Whenever I read the Genesis narrative of Joseph, I ask myself why Jacob was so blessed and became the ancestor of King David and Jesus, and not Joseph? Joseph has so much emphasis, and is the foccus of what, 5 chapters? Not to mention he's considered a Messiah of Israel. Why wouldn't the prophesied Messiah who bears almost the same name be decendent from such a figure?

Why Jacob? The only narrative we have of him in Genesis is of his sleeping with his daughter-in-law. The child born out of this incest and deception becomes the heir to the throne of Israel and later bears the Messiah?

I never quite understood it.

Well Niki, join the club.

There's an awful lot in the Bible that does not make logical sense.

We are just told that God works in mysterious ways ~ not for us to understand.

Why save Lot's dysfunctional family?

Why make loyal Job & all his family suffer?

I keep asking these questions, without any good answers so far ~ in my opinion, of course.

If you have to ask, you obviously don't believe.

You shouldn't have to ask these questions, they are irrelevant. All you are supposed to do is believe it as the whole truth and nothing but the truth and you will be saved.

In fact, why are you even reading it? Reading leads to these kinds of questions, which are tantamount to heresy! So no reading, no questioning! Just believe.

And when someone asks you why you believe the Bible, you can give them the same answer - I just believe it because it's the truth and that's that.

I know it was a silly question. =P I guess I was kind of posing in a devotional type of way, then I forgot where I was. I don't think I really expected discussion on it.

I don't suppose many things get answers. Though I'm not too sure I'd want my God to operate logically. Would we rather Him/it chose to use the best of us? Save those who deserve to be saved, help those who help themselves? I wonder sometimes if we'd rather have a deity act that way.

Niki,

I think asking questions is always a good thing. I am sorry you aren't getting answers or even much discussion on this one. I am not one of those people who believes in the Bible inerrant, primarily because there are so many issues that don't make sense. My personal philosophy has always been that much of the Bible exists to make a point like allegories, or fables--but even that explanation only goes so far. In my family we always went with the idea that God helps those that help themselves (which I always interpreted as its fine to pray to God for help and guidance--but don't sit around waiting for God to make it happen). We do have some other discussions on how "fair" God's actions were or were not--I distintly remember one about the Israelites be ordered to killing all the people of a warring neighbor down to the children--but to spare the king (who probably started the whole mess)--this one never struck me as far-so you have to wonder was this comandment from God, or did the leader of the Israelites blame it on God?

Actually, it was a VERY GOOD question, and my tongue-in-cheek response was meant as a rebuke to the fundamentalists. Usually that is the answer they give when confronted with passages such as these, which seem to most reasonable people as being questionable.

As to saving the best of us - that's not for you or me to decide, but I know I'd be upset to learn that my only son wasn't worthy enough to be saved, but some low-life drug dealer was spared.

This issue, in a nutshell, is one reason I feel that religion, and prayer, is absurd. We are told to believe, believe, believe, yet when faced with things that make us question, we are told to believe, believe, believe.

Yeah I figured you were. But I never quite know how to respond to such comments so I just avoid them. I never was one to deal too well with sarcasm.

I could theologically reason it away in a semi-conservative fashion. Say how it just goes to show how God doesn't look at what we do, or how God will use even what's considered detestable for his purposes, and on and on. But it still always made me wonder. We have a whole book about Ruth who raised the father of David, Issac and Jacob are the foccus of the narratives when it comes to the fathers of the Hebrew people, but when it comes to Jacob, there's only a small passage that gives him absolutely no glory. Yet Joseph gets this huge narrative and is known to this day as a pseudo "Meshiach" of the Hebrew people.

I don't know.

But, see I don't know if I would be upset. I mean naturally upset due to the connection to my child. But, well.. in so having the belief in after life and purpose and all that, I would appreciate the drug-dealer being given a second chance to clean up his life and make something out of himself. I don't favor judging someone else as worthy to die in comparison to me, I don't think sins can be weighed on a scale. Though perhaps, as the Bible says, there are some sins that lead to death and some that don't, i don't claim to know what that means.

Speaking as one of the Hebrew people, I can confidently say that Joseph isn't considered a psuedo-Messiah Not sure where you got that from.

And sadly, my post wouldn't be considered sarcastic by many of the evangelicals - it would be considered truth. And that is indeed scary.

Yeah you're probably right. I should say "known by the hebrews" it's more that he is considered one, rather than that the people actually hold him as one. He did after all technically save the people from starvation. That and the meaning of his name. But you're right, poor statement on my part.

This is a really interesting discussion. My "simplistic" explanation is that God does not need to explain how, what, when, who or why to His creation. For some of us, it is creation. For some evolution. We won't know until God reveals this to us, whenever He chooses to do so IMO. Again IMO, I prefer to believe I was created rather than evolved from a monkey.

Throughout the scriptures there are so many characters with flaws, not to mention disobedience on the part of the nation of Israel. Why do the scriptures emphasis some more than others? Again, because I believe the scriptures to be the inerrant word of God, He is the author, it is His book, He can write whatever He pleases. He can also choose any person in that book to be a hero or not. Just as the Jewish nation is His chosen, so there are those who have more print time than others. I know many people who have trouble with the notion that the Jews are the chosen, even some well meaning Christians. I don't have those problems. I don't have them because I came to know the Lord as a child, which is exactly what Jesus tells us to do. I came to know the Lord with all of my insecurities, my sins, my pre-conceived ideas. I still don't know all there is to know of God and I don't believe I ever will in this lifetime. But I know He loves me, inspite of me.

If all of the above makes me a moron or an ignorant fool than so be it. I am happy being a fool for Christ. As I have stated before, I rather put my money on God than find out in the end I was wrong and that in the end it is too late to turn back. If I choose God now and find out He is in fact who He says He is I will have won eternity. If not, I will have lost nothing. Those sound like pretty good odds to me.

Blessings,

Emilie