Skip to main content

ONE DAY AT A TIME

Reflection on Genesis 37:1–11

We don’t know Joseph’s reasons for telling his brothers about his dreams. But even if his motives were entirely innocent, sharing his dreams had disastrous results. His brothers already hated him because they saw that their father, Jacob, loved him more than any of them. Joseph’s dream that implied he would rule over them one day made them that much more angry.

Many of Jesus’ “older brothers”—the Jewish leaders of his time—reacted violently to his claims of lordship too. But as with Joseph, God blessed Gentiles through Jesus and will one day reveal his true identity to all of Israel (see Romans 11:25–26). The children of Jacob will recognize who Jesus is and bow down to him—just as he foretold.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Danger in Being a Christian: It began as a Jewish sect; fierce persecution only helped it spread Today's reading: Acts 8 Acts 8:1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. In some countries, a person who becomes a Christian forfeits a good education and job. And in a few countries, a person who converts risks his or her life. One church historian estimates that more Christians were martyred in the twentieth century than in all preceding centuries put together. Yet, strangely, more often than not, intense persecution of Christians leads to a spurt of growth in the church. An ancient saying expresses this phenomenon: "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church." The First Big Advance For a while, the new faith enjoyed popular favor. But very soon it involved grave risk. In the book of Acts, the persecution that produced the first Christian martyr, St...
1 comment
Read more

Reverenfun

Post a Comment
Read more

One Day at a Time - May 21

Reflection on Genesis 44:33 Sometimes we get a second chance. When we do, it’s important to seize the opportunity. That’s what Judah did. When his brothers wanted to kill Joseph, Judah didn’t rescue Joseph but instead suggested that they sell him as a slave (see Genesis 37:26–27 ). His second chance came when Benjamin’s life appeared to be in danger. This time Judah put his own life on the line to protect his half brother, Rachel’s other son. Perhaps this commitment was taken into account in the blessings that God inspired Jacob to give his sons; eventually the Messiah came through Judah’s descendants (see Genesis 49:10 ). God often gives us second chances in life. When he does, we need to take advantage of the opportunity and set things right.
Post a Comment
Read more