Day 24 - BIOY

What's all this 'put your hand under my thigh' business, when making a promise?

It was a way of swearing by the family line.
One person mentioned that 'under the thigh' is a euphemism for the genitals (and another said "I was so hoping no one was going to mention that!").
Also they had the idea that it may also be to do with Joseph wrestling God - "because when the ‘man’ wrestles with Israel he ‘touches him in the socket of the hip, and it was wrenched’ – its another euphemism… the angel hits him below the belt! God fights dirty with Jacob to show him what it feels like to be on the receiving end of dirty tricks…"

I don't understand, was Elijah actually John the Baptist?

No, Jesus was linking them by referring to them in that way.

Response posted by Calum
One of the last prophets in the Old Testament (Malachi 4.5) talked about Elijah coming to prepare people for the ‘great day of the LORD’, suggesting that after that, only the Messiah would be left to come. By linking John the Baptist to Elijah (I don’t think there’s enough in the passages to say whether it was literally Elijah, or whether Elijah stood as a symbol which John the Baptist fulfilled), Jesus is suggesting that John the Baptist was the prophet after whom only the Messiah would come – and so implicitly claims to be the Messiah through the passage.

Why would Joseph have 'bought' the people in return for giving them food? Surely slavery isn't the way...

Joseph was in charge of Egypt's resources, and couldn't just give away the grain for free. However, he did not use these 'bought' people in a way that would mean they were in horrible conditions or anything like that. Instead, they had land to farm, and were to give a fifth of their harvest to Pharoah - in this way, he still served Pharoah, and made profit for him, but he also save the lives of the people, and allowed them to live well despite their poor circumstances.

Really good bit: Proverbs 3:1-2

"Keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity."

And of course: Proverbs 3:5

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding"

I also liked how one person mentioned that the 'and' is significant - suggesting that we can trust in the Lord with all our heart's and still lean on our own understanding. It is an interesting idea, and we should strive to follow this passage...