Sometimes, we may find ourselves wondering:
God, where are you? How could you let this happen?
Joseph’s story reveals that even though we cannot control circumstances, we can control how we respond to those circumstances. [Tweet this]
Joseph spent many years in prison and suffered multiple injustices, yet God continued to pursue Joseph and displayed a divine plan for the people through his unexpected rise to power.
Here are five things you must-know before you read Genesis 37-50:
1. Dreaming Big. Joseph’s dreams are the first dreams in the Bible in which God doesn’t speak. The dreams described throughout Joseph’s story always come in pairs.
2. Maybe God is at work when you don’t even realize. [Tweet this] Joseph lives both the first and the last seventeen years of his life with Jacob (Genesis 37:2; 47:28), signifying the perfect timing of God in his life.
3. Four women are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. All of the women—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba—are outsiders to Israel and their marriages are marked by scandal, yet God notes their faith and deems them worthy. [Tweet this]
4. Genesis 47 tells the story of a Hebrew making slaves of the Egyptians. The first chapter of Exodus tells the story of Egyptians making slaves of the Hebrews.
5. Genesis concludes with Joseph’s request to have his bones carried back to his home. Four centuries later, this oath is remembered, fulfilled, and confirmed by Joshua (Joshua 24:32).
Here’s your homework for Week Six: Finding God among Prisons and Palaces:
- Watch Session Six (Finding God among Prisons and Palaces) on the Pursuing God’s Love DVD (18 minutes) and begin working through the homework.
- Read Genesis 37-50.
- Come back to MargaretFeinberg.com on Thursday, the same day you can enjoy the Midday Connection podcast on the session, to discuss what God’s revealing to you along the way. (To subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss a beat, click here).
FOR DISCUSSION: Answer the following questions as a comment to this blog post. Feel free to ask questions, reply to others’ comments, and post prayer requests.
- Why do you think the promises of God require years of waiting and hardship?
- Reflecting on your study of Pursuing God’s Love, how would you describe what it means to serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
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Click here to pick up a copy of the Pursuing God’s Love DVD and Workbook for your small group or Bible study.
Interested in a fresh DVD Bible study curriculum this fall? Email sampler@margaretfeinberg.com to receive access to a complimentary DVD sampler featuring video and PDF samples of popular DVD Bible studies.
