There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
If you have been deeply hurt, you know healing takes time. But did you know that you cannot completely heal until you are willing to forgive the individual who hurt you? By forgiving, you are not saying that what he did was acceptable or even right. Those who have suffered abuse know it is not easy to get past painful memories. However, if you want to experience true freedom, there must come a point at which you decide to let go of the bitterness and anger. Joseph suffered during his imprisonment. He had been betrayed by his brothers and left in a pit. Rather than leave him there to die, they sold him to a group of traders, who took him to Egypt. For the first time in his life, Joseph was alone. The thought of his brothers’ rejection must have seemed incomprehensible. However, “the LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man” (Gen. 39:2 NASB). Joseph did not spend his time thinking about what he could do to get even. He made the most of his situation without self-pity. By the end of the story, we learn that he not only forgave those who sought to harm him but also was used by God to save them. God may not require this same type of action from you. Yet He does want you to learn to forgive. Until you do, you will remain captive. Forgiveness sets the heart and spirit free.
Father, place in my heart the ability to forgive as You forgive me. Help me let go of bitterness and anger.
Stanley, C. F. (2002). Seeking His face (p. 91). Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Have you ever found yourself stuck in Sodom? If you are anything like me, you have probably had the following experience—you have studied Scripture, you believe it, and you know precisely how it speaks to a situation in your life that needs to change. But when the moment arrives, when it is time for you to move, your feet remain planted. Why is our obedience not automatic? What holds us back, and how does God set us free? Lot was once in a similar situation.
As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered. So the men [angels] seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city (Genesis 19:15-16).
The verses above are instructive. We see Lot in the final moments before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The warnings had been clear, and Lot had not doubted the truthfulness of the threats. Yet in the final moments before the destruction, as Lot is told to escape with his life, he lingers, unable to move. John Calvin says this regarding Lot’s lingering, “His tardiness is truly wonderful, since, though he was certainly persuaded that the angels did not threaten in vain, he could yet be moved by no force of words until he is dragged by their hands out of the city.”
What caused him to linger? Matthew Poole estimates that “He lingered, either through an aversion to part with all his estate, or to lose his sons-in-law; or through astonishment and distraction of mind, which made him both listless and impotent.” Whatever it was, Lot was powerless to move on his own, and this seems to be the experience of us all from time to time when the Lord, through his word, has told us to move. Whether it is a sin with which we hate to part or a comfortable career the Lord has told us to leave behind, we are often spiritually sluggish.
God has told us in His word to press on and be conformed to his image. He has told us to do all He has commanded us. The thunderous warnings of the destruction of everything contrary to Him and His ways have rung in our ears; He warns us to flee the wrath to come. Along with the thundering of destruction that pressures us from behind, we also have the beauty of Christ and our promised joy in Him before us, bidding us to come. Yet few of us follow our Savior as we should.
As Matthew Henry so aptly put it, “Thus many that are under some convictions about the misery of their spiritual state, and the necessity of a change, yet defer that needful work, and foolishly linger.” Praise God Lot’s story does not end there, and neither does ours. God was merciful to him, and the angels grabbed him by the hand and pulled him out of the city to safety.
Are there areas in your life that hinder your growth in the things of God? Has the Word of God instructed you to remedy a specific aspect of your life, yet you sit idle, making no progress in spiritual things? If so, be prepared, for if you are a true child of God who is unmoved even though you have heard His word, He will use other means to get you to advance. Whatever inordinate loves keep you motionless may be forcefully removed, making you proceed to the Celestial City. Calvin makes the point clear when he says,
“For so it is often necessary for us to be forcibly drawn away from scenes which we do not willingly leave. If riches, or honors, or any other things of that kind, prove an obstacle to anyone, to render him less free and disengaged from the service of God, when it happens that he is abridged of his fortune, or reduced to a lower rank, let him know that the Lord has laid hold of his hand; because words and exhortations had not sufficiently profited him.”
Let us never forget that when the Lord takes what we love, His love for us is at work. It is His mercy in action because it would have been no injustice on His part if He had left us in our impotent state to partake in the destruction we refused to flee.
Has the Lord been calling you to surrender some sin? Has he been prompting you by His Holy Spirit to live a life of more excellent service to Him than the worldly pleasures you now serve? Or is he simply calling you to spend more time in the prayerful study of His Word, which we often neglect? Whatever it may be, we all have enough sluggishness in us that we should, with all earnestness, strive against it. May the words of this devotion be the means God uses to move us on, for if mere words are not enough, in His mercy and love, He will lay his hands on His child.
If You, Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.
Abram and Sarai thought they were doing a good thing. After all, God promised them a son to be the heir of the promise and God’s special covenant. He didn’t specify exactly how this birth would come about, they must have reasoned. Maybe Sarai was impatient. Maybe she struggled with waiting for such a long time. She could have simply felt inadequate for the task. So she proposed to Abram that he try to have a child with her maidservant Hagar, and he readily agreed. What was the result? Hagar bore a son named Ishmael, who grew up to be a rival of Abram’s covenant family through Isaac. There has been no end of trouble and fighting through the outworking of their sin in not trusting the Lord to fulfill His promise in His timing. God did bless them fully, but they always had the heartache and reminder of their attempt to go around God’s ways. Have you ever tried to meet your needs outside God’s legitimate plan? You probably know the pain of that mistake, and you quickly learned why it is so important to trust the Lord fully. What is more important now is that you grasp His forgiveness through Christ. There is no such thing as a misstep so big you can never go back. Don’t waste time living in guilt. Let God’s forgiveness free you to enjoy His good for you today.
Lord, I don’t want to waste time living in guilt. Forgive me so I can be free to enjoy the good things You have planned for me today.
Stanley, C. F. (2002). Seeking His face (p. 81). Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Joshua 5:1-12 This week’s lessons teach the importance of Israel’s consecration before they began their conquest of the Promised Land.
Theme
Circumcision and Faith
Now it’s worth thinking about these two acts of consecration. Circumcision was the sacrament that had been given to Abraham so many years before. It was the mark of being a member of the covenant people, and it was accompanied by the promises of God. In this particular covenant, it was a case of God establishing the terms by which He would be the God of the Jews and the Jews would be His people.
Later on there were covenants that, in technical language, are called bilateral. That’s to say there are agreements to be carried out on both sides. But the covenant made to Abraham was not bilateral; it was unilateral, which meant that God established it and Abraham had nothing to do with it. God said, “I’m going to be your God and I’m going to be the God of your descendants after you, and because I’m your God and the God of your descendants, you’re going to do certain things.” In response, Abraham believed God and obeyed, because that’s the only thing you can do when God establishes a covenant like that. God said, “As a sign of that covenant, you’re going to circumcise all of the males in your family, and this is going to be a mark upon you and your descendants forever.”
In Abraham’s faith and obedience, he was receiving and acting upon the promises of God. You may recall that in this particular case it also involved the change in Abraham’s name. He had been called Abram before this, which meant “exalted father.” Yet he had no children. It must have been a great source of embarrassment to him to have to explain again and again when people asked, “How many children do you have?” that he actually didn’t have any. Of course, eventually he went on to become a father when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. But that did not happen until he was 86 years old.
God said in the context of the establishing of the covenant and the covenant sign, “You are to change your name from Abram to Abraham,” which is a form of intensifying it. It’s like saying instead of your name being “exalted father,” it’s going to be “father of a vast, vast multitude.” And Abraham did it. He did it because he believed God’s covenant promises, even though by this time he was 99 years old and still had one son.
Abraham would’ve gotten his great group of people together there at the oasis at Hebron. He would’ve announced the change of his name, and I suppose some of the servants, when they heard he was going to do that, would’ve laughed about it. When they first heard it, they might have said, “No wonder. A name like ‘exalted father’ brought all that ridicule all those years. Wonder what he’s going to change it to. Maybe he’s going to change it to ‘father of one.’” But instead of that, Abraham changed it to mean “father of a vast, vast multitude,” and it indicated his faith in God, his faith in God to keep His promises as the God of the covenant.
You see, when we come to God in faith, that’s what we’re believing. We’re believing that the God who had revealed Himself in history and, in our case, primarily in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is a covenant-keeping God. Just as Abraham changed his name in his response to that covenant, indicating his obedience to what God said to do and indicating his faith in what God was going to do, so in a sense we also change our names. That is, we take the name of God upon us. We become Christians.
Study Questions
What is the difference between a bilateral and a unilateral covenant?
What did each of Abraham’s two names mean? What seemed strange about God’s command to Abram to change his name? What did this change signify?
Application
Reflection: How did your life change when you became a Christian?
Key Point: You see, when we come to God in faith, that’s what we’re believing. We’re believing that the God who had revealed Himself in history and, in our case, primarily in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is a covenant-keeping God.
For Further Study: Download for free and listen to Donald Barnhouse’s message, “Obedience from the Heart.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)
That strength which God gives to his Josephs is real strength; it is not a boasted valour, a fiction, a thing of which men talk, but which ends in smoke; it is true—divine strength. Why does Joseph stand against temptation? Because God gives him aid. There is nought that we can do without the power of God. All true strength comes from “the mighty God of Jacob.” Notice in what a blessedly familiar way God gives this strength to Joseph—“The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.” Thus God is represented as putting his hands on Joseph’s hands, placing his arms on Joseph’s arms. Like as a father teaches his children, so the Lord teaches them that fear him. He puts his arms upon them. Marvellous condescension! God Almighty, Eternal, Omnipotent, stoops from his throne and lays his hand upon the child’s hand, stretching his arm upon the arm of Joseph, that he may be made strong! This strength was also covenant strength, for it is ascribed to “the mighty God of Jacob.” Now, wherever you read of the God of Jacob in the Bible, you should remember the covenant with Jacob. Christians love to think of God’s covenant. All the power, all the grace, all the blessings, all the mercies, all the comforts, all the things we have, flow to us from the well-head, through the covenant. If there were no covenant, then we should fail indeed; for all grace proceeds from it, as light and heat from the sun. No angels ascend or descend, save upon that ladder which Jacob saw, at the top of which stood a covenant God. Christian, it may be that the archers have sorely grieved you, and shot at you, and wounded you, but still your bow abides in strength; be sure, then, to ascribe all the glory to Jacob’s God.
Spurgeon, C. H. (1896). Morning and evening: Daily readings. Passmore & Alabaster.
There are lots of “types” in the Bible. A fancier name for it is Biblical Typology. Biblical Typology is…
…a special kind of symbolism. (A symbol is something which represents something else.) We can define a type as a “prophetic symbol” because all types are representations of something yet future. More specifically, a type in scripture is a person or thing in the Old Testament which foreshadows a person or thing in the New Testament. For example, the flood of Noah’s day (Genesis 6-7) is used as a type of baptism in 1 Peter 3:20-21. The word for type that Peter uses is figure.
Another example of a type is in Hebrews 9:8-9: “the first tabernacle . . . which was a figure for the time then present.” The blood sacrifices of lambs prefigured or was a type of the actual sacrifice of the Lamb of God. And so on.
Typology is based on the fact that God works in recurring patterns throughout history and says that a past event or person can prefigure or serve as a type of a future person or event.
Joseph, son of Jacob, is in many respects one of the strongest types depicting the Savior. Sold into slavery, descended into the pit (jail), Joseph interpreted the Cupbearer’s and Baker’s dreams and said to them as they were called to Pharaoh’s side, “Remember me”. Joseph was forgotten, … until the Cupbearer heard that Pharaoh needed someone to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. Joseph was called to the King’s side-
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:14)
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41:41-44).
When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” (Genesis 41:55)
Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth. (Genesis 41:57)
Hopefully you notice the similarities. Joseph was reviled, sold as a slave, they put an iron fetter around his neck. (Psalm 105:17-18). He was in the pit, forgotten and ignored. One day in a moment, a twinkling, he was exalted and put in second place, only the King was higher than he. He rode in the second chariot. He was given a fine garment and his iron collar replaced with a chain of gold. All were told to bow the knee to Joseph, just as they will bow the knee to Jesus (Romans 14:11, Philippians 2:10). Joseph saved all in the land, all the earth.
The almost exact language was used by Pharaoh about Joseph as Mary had stated at the Wedding at Cana.
“Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.” (Genesis 41:55 NIV)
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5).
Of course, typology only goes so far. Joseph gave grain (bread) to the people to save their life, but Jesus IS the bread of life. However, it’s interesting to note types as you read along to think more deeply about what God is showing us through His word. Here are some further resources for you on typology.
Most of us want to do what we can for our health. Coca-Cola wants to help.
I know those two sentences don’t seem to go together, given the many problems with soda consumption in the US. But there’s a new trend toward prebiotic drinks that are healthier for our digestive systems. Products from Olipop and Poppi are recent examples.
Now Coca-Cola is launching its own prebiotic soda brand called Simply Pop. Consumers on the West Coast and in the Southeast can try it later this month.
Speaking of health, this headline caught my eye: “Air inside your home may be more polluted than outside due to everyday chemical products.” Air fresheners, wax melts, floor cleaners, and deodorants are now known to fill the air with “nanoscale particles that are small enough to get deep into your lungs.” As a result, they could potentially pose risks to respiratory health.
None of us are immune from health challenges, as Pope Francis’s hospitalization for bilateral pneumonia illustrates. But unlike many of us, he is not only focusing on his present health but also on his future legacy.
For example, he has extended the term of the Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Re as dean of the College of Cardinals. This means that if Francis dies, Re will play a pivotal role in the conclave that will follow and deliver the pontiff’s funeral rites.
As we provide for the present and prepare for the future, there’s an element that transcends any resources we possess, one that is foundational today and for eternity.
If Joseph had not been enslaved
As described in the book of Genesis, Jacob left his homeland with nothing, fleeing from his brother for his life (Genesis 28). By contrast, his body was returned many years later to be buried “with all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. . . . And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company” (Genesis 50:7, 9).
This does not imply that all was easy and light for Jacob, as even a cursory reading of his life story reminds us. But it does show that God redeems all he allows, often in ways we could not imagine at the time.
Joseph enunciated this fact in a way that has echoed for four millennia when he told the brothers who had enslaved him, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (v. 20). If they had not sold him as a slave to the Midianites who then “took Joseph to Egypt” (Genesis 37:28), and if Joseph had not been unfairly imprisoned there (Genesis 39), imagine the difference in world history:
He would not have interpreted Pharaoh’s cupbearer’s dream in prison.
Pharaoh’s cupbearer would not have recommended him to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.
He would not have forecast the severe famine to come.
He would not have been placed in charge of preparations for the famine.
He would not have been able to provide for his family when they came for food.
If the first “domino” of his brothers’ mistreatment had not fallen, would Jacob’s family have survived the famine to become a great nation and the people through whom the Messiah would come one day?
Frederick Buechner’s walking stick
In one sense, God is Lord whether we make him our Lord or not. Charles III is the king of England whether people in England recognize this fact or reject it. “God is love” (1 John 4:8) is a present-tense fact regardless of our response to it—he loves us whether we love him or not (cf. Romans 5:8).
Frederick Buechner writes that he whittled into his walking stick words he “picked up somewhere in Jung”: vocatus atque non vocatus Deus aderit: “Whether we call on him or do not call on him, God is present with us.”
But in another sense, making Christ our Lord is crucial in that it positions us to experience his providential best in our lives. This is because he honors the freedom he has given us and has therefore chosen to limit the control he could otherwise exert on our lives. Thus, he must knock at the door of our lives to gain admittance (cf. Revelation 3:20) and cannot lead those who will not follow or give what we refuse to receive.
As a result, the key to experiencing our Father’s best is aligning ourselves with his providential purpose in our world.
How can we navigate our turbulent times in his wisdom and will?
As my wife notes in her latest blog, the key is not just to believe God but to believe in God. She points to the book of James, where Abraham is identified as an example: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (James 2:23, citing Genesis 15:6). Janet writes:
Abraham wasn’t found righteous because he knew God’s word; he was found righteous because he obeyed God’s word. All of us who have grown up in church, attended Sunday School and Bible study, and even read Christian blogs and articles like this can sometimes feel confident in the amount of Bible we have learned. According to James and Abraham, the righteous need to find confidence in the amount of God’s word they have obeyed (her emphases).
Trusting God as you trust your bank
How can we experience God’s provident best more fully?
The first step is to do what you know to be his will today.
Jesus asked us, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you” (Luke 6:46).
Oswald Chambers therefore advised us: “We have to take the first step as though there were no God. There is no point in waiting for God to help us—He will not. But once we arise, immediately we find He is there. Whenever God gives us His inspiration, suddenly taking the initiative becomes a moral issue—a matter of obedience.”
What next step of obedience do you know God is calling you to take now?
As we trust him with the present we can see, we also trust him for the future we cannot. Pastor and writer Paul Powell encourages us:
Put your life and your troubles in God’s hands. Trust your life to him as you trust your money to the bank. God, who created all things, will take care of you. How often we look on God as our last and most feeble resource! We go to him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven.
A wise mentor once advised me,
“Stay faithful to the last word you heard from God and open to the next.”
Instead of writing one article about one subject, I thought I’d write an article highlighting numerous situations that either have recently occurred or are occurring now. It’s hard to keep up with everything, but I’m listing some things here that are worth noting.
Tall el Hamman This is very interesting to me. Archaeologists and biblical experts believe they have found the remains of Sodom, destroyed by God for their overt sin and lawlessness.[1][2] What is interesting about this particular archaeological dig is the way in which it is believed occurred.
Experts call it a “cosmic airburst” that rained down destruction onto the area referred to as Tall el Hamman.[3] The airburst was created due to a large asteroid entering earth’s atmosphere and hitting what may well be Sodom from a northwesterly approach. As one article notes, the explosion that occurred, wiping out all life in an instant and decimating buildings and crops, was 1,000 times greater in energy than the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
A city-wide ~ 1.5-m-thick carbon-and-ash-rich destruction layer contains peak concentrations of shocked quartz (~ 5–10 GPa); melted pottery and mudbricks; diamond-like carbon; soot; Fe- and Si-rich spherules; CaCO3 spherules from melted plaster; and melted platinum, iridium, nickel, gold, silver, zircon, chromite, and quartz.[2]
Moreover, we are told that temperatures during the blast exceeded 2,000 degrees Celsius. It’s absolutely fascinating what this cosmic airburst created in a brief moment of time. Scholars believe this area was destroyed during the Middle-Bronze-Age and the area was “…in the southern Jordan Valley northeast of the Dead Sea.” Interestingly enough, others have previously believed that Sodom was on the southern portion of the Dead Sea.
Bone fragments, skull fragments, leg bones and other things have been unearthed indicating that the devastation was abrupt and very quick. It is believed that whatever this area was, represented an ancient city with high walls and massive gates with a population of roughly 50,000 people. What remains is a flattened hill.
Of course, not all archaeologists agree that the area was the ancient site known as Sodom. It must be remembered that many to most archaeologists are atheists or at least agnostics. They claim to simply pursue the science, yet when things point to the Bible, they often deny any and all connections. At most, what some may do is state that Tall el Hamman occurred and the story was passed down to successive generations and then eventually someone wrote it down and the narrative was picked up by the writers of the Bible and included in the text, while changing significant points to make it more in line with the purpose of the Bible.
At any rate, people like Dr. Steven Collins and many others have been working on the site since 2005 and his book offers a great explanation about the dig and the possible connection to Sodom.
Vaccines The march to get everyone jabbed continues and this is in spite of information continuing to come out proving that the adverse events can be linked back to the mRNA jab. This is generally either denied or ignored by those who push the jab.
In one instance, non-scientist Bill Gates is heard in an interview stating that the only reason that there are more incidents of autism today is because the definition has been broadened. Okay Bill.
In the meantime, more and more people – young and younger – are dying suddenly and there’s essentially no explanation from the medical complex. The media is wasting no time stating that the increase in deaths among the youngish is due to “climate change.”
Here is just one article noting the death of a baby after receiving 7 vaccines.[4] Even though parents were questioning whether or not the jabs had anything to do with their baby’s death, the medical staff assured the parents that there could not be a connection. They know this how?
Due to the amount of aluminum and other adjuvants, it is quite possible that the baby died because of the harm the vaccines created once inside the child’s body. How any medical personnel could unequivocally state that there is no causal connection is absolutely beyond me. They’re simply repeating what they are taught and told to say.
But all this should not be new. There is, on record, going back to 1885, headlines about the negativity of vaccines. What has changed? Numerous things. For one thing, Ronald Reagan signed a bill granted total immunity to pharma companies. When he asked why they didn’t simply make safe vaccines, the answer was, “it cannot be done.” So, he signed a bill that gave pharma massive protection. Because of that, there is absolutely no incentive for pharma to even try to create jabs that are safe.
From 1885
The amount of information that is coming out about the lack of efficacy, the lack of testing and the lack of control groups etc., is all conveniently set aside by those within the medical complex. They choose to either ignore it or attack those who bring the topics up.
Getting back to Bill Gates, does this statement make sense to you; that we can essentially reduce the population on this planet and vaccines can help with that? Of course, if you go to a “fact-check” site, they will state that his comments are being distorted or taken out of context.[5] But then again, this Reuters article pushes “climate change” as well, so I’ll leave you to decide if the authors have integrity or if they’re just pushing Technocrats’ talking points.
Truth is, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is working with Trump regarding mRNA vaccines: Using AI and robotics, it’s now possible to design and make mRNA cancer vaccines “for every individual person” in just 48 hours. So, it seems clear the globalists are giving up on neither mRNA jabs or Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Sadly, there has been a noted suicide surge among people who’ve experienced devastating adverse events believed to have occurred after they received the mRNA jabs/booster.[7] There has also been a significantly higher incidence of CV infection among jabbed individuals.[8]
Also very interesting here is the issue of autism and the potential connection between that and the transgender movement.[9]
Illegal Immigrants ICE is trying to do its job but it keeps being stymied because of leaks to the media. In the most recent case, ICE’s massive round up in Los Angeles was put on hold because of a leak to the media. Turns out, according to Border Czar, the leak may have come from the FBI.[6] What more proof is needed that the FBI is working against Americans by working against the Trump administration?
Hopefully, they’ll find all the leakers and send them on their way. However, what they are doing is more than leaking information. They are actually breaking laws and need to be arrested.
USAID & FEMA These orgs are deeply infected with wokism and actually need to be shut down. There is tremendous waste in both of these agencies with billions of taxpayer dollars going abroad to support everything from transgenderism to terrorism. Why should the USA be funding any of this at all? It’s not as though America has no homeless situation that needs attention or devastation caused by recent hurricanes. Top people at FEMA have now been fired. Maybe there will be more to come?
Interestingly enough, there is an alleged connection between USAID and Wuhan.[10] Gosh, who knew? I was watching a clip of CNN with Anderson Cooper who actually stated there is zero proof that USAID has wasted taxpayer dollars. And I’m the Jolly Green Giant…
Beyond this, it was just learned that last week, officials at FEMA sent $59 billion to luxury hotels in New York City to pay for housing for illegal immigrants there. This was in direct defiance of President Trump’s executive orders. So, Trump has now fired the top person at FEMA and has stated his desire to shut the agency down because of all the waste. I believe Trump was able to “claw” the money back from New York City.
Of course, the courts are standing against Trump but what are they going to do, arrest him? Fine his administration? Sanction him? This is what the Left does and we knew they would not sit idly by while Trump dismantled their growing kingdom.
This kind of propaganda has no place in the media. Instead of doing their own research (what’s that?), they simply parrot what they are told to say in order to continue to prop up everything as a right-wing conspiracy.
NAR and Apostles I’ll leave readers with this information. There is an international organization called International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders (ICAL).[11] Apparently, they’ve been around for 25 years as a “missional” movement. Their stated mission is as follows.
The mission of ICAL is to provide our members ACCESS to other Apostolic Leaders worldwide, EXPOSURE to Kingdom ideas, strategies and procedures successfully implemented by other Apostolic Leaders around the world, and DIALOGUE with other members in a global conversation.
In short, these people fully believe that there are apostles today (and prophets), who, in holding the office of apostle, have the same authority as the original apostles noted in Scripture. Consider that for a moment. What did many of the original apostles do? They healed people and even raised them from the dead (through the empowerment of God’s Spirit). They also wrote what has become part of the Bible in the form of either Gospels or letters. It is not far fetched to believe that those who consider themselves to be apostles today believe that they have the same ability.
So, is God still writing His Word? Clearly not and while they might argue they are not adding to it, they end up doing that very thing when they speak from the pulpit or write something that they believe and announce is directly from God Himself. This is one of the tragedies of the Charismatic Movement that I was involved in years ago. There is always something “new” that God is revealing. Yet, what I have found is that the new thing never takes root. It never gets any traction. But it does have the ability to hit people in their feelings so they tend to grab onto it.
Pastor Michael Grant did a short video on this topic,[12] highlighting the fact that even within evangelicalism, too often Christians and/or the Church in general grabs hold of the latest thing instead of waiting and using discernment and wisdom (from God and His Word), to determine its efficacy.
God’s people need to be discerners of truth and the more we read through and study His Word, the greater our discernment becomes to avoid pitfalls and problems.
That’s all for this article. I pray all of you have a wonderful day in the Lord!
IT was a sweet invitation to the patriarch Noah, when the Lord called him to the ark. Jehovah did not say, Go thou into the ark; but “Come.” So saith Jesus to his people: “Come with me, from Lebanon, my spouse; with me, from Lebanon.” Yes, precious Jesus! to be with thee is heaven; for thou thyself art the heaven of the soul. But observe further, my soul: when Noah had entered the ark, what kept him there? “The Lord shut him in.” Yes! neither bolts nor bars were his security; but God himself, in his covenant engagements, kept him. The Patriarch could no more get out, than the unbelieving carnal throng (who, perhaps, hung about the ark when they saw the flood arise, and felt its power) could get in. Precious Jesus! and what is it keeps thy people now? Is it not thyself? Are not thy redeemed eternally secure in thee, and thy blood and righteousness, as Noah in the ark? Yes! thou who hast the key of all things; thou openest, and none shutteth; thou shuttest, and none openeth. In thee my soul is kept secure; for the Lord Jehovah hath shut me in; and I shall ride out all the storms and floods of sin and Satan, and Noah-like, rise above the fountains of the greatest deeps, being shut in in the ark Christ Jesus.
Hawker, R. (1845). The Poor Man’s Morning Portion (p. 34). Robert Carter.
UP TO THIS POINT IN THE NARRATIVE (Gen. 44), Judah has not appeared in a very good light. When Joseph’s brothers first declare their intention to kill him (Gen. 37:19–20), two of them offer alternatives. Reuben suggests that Joseph should simply be thrown into a pit from which he could not escape (37:21–22). This proposal had two advantages. First, murder could not then be directly ascribed to the brothers, and second, Reuben hoped to come back later, in secret, and rescue his kid brother. Reuben was devastated when his plan did not work out (37:29–30). The other brother with an independent proposal was Judah. He argued that there was no profit in mere murder. It would be better to sell Joseph into slavery (37:25–27)—and his view prevailed. Judah reappears in the next chapter, sleeping with his daughter-in-law (Gen. 38), and, initially at least, deploying a double standard (see meditation for February 6). Yet here in Genesis 44, Judah cuts a more heroic figure. Joseph manipulates things to have Benjamin and his brothers arrested for theft, and insists that only Benjamin will have to remain in Egypt as a slave. Perhaps Joseph’s ploy was designed to test his older brothers to see if they still resented the youngest, if they were still so hard that they could throw one of their number into slavery and chuckle that at least they themselves were free. It is Judah who intervenes, and pleads, of all things, the special love his father has for Benjamin. He even refers to Jacob’s belief that Joseph was killed by wild animals (44:28), as if the sheer deceit and wickedness of it all had been preying on his mind for the previous quarter of a century. Judah explains how he himself promised to bring the boy back safely, and emotionally pleads, “Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in the place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father” (44:33–34). This is the high point in what we know of Judah’s pilgrimage. He offers his life in substitution for another. Perhaps in part he was motivated by a guilty conscience; if so, the genuine heroism grew out of genuine shame. He could not know that in less than two millennia, his most illustrious descendant, in no way prompted by shame but only by obedience to his heavenly Father and by love for guilty rebels, would offer himself as a substitute for them (Mark 14).
Carson, D. A. (1998). For the love of God: a daily companion for discovering the riches of God’s Word. (Vol. 1, p. 68). Crossway Books.
JOB 10 IS THE SECOND PART OF JOB’S response to Bildad the Shuhite. Bildad has argued that God cannot pervert justice (Job 8; see meditation for February 9). In chapter 9 Job replies, rather impatiently, that he knows all that: “Indeed, I know that this is true” (9:2). Job does not doubt that he too, like other mortals, cannot stand up beside the matchless righteousness of God: “But how can a mortal be righteous before God?” (9:2). So Job argues that that is precisely the problem: in this particular case, Job insists he is blameless (9:21), free from any evil that should have attracted the miseries inflicted upon him, but God remains unanswerable. Job is certainly not more evil than many contemporaries who are unscathed by the passing years. But how can a mere mortal plead his case before the Almighty? “He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court” (9:32). There is not even available a suitable arbitrator (9:33). As for Job’s “friends,” they increase his suffering, for they will not admit that he is innocent (9:28); they are more than eager to drop him into the nearest slime pit to prove that he is dirty (9:30–31). Job now turns to address God (chap. 10). He wants to know what charges God has against him (10:2). Full of self-acknowledged bitterness (10:1), Job asks, “Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?” (10:3). Certainly Job is prepared to acknowledge that God shaped him in the womb, carefully nurtured him, gave him life, and providentially watched over him (10:8–12). But now, it seems, there is another side: God will not only hunt him down if he sins, but even if Job is innocent he finds he cannot answer this God or compete against the pressures God is able to bring to bear (10:13–17). So why did God bring him to life in the first place? Or why did Job not die as soon as he was born, carried from the womb to the grave (10:18–22)? This is the rhetoric of anguish and despair. We still await God’s answer. But Romans 14 may have something to say to Job’s miserable “friends”: “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (14:19). Of course, in the context of Romans 14, Paul is focusing on Christian self-restraint for the sake of others, especially in the matter of eating food offered to idols (as in 1 Cor. 8; see vol. 1, meditation for September 3). Yet the broad principle applies nonetheless to Job’s friends: do they speak out of passionate commitment to “mutual edification” or out of frightened self-justification?
Carson, D. A. (1998). For the love of God: a daily companion for discovering the riches of God’s Word. (Vol. 2, p. 68). Crossway Books.
And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him.
—Genesis 17:3
Think about the reality of Abraham’s experience. Abraham was consciously aware of God, His presence and His revelation. He was aware that the living God had stepped over the threshold into personal encounter with a man who found the desire within himself to know God, to believe God and to live for God.
See the effect of this encounter on Abraham. He was prepared to pay any price for the privilege of knowing God. For certain he recognized the lofty, holy character of the Creator and Revealer God.
The Scriptures declare, “Abram fell on his face” as the Lord talked with him (Genesis 17:3). Abraham was reverent and submissive. Probably there is no better picture anywhere in the Bible of the right place for mankind and the right place for God. God was on His throne speaking, and Abraham was on his face listening!
Where God and man are in relationship, this must be the ideal. God must be the communicator, and man must be in the listening, obeying attitude. If men and women are not willing to assume this listening attitude, there will be no meeting with God in living, personal experience. MMG020-021
Oh, Lord, give me an attitude like Abraham’s, that I might have a living, personal experience of You. Amen.
Tozer, A. W., & Eggert, R. (2015). Tozer on the almighty god: a 365-day devotional. Moody Publishers.
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
Adam and Eve did their best not to give away their hiding places. Soon enough, the familiar voice was calling to them, as it consistently did in the cool of the day. Adam and Eve knew that eventually they would have to face the Lord God. In Genesis 3:10, Adam explained his hiding because he was ashamed of his nakedness. Perhaps you are not hiding in the bushes or covered with fig leaves, but most people understand what it is to conceal their most private, intimate thoughts, faults, and failures. Afraid that the deepest hurts will be exposed—naked for all to see—a person hides behind defensive responses. You may think, This is the way I am. I’ve had a hard life, and I can’t change. However, the Bible exhorts that each person has a responsibility to live a godly life. In other words, each person has the ability to respond in a God-honoring manner. James Rhinehart admonishes, “I’ve learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.” God is calling to you, and He wants you to come out of hiding. Will you open yourself up to really knowing the Father?
Lord, I offer You the feeble fig leaves that I use to cover my weaknesses so that I may wear Your garment of righteousness.
Stanley, C. F. (2006). Pathways to his presence (p. 36). Thomas Nelson Publishers.
AND Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. 2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father. (Jacob was about to speak by inspiration. The blessing of a parent whose tongue is taught of God is priceless beyond conception.) 3 ¶ Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. Though he was the firstborn Reuben missed the birth-right, because he was light and loose. Whatever good points may be in a man, if he be not sober, steady, and substantial, he will come to nothing. To be unstable as the waves of the sea is one of the worst of faults and mars the whole character. 5 ¶ Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. A great wrong was here disavowed by Jacob. He could not prevent it, for his sons acted hastily in selfwill, and he knew nothing of their murderous deed till it was over, but he takes care to bear his witness against it in the most solemn manner. The follies of youth will come home to men in their riper years. It is a great mercy when from our childhood, we walk uprightly. 8 ¶ Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. (When the dying patriarch reached that name which is a type of Christ, he rose to a higher key, he had no more faults to mention, but fell to blessing.) 9 Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? (Who dare defy the Lion of the tribe of Judah? Jesus the Lord is terrible to his enemies.) 10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (When our Lord came his enemies said, “Behold, the world is gone after him.” To this day he is the greatest of loadstones to attract mens’ hearts. He came just when the kingdom had gone from Judah, and now he reigns as our Shiloh, the Prince of Peace.) 11, 12 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. (Truly in our Immanuel’s land the wine and milk flow in rivers. Come ye and buy without money and without price.) 13 ¶ Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon. (May our sea-faring people be favoured of the Lord, and never sit in darkness as Zebulun came to do.) 14, 15 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. (Though quiet and industrious, it may be Issachar was somewhat deficient in courage and energy. There are no perfect characters; but it were greatly to be wished that our contented brethren were also more energetic. Yet as Issachar was a true son of Jacob, we trust our slow-moving brethren are the same. It were well, however, for each of us to be more in earnest than ever, for we serve an earnest God.) We leave the rest of the blessing for our next reading.
God of mercy, hear our prayer
For the children Thou hast given;
Let them all Thy blessings share,
Grace on earth, and bliss in heaven!
Cleanse their souls from every stain,
Through the Saviour’s precious blood;
Let them all be born again,
And be reconciled to God.
Spurgeon, C. H. (1964). The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible (p. 61). Baker Book House.
WHAT A TRANSFORMATION IN JACOB (Gen. 32)! Superficially, of course, not much has changed. He left Beersheba for Paddan Aram because he was afraid for his life; his brother Esau had reason enough, according to his own light, to kill him. Now he is returning home, and Jacob is still frightened half to death of his brother. No less superficially, one might argue that much has changed; Jacob fled the tents of his parents a single man, taking almost nothing with him, while here he returns home a rich, married man with many children. But the deepest differences between the two journeys are reflected in Jacob’s changed attitude toward God. On the outbound trip, Jacob takes no initiative in matters divine. He simply goes to sleep (Gen. 28). It is God who intervenes with a remarkable vision of a ladder reaching up to heaven. When Jacob awakens, he acknowledges that what he experienced was some sort of visitation from God (28:16–17), but his response is to barter with God: if God will grant him security, safety, prosperity, and ultimately a happy return home, Jacob for his part will acknowledge God and offer him a tithe. Now it is rather different. True, God again takes the initiative: Jacob meets angelic messengers (32:1–2). Jacob decides to act prudently. He sends some of his people ahead to announce to Esau that his brother is returning. This spawns devastating news: Esau is coming to meet him, but with four hundred men. On the one hand, Jacob sets in motion a carefully orchestrated plan: successive waves of gifts for his brother are sent on ahead, with each of the messengers carefully instructed to speak to Esau with the utmost courtesy and respect. On the other hand, Jacob admits that matters are out of his control. Bartering is gone; in “great fear and distress” (32:7) Jacob takes action, and then prays, begging for help. He reminds God of his covenantal promises, he pleads his own unworthiness, he acknowledges how many undeserved blessings he has received, he confesses his own terror (32:9–12). And then, in the darkest hours, he wrestles with this strange manifestation of God himself (32:22–30). Twenty years or so have passed since Jacob’s outward-bound journey. Some people learn nothing in twenty years. Jacob has learned humility, tenacity, godly fear, reliance upon God’s covenantal promises, and how to pray. None of this means he is so paralyzed by fear that he does nothing but retreat into prayer. Rather, it means he does what he can, while believing utterly that salvation is of the Lord. By the time the sun rises, he may walk with a limp, but he is a stronger and better man.
Carson, D. A. (1998). For the love of God: a daily companion for discovering the riches of God’s Word. (Vol. 1, p. 57). Crossway Books.
JANUARY 31
Genesis 32; Mark 3; Esther 8; Romans 3
ALMOST EVERYTHING IN ROMANS 3:21–26 is disputed. There is no space for justifying a particular exegesis. But in my view, these are some of the more important conclusions to be drawn: (1) “But now” (3:21): the expression is temporal, not merely logical. Paul has devoted 1:18–3:20 to demonstrating that all of the human race, Jews and Gentiles alike—i.e., those who have the Mosaic Law and those who do not—are guilty before God. But now, at this point in redemptive history, something new has happened. A “righteousness from God” has been made known. (2) The phrase “apart from law” probably modifies “has been made known”—i.e., “a righteousness from God has been made known apart from law.” (3) “The law” does not here mean “legalism,” as if Paul were saying that now a righteousness has been made known apart from legalism. Paul’s point, rather, is that now, with the death and resurrection of Jesus, a righteousness from God has been made known apart from the law-covenant, the Law of Moses. This does not mean that such righteousness was unanticipated. Far from it: “the Law and the Prophets” (i.e., holy Scripture) had testified to it, had borne witness to it. In other words, “the righteousness of God” that has come to us through Jesus appeared independently from the law-covenant, but nevertheless the old law—indeed, the entire Hebrew Bible—bore witness to it and anticipated it. (4) This “righteousness from God” comes to all who believe (3:22–24). It cannot come to those who are good, for Paul has just spent two chapters proving that all are bad. It comes therefore to those who believe, and it comes freely by the grace of God “through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (3:24). (5) This redemption was achieved by God setting forth Christ Jesus as “a sacrifice of atonement” (3:25) or, more precisely, as “a propitiation” (KJV). God so brought about Jesus’ death that, in his crucifixion, Jesus died “the just for the unjust” (1 Pet. 3:18, KJV) and thereby made God favorable or “propitious” to those who would otherwise face only his wrath. Thus Christ’s death is not only an “expiation” (it cancels our sin) but a “propitiation” (it thereby makes God propitious). Of course, since it is God himself who provides the sacrifice, there is a profound sense in which God propitiates himself—i.e., he graciously provides the sacrifice that pacifies his own wrath. (6) Stated otherwise, God offers up Christ not only to justify ungodly sinners such as ourselves, who have faith in Jesus, but also to maintain his own justice, to be just, in the face of all the sins ever committed (3:25–26).
Carson, D. A. (1998). For the love of God: a daily companion for discovering the riches of God’s Word. (Vol. 2, p. 57). Crossway Books.
The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the fruits.
2 TIMOTHY 2:6
A person who serves with his whole heart will be content only with spiritual fruit. Yet some will only be content with prestige, acceptance, or money. In the past, Satan has tried to put that thought into my mind. At times he’s tried to make me question why I care about the people I minister to. His approach is to make me secure in the knowledge that I’m saved and going to heaven, that I’m well paid in a good job with a lot of security. But that is Satan’s lie. It’s very easy to let Satan pressure you into settling for less than God’s best. When Satan plants thoughts like that in my head, my reaction is: I am not content to simply be taken care of or appreciated. What matters is bearing fruit. Make the focus of your ministry spiritual fruit.
MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : a daily touch of God’s grace (p. 40). J. Countryman.
JOSEPH’S meeting with his family could not be long concealed; the happy fact oozed out, and the news was carried to the King himself. 16 And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. (They were glad because so great a benefactor of their nation was made happy.) 17, 18, 19 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons (or chariots) out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is your’s. (Pharaoh thus delicately and with lordly generosity, spared Joseph any scruples about inviting his kinsmen to dwell in the land; they were to come into the country as the king’s own guests. Observe how he bids them leave all their “stuff” behind, as if he meant to give them so much that would be better that they need not bring their tents or their furniture with them. Certainly, when we come to Jesus, and receive his treasures of grace, all earthly things become mere “stuff” to us.) 21 And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. 22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. (How Joseph’s goodness contrasted with their former cruelty. “They sent him naked to strangers, he sends them in new and rich liveries; they took a small sum of money for him, he gives them large treasures; they sent his torn coat to his father, he sends variety of costly garments; they sold him to be the load of camels, he sends them home in chariots.” Far greater still is the contrast between our ungenerous treatment of the Lord Jesus and his bountiful returns of grace to us.) 23 And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. 24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. (He knew them well, and feared that they might begin accusing each other, or might even become envious of Benjamin, as they had formerly been of himself.) 25, 26 ¶ And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father. And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. (A sad heart is far more ready to believe a mournful falsehood than a joyful truth. When his sons wickedly shewed him Joseph’s coat he said, “Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces,” but when they tell him a true story, he believes them not. It is a pity when despondency makes our judgment lose its balance.) 27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: 28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die. (First the words, and then the wagons aided Jacob’s faith, even as the words of Jesus and the gifts of Jesus enable us to believe on him. The venerable patriarch was more glad to hear that his son was “alive,” than that he was “governor over all the land of Egypt.” This was enough for him, and he resolved to have a sight of his beloved one. Where there is true love there will be a desire for communion. Those who love the Son of God will not be willing to live without heavenly fellowship. O may all united here in family worship, see Jesus by faith before they die, when they die, and then for ever.)
Jesus, these eyes have never seen
That radiant form of Thine!
The veil of sense hangs dark between
Thy blessed face and mine!
Yet though I have not seen, and still,
Must rest in faith alone;
I love thee, dearest Lord! and will,
Unseen, but not unknown.
When death these mortal eyes shall seal,
And still this throbbing heart,
The rending veil shall thee reveal,
All glorious as thou art.
Spurgeon, C. H. (1964). The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible (p. 57). Baker Book House.
WHEN I WAS A CHILD IN SUNDAY SCHOOL, I learned the names of the twelve tribes of Israel by singing a simple chorus: “These are the names of Jacob’s sons: / Gad and Asher and Simeon, / Reuben, Issachar, Levi, / Judah, Dan, and Naphtali— / Twelve in all, but never a twin— / Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.” But many more years passed before I grasped how important are the twelve tribes in the Bible’s storyline. Many of the dynamics of the rest of Genesis turn on their relationships. The organization of the nation of Israel depends on setting aside one tribe, the Levites, as priests. From another son, Judah, springs the Davidic dynasty that leads to the Messiah. Over the centuries, the tribe of Joseph would be divided into Ephraim and Manasseh; in substantial measure, Benjamin would merge with Judah. By the last book in the Bible, Revelation, the twelve tribes of the old covenant constitute the counterpoint to the twelve apostles of the new covenant: this twelve by twelve matrix (i.e., 144, in the symbolism of this apocalyptic literature) embraces in principle the whole people of God. But what tawdry beginnings they have in Genesis 30. The deceit of Laban in Genesis 29, which resulted in Jacob’s marrying both Leah and Rachel, now issues in one of the most unhealthy instances of sibling rivalry in holy Scripture. Each of these women from this family is so eager to outshine the other that she gives her handmaid to her husband rather than allow the other to get ahead in the race to bear children. So self-centered and impetuous are the relationships that another time Rachel is prepared to sell her husband’s sex time to her sister Leah for a few mandrakes. Polygamy has taken hold, and with it a mess of distorted relationships. From these painful and frankly dysfunctional family relationships spring eleven sons and one daughter (the birth of the last son, Benjamin, is reported in chap. 35). Here are the origins of the twelve tribes of Israel, the foundation of the Israelite nation. Their origins are not worse than those of others; they are merely typical. But already it is becoming clear that God does not deal with this family because they are consistently a cut above other families. No, he uses them to keep his covenantal promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He graciously perseveres with them to bring about his grand, redemptive purposes. The tawdry family dynamics, the sort of thing that might generate a B-grade movie, cannot possibly prevent the universe’s Sovereign from keeping his covenantal vows.
Carson, D. A. (1998). For the love of God: a daily companion for discovering the riches of God’s Word. (Vol. 1, p. 55). Crossway Books.
“THAT NIGHT THE KING COULD NOT SLEEP” (Esther 6:1). What a great dramatic line! Are we supposed to think this is an accident? Both the Bible and history offer countless “coincidences” brought about in the providence of God, the significance of which is discerned only in hindsight. Even in this chapter, Haman chooses this particular morning to present himself early in the court—to obtain sanction for Mordecai’s execution, at that!—and that makes him the man to whom the king puts his fateful question (6:4–6). In the meditation for January 25 we observed that the peculiar timing of Agrippa II’s visit to Porcius Festus meant that Paul was forced to appeal to Caesar—and that brought him to Rome. Likewise, in God’s providence, Caesar Augustus, more than half a century earlier, had decreed that the Roman world face a census, and under the local rules that decree brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem just in time for the birth of Jesus, fulfilling the biblical prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). History entirely removed from the canon provides numerous circumstances where the tiniest adjustment would have changed the course of events. Suppose Britain had not broken the “Enigma” code machines. Would the Battle of Britain, and even World War II, have gone another way? Suppose Hitler had not held back his panzers at Dunkirk, sending in his planes instead. Would 150,000 British soldiers have been captured or killed, once again changing the face of the war? Is it not remarkable that Hitler’s persecution of Jews drove some of the best scientific minds out of Germany and into the United States? Had he not done so, is it not entirely possible that Hitler would have invented an A-bomb before America did? What then would the history of the past fifty years have looked like? Suppose Khrushchev had not blinked at the Cuba missile crisis, and a nuclear exchange had followed. What would be the state of the world today? Suppose the bullet aimed at Kennedy had missed. Suppose the bullet aimed at Martin Luther King had missed. Suppose the bullet that took out the Archduke in Sarajevo had missed. Christians cannot possibly suppose that any of these events and billions more, small and great, were outside of God’s control. So the first verse of Esther 6 sets the reader up for the dramatic developments in this chapter, plunging us into many useful reflections on the matchless wisdom and peculiar providence of God. Then, at the end of the chapter, comes a line scarcely less dramatic: “While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared” (6:14). What profit should readers gain from reflecting on this turning point?
Carson, D. A. (1998). For the love of God: a daily companion for discovering the riches of God’s Word. (Vol. 2, p. 55). Crossway Books.
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.” Amos 9:13 SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Psalm 44
Pharaoh’s dream has been enacted again in the last century. About a hundred years ago, if I may look back in my dream, I might have seen seven ears of corn upon one stalk, firm and strong; anon, the time of plenty went away, and I have seen, and you have seen, in your lifetime, the seven ears of corn thin and withered in the east wind. The seven ears of withered corn have eaten up and devoured the seven ears of fat corn, and there has been a sore famine in the land. Lo, I see in Whitefield’s time, seven bullocks coming up from the river, fat and well-favoured, and since then we have lived to see seven lean kine come up from the same river; and lo! the seven lean kine have eaten up the seven fat kine, yet have they been none the better for all that they have eaten. We read of such marvellous revivals a hundred years ago, that the music of their news has not ceased to ring in our ears; but we have seen alas, a season of lethargy, of soul-poverty among the saints, and of neglect among the ministers of God. The product of the seven years has been utterly consumed, and the Church has been none the better. Now, I take it, however, we are about to see the seven fat years again. God is about to send times of surprising fertility to his Church. When a sermon has been preached in these modern times, if one sinner has been converted by it, we have rejoiced with a suspicious joy; for we have thought it something amazing. But, brethren, where we have seen one converted, we may yet see hundreds; where the Word of God has been powerful in scores, it shall be blessed to thousands.
FOR MEDITATION: The prayer of Habakkuk during a period of lean years (Habakkuk 3:2). Will you join him in prayer?
SERMON NO. 296
Spurgeon, C. H., & Crosby, T. P. (1998). 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 1) (p. 36). Day One Publications.
JOSEPH ordered a silver cup to be placed in Benjamin’s sack, and when his brethren had set out upon their journey he sent his steward after them to bring them back. By this means Joseph tried his brethren, and brought them into a fit condition to be informed of their relationship. Our reading commences with the scene when the brothers had been brought back into Joseph’s court-house.
GENESIS 44:14–34
14 ¶ And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground. 15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine? (This he said to help himself in acting the part he had assumed.) 16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found. (Though innocent of the present charge, Judah confesses that their sad plight was well deserved by other sins.) 17 And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father. (To this Judah, the surety, could not yield; but pleaded in a marvellously touching manner. Note how eloquent he was. Our surety is our advocate, and his pleadings are mighty.) 18, 19 ¶ Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother? 20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. 21, 22, 23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more. 24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25, 26 And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food. And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man’s face, except our youngest brother be with us. 27, 28, 29 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons: And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since: And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life; It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servant shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever. Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father. The power of Judah’s advocacy lay very much in its truth. It is a simple unvarnished narrative of facts. But its master weapon is found in the proposed substitution of himself for Benjamin. He is ready to smart for his suretyship. Do we not remember how Judah’s great antitype not only proferred to be our substitute but actually was so: in this lies the power of his intercession.
Where high the heavenly temple stands,
The house of God not made with hands,
Jesus, our Judah, stands to plead,
A brother born for time of need.
He, who for men their surety stood,
And pour’d on earth his precious blood,
Pursues in heaven his mighty plan,
The advocate and friend of man.
Spurgeon, C. H. (1964). The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible (p. 55). Baker Book House.
JOSEPH’S brethren returned to their father with abundant provisions, but these were before long exhausted, and the same distress filled Jacob’s household. Bread that perisheth does not endure like the bread of heaven.
GENESIS 43:1–14
1 And the famine was sore in the land. 2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. 3 And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: 5 But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. Israel had said positively “My son shall not go down,” and yet it was needful that he should do so. We had better not be too positive in our determinations, or we may have to eat our words. 6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? (Poor Jacob, out of fear for his darling son, thinks his sons unkind. We should not do injustice to others because of our partiality to one, but we are very apt to do so.) 7 And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down? 8, 9, 10 And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: for except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time. Judah in becoming surely for Benjamin is a delightful type of our Lord Jesus, who is the surety of the New Covenant. He will assuredly fulfil his obligations and say at the last, “Of all those whom thou hast given me I have lost none.” 11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: This was prudence. Faith in God is not above using the means. It was well to conciliate those upon whom they were so dependent. 12 And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight: The money had been put into their sacks by Joseph’s order, but they were not aware of that fact; therefore they were to restore it. This was scrupulous honesty, but not too scrupulous. We are not permitted to lake advantage of the oversights of others. Every honest man will rectify mistakes by which another is the loser, even though he had no share in the error. Note what a good calculator Jacob was, and how he knew that the corn would rise in price, “Take double money,” says he. Men of faith are not simpletons. 13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: 14 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. Jacob’s faith now came to the front. He left the issues of his case with the all-sufficient God, and in holy resignation accepted the trial, if the Lord willed to lay it upon him. When we resign our mercies cheerfully, we are most likely to have them back again. Abraham was allowed to keep Isaac because he was willing to part with him at the divine bidding, and so Israel received Benjamin again because, after some struggling, he at last acquiesced in the Lord’s will. When we are at the end of our self-will we are not far off the close of our trials.
Our times are in thy hand,
Why should we doubt or fear?
A Father’s hand will never cause
His child a needless tear.
Our times are in thy hand,
Jesus, the Crucified!
The hand our many sins had pierced
Is now our guard and guide.
Spurgeon, C. H. (1964). The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible (p. 53). Baker Book House.
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