The Journey

I've so enjoyed the study of Joseph, thus far.  For me, it has been much like finding a treasure chest, cautiously opening the lid, peering in trying to see everything the chest holds.  Layers upon layers, depths upon depths, discovering and analyzing every part of his life recounted in the Bible like examining small gemstones or more accurately witnessing the most beautiful diamond being formed amidst the ugliest circumstances.  "Natural diamonds are formed about 100 miles beneath the earth's surface where carbon rich rocks are melted by the heat of the earth's mantle, a layer of liquid lava rock, and are compressed by the enormous pressure of the many miles of earth above them. As the earth churns, the heated rock may move upwards away from the heat and cool over time, which can form diamonds if the conditions are just right. It takes hundreds of thousands of years for the process to take place." (ehow.google)  To simplify--high temperature, high pressur

Now that we've looked at Joseph's perilous years as a whole, I want to dissect his biblical biography a little more.  Let's look at the boy dreamer. Scripture tells us that right on the heels of receiving a beautiful coat from his father, Joseph had two prophetic dreams which he insensibly shared with his brothers.  In each dream, his family, represented by sheaves of grain in the first and the sun, moon and stars in the second, were bowing before Joseph.  So, here we have the young man likely adorned in his beautiful, new coat telling the boorish brothers we've studied about thus far, that he would one day rule over them.  This audience of choice was probably not the best.  Before the dreams, the Bible tells us the brothers "could not speak a kind word to him."  Genesis 37:8 tells us, "they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said." Ponder this...even though we know God had a divine plan for Joseph and had ordered his st