics, mysterious dreams, jealousy, betrayal, violence, love, resilience—it’s a grand tour across the quilted landscape of the human condition.

Why watch Netflix when you can listen to HGS?

More on Episode 1 in a moment. But first, a statement.

AI & Holy Ghost Stories

Given the direction of things over the past several months, I’ve been feeling that I’d like to plant a flag publicly regarding HGS and generative AI. There’s a version of what I’m about to say that’s quite lengthy (and perhaps there will be a time for that in the future), but for now let me be as concise as possible:

1. No AI has ever been or will ever be used in the writing of Holy Ghost Stories.
   
   In a world increasingly filled with AI slop, HGS will remain purely human (and, therefore, thanks to the indwelling of the Spirit, somewhat divine).

   Research is another question, though I seldom utlilize AI even then. When I do it’s usually for rudimentary questions, and always double checked.
   

2. We do not use AI music in the scoring of Holy Ghost Stories.

   
   As most of you well know, there are times we work with a composer to create an original score for an episode or a season. Most of the time, we’re sourcing music from subscription libraries. These libraries are full of beautiful, evocative pieces created by musicians all over the world. To my knowledge, these libraries do not contain AI music. If they begin hosting AI generated pieces, I hope they’ll clearly designate them as such, making them easy to avoid.

Again, maybe I’ll come back to talk more about the whys and wherefores of this position. (I have strong feelings.) For now, I just thought I’d let you know the answer to a question I find myself asking about so much these days: “Did you write this, or did you prompt AI to generate it, change some wording, and convince yourself you wrote it?”

If you find yourself wondering something similar about Holy Ghost Stories (or these emails, for that matter), the answer is always the same: For better or worse, I wrote it.

NOTES ON EPISODE 1, “Because of His Dreams”

• 🚨“Wait, what?” Warning
  As in our previous telling of this part of the Joseph story, this episode may diverge from what you’ve heard/thought if this text is familiar to you. Namely, the way we portray the Midianites, rather than Joseph’s brothers, selling him into slavery.

  
  “But Justin,” you say, “the Bible clearly says ‘When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt.’”
  
  You’re right—at least some translations say as much (the NASB, for example, does not). But when they do, the translators are taking liberty with a pronoun. The Hebrew text actually says “they pulled Joseph out of the pit…” Alistair Roberts and others have compellingly argued that the most likely antecedent to the “they” is the Midianites, not the brothers. This would square with Reuben’s surprise at Joseph’s absence after the fact, and the brothers’ seeming lack of awareness of the transaction when Reuben reports him missing in verse 30.

  
  This understanding seems to be the prevailing Jewish opinion. It also seems to fit with Joseph’s later statement: “I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews.”

  
  I could be wrong, of course. But this is what makes the most sense to me, and that’s why I tell the story the way you’ll hear it in this episode.
  

• We don’t get a ton of Yahweh in this episode. On one level, that makes me sad. I thought about taking a few more moments to imagine things from His perspective (and this would likely be a great exercise for you in your own meditations), but I decided against it.
  

  Why?
  

  This is a story in which Yahweh’s explicit, detectable presence is limited. He speaks through two dreams and that’s it. No explanation of how the dreams will play out, when that will happen, why the heartbreaking trafficking of Joseph doesn’t mean the dream has been defeated…none of that. I think that’s valuable, because that’s how it often feels our lives are playing out as well. I think that’s part of what the story is about, in fact. How do we respond when God feels absent? When it seems His plan is in jeopardy and He doesn’t say a thing? I wanted to tell the story in a way that honors the questions, confusion, and frustration His silence can provoke in us. (And tell it, too, in a way that honors Yahweh’s unseen work as He faithfully ensures the fulfillment of the dreams He gave to Joseph.)
  

• Ever wondered what it was like for one or two of the guys to go get a goat for the blood-on-the-robe ruse? If they don’t have domesticated goats with them (the passage seems to indicate they only had sheep), they had to go catch a feral one. I had to see what this would have looked like, so I turned to YouTube with high hopes. I was not disappointed.
  

  And now, for your viewing pleasure…

LISTEN

Alright—part one is all yours. I do hope it blesses you. As always, I’d love to hear your impressions—reply to this email, send a pigeon, whatever.

Listen on: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | WEB

3 Cool Things

The Octopus Is an Incredible Animal - You knew this, surely, but here’s more evidence:

Virginia Woolf’s Errands are More Interesting than Our Adventures - Case in point, this essay. I’m a big fan.

“A Quiet Life” - Love this poem by Baron Wormser (2008):

What a person desires in life 
is a properly boiled egg.
This isn't as easy as it seems.
There must be gas and a stove,
the gas requires pipelines, mastodon drills, 
banks that dispense the lozenge of capital.
There must be a pot, the product of mines 
and furnaces and factories,
of dim early mornings and night-owl shifts, 
of women in kerchiefs and men with 
sweat-soaked hair.
Then water, the stuff of clouds and skies 
and God knows what causes it to happen.
There seems always too much or too little 
of it and more pipelines, meters, pumping 
stations, towers, tanks.
And salt — a miracle of the first order, 
the ace in any argument for God.
Only God could have imagined from 
nothingness the pang of salt.
Political peace too. It should be quiet 
when one eats an egg. No political hoodlums 
knocking down doors, no lieutenants who are 
ticked off at their scheming girlfriends and 
take it out on you, no dictators 
posing as tribunes.
It should be quiet, so quiet you can hear 
the chicken, a creature usually mocked as a type 
of fool, a cluck chained to the chore of her body.
Listen, she is there, pecking at a bit of grain 
that came from nowhere.

That’s the latest! Let me know how “Because of His Dreams” hits you.

Gratefully,
Justin

• Hazefire hosted our first house show, an intimate concert here in the Ozarks featuring North Carolina duo Dasher, local artist Ryan Burton’s new band Neighbor Mae, and frequent HGS Live contributer Eve Adeline.

• We brought our partner Adam Montgomery over from Northern Ireland and did a run of the Creation show in 5 US cities. What a joy it was to share that epic story with rooms full of people wiping tears from their eyes as they beheld our Creator.

• We announced the HGS telling of the David story, coming in 2027

• Justin connected with potential donors in Austin, TX

• JL told a story in Atlanta at The Moth, a worldwide storytelling gathering.

  

• The Hazefire team collaborated with Malachi Daily—an organization doing great work via daily messaging to a tribe of 50,000 folks—on one of their Scripture memorization units

• We brought HGS Live to US Coast Guard Boot Camp in Cape May, NJ—what a wild, wonderful experience that was

• Justin & JL had the opportunity to pray for our nation on the lawn of the West Wing

  

• Our team began conversations with potential partners in Florida and North Carolina about a couple of very exciting live experiences that may happen later this year

• JL released Hazefire’s first ever Deep Water, Slow Reading module—a 42-day journey through Hebrews 11

• We started plans for Volume 2 of The Happiest Saddest People

• Quite a few new folks discovered Holy Ghost Stories by way of our partnership with Malachi Daily and left some great feedback

  • “Excellence in ministry. This reminds me of sitting around the radio as a child and using my imagination as the announcer eloquently presented the stories. Oh my, we should all love the Bible.” -Edith Conerly

  • “Wowzer! I’ve shared your podcast with several friends and family members this morning. I’ve listened to several episodes over the last few days. There hasn’t been one I have not thoroughly enjoyed. Keep up the excellent work!” -Mike Oelschlaeger

  • “Recently found your podcast and have started from the beginning. Have shared it with friends and family. Very much enjoying your storytelling of these beautiful Bible characters! You bring them to life and I can see them and their challenges more clearly. May God continue to bless your endeavor!” -Sal Reichert

  • “I love this. Showing God sticks to His promises and MAKES things happen. We don’t realize how God is working in the background for the mission he has planned for us.” -Anonymous

  • “These stories are awesome—the way God used you to tell them and the musical background brings them to life. God bless you and thank you so much!” -Janet Smith

• JL represented Hazefire Studios at the Women of Hope conference in Nashville by presenting on the power of pilgrimage to spark a contemplative spiritual life the tends toward unity.

  

• And finally, we began work on Holy Ghost Stories Season 8.

Phew! Let’s talk about that last one for a moment, shall we?

And Now For Season 8…

THE WHAT

If you’ve been listening to Holy Ghost Stories for a while, you know our typical pattern in the runup to a new season of the podcast: We reach out to our patrons and offer up a collection of 15-17 stories as potential episodes for the next season. The patrons then vote and their top picks become the stories we tell.

This season, however, is different.

As a sort of precursor to the upcoming David season, we’re doubling down on the benefits of staying in one of the Old Testament’s larger narratives.

To that end, I’m excited to let you know that HGS Season 8 will tell the story of Joseph across 13 episodes.

I can’t wait for us to spend this time with Yahweh through the lens of Joseph’s amazing life.

“But Justin,” you ask, “didn’t Holy Ghost Stories already tell the story of Joseph?” Ah—bravo. That’s just the sort of astute question I’d expect from a keen listener such as yourself. The answer is kind of. Over the course of the last few years, HGS has dipped into and out of the Joseph story. But Inspiration provided us with quite a bit of material in the book of Genesis, and we’ve only covered about a third of it so far.

So here’s the plan: we’ll back up to the beginning of this narrative and tell the whole thing start to finish. As far as moments we’ve covered in previous episodes are concerned, we’ll tell them again with rewritten scripts, new recordings, and a fresh musical score. (An added bonus: the moments of overlap will give a little extra space for me to get a jump on writing the David season while I’m creating and releasing Season 8 episodes over the next few months.) The whole thing will be a seamless experience—a 13 episode journey through what, according to the amount of airtime He gives it, is one of Yahweh’s favorite stories.

THE WHEN

And when, exactly, should you expect this adventure to begin?

Less than one week from today.

Mark your calendar and freshen up your favorite listening spot, because Holy Ghost Stories Season 8 begins on Monday March 8.

We’ll see you then!

How Does This Happen?

It’s been five years now that Holy Ghost Stories has existed. Five years of resourcing you and the world with a new way of entering Biblical narrative. So far, we’ve published over 85 episodes—43 hours of storytelling ushering listeners around the world into the presence of their Father.

And it’s all free.

How is this possible?

People like you—that’s how. A few months into this project, a tribe of patrons began to take shape: people who understood that the surest way to change the hearts and shape the faith of human beings (Christian and non-Christian alike) is through story. (After all, when Yahweh wanted to give us a living, breathing collection of writing that would bind us to Him, he made sure the largest portion of it—42%—was story.)

And so, thanks to the patrons of Hazefire Studios, we’ve been able to tell and keep telling the wondrous stories of Scripture. We tell them beautifully, and for grown ups. They find their way into the ears and hearts of people all over, and those people find themselves seeing their Creator with fresh eyes, loving Him with new affection. It’s a wonderful thing.

Maybe it’s time for you to move from anoymous listener to partner in this work. What do you say? You can become a monthly patron here.

That’s the latest! Make sure you’re subscribed to Holy Ghost Stories in your favorite listening app so that you don’t miss the Season 8 premiere.

APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | AMAZON/AUDIBLE

Gratefully,
Justin

Boot camp is no easy endeavor, but it’s been an extraordinary challenge for London thanks to the fact that she’s had the flu and pneumonia for most of her time at Cape May. She wasn’t quite sick enough to be hospitalized, which meant she continued with the daily regimen of pushups and running and screaming and being screamed at and memorizing endless information uninterrupted while she coughed so hard she tore a muscle in her side and looked lifeless enough to earn the nickname “Ghost.”

But she kept going.

And she constantly looked for ways God might be seeking to use her in that place.

Her mother and I have prayed fervently, of course. Prayed for healing, for moments of peace, for a continued assurance of God’s presence.

Then I got a text from the Command Chaplain at Cape May. He introduced himself, said he’d had the pleasure of speaking with my daughter, and told me she’d shared Holy Ghost Stories with him. He said he’d been deeply blessed by it. Then he said—are you ready for this?—“Would you be willing to come and do some storytelling for our recruits?”

I was flabbergasted.

Nothing like this happens for these young men and women. Boot camp is not a USO show kind of vibe. But God put a woman named London in that place and she behaved in such a way that when she recommended a podcast to her chaplain he actually went and listened to it. And shared it with the other leadership. And then texted me with an unprecedented invitation.

So today, our team flew to New Jersey to put on a Holy Ghost Stories live show for the recruits in US Coast Guard basic training. Tonight we told the story of Yahweh taking Ezekiel to a valley of dry bones and demonstrating His ability to bring life and vitality and wellness into places that feel bereft of such luxuries. London was there. And those recruits, who are screamed at all day every day, who live in constant fear of having to hold their mattress over their head for 30 minutes because of an untied shoe, who shed quiet tears as they fall asleep longing for home… They sat in the quiet tonight for 90 minutes while we gathered them around the fire of story and song and wrapped them in the blanket of divine presence. No one screamed. No one insulted them. They did not do a single pushup.

They simply watched as Yahweh brought resurrection and showed Ezekiel that home is not a place, but a Person.

What a wonder.

-Justin

P.S.

By the way, we did this show as a pro bono offering to the recruits and staff at Cape May. If you support Holy Ghost Stories by giving to Hazefire Studios, this is the kind of thing your generosity enables in the “off season” when you’re not seeing new episodes of HGS. Thank you.

As I’ve said, these funds will enable us to get started on the first-ever Holy Ghost Stories treatment of David’s story. Similar to the Exodus series, this will be a huge project (10 episodes, an original musical score, live shows, artist collaborations, etc)—it’s the kind of thing our team cannot do without your partnership. Many thanks to those of you who’ve enabled us to begin.

Truly, the generosity some of you show leaves me misty-eyed. Thank you for your giving, for your encouraging words, and especially for your thoughtful prayers.

More soon; for now, a very merry Christmas to you. May Yahweh find you in the quiet moments, and may you sense His presence in the raucous ones as well.

He loves you so much.

-Justin

P.S. Here’s our team just before we marched in the local Christmas parade. Season’s greetings!

You can help us close the gap by giving now!

Here’s one of the stories we shared on Instagram earlier today—it came via a message from Ireland a couple of weeks ago. You may remember this photo from the show we did in Buncrana while touring there this Spring:

That’s me praying after the show with Ken. The message we received was about him:

Hi Holy Ghost Stories fam!

You may not remember (no stress), but I met you guys in Buncrana in March this year. My Dad was with me & he spoke to Justin after the show. He had just been diagnosed with cancer and was struggling with his relationship with God. I just wanted to share his testimony with you.

During the show, from the first song, he was in tears. For the first time in his life he felt the fullness of God’s love for him. When he was younger, his mum abandoned their family when my dad was about 3, and his dad abandoned him at 15, he was left homeless on the streets of Dublin in the 70s.

The idea of a loving father was very foreign to him. He’s known God since the early 2000s but drifted away for about 10-15 years.. until the 7th of March 2025, approx 8pm GMT. He finally understood God’s desire for relationship with him, God’s need to create him. From that evening he was truly born again. God spoke through your words and the musicians music, directly to my Dad’s broken heart.

He made my Dad whole again.

My Dad passed on Monday 10th Nov. But the last 8 months of his life were filled with peace, hope, comfort and the knowledge that when his time came, he would be with his creator for eternity.

I share all this to 1) thank each of you for all the hours of studying, researching, writing, rehearsing that go into everything you do and 2) encourage you to keep fighting the good fight. You are bringing God’s heart and love to people in everything you do and God is using your obedience and gifts to bless and completely renew peoples lives.

I will always be so grateful to each of you for your ministry - as much fun as I’m sure you all have, I know ministry is a sacrifice. I am praying for you all and my husband has signed up to the patreon (I think that’s what its called).

Much love from Ireland. God bless,
Jill

Hard to find words after that, but I think what I want to say is: What else is there but this?

Join us in this work. It’s good and it’s powerful and it’s changing people’s destinies.

GIVE NOW

Thank you,
Justin

I Can't Read This, But I Want To Give!

Where We’ve Been…

A few years ago, God began calling me toward a new kind of ministry. Instead of preaching (which I’d done for 20 years), I felt compelled to tell stories. The best stories—the ones vetted by Scripture—the ones in which Yahweh dwells and longs to be found. And I wouldn’t just tell them, I’d tell them. Robust, world-building research. Artful writing driven by character and rich with nuance. Evocative narration. And a full musical score to wrap the whole thing in layers of subtext and pathos.

The problem?

No one was hiring me to do this—I’d have to strike out on my own and see what happened. Follow the cloud and wait for Yahweh to bring manna.

I worked feverishly on the first three episodes of this new project—a podcast I called Holy Ghost Stories. The day after they premiered, I woke up to 70 five star reviews on Apple Podcasts. I was shocked and delighted: people were listening!

And the feedback was incredible: they were meeting God in these stories.

So I kept creating.

HGS took lots of work—more than a full-time load, but there was still no “job.” (Which meant no “income.”😀) To cut costs, we’d moved abroad and were eating lots of rice. A few months in, I’d have the chance to work with a world class composer to score one of the episodes. We sold a car to pay for it.

It was tough not knowing how we’d survive financially, but we were squeaking by. And we kept hearing from people who’s relationship with God was shifting as they spent time inside these narrative meditations—as they walked through these memory portals into His presence. I couldn’t imagine not telling more stories, not building more portals. A few months later, we’d sell our house to enable the work to continue.

Along the way, slowly but surely, the growing Holy Ghost Stories audience began contributing financially. They rallied around the idea, around their transformative experiences with the podcast, around the potential for others to encounter Yahweh the same way.

And now, five years in, we’ve told no less than 83 stories from the Old Testament. Eighty-three! A storytelling agency called Hazefire Studios exists as the nonprofit home of HGS. There’s a team of extraordinarily talented people who help to make not just Holy Ghost Stories, but Holy Ghost Stories Live shows and The Happiest Saddest People and Bonfire and more.

It’s really quite something what God has done.

But you’re going to love what’s next.

Are You Ready?

As we look to 2026 & 2027, it’s time—at long last—to tell a story that has yet to receive the Holy Ghost Stories treatment. It’s the story I mentioned yesterday: the one so many people ask about. (“When are you going to do that one?”)

It might be my favorite story (collection of stories, really) in all of the Old Testament. It has everything: a wonderful, flawed protagonist; a villain who’s not really a villain (and one or two who maybe are); adventure; friendship; romance; intrigue; tragedy; redemption… the list goes on and on.

It’s the story of one man’s extraordinary life. And it serves as a lens through which we get an unforgettable glimpse of Yahweh Himself.

You know who I’m talking about right?

It’s time to tell the story of David.

We’ll start with the first part of his life. An entire season of HGS. Writing to transport you. An original musical score from the inimitable Kendall Ramseur. And lots of other surprises along the way.

I’m telling you: this will be an unforgettable listening experience. A chance for you to step into some of Yahweh’s most cherished memories. A chance for you to see His heart.

There’s plenty more to share; but all told, this project will cost around $270K to produce.

Multiple artists.

Years of work.

But so very worth it.

Here’s Your Chance

So what now?

Our goal today is to raise an initial $15K. That will enable us to get rolling with the first parts of the work. More to come, of course, but this is what we’re up to for Giving Tuesday.

And if you give today, we’re sending thank-you gifts according to the donation:

• $100 - A handwritten thank you note from the Hazefire crew

• $250 - A fresh-out-of-the-oven HGS t-shirt that’s super fun (check the IG at lunchtime today for a peek at the design)

• $500+ - A cassette tape with your favorite HGS episode, sent to you inside your very own portable cassette player. Old school wired headphones included, of course. I am very excited about this one.

Hey—giving is fun, but it’s more fun with treats.

You can follow along on Instagram today for some deeply moving stories—stories you’ve enabled if you’ve ever given to or shared HGS.

Thanks so much for being a part of this tribe. Wonderful things are ahead!

GIVE NOW

Gratefully,
Justin

It’s a question I get asked a lot. (Who knows—maybe you’ve asked me at some point.) One particular Old Testament story is mentioned, followed by an impassioned “That one would be amazing—when do we get a Holy Ghost Stories episode on it?”

Always, they’re asking about the same story.

And the real answer—though I don’t often share it—is always the same.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you both: the One Question, and the Real Answer. It’s time.

*

When you wake up tomorrow it will be Giving Tuesday here in America. I know your inbox might be cluttered, but I hope you’ll open an email in the morning from me. In it, you’ll hear about the thrilling next Holy Ghost Stories project from Hazefire Studios. I’ll also share how you can help make it happen, because I’ll tell you right now: it won’t happen without you.

For now, I’d ask you to take a moment and pray. Pray that those who’ve found themselves loving Yahweh more deeply because of Holy Ghost Stories would be moved to action. Pray that generosity would flow. Pray that the Lord would care for this thing He’s begun. And pray that He’d make clear how He wants to use you in the next chapter of Holy Ghost Stories.

HGS Wins

I’m delighted to share that Holy Ghost Stories is an ARKAST award winner! Many of you know that NW Arkansas is the geographical home of HGS these days; we’re honored that the Arkansas Podcast Collaborative (ARKAST for short) has chosen Holy Ghost Stories as Best Spiritual Podcast.

We were out on tour on the date of the award ceremony, but a good friend of the show accepted the award on our behalf (and even made a speech we wrote for him). Check out this hardware!

More in the morning!

Gratefully,
Justin

Our run of live shows (the last for a while!) begins this weekend. Here are a few questions you might be asking:

What story are you telling?

Creation! Trust me: you’ve never spent time with Genesis 1 & 2 like this.

Can I bring my kids?

Please do! Not all our shows are child-appropriate (blame the Old Testament), but this is the only part of the Bible where nothing has gone wrong yet, so there’s no salty stuff and we get to spend the whole time basking in Yahweh’s joy.

If your child can make it through a church service, they should be able to make it through this. There’s a good chance they’ll really dig it.

Who’s on stage?

Adam Montgomery (acoustic guitar, vocals) - Singer-songwriter from Derry, N Ireland
Adam has written almost all the songs in this show, and his songs often bring me to tears.

Eve Adeline (vocals, keys) - Singer-songwriter from Springdale, Arkansas
Eve is my daughter and a cherished partner in these live shows. One of the songs you’ll hear is hers.

Kendall Ramseur (cello) - Cellist/composer from Boston, Massachusetts
Kendall is a longtime friend of Holy Ghost Stories. He joined us on last year’s tour and composed the entirety of the HGS Exodus season’s music. He’ll be playing at the Austin show.

Joanna Stafford (keys, vocals) - Pianist/vocalist from Fayetteville, Arkansas
Joanna’s ability on the piano is remarkable and her voice is a gift from above. She’ll be playing at the Fayetteville show.

Justin Gerhardt (story) - That’s me
I can’t believe I get to be up there with these extraordinary artists. What a privilege.

Will this be different than other HGS live shows I’ve seen?

Yes—it’s an entirely new show.

Will it be recorded/streamed?

Unfortunately, no. We hope you can make it in person!

I heard Nashville’s ticket revenue will be donated to Healing Hands International—what’s that?

HHI is a nonprofit helping those in need around the world in the name of Jesus. They do this by sharing Christ, providing water, fighting hunger, and offering pratical hope through business training and microfinance. We’re thrilled to partner with them for this show and grateful for a way to multiply the money you spend on tickets!

Bottom Line

This will be a night brimming with joy and wonder as we gaze upon our Creator. It’s a bit of a masterclass, I think, on who He is—we’ll consider so many of His predilections, explore His priorities, meditate on the Why behind his framing of the universe. If you want to know Yahweh better, this has the potential to be a before-and-after kind of night.

If you haven’t grabbed tickets, now’s your chance:

Austin, TX - Sunday Nov 16 (4:30pm)

AUSTIN TICKETS

Fayetteville, AR - Thursday Nov 20 (7pm)

NWA TICKETS

Nashville, TN - Saturday Nov 22 (7pm)

NASHVILLE TICKETS

Two More Things:

If You Would…

Many of you are generous enough to pray for me and our team—I’m so grateful, and I’d deeply appreciate it if you’d lift up these shows in particular. Also: we’re doing two fundraising-oriented events on this tour, and I’d cherish your prayers for the Lord to bless those. Thank you!

Calling Nashville Sponsors

Because of a last minute change, we have an opportunity for one more sponsor for our Nashville show. Whether a business or an individual, we’d be so blessed to have someone step up with a $2ksponsorship to help cover the costs of the show—doing so enables us to give every penny of ticket proceeds for that night to Healing Hands International.

It’s a tax-deductible opportunity to bless both HHI and Hazefire Studios—two nonprofits doing important work in the world. Reply to this email if you want more info.

That’s the latest! See you out there—we cannot wait to share the glittering story of Creation with you!

GET YOUR TICKETS

Gratefully,
Justin

See You Next Month🔥

We’re 4 weeks out! Holy Ghost Stories Live: Created is coming to three cities in November. Adam Montgomery will be joining us all the way from Northern Ireland, my daughter Eve will be singing and playing, and Kendall Ramseur will even join us for the show in Austin.

There won’t be a Christmas show in Dec, so this will be your last chance to catch HGS Live for a while.

Also—what a delight it is to sit inside the Creation story for an evening. I’m telling you—never has one of these shows been so full of light and joy. You’re going to love it. Bring the family and a couple of friends and we’ll see you out there.

November 16 - Austin, TX - Tickets

November 20 - Fayetteville, TN - Tickets

November 22 - Nashville, TN - Tickets

The Season 7 Finale Has Dropped

“The Sovereign and the Witness” is live this week—and I can’t wait for you to hear it. It’s the story that comes to us from last part of the Book of Daniel: his epic meetings with angels in Babylon.

As you’ll hear in the intro, this narrative speaks to some compelling questions we ask of God: “What is He up to? Why does He wait? Has our sin hidden his face forever? Has He forgotten? Has He moved on? Are we on our own?”

It’s a story that pulls back the curtain on cosmic affairs in a startling and fascinating way—I’m interested to hear how familiar you were with it before you listened to this episode. For me, it was both sobering and encouraging. I hope it does something similar in you.

Oh—and that image above is Rafael’s Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan (1518). While Michael doesn’t appear in this episode, he’s mentioned by Gabriel.

Here are a few things you might interesting:

BITS AND BOBS

• Where and When — The events of Daniel 9 take plac in Babylon just after Daniel has witnessed a change of regime: Babylon (under Belshazzar, successor of Nebuchadnezzar) has fallen, and Persia (under Cyrus the Great) has taken control of the region (and so much of the world).

• Who Was Darius? — When I told the story of the lions’ den in Season 5, I made an informed decision to interpret the ruler called “Darius” as Cyrus the Great himself.

  

  I’ve continued that interpretation in this episode. You can read more of my thinking (and other possibilities) in the BITS & BOBS section of that issue of The Latest, but here’s a bit of why I think Darias and Cyrus are one and the same:

  • Tremper Longman III, in his commentary on Daniel, cites eminent Assyriologist D.J. Wiseman as one who “argued that Darius the Mede is the Babylonian throne name of none other than Cyrus himself.”

  • The character of Cyrus the Great overlays well with the “Darius” we encounter in Daniel 6, Cyrus was a famously beneficent, savvy ruler—and notably keen on the delegation of leadership.

  • When Daniel 6 closes with “So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian,” maybe, as Wiseman argues, the translation is better rendered “So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius, that is, the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”

• The Ishtar Gate is a Paid Actor - As I wrote this episode, I couldn’t resist featuring the famed entrance to Babylon built during the reign of Cyrus. (You may recall a mention of it during the HGS S3E4 “The Counselor and the Conscientious Objectors”—I’ve mirrored a bit of that language in this episode.) The bit pictured here would have been a fraction of the entire structure:

  

  

  Here’s a photo taken in 1930 of the gate’s in situ remains. Makes me think two things:
  1. Those restorers did a magnificent job.
  2. Wow. All of our human triumphs come to ruin.

  

• Daniel + Windows - Loved the chance to allude in this episode to the practice of Daniel’s that landed him in the lions’ den.

• The Letter - You’ll hear me quote a famous portion of Jeremiah as a stand-alone letter, rather than as “The Book of Jeremiah.” That’s because that section of the Book of Jeremiah (like others) originated as a letter. Here’s Jeremiah 29:1 introducing it:

  • “This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” (Jer 29:1)

• Were there lotions back then? - I mention Daniel’s abstinence from lotion as a part of his fasting. Cosmetics of various sorts were a common part of Babylonian culture. Museum exhibits around the world are rife with assorted containers that held perfumes, oils, lotions, eye liner, lip stain, eyebrow pigment, etc.

• Gabriel, then…Jesus? Two years after Daniel’s meeting with the angel Gabriel, the story (as I tell it) climaxes with another angelic rendezvous on the banks of the Tigris River. Daniel’s description of the angel (never, mind you, called an “angel”—but instead “a man.”) lines up quite compellingly with the Revelation 1 depiction of the exalted Christ. See for yourself:

  • Daniel 10:5-6 — “I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.”

  • Revelation 1:13-15 — “Among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”

  Beyond the above parallels, there’s the sheer undone-ness of Daniel, plus this mysterious man’s privileged knowledge of global futures. Could he be the preincarnate Christ? Many scholars believe so. Personally, I’m on board.

• Like the Sound of a Multitude - Perhaps you’ve noticed as you listened to various episodes of HGS that I have no hard-and-fast rule when it comes to portraying the divine voice. Sometimes I’ll use light effects, sometimes I won’t. Sometimes it will be loud, sometimes it will be soft. Sometimes smiling, sometimes stern. Sometimes you’ll hear babies laughing as He speaks. I think this is the only way to capture (okay—not capture, but at least nod to) the complexity and diversity of His voice (and theophanies in general). This time, I used three effects: 1) A bass enhancer, 2) A cathedral-style reverb, and 3) A multiplication effect called “chorus.” All three of these seemed apropos.

• Delayed by a battle with some arc angel called “the Prince of Persia”?! - Come on—that detail is crazy. And I, of course, am not making it up: “But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me…” (Daniel 10:13).

• But what about the different eschatalogical interpretations of Daniel 12? Blessedly, not my job. :)

• Even Angels… - In the river scene, you’ll hear a reference to a passage that’s intrigued me for decades: “Concerning this salvation, the prophets […] searched intently and with the greatest care […]. Even angels long to look into these things” (1 Peter 1:10,12).

THAT’S A WRAP

Season 7 is complete! Thanks to a different approach to the Creation series, this season clocked in at 19 episodes. Phew! Anway, I’m so grateful to all of you who gave to make this season possible.

We told some great stories: Elijah & the siege of Samaria, Jephthah, the abduction and return of the Ark of the Covenant, Elijah meeting Yahweh in the cave, and of course, the Creation of the universe. What a journey. I think “The Sovereign and the Witness” is a fitting finale.

Hope it blesses you!

LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | AUDIBLE

3, Yea 4 Cool Things

Live From Rest — If you’re looking to begin a practice of simple Christian meditation and have no idea where to start, I’d highly recommend the Live From Rest app. Steve Smith and his team have done fantastic work putting together a customizable experience for beginner and seasoned Christians alike. I daresay a week of daily 15 minute sessions will transform you.

Too, Steve has a podcast I just discovered (also called Live From Rest). Jennifer and I listened to the most recent episode in the car the other day and Eric Sandor’s story brought us to happy tears more than once. Wow.

A Humble Case for Humanity - Engage me in a conversation about AI and you’ll find that as an artist/creator, I have strong opinions about certain applications of this technology. Here are a couple of thoughtful pieces I came across recently—perhaps you’ll appreciate them as I did:

“Human Error is the Point: On Teaching During the Rise of AI”

What A.I. can’t do is feel the shape of silence after someone says something so honest we forget we’re here to learn. What it can’t do is pause mid-sentence because it remembered the smell of its father’s old chair. What it can’t do is sit in a room full of people who are trying—and failing—to make sense of something that maybe can’t be made sense of.

That’s the job of teaching.

And if you’re wondering if you’ll ever hear Holy Ghost Stories narrated by AI, the answer is absolutely not. Why not, you ask? Here’s a piece that speaks to a few of the thousand reasons I could give you: “Why AI Narrators Will Never be Able to Tell a Real Human Story”

The ability to tell stories is what makes us human. In a term coined by Jonathan Gotschall, we are homo fictus, or “storytelling animals.” Narrating audiobooks today is the closest thing to that primal art form. One person, one voice, spinning a tale for another.

And:

As far back as Aristotle, we have known that voice and soul are intertwined: “Now voice is a kind of sound of an ensouled thing. What produces the impact must have soul in it and must be accompanied by an act of imagination, for voice is a sound with a meaning…”

And finally:

AI voices are unnatural children, worth only leaving mewling on a mountainside to die of exposure.

Fire is Sunshine Spilled from the Jar of a Tree (…Really) - 4 minutes of delightful enthusiasm and perception from physicist Richard Feynman.

That’s the Latest! Grab your tickets now for HGS Live: Created and we’ll see you soon.

Gratefully,
Justin

The One With the Still, Small Voice

Today’s episode tells the story of Elijah’s time in the cave—when he encountered Yahweh not in the whirlwind or fire or an earthquake, but in a whisper.

In terms of past Holy Ghost Stories treatments of Elijah, this episode is essentially the sequel to the 2nd episode of Holy Ghost Stories (“The Rainmaker and the Firebrand”—the showdown on Mt. Carmel) and Season Five’s “The Harbinger, the Fugitive, and the Host” (Elijah’s time in hiding), and a prequel to the first scene of “The Charioteer, the Blind Men, and the Surprise Party” (Elijah’s ascension).

It’s an absolutely fascinating story, and a helpful challenge to the way we often mistake Yahweh’s reliability and faithfulness for…what’s the way to say this…a predictability of method? What I mean is this: we know God is present and we know God provides and we know God speaks. But we seldom know exactly where or exacly when or exactly how any of that will happen.

This story speaks to that mystery.

BITS AND BOBS

Easter Eggs — As this story comes to us in the text, the narrator makes multiple allusions to the Exodus events, adding that layer to thematically deepen the story. I’ve tried to honor this, and intentionlly leaned into those cross references. See how many you can find.

As a part of this, I’ve created a sort of echo in order to link the moment Elijah comes upon Mt Sinai with the HGS telling of Moses’s first encounter with the mountain. Here are the two moments side-by-side:

S4E2: “Induction” (The Exodus, part 2)

Finally, a patch of scattered weeds! Moses’ staff punches more quickly now, his eye set on a pass shadowed by two rising walls of stone—one lesser and one greater. […] The greater of the two closest prominences looms before him wild and unnerving. Scarred. Ancient. Majestic. Mount Horeb, they call it—“Mountain of the deity.”

S7E18: “The Whisper and the Target”

Finally, Elijah senses he’s close. His cloak flaps more quickly now—his old legs moving resolutely toward a pass shadowed by two rising walls of stone—one lesser and one greater. The greater of the two prominences looms before him wild and unnerving. Scarred. Ancient. Majestic. Without ever having been here, Elijah knows this place. Mount Horeb—“Mountain of the deity,” known also as Mt. Sinai.

The Angel of Yahweh — The “Angel of the LORD,” as he’s called in many translations, makes back-to-back appearances in this story. As I’ve observed before, many scholars identify this messenger as the pre-incarnate Christ. As a hat tip to this, you’ll hear me imagine him doing a very Jesus-y thing before he leaves Elijah in this episode.

Elijah’s cloak — It’s fascinating to me how the prophet’s cloak almost becomes its own character as Elijah’s story is told in 1 & 2 Kings. I did my best to bear this out in subtle ways.

The Race! — This story includes one of the most memorable (if not bizzare) miracles in the Old Testament: The Spirit of Yahweh comes upon Elijah and enables him to run down Mt. Carmel and overtake Ahab’s chariot as he races to get home. This was always a head-scratcher to me. Cool, cool—but…Why?? There’s still plenty of mystery surrounding this wonder, but after spending time researching and writing this episode I think it all makes a bit more sense to me. See if you feel this way after listening.

Elijah in Art — His miraculous footrace doesn’t make it into the series, but I do love this 18th century piece (below) from Bulgaria (artist anonymous) depicting various scenes from Elijah’s life. (It is interesting how he seems to be the same age in every moment… But what is time, right?)

Everything Was Going So Well… — As 1 Kings 19 begins, the story takes a significant turn. Where wonders and victory were the order of the day (Fire from heaven! The defeat of false prophets and gods! The embarrassment of Ahab! The end of the drought! Running faster than a chariot! ), Jezebel’s scheming takes center stage (a move made by the narrator to mimic the outsized place this threat holds in the prophet’s mind). Elijah is driven southward into the wilderness—an emotional/spiritual reality for him as much as it is a physical one. Not to worry, though. Yahweh does good things in the wilderness.

A Different View — After the Mt. Carmel showdown, the text offers this summary: “Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword” (1 Kings 19:1). In an unusually extended bit of “perhaps-ing,” I’ve taken an entire scene to imagine their conversation. Seeing the events through Ahab’s POV was really enlivening. Reminded me of how the fiery furnace story comes to us largely through the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar.

Elijah Has Issues — Like you and like me, Elijah was a human being with his share of idiosyncrasies. (Let’s go ahead and call them weaknesses.) For one, it seems Elijah gets a bit too dependent on spectacle (understandable, as he experiences some big ones) as the surest indicator of God’s presence/activity. Connected to this, Elijah seems to think he has a clearer sense of God’s activity (or lack thereof) than he actually does. Third, He puts too much faith in his own assessment of outcomes and leaves too little room for Yahweh to surprise him. Fourth, Elijah tends to see himself as a loner (a self-fulfilling prophecy at times). I certainly understand these tendencies and find myself identifying with Elijah as he begins spiraling into his depressive episode. Oh—and his slowness to recognize Yahweh’s gentle correction/reorientation…me too.

Elisha Will Be the Same and Different — Many have observed the way these two’s ministries mirror one another. I think we begin getting a sense of that from the moment we meet Elisha in 1 Kings 19:19-21. I loved bearing this out as the episode comes to a close.

ALL YOURS

This one’s a beautiful picture of the God who defies predictability. The God who is patient with us when we get Him wrong—especially when we’re trying to see Him.

LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | AUDIBLE

3 Nights of Holy Ghost Stories Live

We’re taking the Creation story on the road in November, bringing the wonder of our world-making God to three cities. I’ll be joined by Irish singer-songwriter Adam Montgomery (who’s been my collaborater on the tours we’ve done in Ireland) and several other fantastic musicians, and we’ll bask in Yahweh’s joy as we grin and shed happy tears together. This is an all-ages show, so bring the family!

Get your tickets now:

Austin, TX - Nov 16 | 4:30pm

Fayetteville, AR - Nov 20 | 7:00pm

Nashville, TN - Nov 22 | 7:00pm

5 Cool Things

Where to Find Media to Consume Instead of Doomscrolling — I’m so grateful for lists like this. If you have any favorites here beyond the well-known ones (or others to share!), do tell.

“It’s a gospel song pretty much” — Digging this video of U2 teaming with a choir in NYC to sing “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” (They’re prepping for this live performance.)

WILD CHRIST — “Jesus speaks to the ancient in us. He is talking to the mud in us…” Really loved this from Martin Shaw. (h/t to Hazefire Studios teammember Thaddeus)

Cloud Cukoo Land — Finally getting to this (I know) and it’s wonderful.

Created: Holy Ghost Stories Live — Join us in November

Announcing: HGS Live: Created — 3 Nights Only

Big news! We’re bringing the story of Creation to three cities in the US this Fall and tickets are live today.

You may remember me mentioning Adam Montgomery, my partner in Northern Ireland—we’re flying him over to America for a three-show run in November.

Do not miss this.

WHAT:
A live show featuring the epic story of the world’s creation, featuring yours truly, Northern Irish singer/songwriter Adam Montgomery, and a handful of other extraordinary musicians.

WHERE & WHEN:
November 16 - Austin, TX (with Kendall Ramseur)
November 20 - Fayetteville, AR
November 22 - Nashville, TN

WHY:
Because “through everything God made, we can clearly see his invisible qualities” (Romans 1:20). There’s so much of Him to be seen—let’s look together.

WHAT ELSE:
Adam and I will be teaming up for a Meet&Greet/Q&A before each show—we’d love to sit down with a few of you and answer questions about our collaboration or anything else you fancy. You can add this to your ticket at checkout.

Oh—and those in the know will be delighted to hear that the one and only Kendall Ramseur will be joining us on cello for the Austin show.

This will be an iteration of the show we toured in Ireland this Spring—an immersive celebration of the incredible God who spoke our world into existence. If you enjoyed the Holy Ghost Stories Creation series, you’ll love this experience.

Bring a friend or 2 or 10! I can’t wait to see you out there.

Get tickets now

Announcement: The Creation Show in the US

I’m delighted to let you know that we’re flying in my partner from Ireland for three Holy Ghost Stories Live shows in November. We’ll tell the story of the Creation with original songs from Adam and from my daughter, Eve—just as we did in Ireland earlier this year.

These shows will happen in Fort Worth, TX, Fayetteville, AR, and Nashville, TN. Dates are being finalized, but everything will happen between November 13th and 22nd.

Stay tuned—tickets (and final info) will go live on August 25th, but patrons will have early access beginning on August 21st. (Now’s a great time to become one…)

The Glory, the Priest, and the Pirates

If you (like me) have been fascinated by the Ark of the Covenant over the years, I think you’re going to love this episode of Holy Ghost Stories. We pick up in 1 Samuel 4 with an old, blind, overweight high priest (Eli) whose out-of-control sons allow the Ark of the Covenant to be illegally carried into a battle against the Philistines.

Horrible things happen.

I’m short on time this week, so I’ll have to skip the usual smattering of bits and bobs and simply let you know that the episode is live and that I hope it blesses you. Oh—and this is a two-part treatment of the story (next time, we’ll explore the wild events of 1 Samuel 5-7), so be warned: the ending lacks closure.

LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | AUDIBLE | AMAZON MUSIC

1 Cool Thing

How to Make a Song Feel Like Rain - I love Charles Cornell’s explorations of songs—much of what he details will be somewhat lost on those who aren’t well-versed in music theory (I am no expert), but the full-on, deep-dive thoughtful enjoyment of art is always something I’m going to enjoy. In this one, he takes on Jobim’s Águas De Março (it’s that chill Portugese song from the 70s—you know it).

That’s the latest! Do reply with any thoughts about today’s episode—I love hearing from you.

Gratefully,
Justin

The Balm, the Negotiator, and the Casualty

Brand new episode of Holy Ghost Stories this week: this one’s the tale of the infamous Jephthah—the gang leader from Gilead who makes a crazy vow resulting in his daughter’s death. Quite a story, and one with much for us to ponder.

I’m excited to share this one with you—it was a top pick for this season’s offerings when I polled the HGS patrons. Here are some details I thought were interesting or helpful:

BITS AND BOBS:

“Jephthah’s Rash Vow”?

After spending extended time with this story, I’m forced to take issue with the usual charactierization of Jephthah’s vow. I really can’t get behind the idea of it being “rash.” Sure, the vow itself seems crazy and he certainly comes to regret making it, but let’s back up. We’ve got a lot of Jephthath in the text before the vow is made, and what is he like? We’re told he’s a mighty warrior, and we’re shown that he’s a shrewd negotiator. Negotiation is mostly what he’s up to, in fact:

When the elders of Gilead come to him asking if he’ll lead their forces into battle, he first puts them on their heels by calling them on their prior rejection (Judges 11:7) and then presses them into making their offer an official “Yahweh as our witness” guarantee.

Once he takes the lead of the Israelite army, his first move is diplomacy with the king of Ammon (Judges 11:12). When his first volley is returned, he sends a long reply that’s full of thoughtful, elevated argumentation (imperfect and synchretistic as it may be). That passage (Judges 11:14-27) is one of the longest instances of a person speaking in the Old Testament and an excellent glimpse into Jephthah’s mind.

All of this to say: by the time Jephthah makes his vow in Judges 11:30, we’ve been offered an entire chapter full of insights into his personality—and what we’ve seen is not someone who’s impulsive or foolhardy, but a man who’s quite thoughtful and calculated. Jephthah is not a loose cannon; he’s a tactician. (I found that Daniel Block expresses a similar conclusion in his excellent commentary on Judges.)

So why would someone like that make such a foolish vow? There’s the interesting question—and it’s one that only surfaces when we pay attention to the whole story. You’ll have to listen to my telling to see if you agree with my theory.

Idolatry Like Never Before

The Jephthah narrative opens (Judges 10:6) with a lavish seven-fold description of Israel’s idolatry—the most extensive detailing of their unfaithfulness in the entire book of Judges, in fact. (That’s quite a high bar.) Bottom line: the narrator wants us to understand that the faith situation in Israel is very, very bad. I think we should take this into account as we navigate our evaluation of Jephthah, grading on a bit of a curve (and from the looks of Hebrews 11, it seems Yahweh did the same).

A Break in the Cycle

Chapter 11 interrupts the cycle of merciful deliverance so familiar to us in the Book of Judges. When Israel cries out for help, Yahweh flatly refuses. When He does finally intervene, it seems His involvement in the rescue is somewhat mitigated. We get the impression that Yahweh is at the end of His (very long) rope.

Yahweh Doesn’t Raise Him Up

Speaking of breaks in the cycle, God doesn’t “raise up” Jephthah the way He does other deliverers in the Book of Judges. The pattern is established in Judges 2:18 (“Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge…”) and then repeats throughout the narrative: “he raised up Othniel” (3:9); “he gave them Ehud” (3:15); he called Gideon by saying, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior”; etc. Jephthah, however, seems to be more Israel’s idea than Yahweh’s—there’s nothing in the text about God raising him up to deliver Israel. Yahweh does use him, of course (His Spirit even descends on Jephthah), but this endorsement seems almost a capitulation of sorts. In fact, the Judges narrator portrays Yahweh exibiting a crescendo of disengagment during this part of the book—presumably tied to Israel’s gratuitous unfaithfulness.

Jepthah v Samson

Like Samson after him, Jephthah is a formidable warrior and a shrewd tactician. As a nod to this, I echoed some of the language I used in Season 6’s episode about Samson, “The Source and the Supernova.”

S6E7:

“Samson stands at the mouth of the cave, chewing some salted beef, perhaps, as the men gather around him. […] Rolls his eyes. Spits a wad of meat onto the ground.”

S7E15:

“Jephthah leans in the doorway, neck flexing as he works a hunk of salted beef with his molars. […] Smiles. Throws the meat on the ground.”

I think Jephthah and Samson would have liked each other. Or hated each other. Definitely one of those.

The Hebrews 11 Question

After reading/hearing this story, you can’t help but be a little surprised to see Jephthah’s name pop up in the ‘Hall of Faith’ of Hebrews 11: “And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, […] These were all commended for their faith…” What about Jephthah’s faith makes him commendation-worthy? I’d say that’s a great question to meditate on and/or discuss with someone once you listen to this episode. I’d be happy to hear your thoughts as well if you want to come back to this email and reply.

“You Have Brought Me Down”

For some reason, Jephthah’s reaction to his daughter coming out of the gate first reminds me of Adam’s response to Yahweh in Genesis 3:12.

Dynasty on His Mind

I don’t agree with Alistair Roberts’s take on parts of this story, but I did appreciate him pointing out Jephthah’s apparent fixation on legacy. His hope and his grief (and possibly his vow?) seem to be bound up in the hope for a dynasty of some kind.

“Wait—How Is This Different Than Abraham’s Sacrifice of Isaac?”

Great question. Instead of an extended response, I’ll offer this chart from Daniel Block for your consideration. It’s a little harder on Jephthah than I might be, but helpful nonetheless:

The Balm of Gilead

Jepthah is the son of a man named Gilead, a resident of the town of the same name—the center of a region well known in the ancient world for its production of an aromatic balm used medicinally to treat everything from psoriasis, eczema, and sunburn to rashes, insect bites, and chapped skin. (Here’s a quick article from the Biblical Archeological Society.)

In Jeremiah 8 the prophet will famously wail, “Is there no balm in Gilead? / Is there no physician there? / Why then is there no healing / for the wound of my people?”

And of course, there’s the old campfire song “A Balm in Gilead”—though I found this recording which, admittedly, sounds a little different than when we sang it at church camp:

For all these reasons, I chose to lean in to the metaphor and use “Balm” for the Yahweh-specific term in the title of this episode.

LISTEN

This one was a lot of work, and I hope it blesses you. It certainly blessed me.

LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | AUDIBLE | WEB

3 Cool Things

Bikes, Man - Even though it was 1989 when I was 10, these photos of kids jumping their bikes in the 70s hit hard. This is what we did all day everyday. Are kids still obsessed with making ramps and jumping their bikes? If not, what do they spend all their doctor money on??

This one, by the way, bears an uncanny resemblance to Justin in 1989:

But I like to think the amount of air I got was more like this:

K-Pop Demon Hunters - Okay, here’s the deal: I watched this with my two teenage daughters because we thought it’d be a funny thing to do together. But—and I assure you I’m not joking—it was great.

For real. Funny, well-written, a solid story arc, and I’d be shocked if somebody involved in its creation isn’t a Christian. The themes and metaphors are kind of Entirely Gospel. I’m telling you, I was flabbergasted.

Dare you to watch it, even without teenage daughters.

90 Minutes on Writing and Rivers - As any faithful reader of The Latest will know, Robert Macfarlane is one of my absolute favorite living authors. I love both nature and words, so reading one of his books is sitting down to a feast. He’s one of those rare people, though, who isn’t just a profoundly gifted written communicator; he’s unbelievably articulate in casual conversation. I just find myself shaking my head as I listen to him talk.

No surprise, then, that I loved this conversation:

That’s the latest! I hope “The Balm, the Negotiator, and the Casualty” leads you into the presence of the God who loves you.

Gratefully,
Justin

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