Bible in a Year – Day 16: Living Sacrifices
Jan 16th
Today’s Reading: Genesis 46 & 47
A famine so severe that people selling themselves into servitude is seen (by those people) as a blessing, because at least they won’t die. Again, this is a picture of the kingdom of heaven – playing out in real life in ancient Egypt. These are people who have nothing to offer. In fact, if Pharaoh wanted to, he could have just taken their land. He didn’t have to pay for it. But Pharaoh, through Joseph, allowed them to offer themselves and their land in return for that which only Pharaoh could give. Does that sound familiar?
They “offered their bodies as living sacrifices”, as the New Testament scriptures say. This was the end of the rope for these people. They had come to the place where they had lost all self-reliance and were completely reliant on Pharaoh. As strange as it may seem to watch Joseph make the Egyptian people into servants, this is a perfect picture of how we are to approach God.
Our notions of self-reliance have to be tossed, our egos in check and the love of our possessions eliminated. We have to approach God with an understanding that he doesn’t need anything we have – our abilities, our giftings, our possessions or even our lives. Then we must be willing to give all of those things to him. Through this story, we are reminded who holds the provision for our lives and, ultimately, what that provision is worth – everything.
Bible in a Year – Day 15: Joseph and Jesus
Jan 15th
Today’s Reading: Genesis 43, 44 & 45
FINALLY! This is the reconciliation that Joseph had been waiting for. He toyed with his brothers a little bit. Maybe he was testing their sincerity or their honesty. Maybe he just wanted to make them sweat a little. Whatever the reason, Joseph plays this little charade with his brothers until, finally, he lets them in on the gag.
They must have been stunned. Not only were they seeing their brother who they had sold to gypsies over 15 years earlier, but he was the highest ranking official in Egypt – the man who decided whether they got to eat or not. It must have been humbling and terrifying all at once. I think these brothers were fully aware of the possibility that Joseph would exact revenge on them. After all, he could have probably told Pharaoh to have all of them killed and it would have been done. But that’s not how the story goes.
Joseph, instead, gives us a prophetic glimpse at the life of Jesus. He receives those who rejected him, gives them much more than what they deserve and welcomes them into his kingdom – where he is still in charge, but where his family is given the best of what the land has to offer. I can’t help but think that I (we) should be just as overwhelmed and overcome as Joseph’s brothers whenever we think about what Jesus has offered us – a rich life we don’t deserve paid for by a price that we didn’t have to pay and given to us freely, with a joy we can’t explain.
If only I could remember that, maybe I could act as though I was living in Egypt and not stuck in the barren land…
Bible in a Year – Day 14: A Long Way to the Top
Jan 14th
Today’s Reading: Genesis 41 & 42
As we reach Day 14 in our year-long quest, I’m reminded how important the passage of time is in our culture. We mark birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones that cause us to pause and reflect on where we were “back then” and how we got to where we are today. I can only imagine how certain milestones must have felt to Joseph.
Today’s reading opens with the words “When two full years had passed…” which we may skim right over. But stop to think about that for a moment. Here was Joseph, hated by his brothers and thrown into a pit, then sold as a slave. He ended up as a servant in Egypt and rose in the ranks, only to be falsely accused of sexual misconduct and thrown in prison. There, he also rose in the ranks and even correctly interpreted the dreams of two men – one of whom was soon killed, but the other of whom was restored to his position as cupbearer to the king. But he forgot about Joseph and so, Joseph was left there in prison.
That’s where today’s reading picks up…after two full years had passed. Once again, I imagine that Joseph didn’t feel like one who had been chosen by God for something special. There in prison, I wonder how often he thought about those dreams he had as a young boy about his brothers bowing down to him. If I were in his shoes, I might have questioned the authenticity of those dreams and even chastised my teenage self for mentioning them to my brothers. After all, I probably wouldn’t be rotting away in this stupid Egyptian prison if I had just kept my mouth shut!
Remember that Joseph was 17 when he had the dreams, got the coat, talked to his brothers and got the boot. We are told here in chapter 42, verse 46 that Joseph was 30 years old when he entered into Pharaoh’s service. That means Joseph’s journey from dream to reality was 13 years long! And not just 13 years, but 13 years as a servant and prisoner – not exactly the kind of life a rich descendant of Abraham had envisioned for himself, I’m sure.
But after 13 years, Joseph is finally put into the position that God had chosen him for. After 13 years, God puts Joseph right where he needs to be. I wonder how many of us would keep hope alive for 13 years. And even if we were put in that place that God had for us, would we view that 13 years as cruel and unusual punishment, or would we see it for what it was – preparation for what was to follow.
You see, I believe that the things we go through in life prepare us for the future. I don’t really think there’s much that happens that doesn’t serve to shape us, help us grow and give us perspective that we can then take with us into the next chapter of our life. Certainly, Joseph learned a lot about relational investment, leadership and even the plight of the poor and innocent while he was serving and then in prison. It would make him a better leader down the road. It would make him a better brother.
The encouragement for me (and hopefully others) through this reading is that no matter what kind of a pit we may be in – no matter how bad things look – there is still hope. We should live in expectation that God is going to use our trials to give us wisdom, to draw us closer to himself and to give us the kind of perspective that we will need in order to walk out his future plans for us. It worked for Joseph and I think it can work for us, too.
Bible in a Year – Day 13: Head Servant, Chief Slave
Jan 13th
Today’s Reading: Genesis 38, 39 & 40
Sometimes, God’s blessing shows up in funny ways. An unexpected check lands in our mailbox and just after we’ve decided how we’re going to spend this surprise cash, our car breaks down and we have to spend the money at the mechanic. We have a great day at work only to come home to bad news from our spouse. We grow ever closer to God through scripture and prayer and then we’re blindsided with the illness of a loved one.
Joseph might be the poster child for God’s hand at work in the midst of…well…a mess. You see, Joseph was obviously chosen by God for something special. His birth was something of a miracle, his dreams of ruling over his family were prophetic visions from God. Everything he put his hand to flourished. And yet, it’s easy to overlook the fact that in all of this “blessing” that Joseph received, he was still a slave. He was sold by his brothers and ended up as a servant of Potiphar. In charge of the household? Yes. The head servant? Yes. But a servant, nonetheless.
Then, after standing up for Godly values, he moved on from servant-hood and slavery…into imprisonment. For someone supposedly blessed by God, Joseph seemed to be moving in the wrong direction! Of course, he flourished in prison and soon was in charge of all the prisoners. Again, he had achieved the highest ranking possible, but he was still a prisoner – blessed, but confined.
It’s important not to let our situation define us. Sometimes we have to look a little harder to see God’s hand at work in our lives. Sometimes, the blessings come mixed in with the brokenness. In these moments, we have a choice to make. We can either curse God for things not turning out the way we thought they were going to, or we can recognized that God is sovereign and that he has a plan – that his ways are not our ways.
If we choose wisely, we’ll be reminded of what would have happened to our bank account if our car broke down and we hadn’t gotten that unexpected check, how much more difficult that bad news would have been if it hadn’t be preceded by a good day or how ill-prepared we would be to deal with that disease if we hadn’t been developing and growing in our relationship with God. If we recognize God’s sovereignty even in the midst of trials and hard times, then we’ll also recognize God’s incredibly faithful hand working through it all. We may have to look a little harder, but the good work of the Lord never stops!
Bible in a Year – Day 12: What A Great Family
Jan 12th
Today’s Reading: Genesis 35, 36 & 37
Before we dig into the meat of today’s reading, it’s important to note the birth of the 12th son of Israel, Benjamin, who was born as his mother Rachel was dying. It is understandable, then, that Benjamin, the youngest of two sons born to Rachel (whom Jacob loved more than his other wives) would have special significance to Jacob – especially after the events of chapter 37.
Ah, Genesis, chapter 37 – a real shining moment in the history of Jacob’s family. Here we see that brother-on-brother jealousy (inherited from Jacob, to be sure) and that sisterhood animosity (from Rachel and Leah) rear it’s ugly head as Joseph is plotted against and sold into slavery by his brothers. But here’s the thing; Joseph isn’t entirely blameless in this matter.
At the beginning of chapter 37, we’re told that Joseph is essentially a tattle-tail and a brown-noser when he gives his father “a bad report” about the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah (that is, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher). We’re not told exactly what he said, but it may have been something as simple as “they’re herding the sheep all wrong” or, perhaps, the revealing of something more nefarious. Whatever the case, Joseph created a name for himself as a daddy’s boy snitch among his brothers.
Now, Jacob doesn’t really help his son’s cause when he sends him back out into the field dressed in a colorful and/or ornate coat. I mean, if you think your little brother is spoiled and then he comes driving up in a new Porsche, that pretty much confirms the suspicion!
So Joseph shows up on the scene with his nice new coat and begins spouting his mouth off about these dreams that he’s having – dreams that are symbolic of him reigning over his brothers, and even over his father and mother. This, kids, is a lesson in keeping your trap shut! Sometimes God reveals things to people that he doesn’t necessarily want you to share with others. In this case, Joseph would have done well to keep his dreams to himself. But, again, Joseph is a teenage, spoiled, daddy’s boy who likes to open his mouth to disparage others and to brag about himself. I can relate, because I was just like him when I was that age!
What Joseph was blissfully unaware of (as most teen boys are) is that he was just building a case for his brothers to hate him. In fact, they would come to hate him so much that they would even consider killing him. I think it’s interesting that we see this tone of sibling rivalry and even murder being passed down all the way from Cain and Abel and rearing its ugly head time and time again.
Ultimately, Joseph’s brothers would decide not to kill him, but to sell him to slave traders instead. Obviously not all the brothers were in on this decision, because Reuben, the eldest of the brothers and de facto leader, seems shocked to find that Joseph is no longer in the cistern when he arrives. And so, Joseph is sold and ultimately ends up as a slave to Potiphar, a high ranking official in Egypt.
Again, I think it’s important to point out that the brothers who sold Joseph and told their father he was dead – those same guys would go on to become the patriarchs of the nation of Israel. The family God would choose to bless was a family of murderous, deceiving brothers born to a deceiving father. This is important to remember because, like these men, we are God’s chosen. And like these men, this distinction is not something we earned. Our actions don’t make us children of God. God’s actions do. It was God who chose Jacob (Israel) and his family, and that was the only way that they become “chosen ones.” How great is a God who can look beyond our serious flaws and choose us anyway?
