Genesis 37-39

These chapters, largely, set the table for very important later events. We have a dream that is prophecy of Joseph's eventual importance, and knowing what the prophecy actually turns out to mean, we get to marvel at just how complex a plan God is willing to use to achieve His goal. Every part of this story is necessary to get Joseph into a place of authority whereby he could be the administrator of the only available food during the later famine that could have wiped out the family. Jacob showed him favor, this made the brothers hate him and want to kill him, which made Reuben try to save him, which is how he ended up in the pit as the traders came by, who just happened to be going to Egypt, and so on and so on. How unsearchable are God's plans. I think the big lesson here is that we rarely know what the end result of our time on earth will be, and even if we did we wouldn't know how to get there anyway. The smart thing to do is to be like Joseph. He is always faithful to God, doing what's right no matter his circumstances. This allows God to bless him in strange ways, even through the heathen Egyptian heirarchy. So what's the point? If I always seek to serve God it doesn't mean that I will live a comfortably blessed life of ease. I may end up in a pit, sold out by those I should be able to count on, and may have to be subserviant to people I don't like. However, God is still on the throne and instead of questioning His presence or His judgement, it's my job to serve Him by faith and see what He has in store for me. Boy, this lesson sounds familiar. What was that other guy's name? It started with a J.... He had all those great friends. Anyway, as a sidenote. Behind the scenes of this story is the continuation of the lineage of our Savior. Yep, just as you would expect-through the one night stand of a woman posing as a prostitute to get back at the father-in-law who treated her unfairly after God literally killed her husband and his brother who was supposed to get her pregnant in the first place. Did I mention that the father-in-law is the same guy who came up with the idea to sell Joseph into slavery? "Unsearchable......?" How 'bout "unfathomable!" Tell me again how the Bible is a collection of individual stories made up by men.......Hah! We could never make it this complicated. Love ya' Kent