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Genesis 38:27-29, Matthew 1:2-3

The Strangest Thing!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 17, 2024

While Joseph was in Egypt resisting the sexual advances of his master’s wife, his older brother, Judah, was back in the Promised Land, propositioning his daughter-in-law for an illicit sexual encounter. It’s interesting to pay attention to the outcome of that affair. You learn that Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, brought forth twin sons as a result. We read the story in Genesis 38:27-29. It tells us, “When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, this one came out first. But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, what a breach you have made for yourself! Therefore, his name was called Perez.”

At the opening of the New Testament in Matthew chapter 1, there’s a genealogy of Jesus’ lineage all the way back to Abraham. In Matthew 1:2-3 we read, “Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez …by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron…” Can you imagine Perez being chosen in the line of the Messiah? God’s choices are, more often than not, strange to us. He chooses Abraham from amongst a city of moon-god worshippers. He chooses Isaac over Ishmael. He chooses Jacob, the deceiver, over Esau; remarkably, he chooses Judah over Joseph. Jacob favored his son Joseph and tried to choose him as the heir of the blessing promised to Abraham. But God would do things His way.  I surely would have chosen Joseph, the most Christ-like figure in the Old Testament. But, no, God chooses Judah.

Judah was the brother who decided to sell Joseph rather than kill him because there was no profit in murder. He was the brother who married the Canaanite woman. He was the father of two sons by her, Er and Onan, both of whom were wicked, and God killed them. He was the one who negotiated a price with a prostitute for sex; he was the one who was willing to stone his daughter-in-law for immorality while he hid his role in the pregnancy. He was everything he shouldn’t be and nothing he should have been. On the other hand, Joseph was everything he should have been and nothing he shouldn’t have been. Yet God chooses Judah! The New Testament writers tell us that we, too, are chosen to be children of God. You and I are often what we shouldn’t be and seldom exactly what we should be, but God still chooses us. How strange is that?

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Genesis 37:4, Romans 8:17-18

Suffering – Then Glory!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 16, 2024

Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn son and should have been the one to take over the headship of the family. But in Genesis 35:22, Reuben slept with his father’s concubine, Bilhah. Simeon and Levi, the next two, slaughtered an entire city for one man’s rape of their sister, Dinah. Judah was pictured with many flaws and worldliness. There were probably other reasons, but in the end, Jacob exercised his sovereign right and chose Joseph as his heir. This is the true meaning of the “multi-colored” coat. According to Boice and others, this is a mistranslation. “The Hebrew words that are so translated are generally thought to be uncertain.” He says that the two keywords have been misconstrued to mean “many colored” or “richly ornamented.” He goes on to say, “But it is more likely that it means that it was long-sleeved and extended to his ankles. Boice explains, “A long-sleeved, tailored garment was worn by one who did not have to work. So when Joseph appeared in this coat, his brothers recognized it as a sign of his father’s choice of Joseph to be a manager, one preeminent over them.”

This is supported by other events in the story as well. Jacob is said to have sent Joseph to oversee his brother’s activities. Joseph brought back a bad report concerning them. Further, a rather obscure verse in the New Testament points to the fact that Joseph was chosen as his father’s heir. Jacob didn’t own much land but what he did own was said to have been left to Joseph. We read that in John 4:5. It says that when Jesus “came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.” Indeed, Joseph was the chosen one of his father.

It was because of this sovereign choice by his father that Joseph’s brothers hated him. Genesis 37:4 tells us, “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.” Jesus, the beloved son of His Father, was the ultimate chosen one. He, too, was hated and had to suffer at the hands of his own people, just as Joseph did. He has established the principle that suffering proceeds glory! You know what happened! Joseph suffered but was elevated as ruler in all Egypt. Jesus was crucified but raised from the dead in glory! Today, He sits on the throne of glory to which every knee will bow one day. As believers in Jesus, Peter calls us “chosen ones.” As Paul expounds on the suffering in this world, he reminds us that we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17-18). Are you suffering? Remember that suffering always precedes glory!

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Genesis 44:18, Luke 1:50

Mercy Me!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 15, 2024

When Joseph’s older brothers brought Benjamin, his younger brother, to Egypt. Joseph frames Benjamin as a thief.  Genesis 44:18 presents Judah as the supplicant to Joseph for the life of Benjamin. He pleads with Joseph for the life of the youngest brother, Benjamin: Judah went up to him and said to Joseph, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself.” These are the words of a desperate man! Henry Thoreau says, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” I don’t see anything “quiet” in Judah’s desperation as he pleads with the Egyptian official for the life of his little brother, Benjamin, who had been found guilty of stealing.

The text presents us with a frantic barrage of quick sentences. Judah tells Joseph how his life has been pledged for Benjamin’s. Judah tells Joseph how his father’s life is bound up in the life of this little boy. All these lives are at stake! It is indeed a matter of life and death. Will Joseph hear his desperate plea for help? This is exactly where Joseph wanted his brothers. Over 20 years earlier, the tables were reversed. Joseph was in the pit, and he cried for mercy. But the 10 brothers did not show him mercy. It was Judah who led the discussion and decided to sell Joseph instead of killing him. In Genesis 42:21, the brothers say to each other about Joseph in the pit, “In truth, we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us, and we did not listen.”

When your sin has been discovered, and you face the ultimate consequences, you will become desperate. There is nothing you can do but beg for help. That’s exactly where God wants us. One writer said, “Human beings do not readily admit desperation. When they do, the kingdom of heaven draws near.” God wants you there so He can save you. Sinking in the waves, Peter cries out in desperation, “Lord, save me!” He did! And He will. You will learn, like Judah, that though you deserve justice, you will receive mercy. Though betrayed by His own, mocked, cursed, and hung on a cross where no one showed Him mercy, He shows us mercy. In the Magnificat (Luke 1:50), Mary says, “And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” When the angels announced to the shepherds that he had “good news of great joy,” he said it would be for “all people.” That’s you and me!

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Genesis 46:3-4, Hebrews 13:5

I Will Bring You Up Again

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 14, 2024

For 20-plus years, Jacob had been living under the impression that his beloved Joseph was dead and gone forever. In Genesis 45:27, he finally learns the truth, and the text says when his sons convinced him that Joseph was still alive, “the spirit of their father revived.” Jacob was revived by what must have seemed to him to be the resurrection of the dead. However, to Jacob, the revival was seen only as that which would carry him to Egypt to see his long-lost son one last time because he ends the verse expecting to see Joseph and then die. In a way, going down to Egypt to Jacob was going to his own death. But God had other plans and told Jacob, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt; there, I will make you a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes” (Genesis 46:3-4).

Carl Burnham, the former pastor of the Chapel on Fir Hill in Akron, Ohio, wrote in 1962, just before his death, “When I die, if my family wishes to inscribe anything on my gravestone, I would like it to be the promise of Jesus Christ in Hebrews 13:5, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’ For in due season, springtime will arrive…Then, when the resurrection sings itself in the robin’s glad song, and bursting buds defy the death grip of winter, and you walk upon the yielding earth near my grave—remember that my soul is not there, but rather it is absent from the body, present with the Lord. And somewhere, the atoms that make up my brain, my heart—my body—will be sending out resurrection radiations of a frequency too high for any earthly Geiger counter to record. But if you place the meter of God’s Word alongside that cemetery plot and adjust the settings to Hebrews 13:5, you will receive this reading: “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Boice says, “So when Jacob required Joseph to bury his body in the Promised Land, it was like saying that he was standing on God’s promises. Hebrews tells us that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his one and only son, Isaac because he believed God could and would raise the dead. Here, his grandson, Jacob, requests to be returned to the Promised Land because he, too, believes that God can and will raise the dead. We know God can, will, and has raised the dead. We celebrate that every Easter. In Matthew 21:31-32 Jesus tells those who deny life after death, “As for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” When God speaks in the present tense, He means it!

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Genesis 48:20, Romans 8:17

Ephraim and Mennasah

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 13, 2024

In Genesis 48:20,  after Jacob blesses his 12 sons, he moves to bless Joseph’s two sons. He moves to bless the younger one with the blessing normally preserved for the elder son. Joseph moves his father’s hands to rest on his older son, but Jacob overrides Joseph’s desire to have his eldest son receive the blessing and reverses his hands to grant the younger one the favored blessing. But then blesses both of Joseph’s children, Ephraim and Manasseh. The verse says, “he blessed them that day, saying, by you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, may God make you as Ephraim and Manasseh.” It became a standard blessing in all of Israel. May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!

The blessing involves two promotions. The first is the promotion from grandsons to sons, which makes them equal heirs to the father’s estate. Second, in promoting Ephraim, the younger son, over Manasseh, the older son, Jacob makes the least to be the greatest. Though not born into it physically, In Christ, we have been made co-heirs. Romans 8 tells us that we call God Abba, which is Father. We don’t call him Grandpa or the great force in the sky. We are his children. Romans 8:17 says, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” Just as Christ inherited every spiritual blessing, we will share them.

The second blessing is that the least shall become the greater. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Jesus said the one who would be the greatest must become the servant of all. When we humble ourselves, God lifts us up. In Matthew 23:12, Jesus taught us, “If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.” May you become like Ephraim and Manasseh.

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Proverbs 10:22, Genesis 49:25

May the Lord Bless You

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 12, 2024

Proverbs 10:22 says, “The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” As a good meal satisfies our bodies, a good verse like this satisfies our souls. God’s word is indeed food for a hungry soul. The Lord our God is the true source of all blessing, be it food on the table or food for the soul. Actually there is a word in the Hebrew text that’s left un-translated in the English version. It emphasizes the truth that it is God’s blessing and nothing else that makes a person truly rich. It doesn’t exempt us from troubles in life, but it describes the blessing of God as the best possible blessing one might acquire in this life under the sun.

In Genesis 49, we read about Jacob’s blessings to his 12 sons. He clearly marks Judah as the heir apparent of the family’s leadership and, thus, the one from whom the ultimate leader of the Nation will come. We call the future figure the Messiah. He is referred to here as “the Lion from the tribe of Judah.” Aslan, the character in the Chronicles of Narnia, comes from this. He also refers to this messiah as the one to whom the legitimate rule belongs. But it wasn’t Judah’s blessing that caught my attention. It was Joseph’s blessing. It seems that Jacob again reveals Joseph as his favorite. I’d like to have a blessing like this:

Genesis 49:25 says, “May the God of your father help you. May the Almighty bless you with all the blessings of heaven above and all the blessings of the watery depth below and all the blessings of the breast and womb.” I’m convinced that this is a figure of speech called a merism. It’s like Jesus saying, “I’m the Alpha and the Omega.” Jacob is giving Joseph the blessing above all other blessings. He calls upon his God to give this favorite son every spiritual blessing from above, every blessing from the depth of the earth hidden in the seas, and every blessing upon the earth in his children and relationships. May the Lord bless you that way! May he pour out heavenly blessings from above upon you? May he rise up from the depths all the joys hidden from your sight? May He bless you through all your human relationships. May the Lord bless you.

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Genesis 50:19-21

Joseph & Jesus

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 11, 2024

Joseph had experienced much pain in his life at the hands of other people: Abused by his family, unjustly convicted of rape and imprisoned, and forgotten by fair-weather friends. You’d think he’d become one of the most callous men in the bible, resolving never to let anyone get to him again. That’s the natural reaction to unjust suffering at the hands of others. It’s been my reaction sometimes, and when I read Joseph’s story, I’m convicted of that weakness. Nothing bad has happened to me like that which happened to Joseph at the hands of others. When his brothers feared for their lives after their father died, Joseph reassured them even again. In Genesis 50:19-21 Joseph tells them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, 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. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.”

But it’s the last phrase of this passage that struck me hard this morning. It concludes Joseph’s words to His brothers with a comment from the author. It says, “Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.” When offended or wronged, even if only in my perception, I will usually clam up, get silent, and try to make others pay by my obvious disapproval of their behavior. But that’s not the way it was with Joseph.

Not Joseph! No one is said to have been more tender-hearted than he was. We read that Joseph wept often. But he never cried for himself. Tears are not mentioned when his brothers throw him in the pit. There’s no mention of tears when Potiphar’s wife accused him of rape, and he was convicted. There was no mention of tears when he was forgotten by fair-weather friends. Yet, the text tells us that he wept often. He wept when he recognized his brothers. He had to leave the room to contain himself. He wept when he saw his little brother Benjamin. He wept when he overheard his brothers’ regrets for sinning against him. He wept when he revealed himself to his brothers. He wept at his father’s death. He wept when his brothers asked for forgiveness. Joseph is other-focused. While quietly enduring the abuse at the hands of others, he remained sensitive to the suffering of those around him. How much more like Christ could anyone be?

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1 John 1:9

Phantom Guilt

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 10, 2024

At 56 years of age, my dad lost his right arm just below the elbow in an electrical accident. He was rebuilding another old house on 60th and Pratt in Omaha (His 4th!) and he and mom lived in the basement while he rebuilt the kitchen above. It took some time for his arm to heal, and the worst part of the injury was what the doctors explained as “phantom pain.” It’s the sense that the wrist and fingers of his right hand were burning or itching, and he couldn’t scratch them because they no longer existed. He would often dig at the stub to relieve the pain, but it didn’t help. It took some time to get over it.

Dr. Paul Brand, writing with Philip Yancey, told a story about a man named Mr. Barwick, who had a serious and painful circulation problem in his leg but who refused to allow amputation. But finally, the pain became too great for him to bear, and Barwick cried at last, “I’m through with that leg. Take it off.” He had developed an irrational hatred for his own leg, and after the operation, Barwick took the amputated leg and put it in a pickling jar. He actually installed it on his mantle shelf. He said, “Then, as I sit in my armchair, I will taunt that leg, ‘Hah! You can’t hurt me anymore!’ ” But the leg had the last laugh. Even long after the wound healed, according to Brand, “Barwick could feel the torturous pressure of the swelling as the muscles cramped and itched and throbbed.”

Brand then made the comparison of phantom pain with false guilt. He writes, “Phantom limb pain provides wonderful insight into the phenomenon of false guilt. Christians can be obsessed by the memory of some sin committed years ago. It never leaves them, crippling their ministry, their devotional life, their relationships with others.…” False guilt is produced by something that isn’t really there. We’ve failed to live up to the expectations of others, we’ve not met a standard that we’ve set too high for ourselves, or we’ve let God down in such a way that we can never be forgiven. Many of us have our own false standards and expectations of others right alongside our past sins. Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and failures. He has put them up on our mantle, and yet we often just stare at them and feel the pain of our failures over and over again. We dig at the stubs of our sins. But there really isn’t anything there. They’ve been removed by the great physician himself. In 1 John 1:9, we read that whenever our sins are confessed to God, He is faithful (can be depended upon!) to forgive us and cleanse us of our sins. But then, in 3:19-20, It says, “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.”

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