Genesis III
Please read (or at least skim through) the stories in Genesis 12-50. Choose one of those stories for special emphasis, and explain why that story might be particularly important to include in the first book of the "law," or explain how that story helps show that the Torah is something more than just a law code.
posted by Ancient Art at 1:12 PM
7 Comments:
In my opinion, the Torah is much more than just a law code. A good example of this is the story of Joseph, son of Israel (Jacob).
Joshua had a difficult life. His father loved and cherished him over his other siblings. Normally one may think this is good, but his brothers despised him for this reason. They plotted to kill him and probably would have if the eldest, Reuben wouldn't have talked them out of it. Joshua was sold into slavery. When things started to look good again, they got worse and he was thrown into prison for a number of years. With God's help he was able to get out. God allowed him to interpret dreams. This put him second in charge to Pharaoh.
I left out many details to the story, but the main idea I am trying to get at is the fact that even when things look bad...and then worse, God is with us. I think the Torah is not only law but it shows us examples of God's grace and how he keeps his promises and is always there to guide us and he will never give us more than we can handle.
The story of how Joseph came from the depths of slavery and prison to become a prominent figure in Egypt is a fitting conclusion to the end of Genesis.
Joseph possessed a rare talent of interpreting dreams. This ability saved him and his family's life because if he had not advised Pharaoh to store grain during the seven years of plenty for the famine years, his family would not have come to Egypt to buy grain and starve, killing all the descendants of Abraham, whom God promised would have descendants that were as numerous as the stars in the sky.
God works in mysterious ways. The brothers thought that by getting rid of Joseph, they would eliminate a threat. However, their act allowed for the survival of Jacob and his family, and made Joseph's brother forever afraid that Joseph would exact revenge on them for selling him into slavery. However, Joseph had no intent of revenge.
I think the portion of Joseph's story where he refuses the affections of his firt master's wife as a bit of a law code. Joseph was given a high status as a slave and could have easily committed adultery with his master's wife, and probably even have gotten away with it. But Joseph refuses to give in to temptation because he knows that it is a grave crime to sleep with another man's wife and he would therefore "stand condemed before God". Because of this, the women lied to her husband and Joseph was punished for a crime he never committed. However, he remained righteous in the eyes of God and later became Pharoh's right hand man, saving not only Eggypt, but his family, the descendents of Abraham, as well.
While Joseph's story is one significance, I focused on chapter 18, when Abraham saw the three men. Reading this chapter shows us several issues we all need to face in our lives: discernment to see the LORD, giving honor and glory, trust, and that God knows all.
Discernment: v.1-2~ Abraham wasn't expecting to see God that day, much like people (past and present) are rarely waiting to see God. Abraham immediately knew (somehow) who was coming towards him. Then he acted on it. Rarely do we act when we see God's actions.
Honor and Glory: v.3-8~ Abraham immediately greets God and quickly runs to prepare a feast for Him. Much like Abraham, we should hasten in our actions to please God.
Trust: v.10-14~ God tells Abraham of Isaac even though Abraham and Sarah are well past their time to have children. Abraham could have scoffed (Sarah did) but he did not. This is a reminder that all things are possible through God.
God knows: v.15 ~ Sarah tries to lie over laughing at God's proclaimation, but God knew. He knows everything, whether we'd prefer Him to or not. A reminder that we cannot hide anything from God, nor can we pretend to be someone we are not for God. He knows.
These issues that would certainly have related to the Hebrew people in the past, still relate to the Jewish and Christian people today. As Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." That is why it is added into the Torah.
I think the whole story of Joseph is a prime example of what to live by. Joseph never let evil get to him. It would have been very easy for him to sleep with his masters wife or use his power to better himself or to turn his brothers away when they begged for food.
The best example is when right at the end of Genesis when Jacob dies, the brothers fear that Joseph is going to get back at them. Joseph knows their fear and instead of falling to evil, he says how it was God's plan. He says that if it wasn't for him being sold to the Egyptians he wouldn't have been able to prepare for the seven years of famine. If he wouldn't have prepared, their wouldn't have been food for Jacob and the other brothers.
Joseph was a great role model for society to live by. Instead of blaming people for misfortunes, he knows that it is all a part of God's plan for him.
I think that the story of Abraham and his son isaac is a good example. Even thought Abraham loved his son dearly, he also loved his god and no matter what his god would have told him to do he would have done it cause it was the "law" of what to do. It takes a special kind of obediance to acknowledge to sacrifice your son just cause god said so. Thats an incredible example of Torah.
the story that i would liked the most was the story of Joesph. How he overcam hardship and overcame the obticales of being sold into slavery by his own brothers. Then even with every thing that was going bad for him at that time god favored him and when he was in-slaved he had sucess with what ever he did.
this shows that if you still are haveing a bad time that you should alwyas keep believing in him because he will always show favor to you and help you be sucsessfull
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