The story of Joseph is not just about sibling rivalry gone haywire. As far as that goes, the brothers' jealousy and plotting to get rid of Joseph seems more like a modern day drama than a story out of the Bible. But the fact that it did actually encourages me. If Jacob's family had been too perfect, I wouldn't be that able to relate to them. These Life-Studies on Jacob and Joseph have encouraged me for many years to not give up.
And it's not like Joseph did anything to deserve being sold to traders or unjustly accused by Potiphar's wife and then thrown into the dungeon. And it's not like he was there for just three months or two years--Joseph was in prison for over ten years!!
But when Joseph becomes second in command, you don't see a bitter young man trying to get even with society or his family. You see a true reflection of God. I was fascinated to see on pages 1188 and 1190 in chapter 92 of the Life-Study of Genesis that the story Jacob and Joseph's story show how God fulfilled His desire that man have His image and dominion:
But when Joseph becomes second in command, you don't see a bitter young man trying to get even with society or his family. You see a true reflection of God. I was fascinated to see on pages 1188 and 1190 in chapter 92 of the Life-Study of Genesis that the story Jacob and Joseph's story show how God fulfilled His desire that man have His image and dominion:
"The subject of Genesis is man bearing the image of God and exercising God's dominion over all things….In order to know this in a progressive way, we need all fifty chapters of this book. All the generations recorded in it--Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph--are for one purpose: to show that God's economy in the universe is to express Himself through man. This is God's purpose, God's goal, and the desire of God's heart….The record in the Bible has a purpose. Genesis, a book of God's image and dominion, shows a complete picture of how human beings can be remade and transformed to express God in His image and to represent Him with His dominion. The last fourteen chapters of Genesis indicate that after Jacob had become Israel, he bore the image of God and exercised the dominion of God. The book of Genesis is complete; it ends the way it begins. It begins and ends with God's image and dominion" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Genesis. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1977, Print).
From my reading I saw that everything that happened to Joseph was actually training him to become a ruler of Egypt. At every turn he was actually being disciplined and prepared for the throne. And God is doing the same thing in our lives.
You can also listen to live excerpts from these messages on Genesis on Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.
Other Posts on the Life-Study of Genesis:
From the Life-Study of Genesis - What is the Focus of the Bible?
What Happened Between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?
Why Did God Create Man in Genesis 1:26?
Why Did God Create Man With 3 Parts in Genesis 2:7?
Why Did God Put Man in Front of the Two Trees in Genesis 2?
Seeing God's Purpose of Life & Building in the Book of Genesis
What is the Story Behind the Story of Cain & Abel?
What Did Enosh Learn to Do in Genesis 4:26?
How Did Enoch Escape Death in Genesis 5:24?
Why Did Noah Need to Find Grace in Genesis 6:8?
What Does the Rainbow Symbolize in Genesis 9:13?
How Did God Call Abraham in Genesis 12:1?
How Did God Fulfill the Birth of Isaac in Genesis 12:7?
What Does the Marriage of Isaac & Rebekah Show in Genesis 24?
How Does the Story of Jacob Show God's Selection in Genesis 25?
Why Did Jacob Dream About a Ladder in Genesis 28:12?
Seeing Our Spiritual Journey in the Lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, & Joseph
What is the Meaning of the Two Altars in Genesis 33 & 35?
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