Joseph was contented. He was a slave but a privileged one because Potiphar clearly saw the blessing and didn’t want to jeopardize it at all. Joseph lived in his master’s house and had a very good life, for a slave, that is. Genesis 39:6 “So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph […]
Fast forward through a chapter of Genesis and we catch up with Joseph far from home. He was formerly Daddy’s favorite with a coat of authority, but resented by his brothers, and now he’s the slave who had been in the Ishmaelite caravan to be sold a second time, first by family and now by […]
A perfectly imperfect plan…ruined! Reuben had been off somewhere while his brothers were making plans (to foil the plan they didn’t even know existed because Reuben had been keeping it secret). Genesis 37:29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. The tearing of his own […]
Those brothers: traitors and betrayers of the family trust, plotting and planning to defy authority and rip up that stupid coat of Joseph’s that they hated. Genesis 37:23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— Yeah, that robe of his really ticked them off… […]
Joseph’s mission to Shechem was divinely redirected to Dothan but his true destination was an empty cistern. Only Joseph didn’t know it. He could not predict–as he paraded in with his colorful coat of authority–that he was about to be stripped of that authority and to hit rock bottom. Of a cistern, that is. Genesis […]
Is my boxwood dead or does it just look like it? Well, that depends. In Chicagoland, we had a rough winter. That polar vortex descended rapidly, froze the ground, stayed for way too long, and leafy evergreens paid a price. Perhaps your boxwood looks like this: Or this: Or even this. Tell-tale symptoms of (1) […]
Joseph was wandering around the fields of Shechem when a chance encounter gave him some direction to locate his brothers. “’They have moved on from here,’ the man answered. ‘I heard them say, “Let’s go to Dothan. “’ So, Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan.” (Genesis 37:17) Joseph–that dreamer who gave […]
When we last considered Joseph: A Life with Many Colors in the days leading up to Lent 2019, Joseph (our lead character from this part of the Book of Genesis) was a young emissary sent on a mission to Shechem which was a good four or five-day journey from his father Jacob’s home in the […]
“He is Risen!” Three simple words. Eternal in consequence. Don’t we say them every Easter? It’s a King James thing, and it’s how most of us recite the greeting. Theologically and technically, I wonder if “He has risen” might be a bit closer to the truth. Luke 24:1 On the first day of the week, […]
The stone which had been rolled in front of the tomb remained as if frozen in time. Jesus was dead. He’d even said, “It is finished.” The grave was silent and seemingly satisfied. There is no “More to the Easter Story” for Jesus to tell because He’s dead. He’s buried. This stark reality of death […]
