Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Bible Story Of Joseph

The Bible story of Joseph is one of my favorites. This Joseph is the son of Jacob who had a coat of many colors.

While Joseph has eleven brothers and one sister, he had become the apple of Jacob's eye. This made Joseph's brothers jealous and envious of him. So much more that this was aggravated when Joseph told his brothers of his dreams - the sun, moon and stars bowing to him, and the sheaves of his brothers bowing to his sheave.

Their anger and hatred on him became more evident when they bound Joseph into a pit and sold him to the traders who in turn sold him as a slave in Egypt to an Egyptian official named Potiphar. The brothers even deceived their father Jacob - tearing Joseph's coat of many colors and splashing it with blood from one of their sheep - and they showed Jacob the coat claiming that Joseph was killed by a lion.

On the other hand, God was with Joseph, and Joseph found favor with his master Potiphar - making him charge of Potiphar's household. However, temptation came to Joseph when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him. With Joseph's refusal, Potiphar's wife accused him of trying to rape her - which caused Joseph to be sent to prison.

With many years of stay in prison, Joseph met the baker and the butler, whose dreams he correctly interpreted. The baker was put to death while the butler was sent back to the Egyptian palace to work.

While the Pharaoh was bothered by a dream, all of the Pharaoh's wise men and magicians could not interpret this dream. Thus, the butler remembered Joseph and recommended him to the Pharaoh. This was a great moment for Joseph because with God's help, he was able to interpret the Pharaoh's dream correctly. As a result, Joseph was awarded to be a ruler in Egypt second only to the Pharaoh.

Joseph was able to wisely manage the economy of Egypt by storing large amounts of grains and food in their granaries. When famine came throughout the land of Egypt, the Egyptians had nothing to worry as they were economically prepared.

As the famine had spread to the other parts of the world, Joseph's brothers had heard of the prosperity in Egypt. Thus they were sent to Egypt by their father Jacob to buy food. They came to Egypt and was recognized by their brother Joseph who was now a high ranking government official in Egypt. Although, he allowed them to buy the goods they needed, Joseph also tested them by accusing them as spies, and even brought them to the Egyptian prison.

He released his brothers for prison except for one and he told them to bring his younger brother Benjamin. They did bring Benjamin so the other brother who was still in prison could be released. Happy to see his younger brother, he invited all his brothers to a feast. Yet, all the brothers still did not recognize Joseph and were wondering why they were treated nicely after bringing them to prison.

Yet, Joseph tested them again by putting his golden cup in Benjamin's sack of grain. They were caught by Joseph's guards and all of them were so bewildered why all these series of events have been happening to them. Yet it was Joseph's plan to finally reveal himself to his brothers. On this occasion, he did finally reveal himself, and his brothers just couldn't believe that Joseph is still alive. You can just imagine all the surprise that his brothers have and the fear of retribution.

Well, Joseph forgave his brothers telling them that how he was brought to Egypt was all a part of God's plan to save their families. Imagine the joy and disbelief when their father Jacob heard of the news that Joseph is still alive.

Once more, Jacob met his son Joseph when Joseph requested that all their families be relocated in Goshen. Yes, this is just one of the most heart touching stories in the Bible. Read the Bible yourself. You can buy a Bible online at The Bible Source.

Yes the Bible has many touching stories and it is worth learning it ourselves reading God's Holy Scriptures.

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