Jan 20 - 7 Years Prosperity, 7 Years Famine

We left off with Joseph being called up by Pharaoh to interpret his dream. God gave these people some wacky dreams. He gives the same thing to pregnant women....Boo had some good ones during Eliana's pregnancy! Pharaoh said "I was standing on the bank of the Nile River, and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. But then I saw seven sick-looking cows, scrawny and thin, come up after them. I've never seen such sorry-looking animals in all the land of Egypt. These thin, scrawny cows at the seven fat cows. But afterward you wouldn't have known it, for they were still as thin and scrawny as before! Then I woke up."

"Then I fell asleep again, and I had another dream. This time I saw seven heads of grain, full and beautiful, growing on a single stalk. Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were blighted, shriveled, and withered by the east wind. And the shriveled heads swallowed the seven healthy heads."

Joseph responds that both dreams mean the same thing, you need to lay off the marijuana before bed! Oh wait that's my lamen's response:) Joseph says that basically it's a heads up from God that 7 years of prosperity will be followed by 7 years of famine. Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of all the land, including storing up grain to distribute during the famine and gives him a wife. Well sure enough when the 7 years of famine kicks in and his brothers come to purchase food but they don't recognize him. Of coarse he's a little irritated with what they did to him so he harasses them by calling them spies and throwing all of them but one in prison. The one is to go back home and bring the youngest brother back.

Matthew today is, of coarse, loaded with more great parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. He talks about how a farmer plants good seed in his field but his enemy plants weeds when the workers sleep. They can't pull the weeds because it will uproot the wheat. So it needs to be sorted at harvest time and the weeds burned while the wheat is put in the barn....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Jesus explains his parable in Matthew 13:36-43 He talks about being tossed into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth....YIKES!

And finally today a piece of Proverb 4- My father taught me, "Follow my commands, and you will live. Get wisdom; develop good judgement. Don't forget my words or turn away from them. Don't turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you." Sounds simple enough.......I guess we have to know His words before we can get the wisdom and judgement not to turn away from them.....make sense??