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Twelve men walk to Egypt. All of them die. One walks back.

8/23/2019

Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.” Genesis 50:25

Twelve men walk to Egypt.

I can't imagine what was going through Joseph's mind when he was walking down the dusty road to Egypt, bound as a slave to be sold at the market. The only thing "objective" he had to hold on to was that somehow what was happening to him at that moment was connected to two dreams God had given him that he would be the Ruler over his brothers...the brothers that were exulting in their triumph over him and the profit they had made from his sale.
I can't imagine what the brothers were thinking as they took their sheep back to report to their father, but I am certain they did not envision that one day they would be traveling the same dusty road to Egypt, begging the vice-Pharaoh for food! After all...they didn't believe Joseph's dreams!

Yet by the end of Genesis, the exact fulfillment of the dreams has happened in reality!
All twelve men have walked that road to Egypt and their families are there with them.

All of them die.

Jacob, their father, dies in Egypt. He knows that Egypt is not his home, not his "final resting place." Because of the promise God had made to Abraham and Isaac and his descendants, Jacob makes his sons promise to bury him in Canaan. (Genesis 50:5) After the burial, the twelve sons of Jacob once again walk down the dusty road to Egypt, where their families and possessions are waiting for them.
Time passes, and they die...in Egypt. For eleven of them, it is their final resting place. But one of them knows he will return to the land of Canaan to "claim" his inheritance.

One walks back.

Joseph had seen the faith Jacob had in the promises of God and in hanging on to his inheritance. Jacob was residing in Egypt at the end of his life, but he had not assimilated into Egypt.
Joseph had seen the fulfillment of the God-given dreams, worked out through the lowest valleys of distress. God's faithfulness had been proved through the darkest nights of his own life in Egypt.
The very last verse of Genesis ends with his solid faith in God's continued faithful care...no matter what low valleys or dark nights the children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren would go through.

Joseph knew the outcome. The inheritance promised to Abraham was a sure thing. His death would not keep him from getting there, because it was dependent on God's faithful care to bring it about.

In Exodus 13:19, almost 400 years after Joseph tells his brothers to take him back to Canaan, the footnote is given: "Moses took the bones of Joseph with him."
The Joseph who had waited...lifeless...helpless...now was "walking" out of Egypt! (with a little bit of assistance from Moses!) But then Moses dies before getting into the land...and there is Joseph, still in his boney, helpless, dead condition.

One of Joseph's great-grand-descendants, Joshua, comes into the land and receives his portion.
The final footnote is attached in Joshua 24:29-32: "Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem."

Maybe the faith Joshua displayed when he spied out the land and knew with certainty that "God will give it to us!" was a direct result of Joseph's faith that had been carried down for the generations before it got to him.

What about the eleven brothers who hadn't believed Joseph's dreams? Evidently their bones stayed in Egypt. And their unbelief was also passed down for hundreds of years to their descendants so that when it came time to go into the land, ten leaders said to the rest of the family: "God can't do this."

May I be living for the promises of God that will only be realized after my death, certain that God's faithful care will bring them about! May I not look at the situation in front of me and think for a second that it is a picture of reality, without viewing it in light of the end of the story that God has already revealed.

No Matter How You Say It.

8/18/2019

"I don't know what to say."

In Exodus 4:12 Moses has been giving his excuses to God about why the idea of sending him back to Egypt to deliver the Israelites from slavery is not going to work. His main objection centers around his INABILITY to speak...to say the right words in such a way that both Pharaoh and the Israelites would listen to him.
God's response is repeated: "I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.”

Moses didn't have to figure out what words to use. God was going to give him the exact script to deliver. Moses' job was just to repeat what God said.

"They won't believe."

God has told him in Exodus 3:18 that "the people will listen," but that Pharaoh won't let them go "except under compulsion." Having nothing to go on but his prior failed experience (plus 40 years of thinking of the failure!), Moses requests some sort of sign that the people will believe his words, and that Pharaoh will let the people go. Even after the signs, Moses comes back to "I've never been eloquent."

Hard hearts won't respond to words or signs.

As the story plays out, it becomes apparent that Moses' ability or inability at saying "the right thing"...or saying it in "the right way" had no bearing at all on persuading Pharaoh. Why not? Because his words merely uncovered the hard stubborn rebellion that Pharaoh harbored against God. The "unresponsiveness" of Pharaoh was a fight he was in with God...not Moses.
The message was very simple: "God says, 'Let My people go that they may worship Me."

The message was very simple. It did not need an eloquent speaker, it needed an obedient repeater.

Moses never "persuaded" Pharaoh by his words to release the Israelite slaves. When viewing the task from his imagination in the desert, he was consumed by his inability. But the thing that he saw as essential for God's plan to work was a non-factor, because the goal was not to win Pharaoh to a reasoned understanding of God's plan, but was to showcase the glory of God in redeeming the Israelites out of their helpless slavery.

How easy it is to think that there is "something more" than the simple Word of God that will persuade a proud and stubborn heart. To imagine that if only I had "the right words" a "more winsome personality" or "said it in just the right way" it would produce some amazing result in the heart of someone who has rejected God.

The truth is that if someone has a stubborn heart toward God, they will not respond to His simple and clear words, no matter how those words are said. 

What is our response to be? Not to trust in a new method or change the message to be "more appealing" but to continue obediently speaking the simple words of God with clarity, knowing that God is working out His own purposes. Paul provided an example in II Cor. 5:20 when he said, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

Stand

8/8/2019

I like the feeling of Making Progress; of getting somewhere; of moving forward! But there are those times when looking at the needs and circumstances that are on "today's plate" stops me in my tracks, wishing there were a detour around the difficulties. Evidently, I am not alone.

When the Israelites were coming out of Egypt after 400 years in slavery, they were definitely making progress! God's Big Picture plan was advancing, their bags were packed, and they were Moving! But then they came to a screeching halt at the Red Sea with mountains on either side and an Egyptian army advancing from behind.

At that moment, they just wanted to disappear out of the situation. But what does Moses say?
"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Ex. 14:13, 14
Don't panic and don't run! Watch this--God is going to fight for you. You are not stuck in your situation.

The believers that heard about Jesus through Paul faced unbelievable odds of living godly in their sensually-soaked cultures with antagonistic worldviews battering them, and caustic remarks being made about them. So what was Paul's encouragement them? "Get out there and make a difference!"? No--it was to STAND.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Ephesians 6:11-13

After Epaphras had left the young believers at Colossae and joined Paul, he wrestled in prayer for his friends. What was he asking for? Great progress and advancements? Actually, it was that they would "stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured." Colossians 4:12 Simply standing firm, not giving ground, was deepening and maturing the believers.

If what you are facing is making you want to run and hide, be encouraged from Jude 24, 25:
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Put it in Writing!

8/2/2019

Why do you make a note of something or put a contract in writing? It might be to compensate for a faltering memory, or to recall an exact detail later on, or to hold someone to an agreement they made. Once it has been committed to paper, the words stay there as a testament to what happened or was spoken at a particular moment in time.

There is one underlying quality about things that are written down: They don't change.

"Don't Write That Down!"

So why would someone NOT want to write something down? Why would someone speak "off the record"? Usually it is either to leave options open to change later on, or to avoid putting one's name with something that was said. But that is not what is happening in Revelation 10.

When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.” Rev. 10:4

Although, there is so much from the book of Revelation that I don't understand, one thing stood out from this statement in chapter 10--there is a LOT MORE going on than we are told about! John has seen and heard something, and he knows what has been said, and he's about to write it down when he is specifically instructed NOT to write it down! I've often wondered: "Why tell us that you aren't telling us?!" The book of Revelation is mysterious enough without adding, "I have a secret!"
The reality is that what we are not told is just as TRUE as what we are given in writing.

God's WORD on a matter is the decisive Truth on that matter. It is enduring because He is enduring. It is undiminishable by time because He is eternal. If He speaks it, there is no higher court of appeals.

There is nothing that must be memorialized or remembered later because it is sure to be done from the time it is spoken. So the real question is not why the peals of thunder were not written down, but why was the rest of the book (and the entire Bible!) put into writing?

It is written so that we can come back to God's character again and again and realize that what He has said is permanent and endures throughout all generations.

"Write it Down!"

God had John write down exactly what we needed to know about what He has already said. It was written for our benefit in order that we might fully trust and align ourselves with His purposes and plan.

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Rev. 21:5

Scriptures are from New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.