Joseph in Egypt

Those of you who've been reading along with my comments for the Bible in a Year blog will have notice a theme. At least, I have. I seem to be caught up with the idea that Abraham's deceit and self-reliance carried through with negative consequences to Isaac, and Jacob, and Jacob's children. But, in today's reading , Joseph seems to be the remedy for that chain of sin. No matter what calamaties life throws at him, he continues to live with complete integrity and reliance on God.

That's not to say he's not taking care of himself, of course. When he interprets the cup bearer's dream, he asks to be remembered. But he's being honest about everything. He defers to God in everything, but, at the same time, he actively lives his life, not waiting for God to just "take care of it" for him.

The parallels to Jesus are hard to miss, of course. Living faithfully. Falsely accused. Inprisoned (in the tomb), and restored to life again. But I think it's Joseph's breaking of the cycle of deception and sin that's the most important parallel.

A P.S.

Props to Andrew B for his idea of making a blogroll of the bloggers who have been participating in this discussion. I've done the same here.