37:2ff - Ah, Joseph, what a fun guy to be around, huh? Tattle-tale. Favorite son. Flaunts his multi-colored coat around. Arrogant. Boastful. Tells everybody within earshot about his dreams of ruling over them. He is basically and immature, spoiled brat and God is going to allow him to go through a time of suffering and pain to forge him into the man he needs to be for God's will.
37:5ff - I fin it funny that his arrogant sharing of the dream is what leads to his brothers selling him into slavery which eventually leads to the fulfillment of the dreams and ruling over his family. Hehehe. God works in amazing ways.
38:24 - The double standard here is unbelieveably horrible. Judah is walking down the road one day and decides that it is okay for him to sleep with a pagan temple prostitute. He is okay with having sex with a woman who has sex to worship a false god...Judah's cool with that. But when he finds out that his daughter-in-law (Who he has basically rejected and refused to keep his promises to) is pregnant, he wants to have her burned! This whole chapter is one big example of what happens when you don't live out relationships in a God honoring way. Instead of going on personal witch-hunts to "burn the sinful" we need to look deeply into our own lives in light of God's truth. There's plenty in me that needs working on.
39:8-9 - Already we see Joseph maturing, don't we? Instead of blaming God and turning away from Him when his life falls apart, Joseph runs full into God's arms. He is closer to God then ever before and he lives honorably to honor God.
39:12 - When temptation pulls at Joseph, he turns and runs. What a great example for you and I to follow. Instead of making dancing around temptation and giving it a chance to take root in us...we need to run screaming from temptation and into the presence of God.
39:21 - Again Joseph is imprisoned, but again he trusts God and God makes it so that even in prison Joseph is honored by men. The prison provided another time of isolation, where Joseph can mature and grow closer to God. As all the external things are taken away from his life, he learns to depend fully on God and step out in faith. You and I could probably do with some isolation, huh?
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