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Genesis 42-45 -- the family reunion, the ends justify the means
Joseph's family suffers from the famine, and some of his brothers travel to Egypt to buy some of the stored-up grain, where Joseph sees them. There is a long, drawn out, multi-chapter teasing by Joseph of his brothers, who do not recognize him, despite his hottie Hebrew charms. It seems Joseph wants to play a trick on them that is as enormous as that played on him, involving taking one of his brother's prisoner. But eventually Joseph can't keep the secret anymore, reveals himself to them, forgives them, wines and dines them, and everything is great. Joseph says that this was all (the slavery, etc.) just part of God's will, because God needed to transport Joseph to Egypt where he could save millions of lives through his intelligent Democratic reforms. ----- But if God were truly omnipotent, he could have avoided the horrors of famine in any number of ways, beginning with no famine. What this story is supposed to teach is that no matter how bad things look, God is working behind the scenes via convoluted plot techniques to make sure everything happens for the best. Just hold on, have faith, and eventually you'll see how it was all supposed to work out. The arrogant gay brother you want to kill? He's going to save millions of people. And your hatred of him is just part of the plan. So go ahead, toss him down that well! Naked. But this is the ideology of the winners who won no matter what. The winners can always justify their winnings by saying God was on their side, and that the losers lost because they found disfavor with God. Meanwhile, the losers can continue to believe that God is on their side, just wait, it will all work out. Those winners will have their comeuppance! Someday! If not while still alive, then on Judgment Day! This is logically empty. So are there any pics of Joseph naked on the Internet?
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