Have You Ever Wondered ?

[Starise]

The Bible tells us the things we need to know. Yet there are times I have these questions about what happened "between the lines" what was unsaid?

Some teachers who teach  Bible stories we all know make many assumptions as to how things went down and as a result we might walk away with a slightly different perception than what actually happened.

For instance, Take the story of Joseph sold as a slave and taken to Egypt. Later working for a prominent Egyptian, accused of adultery with his boss's wife. Sent to prison unfairly for something he didn't do. Reached a place of respect in the prison. Interpreted the dreams of two men in Pharaoh's court. His thank you from the one who was spared? He was forgotten and left to rot in jail for a long long time.

Yet NEVER do we read of him complaining or being broken and we ascribe almost superhuman ability to him that you can throw anything at him and he won't break. He was well nigh perfect if you listen to some teachings of the story.

In looking at this more realistically my take away is he was still human and I think there is a good chance in moments of human weakness he was in despair. God still carried out His plan for Joseph regardless. It is apparent Joseph had  good character. That the Bible does not mention specifically any of these times does not confirm for me they weren't there. Especially since he was made of the same stuff the rest of us are.

Look at Noah. Don't you think at times he almost lost it? 

I could bring up other cases where I think humanity is simply not mentioned. Often we assume these were people above the fray. People who had a way to go through literally anything and never even once temporarily go into some kind of overload and lose it. 

How would you like to be told to lay on your left side for 390 days. This was Ezekiel. Man I get cramps in my bed at night if I don't roll over. How did he do that? I feel pretty certain that unless God knocked him out it was a miserable thing. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by Starise

[Riverwalker]

Interesting to speculate on, dangerous to surmise.

Yes these people were human, 

I imagine that if Noah ever started complaining to God, God would simply ask him "Noah?. How Long Can You Tread Water" 

[walla299]

On the story of Noah . . .

I've heard messages in the past that got down on him because he got drunk and passed out in his tent, leading to another incident. More than once I heard that used to preach the evils of booze and why we shouldn't drink. There were, of course, other stretching of the text over the years. There was one preacher who made a point that has stayed with me all these years later:

"Some folks get down on Noah because he had too much wine and passed out in his tent. I don't blame him. He was human - and he saw a whole world die in the flood! Think about that for a moment. Everything he knew except his family and God were gone. Everything. People, many animals, the climate and weather, geography, their location was likely very different from the starting point when the ark grounded. He was literally on a different planet. Faced with the reality of all that he went through surviving the flood I don't blame him for having a few too many! I probably would too! That doesn't make it right, perhaps, but he was still as human as you or I and subject to the same weaknesses."

[walla299]

1 hour ago, Riverwalker said:

I imagine that if Noah ever started complaining to God, God would simply ask him "Noah?. How Long Can You Tread Water" 

Then there's this one:

"I don't care. I'll still feel better with those termites locked in the metal box!" -- Noah's wife.

 

[Michael37]

15 hours ago, Starise said:

The Bible tells us the things we need to know. Yet there are times I have these questions about what happened "between the lines" what was unsaid?

Some teachers who teach  Bible stories we all know make many assumptions as to how things went down and as a result we might walk away with a slightly different perception than what actually happened.

For instance, Take the story of Joseph sold as a slave and taken to Egypt. Later working for a prominent Egyptian, accused of adultery with his boss's wife. Sent to prison unfairly for something he didn't do. Reached a place of respect in the prison. Interpreted the dreams of two men in Pharaoh's court. His thank you from the one who was spared? He was forgotten and left to rot in jail for a long long time.

Yet NEVER do we read of him complaining or being broken and we ascribe almost superhuman ability to him that you can throw anything at him and he won't break. He was well nigh perfect if you listen to some teachings of the story.

In looking at this more realistically my take away is he was still human and I think there is a good chance in moments of human weakness he was in despair. God still carried out His plan for Joseph regardless. It is apparent Joseph had  good character. That the Bible does not mention specifically any of these times does not confirm for me they weren't there. Especially since he was made of the same stuff the rest of us are.

Look at Noah. Don't you think at times he almost lost it? 

I could bring up other cases where I think humanity is simply not mentioned. Often we assume these were people above the fray. People who had a way to go through literally anything and never even once temporarily go into some kind of overload and lose it. 

How would you like to be told to lay on your left side for 390 days. This was Ezekiel. Man I get cramps in my bed at night if I don't roll over. How did he do that? I feel pretty certain that unless God knocked him out it was a miserable thing. 

You might like "The Complete Works Of Josephus". He puts a different spin on the OT stories but the edited version picks up on many proven mistakes he has made. 

As for Joseph, remember he had a prophecy and an anointing to keep him from self-pity, depression, or despair. There's a reason the Bible doesn't say anything disparaging about him, and those who point to the way he made his brothers jealous by relating the prophetic dream of them bowing to him as boastful are missing the bigger picture that required him to be destinationally direct in this manner.

[BeyondET]

On 5/11/2021 at 10:22 AM, Starise said:

The Bible tells us the things we need to know. Yet there are times I have these questions about what happened "between the lines" what was unsaid?

Some teachers who teach  Bible stories we all know make many assumptions as to how things went down and as a result we might walk away with a slightly different perception than what actually happened.

For instance, Take the story of Joseph sold as a slave and taken to Egypt. Later working for a prominent Egyptian, accused of adultery with his boss's wife. Sent to prison unfairly for something he didn't do. Reached a place of respect in the prison. Interpreted the dreams of two men in Pharaoh's court. His thank you from the one who was spared? He was forgotten and left to rot in jail for a long long time.

Yet NEVER do we read of him complaining or being broken and we ascribe almost superhuman ability to him that you can throw anything at him and he won't break. He was well nigh perfect if you listen to some teachings of the story.

In looking at this more realistically my take away is he was still human and I think there is a good chance in moments of human weakness he was in despair. God still carried out His plan for Joseph regardless. It is apparent Joseph had  good character. That the Bible does not mention specifically any of these times does not confirm for me they weren't there. Especially since he was made of the same stuff the rest of us are.

Look at Noah. Don't you think at times he almost lost it? 

I could bring up other cases where I think humanity is simply not mentioned. Often we assume these were people above the fray. People who had a way to go through literally anything and never even once temporarily go into some kind of overload and lose it. 

How would you like to be told to lay on your left side for 390 days. This was Ezekiel. Man I get cramps in my bed at night if I don't roll over. How did he do that? I feel pretty certain that unless God knocked him out it was a miserable thing. 

That is a interesting story, you mentioned being forgotten that is a head scratcher but I think the cupbearer seeing the baker get his head lifted up, hung on a tree and birds eating his body  probably made him a tad scared to mention anything.

mostly though Joseph didn’t have a unpleasant time in prison, the Lord helped him out while he was there and was quite successful, he pretty much ran everything in the prison like a assistant warden per say. It appears the warden believed he didn’t do it either he had no concern with the prison, seems might be something.

Gen 39

20 So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison, 

21 The LORD was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 

22 And the warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care, so that he was responsible for all that was done in the prison. 

23 The warden did not concern himself with anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by BeyondET

[BeyondET]

 56 A servant girl saw him seated in the firelight and looked intently at him. “This man also was with Him,” she said.

[Guest clancy]

He probably had a very deep Faith in the Lord, which grows as time passes, there is nothing that can separate us from God or His Love, even in extreme circumstances, you just know that He is right there with you, unshakable Faith in God. It don’t come easy though!.

 

Growing and maturing in Christ is amazing!!!.....a personal relationship with God, no words can describe it!......” WOW”...

Edited May 12, 2021 by clancy

[Starise]

6 hours ago, walla299 said:

I've heard messages in the past that got down on him because he got drunk and passed out in his tent, leading to another incident. More than once I heard that used to preach the evils of booze and why we shouldn't drink. There were, of course, other stretching of the text over the years. There was one preacher who made a point that has stayed with me all these years later:

Our pastor briefly touched on this in his Sunday sermon. He seems to think the situation with Ham really wasn't anything but what the Bible says about it which I tend to agree with. You have some teachers trying to insert some kind of a sexual or immoral thing into the narrative. To see is to see. To know means something a little different. That wasn't the term used. Ham simply disrespected his father by making light of the situation instead of attempting to cover it out of respect. Not sure exactly what you are referring to specifically but Ham has even been said to have a racial curse that passed through generations. I never bought into that one, yet some people really believe a certain race came from it. 

So far as Noah getting drunk. I'll admit it's easy to do with wine.Not that I am extremely familiar with that mind you. Open a bottle of good wine and you are tempted to want another glass. I imagine if I had planted my own vineyard which is quite an accomplishment in and of itself ( The ARK Winery? ) I would have wanted to take lots of samples of my wine to see what I need to do to make improvements.  It's probably a good idea I don't own a winery. In any case it is certainly understandable that Noah could have easily gotten a little tipsy and laid down in the tent to take a nap. What I don't fully understand is why people were walking by staring into the tent? I mean, just look the other way and keep walking. We know what men have. Let it at that. For some odd reason they thought it necessary to cover him up in his own tent. It's a simple thing just go in there throw a cloth over him and leave. Doesn't even seem like something that would be important information yet turned out to be a thing a man was judged by because he handled it the wrong way. Wow. Talk about little things turning into big things.

Another oddity to this story is God didn't seem to have anything to say to the guy who started it all- Noah. No he's ok. Or was he? This is yet and other one of those between the lines kinds of things we don't know about. We don't specifically see anything metted out to Noah. " Noah for Pete's sake put some underwear on!

4 hours ago, electlady said:

What a cool thread this is, Starise.  It got me thinking that our Father has emotions too, just like we do.  Throughout the Bible, we can see this clearly.  He has great love and mercy, but He also is a jealous God and hates many things.  I’m studying Ezekiel right now.  In Ezekiel 23, you can really feel God’s emotions in it (the whoredoms and such).  And so when today, people show no respect for the Creator of the world who sent His Son to redeem us from our sins, imagine how it must hurt our Father in heaven.

I have also pondered this so far as similarity to men's or women's emotions. Though we are created in the image of God. Yahweh is not human, yet Jesus experienced humanity as a human and since Jesus is a part of the God head he had direct experience. Maybe more to the point God made us and so He is well aware with out makeup emotionally. Yet I'm not so sure how much our emotions are as compared to God's emotions. While His emotions seem strangely human at times. How much of Himself did He decide to put into us? Since we are intended to have a direct relationship with God on a personal level then it only stands to reason God made us to understand a communication with Him on an emotional level so the similarities are there I think between us and Him.

Having said that it would only make sense that God's makeup is far far superior to us. One way I see this is in His mercy and love. His mercy seems to outpace any man's mercy. And His love seems deeper than any love we are capable of.

[Guest clancy]

I pour out my emotions or speak to Him from the Heart, quite often, I only speak to Him like that, never a human ,not even my family, He is the only one who fully understands me....once I do this, instead of keeping it all in to myself,  I have a sense of peace, it’s like I’ve offloaded all of my rubbish on to him...it’s taken me a long time to learn to do that..

Its growing in our “ REAL” relationship together.