Genesis 50

Jacob's life was over. Those are hard words to say, and they are not precisely correct. It would be better to say what the Bible says about this horrible experience of death: Jacob “breathed his last and was gathered to his people.” I like that.

There is a brutal fact that Joseph and his brothers must acknowledge: As far as it concerns this earth, Jacob, the great man, their father, had breathed his last. That is a gentle way to face the truth. His body was still there, but that body was no longer alive. Death is a fact to be reckoned with, but it is not the only fact that we should confess. The other fact at the end of Genesis 49 is also very important: Jacob “was gathered to his people.” I like the sound of that too. There is existence for Jacob beyond the grave. Regardless of our guess concerning the eternal condition of anyone we love, we can say this: “He is in God's hands.” What the Lord does with each one may be hard for us to discern. We do not really know what transpires between any individual and the Lord at the moment of departure. We do know that everyone must deal with God. Jacob breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people. That last statement is not just about the burial of Jacob's body. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were alive with God at the time of Jesus' ministry so many centuries later. That is why Jesus quoted this verse to the Sadducees in Matthew 22:31-32. “As for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” Jacob is alive in the presence of God.

But we are here below, and heaven and earth are sadly divided because of sin. We weep, and we should. Jesus wept at the death of his friend. But we should also know that God will unite all things in Christ, things in heaven, and things on earth. A far better solution than the grave is on the way.

In every time and place, people who believe in a future life, gather together to pay their respects to those who have departed from us in order to be gathered to their people in the presence of God. The Egyptians did it one way, and the descendants of Abraham had their own rituals. We mark the passing of loved ones as well. We probably weep too little, and try to tidy up our emotions too quickly. Perhaps that is why so many people seem to be secretly stuck in grief. But another reason is that too many people grieve without hope. They do not acknowledge their secret unbelief concerning life beyond this life, and therefore they do not turn to the passages throughout the Scriptures that would help to heal that wound.

It is right to stop life for a season, to go to the house of mourning, to consider for a time that something remarkable has taken place. A person created in the image of God has breathed his last, and he has been gathered to his people in another land. Think about that, and let it change the way you live. Let it help you to see Jesus as the Resurrection Man in heaven, and then, when the time is right, you can leave the graveside of the deceased, and let the dead bury the dead. But you cannot do that until you are captured by the glory of life among Jacob's people in heaven.

Do not feel that you have to hide your tears. You have loved much. The gift of your beloved was a very good gift. You are allowed to grieve much. There is no rulebook for this experience beyond the Word of God. The Lord will meet you in your brokenness if you will open your heart to His care. Do not be concerned that the people of your land here below will see you crying. It will be harder for you to find joy again if you are unable to acknowledge the awful fact of death. Let it be a fact, but do not let it be the only fact.

The loss of someone can cause much collateral damage. Joseph's brothers had felt some protection from their worries concerning Joseph's vengeance against them by the fact that Jacob was still alive. One of the losses that came with his death was that they sensed that all protection was now gone. They feared that Joseph would finally pay them back.

What they found instead in Joseph was a man who understood sinners and God, earth and heaven. He knew that they meant something for evil, but that the Almighty was doing something for good, even for their good, for their life. What a god we serve. The same fact can be said about the cross of Christ. It was done through the hands of evil men, but it was also accomplished according to the express plan and foreknowledge of Almighty God. See Acts 2:23. Joseph gathers his brothers together in peace, even though he knows what they did. Jesus knows our sins better than we do. He suffered for them on the cross. But He still gathers us together and speaks words of shalom to the nations.

Soon Joseph would breath his last and be gathered to his people. But Joseph would not be immediately buried in Canaan. He would go back to The Promised Land only when the descendants of Jacob went back. Though it would take hundreds of years, eventually they carry his bones back home.

The book of Genesis started with mankind, male and female, living in the direct presence of God, in a more seamless heaven and earth paradise. Sin changed all that. The book ends with one great man's longing about where his bones will be buried. We long for something better than the right grave. We not only want to live forever with our people. We want to be with God, The only way we can have the peace that we yearn for is through the appointed Seed of the woman, Jesus. He has brought us light, life, and security in the best of all possible lands.

Bible Survey - #16 - Numbers

Too Frightened to Go Home

The people of Israel have been away from The Promised Land for centuries. God led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness, but when the time came for Him to bring them home, they were too frightened of the Canaanites to obey the voice of God.

Throughout their stay in the wilderness we hear many episodes of their rebellion against the Lord and His appointed leaders. The result is the death of an entire generation except for Joshua and Caleb. The children, those who were not counted in the first military census in the book because they were too young, are the ones who actually enter The Promised Land. The rest die in the wilderness.

Throughout this 40 years of testing and disobedience, we see the sin of God's people, and the costly faithfulness of God's commitment to His own covenant purposes. He is the solution to the plague of rebellion that would destroy His people. They need to look to Him and live.

God is able to speak through even a wicked pagan prophet; yes, even through that prophet's donkey. Though their adversaries would love to speak words of destruction upon Israel, God is determined to bless them through His provision of a King that will come out of Jacob.

The God of Israel will bless His flock.

He tests them and will lead them to their home.

If they rebel they show their need for Him.

Let all the earth now look to Him and live!

Genesis 49

In the last chapter, Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph, giving to Joseph a double portion by placing these grandsons in the position of his own sons. All that remains is for Jacob to speak his last words concerning his remaining sons. His words at this time of his death come to the assembled sons of Joseph as the voice of God.

What would God have to say about you at such an important moment? How sad if it had to be the words that Jacob gave to his firstborn, Reuben: “Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!” His sexual sin with his father's concubines was a downfall for Jacob's oldest son. How is it that his name still appears in heaven? The apostle John assures us that on the gates of heaven, “the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed.” Is Reuben's name there just because of the tribe that descended from him? Or is Reuben himself, who was “unstable as water” according to Jacob, actually a citizen of heaven?

Next Jacob mentions the names of Simeon and Levi, and draws attention to their slaughter of the Shechemites. Simeon will eventually be lost as a tribe within the territory of Judah. Levi, the tribe of the priests and tabernacle workers will live in various designated cities throughout Israel.

It is God's Word to Judah, the forth son of Jacob, that is the first one on the list to truly impress us. The other brothers shall praise Judah. Long before the Law of Moses, centuries before the great Samuel will pour anointing oil on the head of David the son of Jesse, Jacob gives the word that Judah will be the tribe of kings. Jesus, that great Lion of the tribe of Judah will be a descendant of king David. Like a great lion, Judah will reign over any other power. When he speaks His Word with heavenly authority, no enemy will be able to stop Him. We need a Savior and a King who is that mighty. Jesus is able to protect and defend us against the threats of His and our enemies. Because of the Jesus who saves us, the tribe of Judah will have the King's scepter, until the One comes to whom it belongs. To Him shall be the obedience of the nations. He who road the Messiah King's donkey into Jerusalem was willing to stain His garments with His own blood, so that we might gain the white robes of His perfect righteousness. See 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Each of the tribes will have a story of their own, but the words of Jacob tell us very little that we must understand. Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali... There is no great notice given here of victory. They are simply included in the number of the tribes of Israel. The words of Jacob lead us to Judah, and then to the favored sons of Rachel, and especially to Joseph.

We hear the cry of the patriarch's heart in the midst of his curious words of manifold blessing: “I wait for your salvation, O Lord.” This is our cry too. Hundreds of years will pass before King David will be born, and hundreds more before the true David, Jesus the Messiah, will give His life and rescue us from eternal destruction. We wait for your salvation.

As Jacob dies, there can be no doubt that Joseph is to be a fruitful tree. Ephraim and Manasseh will flourish. As the brothers of Joseph had once treated this favored son with such cruelty, the descendants of Joseph in Gilead and in Samaria will suffer the attacks of neighbors who will harass them severely. Yet as Joseph survived and even flourished through much suffering, there will be a future and a hope for the descendants of this great man.

God, the Mighty One of Jacob, made Joseph who he was. God, the Shepherd of the Sheep, and the Stone of Israel, loved the descendants of Jacob. God, the God of Jacob, would bless even these northern tribes under the eventual leadership of Ephraim with the blessings of heaven above. They would fill the land. If Assyria would seem to be too great a power to be resisted, that empire would still be only a temporary tool of discipline in the hand of the Almighty.

The God of Israel, who disciplines those He loves, would refer to Israel many years later as “my son.” Here he makes his determination known that He will greatly bless this son. God's blessings would be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

Jacob's days were done. The words that He spoke were suitable to each one. Even though we may not fully understand their meaning, they point to the knowledge and power of Almighty God, and His saving hand through His appointed King, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He gave these words through a man who was about to be placed in his burial grounds in Canaan by his sons. Through the lips of Jacob, in his 147th year of life, God's plans for the tribes of Israel were given in words that even Moses could not have understood so many years later.

Jacob was gathered to his people in hope. We bury our loved ones too. Our confidence in the midst of a world with enemies and trials is in the power and love of God. He knows what will come to pass, and He will do it. He has placed His Son far above every other authority. His Word is sure.

Genesis 48

God is the Giver of every good gift. To receive the blessing of God is to be blessed indeed. Joseph has been the provider for his father and his brothers during a desperate time of famine. Yet Joseph knows that the blessing he needs for his own future and for the lives of his sons, is that which will come from God through the hands of his father, Jacob.

When Jacob's days on this earth were almost at an end, Joseph came to him with Manasseh and Ephraim, his sons. Jacob summoned his strength to speak a word to his favorite son before he died. He reminded Joseph of the covenant promises that God had spoken.

Jacob was at the end of his life. His beloved Rachel was long gone. He remembered her as he completed his last acts of faith. He would have loved to have had more time with her, and he would have considered it to be a great blessing to have more children by her. He brought the sons of Joseph near him as if they were his own. They too were descendants of Rachel. He kissed them and embraced them. He considered the goodness of God. Once he had been so sure that Joseph was dead. Now he was alive, and he was able to speak the blessing of God upon two more sons. And he worshiped the Lord.

The time had come to give the blessing of God upon Manasseh and Ephraim. Jacob was a man who had come to the end of his days. His senses were failing him. It was easy for Joseph to conclude, even with respect, that Jacob did not know up from down. Yet God was still in control of his life, and God will bless whom He will. The aged Jacob could not do much, but He could see forward to a day when the Word and will of God would bring a greater blessing on the descendants of one of these boys. The second boy, Ephraim, would take the lead over his older brother, Manasseh.

Joseph had a tender respect for his father. Yet it seemed evident to him that his father's age was showing. Joseph had arranged the boys so that the best hand of blessing, Jacob's right hand, would rest on the head of the older boy, Manasseh. But Jacob knew better. In a surprising prophetic Word, Jacob crossed his hands and deliberately put his right hand on Ephraim, and his left hand on Manasseh.

With this deliberate reversal of the customary order, this man whom God had preferred above his older brother Esau so many years before now gave the words of covenant blessing to the sons of Joseph. He remembered the faithfulness of God over many generations, and he spoke the right words about the future, trusting that he truly was an agent of the Lord's bounty to Joseph's sons.

Jacob called on the Name of the God of Abraham and Isaac. He spoke of the Shepherd over his life over these 147 years. He called him the angel who had redeemed him from all evil. He spoke words from on high, words that would take many generations to reach fruition, words that only the Lord God could bring about. God overturned the thoughts and intentions of Joseph, the second in command in Egypt, and blessed Ephraim above his older brother, Manasseh, by the word of Jacob.

God had carried Jacob throughout his life, shepherding him through the evil actions of Laban, and the murderous hatred of young Esau. God had brought him through his sons' vicious behavior against the people of the land, when they misused the sign of the covenant to create an advantage that would allow them to kill the Shechemites. Especially, the Lord carried him through years of mourning the loss of a son who was now before him as the father of Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob had become a great man through his wrestlings with God. He had faced a grief that he thought would take him to the grave. He had lived to speak words of blessing upon Pharaoh, and now, as he prepared to die, he knew more than the great Joseph did about which of his hands to lay upon the heads of each of his grandsons. According to his word, God would cause Ephraim and Manasseh to be a multitude in the midst of the earth.

Ephraim would eventually be the more numerous and prominent tribe, and would be synonymous with the northern part of Israel that would be sent forth among the nations in the days of the Assyrian Empire and beyond. Jacob says here that Ephraim would be a fullness or multitude of nations. One part of the tribe of Manasseh would settle in Gilead to the east, while the other would join Ephraim in the west. The Lord would not forget these numerous descendants of Jacob, though it would be through Judah, settling in the south of Canaan, that the Messiah would come. The promised descendant of the great man of Judah, King David, was to be not only the leader of His own tribe in Israel, but the King of all the Jews.

After Jesus had risen from the dead, and the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the day of Pentecost, God, through the apostle Peter would address the assembled Jewish worshipers not as one tribe or another, but as “men of Israel.” Through the Jews, words of the greatest blessing went not only spoken to Jerusalem and Judea, but even into the territory that had once been the land of the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the land of Samaria. Even that great expansion of the people of Christ was not enough. It was the Lord's intention to put his right hand of blessing now upon people from every tribe and tongue and nation, even to the very uttermost parts of the earth.

Through union with the most favored Son of God, Jesus Christ, we have received the full blessing of the Lord. We are victorious in Him, and in His Name, God has determined to be with us forever.

Genesis 47

When Jacob and all his family found that Joseph was yet alive, and when they settled by Pharaoh's permission in Goshen, in the Land of Egypt, it was not as if all their problems were over. They were only beginning their time away from Canaan. They would not really be home in Egypt. God's promise remained. He was giving them another land.

For now, it was time to settle as guests of Pharaoh. During a time of famine, gaining Pharaoh's permission could have been very difficult. But they had a friend in the brother who they had once so badly abused. He had gone before them into Egypt, and God had made the way for him to win Pharaoh's approval for this request.

Pharaoh was one of the great men of his day, but when he was introduced to Jacob, it was this unknown Israel that blessed the great king. Jacob was God's ambassador. He spoke not as a grasping young man, but as a humble servant of the Lord who had been shaped by grief and reclaimed by joy.

At 130 years old, he was not a great man in his own eyes, but others, even Pharaoh, were made to see the honor that was due to this aged man who was Joseph's father. Long forgotten are Joseph's days in prison. Can anyone still remember the accusation that brought him into an Egyptian jail? Now he is the second in command in Egypt, and his father is worthy of great respect.

Jacob does not draw attention to any marvels of his own life. He honors his father and his grandfather, who lived longer than he had. Those earlier men, Abraham, and Isaac, like Israel himself, are simply sojourners. They look for a better city, whose Builder and Maker is God. The seek to be a blessing to those who are the rulers in the lands where they travel during their brief stay on this earth. They know God, and they are impressed by Him. This is their greatness. It comes to them through God's grace in the midst of long suffering.

Joseph can provide for his father and his brothers, but he cannot stop the famine that has overtaken the region. He has wisely shepherded the land for Pharaoh. He cares for the people who would have lost their lives had it not been for the Lord's gifts. God enabled Joseph to interpret Pharaoh's dreams, and provided him with the wisdom and insight necessary to know what to do when the evil days came. The famine was very severe, but God preserved the lives of many people through His servant Joseph. Among those who were able to live were Jacob and all his descendants.

Joseph's plan brought much wealth to Pharaoh. In stages, the people were forced to give all that they had to their ruler. Yet Joseph found a way to preserve some human dignity, as the people were able to live and to work for themselves as servants of Pharaoh long after all hope of self-reliance was gone. This too was in accord with the power and wisdom of God.

Only the priests of Egypt were able to hold title to their land as the crisis continued for the full seven years according to the Lord's Word through Joseph. The priests of Egypt had an allowance from Pharaoh by virtue of their office, but all of the remaining people of Egypt gave up their property to the king.

The people did not resent Joseph. He was a provider to them in their distress. They understood well that his gift to them of seed, and his willingness that they should keep some percentage of their labor when they had given themselves entirely up to Pharaoh, were expressions of mercy. The people were grateful. Joseph had saved their lives and the lives of their children.

But Israel now dwelt in Egypt's land. Despite the sufferings of the Egyptians, the people of Jacob prospered. They gained possessions. They were fruitful and multiplied.

Jacob lived for 17 years in Egypt, and he died at the age of 147. Before he died, he made Joseph promise to bring his body back to Egypt, so that he could be buried with Abraham and Isaac. Jacob was blessed to live through the years of struggle that came from famine. Seeing his son Joseph alive again was a great gift of God. But Jacob did not fall in love with Egypt. He had not forgotten the promises of God to his grandfather, his father, and himself. God was the God of Israel, and God would fulfill His promise to give the land of Canaan to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Joseph understood his father's heart, and would insist one day that his own bones would be buried in Canaan. Joseph agreed to Jacob's request. He swore an oath to his father, and Jacob worshiped the Lord.

The promises of God are sure, and men of faith hear them, and live in hope. They are not overly moved by the riches of earthly empires. Their security is not in the provision of the kings of this world. They believe in the promises of God, even when other pathways might seem more outwardly appealing.

This heart of faith is what keeps the true Messiah faithful even to the point of death on the cross. He knows that the Word of God is more sure than the treasures of all nations. The true Savior believes and follows God. In His incomparable holiness, the greatest riches of the righteousness of Jesus have been generously provided to all who are called by His Name.

Genesis 46

Joseph was alive. That was amazingly good news, though difficult for Jacob, his father, to believe. As he travels to Egypt, along the way he pauses to offer sacrifices to God, Jacob's God, the God of his father Isaac. A connection is made to the past as he journeys into the future of a blessed new life. At such a time as this, praising the God of eternity is a great privilege that we must not miss.

God calls out to Jacob. He calls him by name in visions in the night: “Jacob, Jacob.” Jacob responds, “Here am I.” The Lord passes on a word of courage from heaven to Isaac's son. God knows where Jacob is going as he makes his way to Egypt. God has plans for Israel spoken long beforehand to Isaac's father, Abraham. “Your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs.” There was more to the prophesy that we will return to in Exodus. For now, Jacob is going to Egypt, and he will see Joseph, not only alive, but in his glory. He will settle there, for God informs him that Joseph will close his eyes.

Jacob need not give in to fear. God will go with Jacob down to Egypt. He also promises that at some future time, He will be with the people of Israel when they finally leave Egypt.

When Israel left Canaan, they took everything with them. Was anything left behind? Only the bones of the beloved dead. Their burial ground would be all Jacob owned in that strategic place. One day his own bones would be brought back there. His sons would mourn for him. After that, everyone else would be die in Egypt and stay there, though descendants would carry Joseph's bones back to the family plot in Canaan one day.

All that is alive of Israel goes down to Egypt and stays there until the Lord is ready to move on to the conquest of Canaan. Jacob will soon be gone, but all the rest will make a life for themselves where Joseph has been for years. They will be strangers in a strange land, seeking a better city that God would one day provide. Leah's sons and grandchildren who would make up the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun would all come to Egypt. They would number thirty-three. Their relatives from Leah's servant Zilpah, sixteen in all, would begin the tribes of Gad and Asher. They too would live in Egypt. Rachel's descendants would also be there, fourteen persons that formed the tribes of Joseph (soon split into two, Manasseh and Ephraim) and Benjamin, the youngest. Finally the people of Dan and Naphtali, the children of Rachel's servant Bilhah would add the final seven, bringing the total people of Israel to only seventy people. Over the next four hundred years or so, they would grow to a fighting force numbered at over six hundred thousand strong.

The nation of Israel had to start with someone. God began it with Jacob, his two wives, and their two servants. Not everyone that was born lived on to have other children. For instance, Judah's first two sons died. This small group of seventy had already faced hardship and loss. Now they were going down to Egypt, and before they would make their way home to Canaan, they would feel intense suffering. But God would bring them to this foreign land and He would bring them up again to the land that He promised to give them, and all of this would take place according to the Lord's sure word to Abraham.

If we consider the events that would happen beyond the Exodus, there would be much more tribulation. Instead of doubling in size over their forty years in the wilderness, an entire generation would be lost, replaced by their children, leaving them with about the same number of fighting men at the end of their divinely instituted wanderings as they had at the beginning. Once they made it back into The Promised Land their problems would continue through the period of Judges, Kings, into the exile, and even in their restoration back to the Land and beyond. None of these periods happened without serious trouble. Yet through it all, as one generation left the scene and another took its place, God accomplished all of His holy will.

During the many centuries after the coming of the Messiah, as the good news has proceeded forward from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth, many more have died for the faith, and millions have faced countless profound disappointments. But God still gives grace, and His people are still treated to glimpses of heaven on earth in blessings that come to us that are beyond anything that we ask for or even imagine.

In other words, in the midst of all the trials, there are days when fathers are reunited in person with sons that they presumed to be gone. That is what happens when Jacob comes to Egypt and sees the face of Joseph. It is like he sees the face of God. That may seem like the exception now, but in heaven it is the rule.

We get to anticipate that coming glory when we gaze into the face of our Redeemer. We sing to Him. We listen to His voice. We care for His beloved. We remember His death at His sacramental table. We know Him in prayer. He is with us in all our travels. And we know that He is leading us home.

With that joy that can be ours in worship and service, let us savor the blessed moments of life that God does give us when great things do take place. Is someone healed? Has a child been born to a happy man and woman? Was evil stopped in its tracks? Did joy come in the morning? The Lord is at hand. The Descendant of Judah has gone ahead of us. We are reunited with our God. He is our Father. We are His sons. Even if we are an abomination to throngs who may seem to hate us, the love that the Father has for the Son is in us, and Jesus Himself is in us. See John 17:26. Enjoy the good moment. It is a slice of the greatest Promised Land.

Genesis 45

God had accomplished what was necessary in this painful interaction between Joseph and his brothers. Judah was true to his pledge to stand as a substitute for the beloved young son of Jacob, Benjamin. This willing service is very close to the heart of God who gave Jesus as our Substitute. God moved the heart of Joseph to the point where the great man could no long control himself. He ordered all the servants out of the room, and revealed himself to his brothers.

“I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” His brothers were overwhelmed and even terrified at his presence. Joseph knew, and he drew them near. This is what God is doing to us through our Redeemer. He knows our fears, and He brings us close.

Joseph does not hide the facts. He says, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.” But then he ministers comfort to them by explaining the divine purpose in this mess: God brought Joseph to Egypt to save lives. We know that our sins brought Christ to the cross, but in the gracious purpose of God, Jesus died on the cross in order to provide for our eternal life. When God reminds us of His plan of grace, the honest and horrific fact of our sin must melt away in the presence of the glory of God's goodness in what lies ahead of us.

Joseph is able to see past the Ishmaelites, Potiphar's wife, the cupbearer's forgetfulness, and the strange drama of Joseph's secret identity in the face of his worshiping brothers. He sees the hand of God working out a divine purpose. What a gift to be able to see the Lord! He not only sees God through the clouds; he speaks to the very brothers who wronged him to help them to see the grace of God for them.

Like the great man in Luke 15 who catches a glimpse of his lost boy coming to him from afar, Joseph has no interest in dwelling upon his brothers' sins. He has more important business that he needs them to attend to right away. “Hurry and go up to my father.” This is his concern; the father who loves him; Jacob, who almost died from the false word of his Joseph's death. He has a word for his father, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry.”

Just as Joseph loves his father, and then some, Jesus loves His Father, and has proven His love by laying down His life for our sake. When the time came for His work on earth to be completed, Jesus was eager to return home to His Father in heaven. But the Lord's long-term plan is not to have us all go with Him to heaven just to stay there. Our heavenly stay is a temporary solution to the problem that came upon this world in Adam's sin. God's intention is for the Father and His entire heavenly family to come here to dwell with us forever without sin or death.

At the Joseph stage of God's larger story, we have Jacob going to Egypt with all that he has and settling in the land of Goshen. But when God's great story is fulfilled, He will come here, and transform everything. Until then, for a little while, it is appropriate for us to go to Him in heaven while we wait for the fulfillment of His perfect plan. Surely there is much good for us to do above as we prepare everything for the return of the Lord to the earth. Even now we have a few moments in these very brief lives that we spend here below to seek the glory of God and His kingdom.

Joseph tells his brothers to speak to their father Jacob about his glories in Egypt. Perhaps we should find a place in our prayers to speak to our heavenly Father about the glory of His Son. As we gaze upon His face in the Word, and as we discover more of the unsearchable riches of Christ, we should sing about these glories to our great God. The wonder of Jesus and His kingdom should stir our hearts deeply, and our lips should be filled with His praise.

It is this great and honest jubilation that can have an impact on both the church and the world. The news of what happened with Joseph and his brothers reached the ears of Pharaoh, and it pleased him and his servants. Joseph had made a good name for himself in Egypt. Why should we not have a good name all over the earth? We are the people of Jesus Christ, and we want to do good everywhere. Jesus is able to lead us into great works that should cause many to be glad.

Pharaoh wanted to help Joseph in the reunion between Joseph and his father. Is it possible that many in the world might love to see the goodness and order that the church is bringing to their lands, and would actually be happy to assist us in the work that God has for us here below? This can happen. Others may give us the “carts” that speed up that work. Many are eager to welcome literacy workers who will eventually translate the Scriptures into the languages of their lands. They should be happy. Nothing could be better than to have the people of any nation come to know the truth about God.

But we will not have this kind of testimony among our neighbors if we quarrel with each other all the time. Joseph felt obliged to instruct His brothers, “Do not quarrel on the way.” This is good advice. We cannot glorify God and fight with each other. We need to love one another from the heart.

The Father will happily receive our true praise as we discover that Jesus is alive. Jacob was blessed to hear these words: “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” Will our Father in heaven love our boasting in Christ and His grace any less than Jacob rejoiced in the good news of His son? Rejoice in the Lord always, and live at peace in the church and, as much as it depends upon you, in the world.

Bible Survey - #14/15 - Leviticus

Holiness and Love

The Lord gave His people a certain way of life to make them distinct from the nations around them. They were to approach Him through a special sacrificial system and to order their daily lives in ways that He commanded.

He did not always explain the symbolic meaning of the ceremonies He ordained, but He did give Israel certain key principles. One of the most important of these was that they were to be set apart as a holy and distinct people in their lives because He, their God, was a holy God. A second was that their ceremonial righteousness was to be accompanied by moral obedience, including a deep concern for the well-being of others.

The office of priest was an essential part of the Lord's plan for His relationship with the nation. The priest was to embody the holiness and love that God required of all those who would be His servants.

Levitical holiness was always about more than just scrupulous outward obedience. God called Israel to imitate Him in a deeper way. Any follower of God must still take that call very seriously today.

The goal of God was not to pass on all the Old Testament ceremonies to the nations. The fulfillment of every Levitical ritual was seen in the beauty of the cross.

The priests of old brought offerings to God.

They kept the feasts and judged clean from unclean.

But Christ, our Priest, washed all our sins away.

He calls us to be holy and to love.

Genesis 44

The sons of Jacob have enjoyed a meal together for the first time in years. Even Joseph is with them, though the other brothers are not aware of this fact yet. The divine drama continues now. Their money is again secretly hidden in the sacks of Jacob's son, but now Joseph has ordered that one very valuable cup would be put into Benjamin's sack. Joseph, will use this to make it appear that Benjamin is a thief. This is what it will take to bring about something beautiful that the Lord wants us to learn as we read this account today.

When the brothers set off in their journey, they have no inkling of what is about to take place. As the steward of Joseph's house catches up with the men and makes his master's accusation, the brothers are so sure that none of them have stolen anything that they say, “Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord's servants.”

The steward restates and reduces the penalty that was suggested: “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.” No one is going to die here, and only the one who has stolen something, the apparent guilty party, will be held responsible. Fine. They all quickly lower their sacks so that they can be searched and vindicated. And then it happens. Joseph's valuable silver cup is found in Benjamin's sack. Of course it is. It was planted there. But the brothers don't know that, and they are distraught, and all of them return to the city.

It is Judah who must now step forward. It is the ancestor of Jesus who must bring the good word before Israel's secret son, Joseph. He hears the accusation from the lips of the great Egyptian leader himself, the man who is actually the brother they sold into slavery so long ago. Joseph says, “What deed is this that you have done?”

Judah must speak. He acknowledges the fact that the cup has been found in one man's sack, but he offers them all as servants. Joseph will not have it. “Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

Now Judah must speak forthrightly. He must make the case before Joseph that he, Judah, should be taken prisoner as a substitute for Benjamin. Judah must fulfill the pledge that he made to his father, Jacob. This was the condition upon which Jacob let Benjamin travel to Egypt with the others, that Judah would pay the price if Benjamin's life were in danger.

Judah is true to that pledge. He steps forward as an honest man. He does not sacrifice Benjamin and then make up a tearful lie to his father. Judah, with all of his own messy history of his involvement in the selling of Joseph; Judah, who fathered two children through the the deception of a woman he thought was a prostitute, a woman he later acknowledged to be more righteous than him; Judah, who knows what it is to grieve the loss of sons; this Judah does not spare his own life. He speaks the truth to save his brother Benjamin from lifelong servitude and to protect his father Jacob from another grief that might have been his death. He steps forward as the appointed substitute. He serves, after all his strange history, as an honest man.

It is worth noting that concerning the earlier matter of what the men did to Joseph, Judah's words of repentance still seem to be lacking. If Joseph's only interest was to vindicate himself in that cruelty and deception, he might not have been satisfied. Judah quotes Jacob well enough: “One left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces, and I have never seen him since.” That is true, in a way. Yet Judah knows better than that, and he just passes on his father's faulty conclusion based on the ugly deception that his sons hoisted upon him. It would have been a fuller repentance if he had really come clean. He could have said something to Joseph like what the brothers had said privately at the time of their first trip to Egypt. “We are guilty concerning our brother, Joseph, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us. We sinned against our brother Joseph, and now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” That matter is still not fully dealt with. Isn't it often that way with us and our old sins? These men will still be in fear concerning that matter when their father Jacob dies. See Genesis 50.

But self-vindication or settling of old scores are not Joseph's primary concerns. He loves his brothers who had so abused him, and he loves God. What moves the heart of Joseph is the present honesty of Judah as he comes to him in the current situation. Judah is willing to give his life so that Benjamin and Jacob will live. This display of sacrificial love is powerful before the heart of God, and God rules. God is the one who is working this all for good.

You may wonder about your repentance concerning the sins of your past, thinking that perhaps you in part conceal and in part you reveal the truth before God. You may not even know how full and honest your repentance is regarding what once was. It would be good to be free of all the old chains in every conceivable way. As God grants you the gift of repentance walk in it. But in view of His mercies to you in Christ Jesus, our Lord, walk in honesty today as one who is already a new creature in Christ.

The sacrificial love of Jesus moves the heart of God. That is why we live. Move the heart of the Lord today by allowing the Spirit of Christ to lead you to be a living and honest sacrifice today, being true to your pledge that this Jesus, who gave Himself for you, is your Lord.

Genesis 43

The hunger did not stop. The need for food became more and more intense in the land of Canaan. Jacob had not yet met the great man in Egypt who had so frightened his sons. It was too easy for him to say to his boys, “Go again, buy us a little food.”

Reuben, the eldest, had spoken to his brothers about their sin against Joseph. He was ready to repent. Joseph knew this because he heard the honest conversation between the brothers when they had presumed that he could not understand their language. He chose the next oldest brother, Simeon, to be the ransom for the rest. Simeon had been forced to stay behind. We do not hear from Levi at all in this episode. It is the fourth son, Judah, who plays the critical role in this chapter and the next, until these men finally receive fuller expressions of blessing and peace from Joseph in Genesis 45.

But now Judah speaks to Jacob, his father, with a plan that finally secures Jacob's agreement, allowing young Benjamin to be taken to Egypt in accord with the demands of the man holding Simeon hostage all this time. What is it that Jacob finds persuasive? Judah convinces his father that getting food from Egypt has become a matter of life and death for them all. Most of all, Judah, the ancestor of Jesus, places his own life on the line for the lives of everyone in this family. He says, “I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.” This is the way of true sacrificial love. Judah is willing to die so that the family can eat and live. This is what Christ has done for the church.

Jacob must agree with Judah. What else can he do? Can he stand by and simply watch his grandchildren die? He sends Benjamin with his older brothers, and He is brought to trust His God in the tough choice between his concern for the survival of his entire family and his fear for the life of Rachel's youngest son. He must take this risk in order to gain food. But he does this in the sight of God, saying, “May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother (Simeon) and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” He is not happy, but he must trust God for the future that is ahead of him.

Benjamin was not only a favored son of Jacob; he was also the beloved full brother of Joseph. And now Joseph is actually brought to see his younger brother again. On this great occasion, despite Joseph's love for his brother causing him to be greatly moved when he sees the boy, he continues to play his part as the demanding ruler from another world, while he waits for a fuller expression of repentance from his other brothers for their sins against him.

As this difficult drama continues, Joseph has his brothers brought to his house for a banquet. They are more frightened and perplexed by this kindness than by his earlier rough speech. What is he up to? They decide that they better explain about the money left in their sacks the last time they were with him. They are ready to be humble about something, they just don't have the right fault yet. They pick an incident where they were in the right. That won't do. Their old sin is right before their faces in the frightening and generous Egyptian who is beyond their understanding. He is bringing them to repentance according to his own mysterious ways.

Joseph's representative, the steward of his house, reassures them about the money. “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Soon they see with their own eyes that Simeon is alive and well and they are all feasting at the house of the man who is like God to them. So what's wrong? Why are they not entirely at ease? There is still more soul work to be done, and the Egyptian will do it. When he comes home they give him their worship, they bow, and they bring their gifts, but the further fulfillment of Joseph's dreams is not what he is looking for. He loves them. He has always loved them. He will not be content until they are what they claimed to be in their first trip: honest men. They still have one massive lie, one great deed of evil they must be rid of. Joseph will use his beloved brother Benjamin to bring them to their knees.

Why do we hide our sin so deeply? We know it, but then we willfully repress our knowledge of the truth? We suffer inside and cling to our pride, when we could humble ourselves before the Lord, and He would quickly and abundantly pardon. But repentance is a gift from God. Our soul disease must be removed.

Through all the struggles of our lives, the Son of God loves us just as surely as Joseph loved his brother Benjamin. If we come to the conclusion that His discipline is a sign of His hatred, we are not right, and we do not yet see what the Lord in His grace is doing. He weeps for us. He even gives us food and wine from His table. But He does insist that we worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

The ways of Jesus Christ may alarm us. He who received all His glory back again by way of the cross and the resurrection is leading us now in paths of righteousness for His own Name's sake. It is through many tribulations that we will enter the kingdom of heaven, but we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Our Lord may use perplexing methods to make us honest in His presence, but we need not doubt His powerful love for His people.

Genesis 42

Hunger forces our hands. We have to eat if we want to live. Jacob and his extended family needed grain, as did many other people, and they knew where to find food. There was grain in Egypt.

These details of life would bring the sons of Jacob, all except Benjamin, into contact with Joseph again for the first time in many years. When Jacob had received false evidence of Joseph's death, he thought that his grief would bring him down to the grave. He was not willing to risk the loss of Rachel's only other son, Benjamin. Rachel had died giving birth to this boy, and it was thought that his older brother, Joseph, had been torn to pieces by wild animals. Jacob did not know if he could live through the loss of Benjamin. He would not let him go. The weakness of their father concerning Benjamin was an unwanted reminder to his other brothers of what they could never forget: They had sinned in the matter of Joseph.

God was about to reveal something that they had tried to hide for so many years. The process of bringing the truth to light would take place before the face of Joseph himself. It would involve a wrenching series of events that would bring the sons of Jacob to repentance.

Joseph's brothers did not recognize the man they had sold to the Ishmaelites now that he was in his glory. They bowed down to him as they would have to any great stranger in his position. In their show of respect, they fulfilled the word that God gave to Joseph so many years before in a dream, that his brothers would bow before him.

Joseph did not immediately reveal himself to his brothers. It was within his power to give them comfort at that instant, but he chose to do something better for them. He questioned them, challenged them, and put them in a very tight spot; and not for just a few days, but for a long time. He was working on a better goal than quick happiness, and that would take some time to accomplish. Recognize here the love of God for you through tough times. Remember that he disciplines those he loves as a true father does his beloved sons.

In this process Joseph secured necessary information about his father and absent brother. He found something that would make a difference to the other brothers. Years before they had sold him into slavery without an adequate consideration of what the consequences would be. Now they displayed some understanding of what Benjamin's death would mean to their father. It would be through these painful dealings with this mysterious great man of Egypt that the Lord would produce an amazing repentance that would bring some healing to Jacob's family.

Joseph's demand of his brothers: “You shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here,” touches at the appropriate tender spot, their father's special love for one of the brothers above the others. He imprisons them for three days, after which he sharpens his demand, making one suffer for the rest as a representative: “Let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.”

In their own hearts they made the connection between this distress concerning Benjamin, and their horrible sin in the matter of Joseph so long ago. “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” Joseph understood their earnest conversation among themselves, and it moved him greatly.

Simeon would be the Christ-like representative this time, staying behind in Egypt as a pledge. The rest of the brothers returned home. They had to witness the binding of Simeon before their eyes. But they were given the grain that they needed, and Joseph even saw to it that their money that they had given to buy grain was secretly returned to them. When they found this out they were alarmed. They said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

When Jacob heard the whole story of how this great man of Egypt had probed them closely regarding Benjamin, he was alarmed. Reuben offered his own two sons for surety in order to secure their father's permission to return to Egypt, this time with Benjamin according to the demand of the man who insisted that they could not see his face again unless they brought the boy. Jacob was adamant: “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.” Yet there would be hunger again, and hunger would eventually force the issue.

It is normal for a father to care about his son. Jacob loved the two boys that came from Rachel. He set them above the rest. We may not like it, but his devotion for Joseph and Benjamin was a fact.

There is another Father who had an even stronger love for His Son. God the Father loved His Son in the fullest measure, but He was willing to give Him up for us all. This was a tremendous sacrifice. It had to be done in order to achieve the Lord's eternal purpose.

Yet Jesus lives even now. Jacob will soon be able to wash away tears of his old deep grief. And soon the plans of God will be perfectly accomplished. But the grief of our Father for the suffering of His Son was very real. Thus we know that the love that God has for us is true and very deep. He gave His Son for our sake. When He calls us His beloved, He means it.

Bible Survey - #13 - Exodus 24-40

God and Man Meeting Together

God was leading Israel through the wilderness into The Promised Land. Along the way He gave to His people provisions for meeting with Him involving the construction of a special tabernacle. God's presence was especially known in the holiest place within the tent.

Moses received the pattern for what was to be built during his time with God on the mountain. It was also on top of the mountain that God confirmed His covenant with Israel. Heaven seemed to come down on that place as the seventy elders joined Moses and they ate and drank with God. There they beheld the glory of the Lord.

Yet it was during this wilderness time when Moses was with God on the mountain that the people rose up in idolatry. They made a golden calf and worshiped it as if that lifeless object had brought them out of Egypt.

God was angered with the people, and it was not at all clear that the Lord would continue to take them into The Promised Land. The interactions between Moses and the Lord result in another new start for Israel and the eventual construction of the Tabernacle according to the Lord's command. But in Jesus and the New Covenant way of life we have a far superior ministry of new life. God's presence is with us, and we are His temple.

Our way to life is not an easy road.

The Promised Land of heaven is not seen.

We gaze upon the face of Jesus Christ.

From glory unto glory lead us home.

Genesis 41

So many years ago, God had given a word to Joseph indicating that his brothers would bow before him. As Joseph lived in an Egyptian prison, forgotten by the man who might have remembered him to Pharaoh, rejected and abandoned by his brothers, and mourned by his father, he seemed a most unlikely human being to fulfill that prophetic word. But now, though all hope seemed to be lost, the long-awaited deliverance and exaltation of this favorite son of Jacob was about to begin.

Pharaoh had two very troubling dreams, dreams of life and death, dreams where the darkness of death more than swallowed up the fruitful bounty of life. In the morning, Pharaoh was troubled in his heart over these dreams, and there was no man who could be found to give Pharaoh a true interpretation.

It was then that the strange providence of God so perplexing to our minds fell perfectly into place. If Joseph's brothers had not sold him into slavery, he never would have been in Egypt now. If Potiphar's wife had not lied about Joseph, he never would have met the cupbearer of Pharaoh and interpreted his dream. If the cupbearer had not ignored Joseph's plea and forgotten him for two years, then Joseph might have been long gone, back in Canaan, when this all-important moment arrived. God held Joseph in just the right place of humiliation until the night that Pharaoh had two unsettling dreams and needed an interpreter. It was then that the cupbearer remembered Joseph.

From that moment of remembrance onward, nothing would ever be the same. Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and this Hebrew slave and presumed criminal was brought up out of the pit of prison.

It was at that critical juncture when Joseph could have so easily glorified himself in his sudden appearance before one of the most powerful men in the world. He instead testified to the greatness of God. He said, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

The first insight that the Lord gave to Joseph is that the two dreams of Pharaoh had one interpretation. They were both describing the same events that would soon take place. These dreams were about the next fourteen years, seven of which would be very fruitful, and then another seven that would be years of drought and famine. The doubling of the dream was like a divine oath. These events would surely take place.

Joseph not only understood what the dreams were all about; he also knew what should be done to prepare for the famine that would eventually come to the entire region. Saving for seven years was the most practical solution to the problem of the years of trouble that would soon be upon them. The solution that Joseph proposed involved the selection of an able administrator who would save thousands of lives in that nation and many others who would hear that there was grain for sale in Egypt. A discerning and wise man needed to be set over the land of Egypt during this time of future crisis and present opportunity.

Pharaoh was pleased with the idea, and recognized Joseph as the best man for the job. “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” What a change had taken place in just a few short hours. This forgotten young man had been lifted up to the heights of power in the Egyptian Empire in a matter of hours. When we think that our lives are over, we make a conjecture about matters that are clearly beyond us. God is able to take a man from the ash heap and to make him sit with princes. He does not need a lot of time to accomplish such an amazing project.

Imagine what it would have been like for him to hear these words: “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” God also provided him with a wife and two children that would be a part of the twelve tribes of Israel. His brothers would still have to be brought by God to Egypt in order to see the one that had risen to such a lofty height, but it was already possible that their arrival would mean the fulfillment of Joseph's great dream so long ago. His brothers would bow before him.

For now he would begin to implement the plan that would save so many lives that he had spoken of in the hearing of Pharaoh. Seven years of saving and and seven following years of controlled spending – this would be the way that so many people would escape starvation.

If we accept this story as one of the great turn-around moments in the Bible, we need to see it as a preparation for a far greater event in the life of Jesus, and through Him, in our lives as well. Jesus was lying as a dead man in a borrowed tomb. Then He was risen from the grave. One day, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead will be raised imperishable, and those who are alive at the coming of the Lord will put on immortality without having to go through the ugly gate of death.

The exaltation of Joseph is only a hint. Even the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a very small beginning for a kingdom movement that would take over the world. It is the full coming of the new resurrection world that will surely take our breath away. Be strong and of good courage. A man has been found who knows the story of the new heavens and the new earth. This Jesus has begun, in His own resurrection, a movement that will never end. He knows the full meaning of the current moment, and when we least expect it, he will gather us with the power of a world of resurrection glory.

Joseph's brothers soon would bow before him. We have a greater King, before whom we eagerly bow down. He has risen from the dead.

Genesis 40

There is so much suffering in this world. It is not only about Joseph and his brothers. There are so many other stories, many that we barely know.

Our lives draw near to the trials of other people by the Lord's design. If we listen, we can hear the oppression and the misfortune that others have faced. It is rare when we have any useful words to speak on such occasions.

But Joseph had something very important to say to two other prisoners; not something that he discovered through reasoning or experience. He had a word that came to him from the revelation of God touching upon two troubled lives. The men with him in Pharaoh's prison were not Hebrews. They were servants of the Egyptian king, two members of his executive staff. To be the cupbearer or baker to Pharaoh was to be in a position of important trust near the ear of a very powerful man. Both men had fallen out of favor so badly that they were in prison with Joseph. And both men had dreams that they could not understand.

When Joseph heard these dreams, he was confident that the Lord could reveal the correct interpretation of these dreams. He said, “Do not interpretations belong to God?”

So the two men told their dreams to Joseph, and Joseph interpreted their dreams by the truth that came to him from the Lord. One man would live, and the other would die. One would be restored to his post of honor. The other would meet a final disgrace.

It is an amazing gift to know the secrets that only God can tell. Joseph does not steal secrets from spiritual realms through the power of his own magic. This man who had been brought low by God was given the true word from heaven regarding the dreams of these two men.

To receive an accurate word like this from the Lord's servant was a great gift to the cupbearer, the man who would live. The worth of the gift would be confirmed by the accuracy of the events that had been predicted. When the baker was gone and the cupbearer was at Pharaoh's side again, the greatness of the word would be proven. What should the cupbearer give Joseph in return for this wonderful interpretation?

Joseph only asked one thing: “Remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house.” He had faith in the word that God had given, and so he asked for favor from the cupbearer. He knew that this man was going to be next to Pharaoh in honor. So he said, “Remember me.”

Of course the man did not remember him, at least not right away. When he was lifted up again, he found it convenient to forget about the man who was back in prison. That is how the chapter ends: “The chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.”

Joseph, who had been sold out of the land of the Hebrews, and who done nothing wrong with his master's wife, but still ended up in prison, this Joseph was still in the right place. His deliverance did not come yet. The time for that would be soon enough. It was too early. Pharaoh had not yet had his own dreams that would require a word from heaven.

For now, Joseph would stay in the pit, but not forever.

Forever is a long time to be stuck in a pit. To sin against our eternal and holy God... What can anyone say about that? If we ended up in a pit for eternity because of our rebellion against the Lord of glory, that would not be unjust. But is there a way out of that pit? Is there some way that the pit of divine retribution would not be forever? That would have to involve some great mercy of God.

Consider the thief on the cross who died next to Jesus. What did he deserve for his sin? He knew that Jesus did not deserve the cross, and he believed that Jesus was the king of an eternal kingdom. So as he was about to die, and as Jesus was near the end of his own life, that other man on the cross made a fervent request of the Lord. He said, “Remember me.” He could not claim innocence. He could only appeal for mercy.

But when Jesus was exalted on high at the right hand of the Father, would he forget that wretched dying thief who had asked him to remember him? Would he become comfortable in his restored position of honor? Jesus had promised, “Today, you will be with Me in paradise.” But would He remember?

Our great King has not forgotten His promises. He came to suffer and die for us. His assurance to us is without condition. “Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.” He has gone to prepare a place for us, that where He is, we also may be.

Jesus has not forgotten us. Our names are written on the palms of his hands. He assurance is a great comfort to us as we watch a loved one pass from this world: He says, “I will come again, and receive you to Myself.” When we die, the Lord Jesus remembers. He comes and takes us to himself.

Genesis 39

Jacob's son, Joseph, had not been torn to pieces by fierce animals. Jacob, based on the evidence of the bloody garment presented to him by the boy's lying brothers, had concluded without a doubt that Joseph was dead. He was quite wrong. He was alive.

That is not to say that Joseph's situation was good. His brothers had sold him. He was a slave in the home of an influential Egyptian man. Far from The Promised Land, Joseph was able to thrive by the grace of God.

This is a story that was retold many times over the history of Israel. Daniel was far from The Promised Land and he also did very well. Mordecai, living in the Persian Empire, was able to thrive despite the formidable opposition of significant enemies. More than all of them, the Son of God left His Father's throne above, and went far away into a place of great danger. Yet during His stay there, though it looked to others as if His mission was failing, He did everything that He was supposed to do, and He secured for us the glory of an eternal kingdom.

Back to Joseph... this talented young man who brought the Word of God to His family in a way that offended them, was being prepared to fulfill the prophecy that he had been given about his own eventual preeminence. The home that he ended up living in was very close to where he would need to be when Pharaoh would require a true Word from God.

In the way that men look at events, it would appear that everything had gone very poorly for Joseph. In reality, everything was very much on schedule. Yet Joseph would have to travel lower than where he was at present. It was not enough for Joseph to be a slave in the home of one of Pharaoh's officers; Joseph needed to spend some time in one of Pharaoh's prisons.

The person who would bring him there was an immoral woman, the wife of his master. Joseph would go to prison, not because of his unrighteousness, but because of his righteousness. If Joseph had gone along with the demands of this woman, they would have had a secret intimate relationship together, and he would have continued to serve as a trusted servant of the captain of the guard. Because Joseph would not agree to this, the man's wife accused Joseph of attacking her, and Joseph ended up exactly where he needed to be for the next chapter in God's story.

While Joseph was serving as a slave, his master was able to come to some conclusions concerning him. Joseph was a hard worker who was capable of handling significant levels of responsibility. He trusted Joseph, and Joseph was worthy of that trust. But Joseph's master saw something else. He noted that the Lord caused all that Joseph did to succeed.

But someone else was also keeping an eye on Joseph, and her intentions were evil. She wanted Joseph to lie with her, which he refused to do. This servant of the Lord knew the truth. What this woman wanted to do was wrong. It was a sin against his master, her husband, and it was a sin against God, and Joseph told her that. He also attempted to protect the honor of the woman involved, not wanting to expose her in her foolish entreaties. He simply tried to stay out of her way.

The day came when she trapped him. When he again refused her, she grabbed on to his garment as he ran away. Now she was in trouble. She had Joseph's garment in her hand and the young man was running away from her. She quickly turned the matter around with her lies making it appear as if Joseph was the aggressor and that she had barely escaped from him. When it was all over, Joseph's master believed his wife, and Joseph was in prison.

This was not just any random prison. It was the place where Pharaoh's prisoners were confined. This brought Joseph into contact with a man who would be the one God would use to take him from captivity to a position as the Lord's man in a time of crisis.

Through all of his troubles, the Lord was with Joseph. Much as he had prospered in the home of his Egyptian master, Joseph was again found to be a trustworthy and capable man in Pharaoh's prison. No matter what the project was that needed to be accomplished, the Lord made Joseph succeed.

Joseph learned to serve God in all kinds of circumstances. Whether Joseph was high or low, he was honest and competent. The Lord was with him through it all, and that made all the difference. Everything that Joseph did was a success.

We need a servant of God who does all things well, and we have found such a man in Jesus Christ. The required Sin-Bearer had to be a perfect Law-Keeper before He could atone for our transgressions. The Lord brought His Son exactly where He needed to be at precisely the right time.

Jesus came to serve. He was not afraid to be in a low position. When every duty had been accomplished, he needed to take the lowest places ever known to man: the cross and the grave. These were His to own and to conquer in order for the plans of God to be fully accomplished. Now He is exalted to the highest place in heaven. His time of lowliness was necessary for our redemption. But beyond that divine requirement, we have come to see that He sanctified a life of humble service for us. When we hear His call to service, we know that He is asking us to travel a road that He, like Joseph of old, has already walked Himself.