Genesis 44 - Exodus 7: Sobbing, righteous disobedience, & snakes

Sharing a few thoughts from each day's reading. Feel free to jump in and share your own!

Notes: If you do Twitter, Elena is tweeting on Bible Boot Camp at www.twitter.com/casmarele. Also, I'm doing Friday's reading early because I'll be gone all day tomorrow.

- Violent sobbing:  Joseph was de facto ruler of Egypt, yet he had a tender heart. When he finally identified himself to his brothers, he dismissed all of the Egyptians so they could have some privacy. But he wept so loudly that everyone heard anyway (the MSG version called it "violent sobbing.")
- Forgiveness:  I'm stunned at Joseph's authentic forgiveness for his brothers, who sold him into slavery and told his father that he'd been killed by wild animals. He kissed each one and wept over them. Could I have done this? I don't know.
- Deliverance:  God turned evildoing into deliverance and a blessing. "Don't you see, you planned evil against me," said Joseph. "But God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now--life for many people" (Exodus 50:19-21).
- Righteous Disobedience:  There is such a thing as righteous disobedience. The Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah defied the Egyptian Pharoah and refused to let the Hebrew babies die (the Pharoah was trying to reduce the Hebrew population through infanticide). God blessed them.
- God cared about the Egyptians, too:  The signs and wonders, the mighty acts of judgment such as the staff turning into a snake, and the water of the Nile turning into blood, were for the Egyptians: "The Egyptians will realize that I am God when I step in and take the Israelites out of their country."