Java Riddles?

Jesus was the Son of God and called a son of a Joseph.

He said, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men..."

How long has it taken it for us to figure that riddle out, Jesus, Son of God?

How long to remember there was another son of another Joseph, and he got some press, too.

Jeremiah says, "Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks...

What's that Jeremiah? There's an after? And what of these hunters that come after the fishermen? (Look away while you still can, sleepy ones.)

They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim [is] my firstborn...[Is] Ephraim my dear son? [is he] a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD...

Who is that, You say?

So Ezekiel tries to bring an explanation. "It's like this, you see," he says...
Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions:
And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

But who listens to you any more than Jeremiah? We are students not lovers, doers not listeners. So God throws down more, and a flicker shows in embers, an inspiration flames--however small--to dig up the buried books, those dusty at the bottom of the ancient pile, and look at the blessings spoken over this one called Joseph.

But as we look, we remember that son of another Joseph named Jesus who raised a riddle, saying:

How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he [then] his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

Is it that same You, Jesus, who looks at this other Joseph and offers this riddle also on his parentage (this other Joseph) almost the same? How can the blesser claim that "the blessings of thy father prevail over the blessings of my fathers" when he speaks to his son? Confused yet?
Gen 49:26
The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph...

What's more, another birthright-riddle found, on tribal scale now, in the blessing of Moses. You know, this Moses, one called to deliver a people:

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush [was] not consumed.

And in his dying blessing, he did bless Joseph with the carrying of the torch (no pun intended) from the God of Deliverance who called him:

And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and [for] the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let [the blessing] come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him [that was] separated from his brethren.

But it is also written (and repeated much with "knowing nods") that Ephraim's (son of Joseph) pride destroyed his opportunities. Still, the Chronicler says:

For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him [came] the chief ruler; (I know that my Redeemer lives) but the birthright [was] Joseph's:) (which to us now means?)

We are like people living in the days before the microscope blissfully ignorant of the germ that could stop our expectations dead in their tracks. We are so sure, aren't we, so sure that we have it all figured out. No more prophets, who needs them? The days of revelation are over. We have it all figured out, I say! So God throws down a little more--point blank, well placed for us to ignore.

Because Amos says, "Seek the Lord and live! Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you. Hate evil, and love good, establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph."

But if we ever gave this thought consideration, we dismissed it quickly. These are not "our people" any more than we were theirs in the day of their visitation. Until now that doubt is so entrenched that we forget it ever even was a point of consideration. But we should remember, and why?

Because Zechariah says: And I will strengthen the house of Judah, (did you hear that Word, O Christian? Do you know when your house is the topic of discussion? Do you even know you're weak?) and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I [am] the LORD their God, and will hear them.

So, fill 'er up with another cup of joe, Joe; and save me a spot, there on the leather couch under that potted palm. I plan to be awake and in attendance for the long haul on this one!