Chapter 41: I had to smile at verse 19-21, with the comments about the ugliest cows ever... my imagination had some fun. :) I am assuming that this was one of the worst famines ever... and history knowledge? Verse 32 made me think that maybe God repeats things He is ademently sure of and wants us to know, so maybe that is why there are so many recounts of similar repeated sins expressed thus far in Genensis, to make sure we are aware of their bad consequences and not follow suit and do them too... a warning in love to us.
Throughout this story, Joseph has had many High mountaintop experiences, and many low low valley times... it made me think why Joseph would have such extremes, and I thought that maybe it was a sign of God's confidence of Joseph's confidence in Him... so, we shouldn't be discouraged by the ups and downs in life... they are not based on character (obviously, as Joseph is probably the most righteous/noble acting main character so far in Genesis, yet he seems to have some of the "hilliest" way to go.)
Chapter 42: My thoughts on that continued on in these next two chapters... I know that I can focus on the frustrations and hard times in life and whine to God about why He is doing these things to me, but verse 28 reminded me that God was actually setting them up for a huge blessing, and giving them some of it already, yet they didn't realize/recognize this... they complained instead of thanking for a blessing... it made me think about when I may have done this (or maybe I'm doing it even now).
I did wonder why Joseph chose Simeon to stay (verse 24). Just curious. I also felt bad for the other brothers because their father really didn't seem to care that much about them at all (verse 38). Also, I was thinking about why Jacob didn't send Benjamin with Reuben (although Reuben seems like a fairly decent guy), but I think that Jacob is probably still angry about Reuben sleeping with Bilhah (Gen 35:22), and so probably didn't want to entrust anyone he loved into Reuben's care... the sad part is that it doesn't mention that Reuben even knows that his dad knows his indiscretion, which makes it extra hard on Reuben because it is hard to reconcile with someone if you don't know why they are so upset... anyway, just some random thoughts.
Chapter 43: verse 6 made me think about when I may have blamed my kids unfairly, and how I need to be more aware of that. I thought it was interesting in verse 14 that they are NOW going to trust God... how often do I do that... wait until I am up against a wall and unable to do anything else before I allow God to be apart of what I am doing... instead of just including Him in ALL things up front?
I thought it was amusing in verse 18 that the brothers thought that Joseph had invited them back to his house to attack them... I was kind of like, duh, Joseph is 2nd in command in the whole land, if he wanted to attack them, he would have just called his guards first thing, and now offered them hospitality first! But, again, I have to recount my humanness, and I am sure that I have second guessed kind gestures of others because of the wrong place of my mind at times.
I found verse 32 interesting... if it was detestable for Egyptians to eat with Hebrews, it must have really annoyed them to have to BUY their food from a Hebrew.
I thought it was cool in verse 33 that Joseph kept leaving little hints about who he was, like setting their plates up in order of their birth. :)
Have a great night!
God Bless,
sandJ
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Today was a confidence booster for me. Thank you God! During work we somehow started to talk about the bible and one guy had mentioned the name Joseph. I knew something about Joseph! Yes...I was able to talk to them about the Old Testament Joseph. The three co-workers had open ears and I was able to give information about Joseph to them. The one lady made a comment, “Why are you telling him, he is not a Catholic, he only goes to church because of his wife goes." However, he was the one that was actually listening when I was talking. He only knew a little about Joseph and Mary and Jesus. He didn't know about Joseph and multi-colored coat.
ReplyDeleteI was able to speak with confidence because I am reading through the bible right now. I knew what I read and had the opportunity to share it with them.
Today, I read 42 and shed some tears. I somehow felt the pain Jacob was going through losing Joseph and now Simeon. So, I continued onto 43, 44, 45, and thru 50. I couldn't stop. I was so into learning more about Joseph and his family. God allows us to go through hard times, so that we may grow to have total faith in Him.
It is so amazing how God had a plan for Joseph to save his people. God has a plan for you and me. I am excited to find out what God has in store for my life and how will He use me? Keep your hearts open and God will use you! God is love, so go Walk In Love.
Sandj
-41:16 Joseph gave God the glory, he immediately said, I can't interpret dreams. But he had successfully. Only a true closeness with God would remind him so quickly that he could not interpret dreams himself.
ReplyDelete-41:29-30 Just thinking about this: if I knew that my 7 years of abundance were going to be followed by 7 years of famine, it would have taken away all the joy of the abundance. But then, I guess if I find my joy in the right place, then it would not be taken away at all. Easy to type, hard to execute.
-42-43 I don't remember the fact that they didn't return quickly to retrieve Simeon. Jacob wasn't willing to chance sending Benjamin with the brothers. They waited until they were starving. I wonder if Benjamin was the one in prison if he would have waited so long - of course not. It just surprised me to see how long they waited before returning.
-43 the feast with Joseph is a great picture - to think how awkward they probably felt and just had no idea what was going on. I like that he waited to tell them, it seems like he wanted them to have full understanding of the position he held and the blessed life he lived. Maybe that was to gain credibility and respect from them, finally. I'm sure the suffering that Joseph endured had certainly changed him from the little spoiled daddy's boy that he was when they sold him. He had become a godly man of great character and hard work by this point.
-Awesome comments today! I'm so excited that you were able to share your new knowledge! Isn't it great to feel a little bit like you know what you're talking about? I've had some experiences like that since I've read the Bible as well (I read the whole thing cover to cover once, in the summer of 2007). It's so great to know that because of our hard work, then you are able to glorify God in a relationship that without the knowledge, you may have not had the confidence to speak up and share. And I also find that the more I read mass portions of the Bible, instead of a few verses here and there (not to minimize that, it's equally important), I understand the context so much more, also, and how the whole Bible fits together. I will tell you, after the first time I read it, I felt like for the first time I had this amazing picture of who God was. Obviously what I can imagine doesn't even come close to how great he really is, but my view got amazingly larger after reading the whole Bible. I hope that happens again this time. And it's one of those things for me, the more I know, the more that I feel like I have to learn. It's very exciting! And again, the process of doing it this way is infinitely helpful, to be able to bounce ideas around, and to have to write about what I read really makes it sink in! Thanks again!