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After I had written within the previous article, in regards to Joseph receiving a new name with his new royal position. I began to think back when I first started studying this section of the Sacred Record. I remembered thinking: "Could an Egyptian ruler really humble himself to place a foreigner in charge of the entire land of Egypt?" Yeah I know, the Holier-than-thous' would quickly point out: "Why not? Through God all things are possible." And I have to admit that developing this type of blind faith, is invaluable to have, especially as we make our way through this awesome journey called "life". But what if we could also track the spiritual things we so strongly believe in within the natural realm as well? What do you think will happen to your faith, from that point forward? I'll tell you this, you will become unmovable and the next time someone approaches you that has a limited mindset and they put forth the question: "So you actually believe in things you can't see?" I wish I could be there to see the look on their face, when you give the reply: "But I do see the things that I believe in." Okay real quick, let's take a moment to look at the Egyptian kingdom during the days of Joseph. First let me point out that Joseph was taken to the land of Egypt during the time period of 1700 BC. This is important to know, being that the Egyptian kingdom was a totally different place at this time. Understand that the Egyptians had just gone through a major downgrade when it came to their prestige and dominance within the world. This was a period in which the dominance of what they called the "Middle Kingdom" was coming to an end. This Middle Kingdom contained the Egyptian rulers of the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties. Actually the Twelfth dynasty was the dominate one in which the land of Egypt thrived under between 2000 BC and 1800 BC. The following dynasties that followed after, weren't as dominate and became weaker in their reign as time went on. Now the overall reign of the Middle Kingdom is dated to be between the time periods of 2000 BC and 1600 BC. Understand that Joseph was taken to the land after it had fallen into disarray, during the time period of 1700 BC. The reason why this little bit of information is important, is for the fact that around this time the Egyptian kingdom had been invaded by a nomadic group that was called the "Bedouins." The Bedouins were desert-dwelling Arabs (not Egyptians) that could be found throughout the desert belt that included places like the Sahara, Negev, Sinai, and the Western and Arabian deserts as well. Being that the Egyptian kingdom had became so weak at this point, the Bedouins were able to seize parts of the Egyptian land while having to face little, to no resistance. Because of this the Egyptian kingdom fell into total disarray and the "Second Intermediate Period" had been ushered in. While Upper Egypt remained under the control of the Fourteenth dynasty, from this point forward the Bedouins would make up the infamous Fifteenth dynasty and they ruled the middle to lower parts of the Egyptian kingdom. The Bedouins would later be known as the Hyksos kings and their reign in Egypt would begin around 1700 BC and it lasted for only 108 years. What this means, is that Joseph was in the land of Egypt, while that land was under the rule of a foreign king. I find it very interesting that Pharaoh was himself at this point in time, a foreigner and had came into power through usurpation. Keep in mind that they're weren't very many people that surrounded him he could really trust. This is why the Egyptian king was so open-minded and sympathetic when it came to Joseph, being that they were close in their nationality and he knew he could probably trust him more than the Egyptian people that had already surrounded him. Also keep in mind, that the Arabs descended from Abraham's oldest son Ishmael and Israel descended from Abraham's youngest son, Isaac. Something else to keep in mind: Joseph was thirty years of age when he was promoted to second-in-command. He lived to be 110 years old, and the rule of the Hyksos Egyptian kings was for only 108 years. This would explain why the Sacred Record had informed us later on -- that a Pharaoh had came into power that did not know Joseph: "Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph." -- (Exodus 1:8) Just like I stated earlier, I know through God all things are possible, but regardless of what people might say, whenever God does something, there is always a sound reason and credible evidence that supports the things that God does (if you look hard enough). This is one of the many mysteries that was a blessing to me as I stumbled upon it. And I thank God everyday for allowing me that privilege to gain this type of understanding when it comes to Him and His Sacred Word. With this website, I'm hoping that I can help others to see how God moves within their natural lives here within the 21st century, just like He's been doing all along throughout the history of mankind. Actually, tracking God is something that we all are able to do. The problem comes, when after we see how God just moved and because of our limited natural perceptions and finite mindsets -- we tend to give the credit to the things that we do understand, instead of giving it to God. Because of this approach, we tend to play things safe and claim that we're just being rational, smart and level headed. And by doing this, we are unaware that we're further limiting ourselves only to the things that we do understand, when it comes to the natural. And we adopt this attitude that if it can't be backed by those things that we're familiar with (like science) -- then guess what? We totally dismiss the act of God that we've just witness, merely as a coincidence, or some freak natural occurrence. Often times I wonder why do people believe that the knowledge that they have or the resource that they're learning from is the "Holy Grail" of all information? In essence, if we are suppose to know everything that there is to know, then why are we still researching, exploring and making new discoveries everyday? Understand that it's in our makeup as human beings, to challenge the so-called impossible and unfamiliar. For we should know, that if we're truly honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that we are limited to the things that we choose to be limited by. Understand that being rational deals with having a reasonable understanding and knowledge in the things we wish to believe in. Read that again if you have to... But in order for us to gain that understanding and acquire that knowledge, we must first discover and explore the things we wish to have an understanding of. Should this be any different when it comes to one's spiritual quest in life? Why should we dismiss the task just because we can't track it with the natural things that we have grown familiar with in life? Joseph gets married and begins to start and build his own family. He's blessed to have two sons - who were they? What comes next for the dream interpreter? Does his dream interpretation for Pharaoh come to pass?
Jacob - The Path of Uncertainty **YOUR CURRENT BIBLE STUDY ONLINE SERIES WOULD BE HERE** 84) Joseph's Dark Dreams Interpretation 85) Joseph the Overseer of Egypt 86) Joseph the Revealer of Secrets 87) <-CURRENT PAGE-> 88) The Seven Years of Abundance 90) Joseph the Egyptian Prime Minister 91) Joseph's Temptation of Revenge 93) The Confessions of the Ten Tribes  |
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