The Kid Makes Good

Happy Thursday morning! We are back in the Joseph story for this Sunday at Seneca Presbyterian Church - and dreams figure prominently once again. This time they carry an ominous meaning. If not heeded Egypt - and the world around - will experience a famine that would be a threat to life including the lives of God's family and Joseph's. But with  wisdom supplied by God, Joseph is able to interpret the dreams and avert disaster. Read Genesis 41 for the details. Then ponder these questions - and share your reflections, please.

• Who is responsible for averting disaster - Joseph or God? In other words, how do divine revelation and faithful human action combine? 
• How does God reveal God's divine will to those in seats of power and authority, in Joseph's day and in our own? 
• What moral responsibility do those in power have for those they rule - according to the biblical standard? 
• Should we be suspicious of "Pharaohs"? Who are the pharaohs of our world? 
• The seventeen-year-old Joseph has grown and matured. What evidence to you see of that and what experiences do you think had the greatest impact? 
• We have skipped over chapter 40, but you might like to read it through. It provides a scene that sets up Joseph's rise to power. Apparently ancient Israel was fascinated by life in Pharaoh's court.Chapter 40 introduces us to two men with vastly different opinions of life around the seat of power. 

I wonder...

• what Pharaoh thought of Joseph's God? 
• why Pharaoh was willing to share so much power with Joseph? 
• how Joseph's faith was impacted when he married the daughter of an Egyptian priest?
• how God can preserve life in our world by relying on human faithfulness? 

The ancients set great store on the power of dreams to communicate divine will. Have you ever experienced a dream that you believed to be a direct revelation from God?