I recently read through the book of Genesis. While I had heard all of the stories of the book's main characters (Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, etc.), Believe it or not, I had never read through the book on my own before.
What really surprised me as I went back and read through a lot of these stories, and found out some new stories, was just how dark some of these stories really are. The story of Noah's ark isn't the same story that you are told as a kid in Sunday school. It's nothing like the happy painting hanging up on the wall that shows a big ark filled with a bunch of jolly animals, with an older bearded man with a grin on his face, and a happy rainbow. Nope. This is a story of God flooding the earth and totally wiping out almost all of his creation.
There are some stories that aren't exactly "G-rated", which makes sense as to why I had never heard them until I read them on my own. I won't go in to details, but the story of Judah and Tamar is an odd one. But why is this important? Why is this relevant? Because Jesus comes from Judah's family line, and it shows that Jesus came from messed-up people for messed-up people, to save messed-up people.
Something else that I never fully realized is how bad Jacob (or "Israel") really was. Jacob was one of the first con-artists that we see in history, a la Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can. He tricked his brother Esau in to giving him his birth certificate, AND THEN he steals his blessing from his father! It's very hard to find redeeming qualities in Jacob. After he gets married twice, he starts banging their servants, having children with four women in total. When he has twelve sons, he picks a favorite out of them and gives that son a beautiful technicolor coat. Jacob really is a messed-up guy.
But that messed-up guy's son is nothing like his dad. Joseph might be my favorite Biblical character that isn't named "Jesus." With Joseph, you see a Christ-like figure that is filled with mercy, patience and forgiveness. One of the problems with some churches these days is that they preach this "prosperity gospel" that says that if we follow Jesus, he will provide us with a better life and we will have no more worries and God will bless us with good health and good wealth. However, that is not the case, and Joseph is a prime example of a man filled with the Holy Spirit that suffered.
This is a guy who was sold in to slavery by his brothers. If you thought MaCaulay Culkin's family was bad in Home Alone, think about how bad Joseph had it. Joseph was "home alone" only this time his family chose to abandon him and it was no accident. Then he's doing good, he's got something going for him (a bit) as he's working for Potiphar. Potiphar likes him and Joseph enjoys working for him. And then Potiphar's gorgeous trophy wife starts flirting with Joseph and wanting him to sleep with her. Joseph has the strength to say no, because he knows how wrong it is to fool around with another man's wife. Then she takes his underwear and lies to her husband. Joseph spends years in jail, interprets dreams and one day ends up the #2 to Pharaoh. And then he ultimately forgives his brothers.
You might be going through hell right now. You might be trusting God and praying and reading your Bible every day, but you might still feel empty. Depleted. Unloved. You might feel like you can never make it out of the storms of this life. But if you look at the story of Joseph, a man so faithful, so persistent, you see that if you just keep going, keep praying, and keep following the Lord, he will provide for you. All of this pain is just temporary. One day we will be in a world where pain does not exist.
So in Genesis, you have a true underdog story in Joseph. He was your original "rags-to-riches" star (Jay-Z?). You have a scheming con-artist in Jacob. You have a horror film of the earth getting flooded. We haven't even touched on Abraham nearly sacrificing his son Isaac, nor did we touch on a man killing his brother mob-style (The Departed?) in the story of Cain and Abel. And people say that the Bible is boring.
In all seriousness, these stories are filled with mistakes and lessons. There is much to take away from the book of Genesis. But my main takeaway was how big a boss Joseph was. How much he endured, how much adversity he faced. It is such an encouragement to me when I have my bad days or weeks or months. And I hope it encourages you too!
Thanks for reading and have a blessed week!
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