“If only I were so “blessed.”
Circumstances do not determine “blessedness”.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall posses the land. Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
That being said what about this? Did God purpose to send Israel and Joseph into slavery?
Gen. 15:13-16, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”
Gen. 45:5-8, “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”
Gen. 50:20, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
The Beatitudes tell us that suffering for righteousness sake is a circumstance, and that it earns you the kingdom of heaven. And those who make peace are doing works that make them acceptable to God. And being merciful is work that earns you mercy from God. Where in all this is faith? The Beatitudes are perfectly "Jewish," works-based salvation. Every one of them is a mitzvah.
As I said, next time you see a homeless person, congratulate him. For, his is the kingdom of heaven more likely than ours, according to St. Matthew.
That being said what about this? Did God purpose to send Israel and Joseph into slavery?
There is no evidence of any Jews having left Palestine at that time, let alone any Exodus from Egypt. But, if we assume that God sent Isaac and Jacob to Egypt, then you could say God sent them into slavery.
The problem is that in the Reformed theology God is the cause and source of evil, and evil ceases to be evil because it becomes a tool of God. Sorry, that's not Christianity.
Whatever it is, it teaches that the world is not fallen because of man, but because God wants it as such. And Judas was was the 'lucky' fall guy, because he made Jesus' sacrifice possible...God predestined Judas to hell before he was even born so that Christ may be crucified!
Stfassisi, you are right. Every time I see Calvin and the gang, I see the devil peering from behind them.