Lgload302

Revised December 4, 2016

- And Joseph dreamed a dream (in which, though, as the sequel shows, intended as a Divine communication, there was nothing to distinguish it from an ordinary product of the mind), and he told it to his brethren: - not in pride, since there is no reason to suppose that Joseph as yet understood the celestial origin of his dream but in the simplicity of his heart (Kalisch, Murphy. The Spirit of truth can be physical and spiritual. I feel strongly that this land of the United States is the Promised Land spoken of in the Book of Mormon and this book is the Word of God. Because of that, I believe we will find secondary evidences to assist us if needed. Bible verses related to Joseph from the King James Version (KJV) by Relevance - Sort By Book Order Genesis 39:2-5 - And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. For whatever reason, Joseph rejected that course of action. He decided to divorce her quietly. That could mean sending her out of town to have her baby and live as well as she could manage. That decision displays his great kindness under extreme pressure.

I just heard a speaker say she had searched the web for contemporary Christmas songs about Joseph. She found only three.

I know of a few more than that from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Most of them are secular pieces that mock him for being a cuckold. Poor Joseph deserves so much better than that.

We can learn a lot about him by juxtaposing Matthew’s account and Luke’s account of Mary’s pregnancy. When Mary told the angel, “May it be to me as you have said,” the Holy Spirit probably came upon her immediately. In the very next verse, she was on her way to visit Elizabeth.

We can only imagine what might have gone through Mary’s mind or what conversations she may have had after she realized she was indeed pregnant. It does seem almost certain, though, that she was not showing when she left for Elizabeth’s village. When she returned to Nazareth three months later it must have been obvious to everyone. Did she dare tell anyone about angel visitations and the power of the Most High? If she did, why would anyone believe her?

Joseph’s heartbreak

Pity Joseph. He was betrothed to this obviously pregnant woman and knew he could not be the father. By rights, he could have denounced her as an adulteress, and she would have been stoned to death. For whatever reason, Joseph rejected that course of action. He decided to divorce her quietly. That could mean sending her out of town to have her baby and live as well as she could manage. That decision displays his great kindness under extreme pressure.

By the way, ignorant people who fancy themselves intellectuals try to explain away the “myth” of the virgin birth. They say that people two thousand years ago did not know as much science as we do now. So of course they would believe all kinds of impossible things. Joseph knew enough science to understand that since he had not had sex with Mary, she was not bearing his child. He and everyone else knew enough science to know that someone had to be the father. Not a one of them jumped to the conclusion that she became pregnant without having a sexual experience.

Matthew tells us that Joseph accepted this conclusion, preposterous on the face of it, after having a dream. The Lord of the Universe spoke to him and told him to go through with the marriage. Obedience took courage. The two of them must have had a miserable time dealing with all the gossips in Nazareth. It is from Luke that we learn of the decree from Caesar Augustus that sent them to Bethlehem. Most people probably considered the unplanned travel a headache and inconvenience. It must have seemed like a gift from God to Joseph and Mary.

Joseph’s humility

According to Luke, Jesus’ birth took place in a stable, where shepherds paid a visit after hearing a choir of angels singing. Probably the majority of creches show both the shepherds and wise men gathered around the manger, But Matthew 2:11 clearly says that the wise men visited the holy family in a house. Herod ordered the slaughter of all baby boys in Bethlehem up to two years of age. That indicates that Joseph had decided to settle there. Bethlehem would be safe from the unpleasantness they had known in Nazareth. Another dream warned him that it was not safe from Herod, so he took his family to Egypt.

After learning that Herod had died, Joseph intended to return to Bethlehem until he learned that Herod’s son ruled in his place. Another dream sent them back to Nazareth. Whispers and looks of disapproval for Mary and pity for Joseph probably made life continually uncomfortable.

God chose his human parents with great care. It is not enough that both were descendants of David. Both had personal characteristics of obedience and faith that made them ideally trustworthy to care for the God/Man during his childhood and youth.

Joseph exhibited great love and tenderness when, believing Mary to have been unfaithful to him, he declined to take steps to have her executed. He exhibited great courage as he chose to marry her, accept her shame as his own, and stand between her and the gossips. When God himself thwarted his evident hope to settle permanently in Bethlehem, Joseph exhibited great humility as he meekly and without hesitation moved back to Nazareth.

In him, we see quiet strength sufficient to enable him to follow through with decisions that make no human sense at all and to live with the consequences without complaint or hesitation. After one more incident that happened thirteen years later, Joseph disappears from Scripture.

God apparently determined that we do not need to know anything more about Joseph. He expects us to discern a character of monumental and heroic faith. Among other things, the Christmas season gives us an annual opportunity to marvel that such a man ever walked the earth and played such a critical role in preparing for the salvation of the whole world.

Photo credit for nativity set: Some rights reserved by a.drian

Story Of Joseph Scripture

Scripture Book Of Life

Book Of Joseph Rejected Scriptures In The Bible

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brothers: and they hated him yet the more.

dreamed.

Genesis 37:9
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

Genesis 28:12
And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Genesis 40:5
And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.

Book Of Joseph Rejected Scriptures List

and they.

Genesis 37:4,8
And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him…

Genesis 49:23
The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:

John 17:14
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.