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The 5 Books Meander, Week 10 (Mikkets)

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In brief:
Joseph gets a haircut, some new clothes, some more new clothes, a wife, two kids, and nigh-Pharaoh-like power over the kingdom. So all in all, a pretty good bounce back for this promising young man.

Years of abundance pass. And years of famine begin, all as foretold by Joseph, who, like a well-coiffed ant from Aesop’s fables, frugals Egypt through these challenging times.

His brothers visit in search of food. They don’t recognize Joseph, though he recognizes them. And to no careful reader’s surprise, trickery ensues.

A couple of thoughts:

  • I loved the names of Joseph’s children: Manasseh, meaning: “God has made me forget completely my hardship and my parental home.” And Efraim, meaning: “God has made me fertile in the land of my affliction.” Both names of gratitude and resilience. Of moving forward.
  • I also still can’t believe they left poor Simeon behind and then sort dawdle around, debating whether or not to go back. (And if you think I’m being unkind here, don’t listen to me, listen to Judah who says: “…we could have been there and back twice if we had not dawdled.” And he’s right — that was some serious dawdling!)

If you’d like to join in… this is the place for comments and commentary on Mikkets (Gen 41.1 – 44.17)

Next up: Va Yiggash (Gen 44.18 – 47.27)
-Cecil

Comments

One response to “The 5 Books Meander, Week 10 (Mikkets)”

  1. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    Joseph is held up in the Christian community as an example of perseverance and faithfulness during great trials. It’s a reputation well earned, I think. He was a typical 17 year old, a bit spoiled and sure nothing bad would ever happen to him- led a bit of a charmed life. Being betrayed by your 10 brothers-beaten up a bit and then sold into slavery, how anguishing that must have been. The account of his brothers crime is told from their POV, but we get a glimpse of Joseph’s experience when Reuben says “We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen”. Being exiled in a foreign land, I’m sure there were no other Hebrews around, and still remembering the holy words you were taught as a child, for that is basically the only thing he had- stories his father would read from the birthright, the holy stories about Adam, Enoch, Noah, and his great-grandfather Abraham. I think he would have played them over and over in his head, holding onto the words like an anchor to keep him from despair. In those words, he came to know God, and God spoke to him, in dreams maybe, I’m not sure. But however he and God developed their relationship, it certainly was strong enough that he was pretty confident when talking to Pharaoh about those dreams and a contingency plan for Egypt.
    I also don’t really blame him for jerking his brothers around like that. I’m sure he was punishing them for what they did to him, and maybe he thought they would have treated Benjamin badly, the same way they did to him. If he could use his power to protect his baby brother, he would use it.
    Next time we’ll see how the story ends!

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