Today's Reading
A dad and a son are reunited today in Genesis. It always intrigues me that God appears to Jacob and confirms that Joseph is alive AFTER Jacob has been told the news by his other sons. We think of those years between Joseph's enslavement and his rise to power as his time of testing. It was a testing for Jacob, too, and -- in a different way -- for the other sons.
What do you observe about the series of events after the family arrives in Egypt? Your thoughts on how Joseph used Egypt's food to enslave the people to Pharaoh?
Jesus once again says deep and mysterious things today in Matthew. It helped me to learn that many of the religious leaders had their own corrupt gambit going on. Their moral law clearly required that they take care of their elderly parents -- no Social Security there! However, many would take the money that could have met their parents' needs and designated it as a gift to God. Then, as religious leaders, they took those "gifts to God" and spent them on their own luxuries. They did all this in the name of their law! No wonder Jesus was so angry at them.
I love Psalm 19. Especially the end,
"May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."
Notice in Proverbs today the contrast between the wicked and the righteous. In 1 John in the New Testament, we are told, "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." That theme of light contrasted with darkness runs throughout Scripture.
I really enjoyed today's reading and can't wait for your comments!
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Do you have any insight on why Jacob's family didn't move back to their own country after the famine? When they came they said it was for a short time but they stayed on - seems it would have cause a lot less trouble later on if they'd gone back once the famine was over. Of course, hind sight is 20/20...
ReplyDeleteI don't know why they didn't move back. The "foretelling" of the story of redemption is pretty powerful, though, and it took place because they were stuck in Egypt.
ReplyDeleteJoseph's plan, to me, seemed kind of manipulative as far as planning what to say.
ReplyDeleteIs there some significance as to the Pharoah asking Joseph how old he is?
To me, Joseph comes across somewhat as a harsh leader--but the people survived. Would they have survived otherwise?
Kella, asking Joseph's age may have been curiosity or may have been some other custom. What you describe as "manipulative" is pretty common in dictatorships, which that was.
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