Last time, in our series on Joseph, we introduced him, his brothers and how he was so mistreated by them that they at first, wanted to kill him, but settled on simply selling him and telling father Jacob that Joseph had been killed by a beast. Jacob’s understandable reaction to this fake news was that he tore his clothes and announced that he would mourn for his son Joseph until he joined him in the grave (Genesis 37:35).
I cannot imagine what it was like for Joseph. Imagine being sold to strangers and coming to the realization that you’d likely never see your family again, not to mention wondering how you would be treated. Turns out, Joseph was sold to these Ishmaelites, who turned around after arriving in Egypt and sold him to a wealthy and powerful man named Potiphar (Genesis 37:36).
The Bible takes a quick break from Joseph in Genesis 38 to learn about Judah, one of Joseph’s brothers. It’s not a pretty chapter but one from which we learn how evil certain sons of Judah were. In fact, so evil that the Lord literally put him to death (Genesis 38:7). There is tremendous evil and violence in the Old Testament concerning many within what would become the nation of Israel. This fact actually supports the integrity of the Scriptures because it does not show Jewish people then in the best light. Surely, if the Old Testament was not written by God, but written only by men from their own perspective, they would have done everything to showcase Israelites in a much better light. Instead, we see the opposite. God unabashedly points out the flaws of many who were part of His chosen people.
In our previous article in this series, we introduced the facts of Scripture that demand that we guard our tongues. In fact, we noted that James, in his epistle, tells us exactly what pure and undefiled religion is, namely that it demands that we...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
James has a lot to say about what we do and say. His epistle is filled not with pithy sayings but with Scripture; truth that speaks from God’s heart to ours. While some have accused him (even during his day) of emphasizing...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Reading through Job is extremely insightful for a number of reasons. What is very stark is the fact that Job’s three friends were wrong on just about everything, yet were convinced that they were correct. Admittedly, while they offered a mix...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Please note: this article contains political commentary Anyone who is paying attention to the geo-political scene in the USA and throughout the world is aware of certain things that have been happening and are ramping up. It cannot be ignored,...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Evil continues to grow throughout society, propagating lies as well as things that have long been hidden in the darkness. It’s not only unfortunate, but extremely sickening what we are learning about what some individuals involve themselves...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
I have to say it’s a bit off-putting that so many within Christendom seem so unconcerned about the massive push by many of today’s religious leaders toward a one-world religious system. There are so many who deny what is occurring...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Wanted to give all of our readers and listeners a heads up regarding a change that's coming down the pipes from Apple. We received notification yesterday that Apple will no longer be supporting individual iPhone/Android apps from individual...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
On January 1st, I began reading the Bible all over again, starting with Genesis. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. The more you read and study His Word, the more your eyes are open to the valuable truths found within His Word....[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Hebrews 4 is an interesting passage. There are no less than 5 interpretations of the "rest" mentioned here in this chapter. Dr. Thomas Constable, in his "notes" on Hebrews, summarizes these interpretations concisely (see image). As can be seen,...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
