SCRIPTURE: Genesis 46
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
(Read my reflection from 2008)
When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.” [Genesis 46:33-34]
All shepherds are detestable to Egyptians.
It seems that every generation has the ‘detestable’ group, the ones that a community looks down on and treats as lesser beings.
But what is interesting to note is that the highest ruler in Egypt, below the Pharoah, comes from a family of detestable shepherds.
For some reason, God has a habit of choosing His servants from among the outsiders.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. [Luke 2:8-11]
Two things to note in comparison.
God chooses the shepherds (and wise men from the east, not from Israel), societies outsiders of outcasts, to serve Him in the birth of the Messiah.
And the Messiah traces His lineage back to David, the Shepherd-King of Israel.
There is definitely a pattern here.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. [1 Corinthians 1:29]
Makes me wonder why God chose me as His servant.

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. [John 10:14-16]
God is at work in the world among the weak, vulnerable sheep, restoring His family and rebuilding His world.
And His world is not meant for the high and mighty and proud and exalted, but for the humble, the meek, the servant-hearted.
Just like Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
Joseph is an anticipation of the coming Shepherd-King, detestable among the nations but highly honoured by God.
Jesus is the ‘weak’ King, and we are His ‘weak’ followers.
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. [1 Corinthians 1:26-29]

PRAYER:
Lord, help me not seek to be accepted by the world, but to be acceptable to You. Help me to value Your esteem more that the esteem of others.