Favoritism in the Bible
I began to think seriously about the topic of favoritism after a recent visit from my parents. I won't get into my family's favoritism. I saw it go as far back as my grandfather, though. I see it in the newest generation. It's clearly a problem, yet no one wants to address it.
Favoritism has long-lasting and devastating consequences in families, even generations later. The Bible has some examples of favoritism from which we can learn. I'm sure we can think of examples in our own lives too. It's a rather ugly thing. We can spot it in others a mile away. But can we see it in ourselves?
The Bible warns us not to show favoritism, as God does not show favor based on things people do, such as wealth or fame. It repeatedly warns against an uneven way of measuring or judging people. A lot of those verses are found in Proverbs. If God shows favoritism, it is only toward His people, though He clearly left the door open to heaven and His blessings to everyone in the world. (Romans chapter 9 expounds on why some do and some don’t experience God’s favor.) Still, He has His chosen people. It's not for me to even think of criticizing that. God shows His favor on those who accept His favor. That's how I make sense of that. We were chosen and we chose Him back.
Since Abraham is considered the father of our faith, we can start there. Abraham showed favor to his son Isaac over Ishmael. One was the son of God's promise and the other was man's feeble attempt to make God's promise happen. Ishmael is the father of the Arab nations, and we all know how the Arabs and Jews get along.
Then you have Isaac and Rebecca. Their boys, Esau and Jacob, were rivals from the beginning. Jacob was favored by his mother and Esau by his father. Rebecca helped Jacob attain his father's blessing, leaving Esau nothing. (He already had his birthright.) Esau is the father of the Edomites, who were a thorn in the flesh to the Israelites, just as the Arabs were.
Then we have Jacob's sons, who became the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob favored Joseph because he came from Rachel, his favored wife. (By the way, polygamy did nothing but cause problems. Sticking with God's formula for marriage was a much better plan.) That favoritism was so strong it caused Joseph's brothers to 1) devise a way to kill him and 2) sell him into slavery, effectively removing him from their lives. That was the outworking of favoritism. Still, we see how God used a bad situation like favoritism for His purposes. He used what happened to Joseph to save the entire family, including his brothers who wanted to kill him and sold him into slavery. After Joseph was sold into slavery, Benjamin, Jacob's other son from Rachel, became his favorite. When Joseph tested his brothers when they came to buy grain, notice he used the youngest and most favored by his father, Benjamin. He wanted to see if his brothers would treat Benjamin the same way they treated him. Because they didn't and recognized it would greatly harm their father if anything happened to Benjamin, he knew their hearts had changed.
Throughout the Bible we see story after story where God rescues people from bad situations, even using those bad situations for His glory. We see that in the story of Joseph. I've always loved that story because I was heavily mistreated by my older brothers. I pray God uses that once-bad situation for His glory. If you find you are in a bad situation, ask God to use even that for His purposes. If you made a mistake, ask Him to use it for His glory. Amen?
Here is a link to supplement my thoughts on favoritism.
Thank you for reading. And God bless.
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I posted previously about rejection, which is one obvious outcome of favoritism, on my sister blog below. Rejection goes hand in hand with favoritism. And, not surprisingly, when someone feels rejected by God, they first felt rejection from their earthly father. Here is the video I posted previously on my other blog.
I've been contacting apartment homes quite a bit recently. My findings are 1) good apartments are hard to find 2) as well as overpriced and 3) often income-restricted, regardless, 4) God will choose my abode. I feel my son and everyone else have settled into their new home. Increasingly, I feel ill at ease with my present living situation, like I am constantly on guard, which drains away energy. It's hard to describe and perhaps I need an entire post to detail intentions in going that route initially. Maybe more on that later.
I haven't felt well this week but am on the mend. Also, some unpublished posts remain unpublished because I love them a little too much, apparently. One I've been holding onto since early January.
UPDATE: I put in an application for a rental today. My son wants the bigger room, of course. I don’t know about that or anything else, but I know the outcome is prayed over and ultimately out of my hands.
My Tumblr. In case you need more.
My YouTube video blog. Now a space for testimonies.
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