Majestic! [Psalm 8]

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Every been somewhere really dark and looked up at the glory of God’s handiwork? It’s as if the Lord screwed each star into place.

Psalm 8 comes from that kind of experience—the psalmist has looked up at the heavens and is reflecting on the universe that God has made and man’s place within it.

 

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

“The Gittith” is an unknown musical term that is lost to us.

1 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.

The psalmist imagines that the simple praise of little children is stronger than the malevolent work of God’s enemies.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?

The moon and the stars are amazing, but so is a baby in the womb. God made the heavens, but he also made us, and the psalmist is in awe.

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

In Genesis 1, we read that God created humankind to rule over the earth in his place—to be stewards and caretakers of all that God has made. The psalmist marvels that God has entrusted his precious creation to human hands.

9 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

In your Psalms books, spend a few minutes writing down some of the things in creation that you find awesome and beautiful.

God Battles Against Evil People [Psalm 7]

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“This lament calls on God the Warrior to rescue the psalmist from the vicious attacks of his enemies. While many laments confess sin, here the psalmist proclaims his innocence, as well as his confidence that God will recognize that he does not deserve the treatment is is receiving at the hands of his foes. In addition, he is sure that these enemies will get their deserts unless they relent.”

—Tremper Longman

 

Note that the meaning of the opening superscription of Psalm 7

“A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.”

is lost to us. A “Shiggaion” is probably some kind of musical term, but we don’t know what it means, and “Cush” is an otherwise unknown enemy of David.

 

I particularly like the psalmist’s description of what will happen to the wicked if he does not repent:

12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
    he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
    making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
    and is pregnant with mischief
    and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
    and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
    and on his own skull his violence descends.

Haven’t we all at one time or another hoped that someone who has wronged us would eventually be a victim of his own scheming, “falling into the hole that he has made”?

See how the psalms give us language for everything?!

A Prayer for Healing [Psalm 6]

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As in almost all the psalms, the specific trouble the psalmist faces is only vaguely described. In this way, Psalm 6 can speak to many difficulties and troubles. That being said, however, this psalm has often been seen as a prayer for healing. The psalmist says:

2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
    heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly troubled.
    But you, O Lord—how long?

4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
    save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

which seems to suggest he has some kind of illness.

Note that “Sheol” [v 5] is what the ancient Israelites called the place of the dead, a shadowy place without hope. The psalmist tells the Lord that if he dies, he will be unable to praise him from there.

The psalm ends with a note of hope, the psalmist feeling better with having made his requests known to God.

9 The Lord has heard my plea;
    the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
    they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

Morning Prayer [Psalm 5]

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Psalm 5

 

Psalm 5 has often been used as a morning prayer, because of the words in verse 3.

Here’s what I want to do today: I’ll include the text of the entire psalm below, commenting as we move through it. Remember, the psalms help us pray through our emotions, thereby shaping and strengthening us to face the day.

 

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

1 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.

The psalmist is desperate—we’ll see below, it seems people are lying about him—and he wants the Lord to know that things are not good in his life.

3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

He starts his day with prayer, and then he just sits…and waits. There is wisdom in that kind of behavior. Pray your worries early, and then just sit in silence.

4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

Here, the psalmist is reminding himself of what he knows to be true: the Lord does not support or favor the wicked. It’s like he just needs to hear himself say it out loud.

7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
    in the fear of you.

And then he reminds himself that he does NOT behave like the wicked, but instead has been faithful to the Lord in the past.


8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    make your way straight before me.

Like all of us, the psalmist needs guidance; in his case, he needs to know what his next step should be, in light of his enemies’ actions against him. There’s something powerful in praying for the Lord to show you your next step. Not every step, but your next step.

9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
    they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.

He vents his anger to the Lord by describing just how nasty are his enemies, and he begs the Lord to do something about them. It is healthy to ask God to defeat our enemies—the alternative is taking vengeance into our own hands, which is a dangerous step for us to take.

11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

As with so many of the psalms, Psalm 5 ends on a note of reassurance. I think it’s precisely because the psalmist has cried out in pain and fear and frustration to God that he then feels a sense of confidence in the Lord. There is a lesson here for us—the Psalms help us pray through our fears and thereby lead us to a place of confidence. Always be honest with God in prayer, and the Psalms give us language for that.

One final point about the last verse:

12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

It’s good to slow down and pay attention to the imagery in the psalms we read. How does a shield function? It blocks the blows of an enemy. Note that you only use a shield when you are being attacked.

The lesson: the life of faith does NOT mean we will not face opposition, it does NOT mean our enemies will not strike out at us. What it DOES mean is that the Lord will protect us and keep us from feeling the full weight of our enemies’ blows.

Be confident today: the Lord is your SHIELD!

Evening Prayer [Psalm 4]

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This was supposed to have been published this AM as normal, but I just realized I set it to publish on the wrong date! Sorry for the delay. Tomorrow we should be back on our regular early AM schedule.

—AF [11:00 AM on Thursday, 4/16]

Psalm 4

 

This is a psalm of lament that begins in pain and ends in peace. As is usually the case in the Psalms, the exact nature of the psalmist’s complaint is not specified, which means it is relevant for all people who feel themselves falsely accused.

This has often been used as an evening psalm, because of how it ends.

After the psalmist has poured out his complaint before the Lord, he feels better and says:

In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
    for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Beautiful. Try it tonight.

Fear, Hate, & Hope - Psalm 3

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The Psalms teach us that the appropriate way to handle our emotions is to be honest and pray through them; Psalm 3 is a great example of what this looks like in practice.

 
 

Historical Background

In one of the nastiest and most heart-rending stories in the Bible, King David’s son Absolam leads a rebellion and civil war against his father, forcing him to flee Jerusalem for his life. (Read 2 Samuel 15-19 for the details.)

 
 

Praying Through All Our Emotions

David is afraid for his life, and worse, psychologically terrified by his enemies’ claims that God has abandoned him. But, he prays through his fears to God. And, his honest prayers result in a hopeful heart.

This is one of the key lessons of the Psalms: until we are honest about what we are actually feeling, God will be unable to help us. Isn’t this how relationships work? If you keep the other at arm’s-length, then there can’t be any true friendship or intimacy between you. Relationships require honesty, and honesty means giving up on the pretense that we are better than we really are.

The Psalms startle us because of their honesty, which should tell us how compulsively dishonest we are. For example. we are shocked and clutch our pearls when the Psalmist imagines God striking down his enemies—as if we have never felt a desire for vengeance when we’ve been wronged—as if we’ve never indulged an icy hatred.

The reason even the language of hatred is in the Psalms is because the Bible is teaching us that it is good for us to scream our hatred out loud and thereby give it over to God.

So, when the Psalmist says in verse 7:

Arise, O Lord!
    Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
    you break the teeth of the wicked.

it is as if he’s letting that hatred go so he can conclude his poem in the next verse by saying:

Salvation belongs to the Lord;
    your blessing be on your people! 

So today, let’s not piously pretend to be better than we are, but rather let us honestly pray our true thoughts to God. Over time, God will conform our emotions to his own heart.

Anointed - Psalm 2

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Psalm 2

The Second Psalm has 2 meanings:

  1. It is about God’s promise to King David that his sons would reign in Jerusalem after him. The king was called “the Lord’s anointed.” This psalm was used as an enthronement hymn for each new king.

  2. It is also about Jesus, the Anointed One, the Son of David, who is the true King. In Hebrew, the word for “anointed one” is Messiah, which in Greek is “Christ.” In the New Testament, this Psalm is frequently quoted as the apostles looked back and saw that it was always pointing towards Jesus.

There are four 3-verse sections:

  • section 1 (vv. 1-3): the kings of the earth want to rebel against the Lord’s authority.

  • section 2 (vv. 4-6): the Lord is not threatened and states that his representative is the King in Jerusalem. (Mount Zion is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.)

  • section 3 (vv. 7-9): the king speaks and quotes God’s promise to David, how God will give power and glory and strength to the anointed one.

  • section 4 (vv. 10-12): warns the rebel kings not to get any foolish ideas and to go ahead and submit to the Anointed One. It concludes by saying that those who do so will be blessed!

 
 

P.S.

This is my favorite tree in our neighborhood, and it always makes me think of yesterday’s psalm.

 

My favorite tree in my neighborhood makes me think of the Bible. https://www.andrewforrest.org/bible-blog/be-like-a-tree-psalm-1

Be Like a Tree - Psalm 1

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Psalm 1 makes an explicit promise: people who study God’s word will be like trees, deeply rooted and fruitful, in an out of season.

My hope therefore is that these next 150 days will make us strong, rooted, and fruitful.

Two quick points:

  • Note how sin works in the opening verse: the man first walks, then stands, and then ultimately sits with the wicked. Isn’t that how sin always works? It draws you in, one step at a time.

  • I love how the Psalmist pictures the wicked as chaff—weightless and ultimately inconsequential.

  • In contrast, trees have a weight and a substance. Let’s be like trees!

The Good Friday Gospel According to Joseph

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Today we’ve come to the end of a great work of art—a masterpiece and a wonder—and I feel a sense of loss. It’s bittersweet to have finished the Book of Genesis, because reading and working through it these last 3 months has one of the most thrilling experiences I have ever had with scripture. I am in awe at the beauty and power of the first book of the Bible and am deeply moved that the Lord who can create light with one word would choose one man and one family as the means by which he would save the world. “From you,” the Lord says to Abraham, “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis is the book of beginnings, but until the Lord returns and the New Heavens and New Earth are begun, all things in this world must come to an end. And so, here we are.

And yet every ending is also a beginning, and the ending of Genesis is no different: it ends and the story of Israel begins.

The final chapter of Genesis also contains one of the greatest descriptions of the grace of God in all of the Old Testament, and even, perhaps, outside of it.

 
 

Jacob has died, and the brothers immediately fear that Joseph will now seek vengeance on them for the evil they did to him so many years before. Joseph, as I have been saying, is a complicated moral figure, but here—perhaps in spite of himself—he so perfectly captures what the grace of God is like that I’m not sure anyone apart from Jesus himself has ever said it better:

“What you intended for evil, God intended for good.” [Genesis 50:20]

Is there a better verse for Good Friday?

What we intended for evil—the Crucifixion of the Son of God—God intended for the ultimate Good.

Cross before Crown, yes, but don’t ever forget that Crown follows Cross.

The rest of the entire Bible—which is really one unified story that leads to Jesus—will be about God using human evil to bring about the Good News of the Gospel.

Amen.

 
 

P.S.

Like all great stories, Genesis ends with a note of sadness and with a few loose ends. Joseph dies, but unlike Jacob, he is not buried back in the Promised Land. Before his death, I think he sees clearly the mistakes he has made in Egypt by turning his back on his heritage; he tells his descendants that they will need the help of God to get out of Egypt and return to the Promised Land, and he makes them promise that when that day finally comes they will carry his bones with them back to the land of his fathers.

And then he dies, and is embalmed after the custom of the Egyptians.

And so Genesis ends with Joseph as a mummy in Egypt.

 
 

P.P.S.

But the Children of Israel never forgot their promise to Joseph. And generation unto generation, they were reminded that the day would come when God would bring them out of slavery, and that when that day came, they were to carry the bones of their brilliant ancestor Joseph with them. And so, this is what happens when the long-awaited Exodus finally occurs, so many centuries later:

19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.” [Exodus 13:19]

I said before that Genesis ends without all the loose ends tied up. That may be true, but you know what?

In God’s time, all loose ends are eventually tied up. There are no details that the author of Creation forgets.

 

Today’s Scripture (Our Final Reading from Genesis)

Genesis 50:15-26

To My Genesis Readers! (Some Penultimate Thoughts)

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I’m sorry I’ve been so bad at posting my weekday Genesis commentaries since all this virus craziness began. Please forgive me! It’s been nice hearing from you folks that you actually read them. Who knew?

It’s been hard for me to get into a new writing routine that works with the rhythms of life in quarantine. But, we start Psalms next week, and I’ll do better—scout’s honor!

Below I’ve included some bullet points about Genesis from the last few weeks of readings.

Tomorrow at 4:00 AM I’ll email out my final post on Genesis, to go with our last day’s reading.

This is a long post, so if you are having trouble sleeping at night these days, this is just what the doctor ordered.

(However, if you skip the ending of this post, you’ll miss reading what is one of the greatest and most moving images in the entire Bible….)

 
 

The Plan for Psalms

Speaking of Psalms, we start our Psalms schedule this coming Monday, April 13; we’ll read 1 psalm a day until September. I’ll write a daily commentary, and if you’re receiving this email, you’ll keep getting the Psalms emails.

More info here.

 
 

My Video on Genesis

I know I’ve missed lots of days of commentary. Remember, though, that I did a whole hour talk on the Joseph story on March 4. Seems like forever ago!

 
 

Quick Bullets on the Joseph Story

  • I think the Bible wants us to have an ambivalent opinion on Joseph: on the one hand, he is obviously a genius, but on the other hand he becomes totally Egyptianized, which is not good because it means he’s forgotten that he is a child of Israel.

  • The Bible makes it clear that the Lord was with Joseph when he was enslaved and imprisoned, but we aren’t told that the Lord is with Joseph when he is raised to power in Egypt. Why? I think it’s because it seems that Joseph forgets the Lord when he is delivered from prison and raised to power. As I mentioned above, he becomes so totally acculturated in Egypt that he doesn’t even live with his family when they settle in Goshen!

  • I think Jacob’s blessing of Joseph’s two sons is fascinating. Jacob is blind, but he can still “see” and he deliberately blesses the younger—Ephraim—over the elder—Manasseh. He even crosses his hands to do so. An amazing scene.

  • Hundreds and hundreds of years later, Daniel is an Israelite who finds himself serving a foreign king—in this case, the Babylonian Emperor Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel, however, never gives up on his Israelite identity, and God still uses him and he still retains his high position.

  • I wonder if Joseph’s problem was thinking that there is no way he could have kept his high position apart from turning his back on his heritage. Of course, if the Lord wanted Joseph to be Pharoah’s right hand, then it would have happened. It is almost as if Joseph stops trusting in the Lord at the very moment when things begin to turn around for him.

  • I think Joseph’s economic measures are morally questionable. He saves Egypt and the Middle East from starvation through his prudent planning, but he also enriches Pharaoh and strengthens Pharoah’s grip over all of Egypt, thereby turning the people into little more than indentured servants to Pharaoh. Could not he have saved the people another way?

  • All throughout the story of Joseph the central question has been, Who will lead the family after Jacob is gone? Jacob’s final blessings of his sons tell us the answer (though we’ve already figured it out): Judah, the fourth son, will be the leader! Read the blessings carefully and see how Jacob hasn’t missed anything. He remembers, e.g., how Reuben slept with his wife/concubine so many years before, and how Simeon and Levi led the brutal slaughter at Shechem. By the way, Judah is the tribe from which David comes, and later Jesus. Do you know that praise song “Lion and the Lamb”? This is why the songwriter describes the Lord as “the lion of Judah”.

 
 

Thoughts on the Death of Jacob, our Penultimate Reading

I have a bit more to say tomorrow about our final day’s reading, but I want to leave you with what is one of the most powerful images in all of the Bible: the burial of Jacob.

Remember, Joseph has forgiven his brothers, but they are not really reconciled with each other. Joseph, the right hand of Pharaoh himself— is living like an Egyptian, whereas Israel and his sons are living as shepherds in Goshen, sojourning in a foreign land. Joseph has settled the family there, but for all intents and purposes he is not one of them any more.

Jacob’s death, however, unites the brothers for one last time.

Jacob makes his 12 sons swear a deathbed oath (the same oath, by the way, that Joseph will subsequently make his descendants swear to him):

29 Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.”

33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people. [Genesis 49-29-33]

Jacob, whose life’s journey has been long and winding, knows that his place is in the Promised Land, and so he will be buried with his fathers.

Joseph gets the necessary permission from Pharaoh and then joins the whole company as they make the long sad trek back to the land that the Lord promised Abraham.

And then we get what is one of the most moving images in the entire Bible:

12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them: 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. [Genesis 50:12-13]

Jacob’s 12 sons, erstwhile enemies in life, united in the death of their father:

The twelve sons of Jacob carry their father on their shoulders as they lay him to rest with his fathers in the land of Promise.

Wow.

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 49:29-50:14

 

P.S.

Today is Winston Churchill day, and in remembrance of Mr. Churchill, I’ve included below an image from his funeral procession. May we take on some of his stubborn courage today.

TONIGHT: Live Online Bible Study About Joseph

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My Dear Genesis Readers!

I know I’ve been missing a bunch of days recently—I haven’t found a good quarantine rhythm yet. Don’t give up on me!

I’ll be teaching an online Bible study tonight, immediately following 7 PM evening prayer.

I’m going to be looking at the final chapters of Genesis—it will go right along with our reading.

7:00 PM - prayer begins

7:15 PM - Bible study begins.

As always, you can watch at www.facebook.com/mungerplace or at www.mungerplace.org/watch. (Study will be archived for later viewing, too.)

Hope to see you tonight!

—Andrew

12 Brothers and a Feast

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I think the ending of today’s passage is deeply moving. Try to see and feel it as you read:

26 When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. 27 He asked them how they were, and then he said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?”

28 They replied, “Your servant our father is still alive and well.” And they bowed down, prostrating themselves before him.

29 As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.

31 After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, “Serve the food.”

32 They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians. 33 The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment. 34 When portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with him. [Genesis 43:26-34]

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 43:15-34

Judah, the Fourth Brother

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Remember, this is the central question of Genesis 37-50:

Which brother will lead the family after Jacob is gone?

 
 

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah

Reuben, as we saw yesterday, is not a leader. (Plus, he slept with his father’s wife/concubine, i.e., the mother of 2 of his half-brothers!. See Genesis 35:21-22.)

The 2nd and 3rd brothers are Simeon and Levi. They seem to be hot-headed and bloodthirsty, as they are the ones who led the massacre of the city of Shechem, after Shechem raped their sister Dinah. (See the sad story told in Genesis 34.)

(By the way, I have no proof of this, but I wonder if Simeon is one of the instigators of the plan to murder Joseph and cover it up with animal’s blood [See Genesis 37.] This would explain why Joseph chooses Simeon as the one to stay behind in Egypt: “And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.” [Genesis 42:24].)

So, that leaves Judah. Could he be the one to lead the family after Jacob?

The last we heard much about Judah was in Genesis 38, when he is morally humbled after he (unknowingly) impregnates his daughter-in-law. (I KNOW!)

But here, he makes a beautiful speech to their father Jacob and offers to take full responsibility for Benjamin’s safety so they can return to Egypt and get food so that the family can survive.

His speech works, and Jacob gives his leave for Benjamin to go with the brothers on their return journey to Egypt.

Could Judah be the one?

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 43-1-14

Why Isn't Reuben the Leader of the Brothers?

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Remember, the central question of Genesis 37-50 is:

Who will lead the family after Jacob is gone?

Reuben, the eldest, would seem to be an obvious candidate.

That is, until you notice something interesting whenever he appears in the story:

No one ever listens to him!

The basic definition of leader is a person whom other people follow. If no one is following, you’re not a leader. Period.

For whatever reason, the brothers don’t follow Reuben.

For example:

37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.”

38 But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”

Note that no one even seriously considers Reuben’s suggestion, which is obviously ludicrous. Why would you kill the next generation for the sake of saving the previous one? He’s an idiot.

Reuben will not be the next leader of the family.

Who will it be? There are 11 remaining possibilities.

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 42:35-38

Quick Thought on Joseph

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Personal Update:

I have been busier this past week than I’ve ever been in my life. I’m sorry I’ve missed commenting on the past few days of Genesis readings. I’ve heard from lots of you that you missed getting my daily commentaries. I didn’t know anyone even read them!

If you missed last night’s Munger Digital Townhall Meeting, please catch up with it here.

My wife and I are launching a new podcast. Stay tuned!

As I said last night in the meeting and will be saying again, there is nothing in the world to stop us from becoming stronger as a church through this crisis. And there is nothing that will stop you from becoming more deeply rooted in Christ during this crisis. Keep going with your scripture readings!

 
 

Quick thought on Joseph in Egypt. I think we are meant to see Joseph as a morally ambiguous character. He is brilliant, yes, and we are explicitly told that the Lord was with Joseph when he was enslaved and in prison, but after that, when he rises to his position of power we are never told that again.

I think the reason for that omission is that Joseph forgets where he came from. He marries an Egyptian woman and speaks and dresses like an Egyptian.

He does save his people, yes, but perhaps that could have happened if he didn’t fully acculturate to Egypt.

Centuries and centuries later, Daniel rises to a position of power in a foreign land, but Daniel never forgets his identity.

How do you need to reclaim your identity as part of the people of God today?

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 42:29-34

Joseph the Brilliant Bureaucrat

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Not only does Joseph understand Pharoah’s dreams, he understands how to use the dreams to his advantage:

“And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.” [Genesis 41:33]

Joseph knows exactly how to pitch his idea to Pharaoh so that the result will be that Joseph will be the man Pharaoh chooses. He’s brilliant.

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 41:15-40

Joseph Goes to the Barber

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As the story of Joseph unfolds, we see him becoming more and more Egyptian even as he pulls farther and farther away from his family. It’s significant that before he can come into Pharoah’s presence, Joseph has to shave and change his clothes: he’s discarding his old identity as a son of Jacob and beginning to take on his new identity as an Egyptian.

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 41:1-14

Falsely Accused

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If you’ve ever been falsely accused or called names for doing what was right, then you’ll know that there are few things more painful.

Potiphar’s wife makes a false accusation against Joseph, and he finds himself thrown into a filthy Egyptian prison.

Remember that Jesus himself was falsely accused and was persecuted by the very people he came to save.

The next time you are falsely accused, acknowledge that you are getting a small taste of what it must have been like for Christ, and consider it a privilege to have your character conformed to his in that way.

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 39:7-23