Day 26: When Who is More Important than Why

Today we read Genesis 47-48, Job 39-40, and Psalms 16. Jacob uses his blessing to bless Pharaoh (and by extension all of Egypt), Joseph, and Joseph’s sons. But again, we see in this story how God chose Jacob’s younger son as the one who will be greater, which continues to upend what Joseph and the reader would expect in a culture that places the highest value on the firstborn male. The story sets us up with curiosity regarding who Joseph will ultimately pick as his family, will it be Israel or will it be Egypt? While he has wealth and status, plus his own family in Egypt, Joseph chooses Israel and takes a risk in burying his father back in Canaan. In a surprising act of generosity, Pharaoh sends a large Egyptian state processional back with Joseph and his family to bury Jacob. Father Mike Schmitz points out in the story of Job that God doesn’t ask Job to stop asking questions and God doesn’t tell Job to stop wrestling with Him, but God does put Job into context. God is revealing, if not reminding Job, there is a bigger story going on and while you may not know the “why” there is one because God is a good God and everything we are a part of and go through has meaning, even the moments of suffering matter in the story. So the question becomes, can you trust in the “who” and make that more important than knowing the “why?” Joseph did. Even in his exile, alienation, and dislocation, he slowly grew in his commitment and centralization of God in his life. May we all learn from Joseph and Job that we all need to be and need people around us who are patient, gentle, pursue wisdom, are willing to repent, are willing to forgive, and are willing to remind us that only God knows the full story and that God will use our suffering in some important way in the redemption story still unfolding today, can we put our trust in the “who” over our need for the answer to “why?” God never says be silent or stop asking me questions, but a heart check might be in order because sometimes this is what it comes down to - a soft broken hallelujah or a hard heart that stops believing in the justice and goodness of God, trading it for our own wisdom - and this is one of the most clever ways I think the deceiver, the advisory of God can cause more alienation and dislocation of our hearts. Remember, this is basically a retelling of Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve choose the Tree of Knowledge over trusting in God’s plan and choosing His Tree of Life.

Resources:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings (2021) Character Study - Joseph Part 2. BEMA Discipleship Project https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/215 

Genesis: A Parsha Companion by Rabbi David Fohrman

 

Credits:

Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.