THE STORY chapter #3

(My home church is participating in the study of THE STORY – The Bible As One Continuing Story Of God And His People. Foreword by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee. Each week, my Friday post focuses on our current study chapter.)

Joseph was the eleventh son born to Jacob, and his mother was named Rachel. His older brothers despised him because Joseph was the favored son. For this reason, the brothers sold Joseph to a caravan of traders traveling to Egypt, then lied to their parents and told them Joseph was devoured by a wild animal. After the caravan arrived in Egypt, far from Joseph’s home, he was sold as a slave, then eventually landed in prison for falsely being accused of rape. Poor Joseph!

This sounds like the beginnings of a horrible life story, and one could think Joseph has every right to be miserable and bitter towards his brothers. But just the opposite occurred. God was watching over Joseph through all of this turmoil. As time passed God allowed Joseph to be discovered as a leader in Egypt, raising in rank second only to Pharaoh himself.

Under Joseph’s leadership, when Egypt enjoyed seven great years of crop production, Joseph stored the grain for the next seven years, which he knew was going to produce a famine.  It was during the famine years that Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy stored grain to feed their families.

Now what would you do? The power of the greatest empire at the time, is at your command as your antagonists stand before you. Here is your chance to get even, to ruin their lives the way they tried to ruin yours. The decision it totally yours – revenge or forgiveness?

Joseph chose forgiveness. He forgave his brothers wrong doing, all part of God’s perfect plan for the world’s future salvation. Joseph and his eleven brothers become the twelve tribes of Israel. They are the formation of the nation of Israel. And as the Bible says, it is from Israel, God’s chosen people, where His son Jesus is to be born.  Of the lineage of King David, born in Bethlehem, our Savior of the world would come.

The door to forgiveness is heavy and wide. But once we break through that door, we find God waiting for us on the other side. Read Matthew 6:14

THE STORY foreword by Max Lucado & Randy Frazee