Tag: Joseph

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Circuitous ways of God.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭45‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

From a dreamer, to a pit and prison, then second to the Pharaoh. How does God do it?

God didn’t make Joesph naively, arrogantly, tattle on his older brothers nor blab his extraordinary dream to them. God didn’t make the brothers HATE their spoiled, aka, “well loved” son of Rachel & favorite in the family. God didn’t make Jacob send the young lad to spy on his boys. God didn’t make the boys decide to kill the dreamer and throw him into a pit. God didn’t make Judah convince his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery and make some extra money.

Then there’s the whole providential encounter with Potiphar who happened to be captain of the guard for Pharaoh. Potiphar, seeing Joseph’s potential and God’s blessing, promoted him to manage his entire estate! Of course Potiphar’s wife had other plans and entrapped him, forcing Potiphar to save face and throw Joseph into the king’s prison.

All along God was working out timing and details to position Joseph where he needed to be, when he needed him to be there. That timing meant that Joseph had to wait it out in prison, being passed by even though he had become skilled in interpreting dreams. Finally the time came when the Pharaoh had a very disturbing dream, a dream, he knew was critical for his life and the lives of those he ruled over. The king’s cupbearer remembers Joseph and Pharaoh sends for him.

Joseph had learned humility, and lots of patience. Joseph had spent 10 years as a slave and 3 years as a prisoner. 13 years for God to build character in Joseph and put together an extraordinary plan to save Israel. Joseph confidently told the Pharaoh, “It is beyond my power to do this, but God can tell you what it means and set you at ease,” (Genesis‬ ‭41‬:‭16‬).

We look at the incredible success story of Joseph and often forget the difficult seasons for God’s plans to come together – PERFECTLY! God’s timing is amazing. This is why Joseph, when looking back on his life and all the pain-points had time to process what had to happen – “It was God who sent me here ahead of time!” Humans did what humans do, but God used every moment to fulfill His will!

Are you facing a difficult season in your life? God has not abandoned you. He is with you. It may very well be a part of plan that requires seasons of waiting or even suffering. Have you come through a time that was horribly dark and you felt your life was over and all your dreams were crushed? Looking back, can you now see some purpose, or timing of why things happened the way they did? I pray you see God’s hand of provision and purpose in your previous shadows. God knows and sees, and ultimately has purpose in everything, even if we can’t immediately see it. Trusting Him and staying very close, keeping our heart open and soft builds our faith and protects us from bitterness, blame and anger.

Prayer

​Dad,
When I was young I would have never been able to see the providential opportunity in Joseph’s story. Yet, now that I am older, I not only see it clearly, I am able to understand through my own experiences of frustration, confusion and lots of questions with no answers. Trusting you, kept me sane. Leaning into you, kept my heart soft. Listening to your Word and being obedient, helped me forgive and release those who hurt me. I am thankful for your timing – it is not only perfect, it is beautiful. Amen.

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Joseph knew.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear to do this. He said, “God will certainly come to help you. When he does, you must take my bones with you from this place.” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭13‬:‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Joseph lived a very long and productive life! He held his viceroy position in Egypt for 80 years and lived to 110 years old. But he knew Egypt wasn’t his final resting place. Moses records, ““Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.”

“So Joseph died at the age of 110. The Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭50‬:‭24‬-‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬. Jewish historians tell us the Egyptians, at the time of Joseph’s death, ALSO knew that the Jews would not stay in their land forever. However, they did not want Joseph’s family to take their beloved leader out of Egypt, when the people would finally leave.

To guarantee the Jews could NOT honor Joseph’s solemn request, one of the stories is the Egyptians put Joseph’s body in lead casket and sunk his remains in the deepest part of the Nile river. Even more mysteriously wild is the story that Moses went to one of Joseph’s long-living nieces, Serach, and asked her where they had sunk the casket. Moses, supposedly went to the edge of the riverbank and called out, “Joseph, Joseph – present yourself or release us from our oath!” Of corse this is all in Jewish folklore and not in the Bible at all. But it is fascinating to think that both the Egyptians and Joseph knew Israel would be moving on.

Jewish history tells us that it was 139 years later that Joseph’s bones would be taken with them and be buried in an odd, full-circle, final resting place. In Joshua 24:32, it is recorded that they bought a piece of land in Shechem, “The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought along with them when they left Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the plot of land Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor for 100 pieces of silver. This land was located in the territory allotted to the descendants of Joseph.” Why is that so strange? The Jewish Talmud says, “It was from Shechem that they [the brothers] stole him, and it was to Shechem that he was returned.” And continues, “Remember that when Joseph was sold as a slave by his own brothers and taken away from his dear father, it was in Shechem. Bringing him back to this site was an act of closure and historical justice.”

Are you kidding me? That’s so amazing! What’s the takeaway in all this? God is really into keeping His word and the level of detail spanning thousands of years is unfathomable! Everything, and I mean everything, is not just for a specific reason, it is also accurately timed and supernaturally placed to defy the possibility of anything being a coincidence. Everything God does is providentially perfect. The sooner we wrap our brains around that the faster we understand how critical it is that we not only trust God but in total faith believe Him at every second of every day.

Prayer

Dad,
Wow. Just wow. I am always so impressed by the level of detail and perfection that you carry out your will and your ways! No wonder Isaiah said your thoughts and your ways are so far above ours! It is so amazing to see this truth in history, yet so difficult for me to see them in both the present and the future. How can I doubt when there is such consistent evidence of your patient faithfulness in all of our human history? I have faith, but I always seem to need more when facing a dilemma or decision. Thank you for your grace as I grow in that faith.

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When all you have is fear and faith.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Joseph did everything right and still he was going to thwart the plans of God. Not only was Joe going to do things right, he was even going to do them with the best motives in mind. He was going to break the engagement quietly, privately, so it would not disgrace Mary publicly.

Joe was much older than Mary and we don’t know all the details of his and Mary’s life before their pre-arranged marriage. You knew that right? This wasn’t a whirl-wind romance of Joe sweeping young Mary off her feet and promising her the world. History is fairly quiet about the couple, especially after the “incident” of being with child out of wedlock. Joseph was said to have been married before and was a widow. Mary being so young and both families living in a poorer part of Israel (Nazareth), may have had few to no suitors for her father to choose from. None of that mattered really, because God’s will, His desires, His plans before time existed was for these two, Joseph and Mary to raise the Son of God.

What do you do when a good man, a righteous man is going to break up with the woman carrying the Messiah? Who’s going to have that kind of conversation with Joseph and get him to change his mind, because clearly Matthew tells us he had already made his decision. And when a man… especially a Jewish man makes up his mind, well, you know, there’s no changing that! No worries, that too was all planned out with God.

God sent a messenger, a powerful, high ranking messenger, an angel of the Lord. The message isn’t, “Marry the girl or else!” The message is don’t fear the consequences of marrying this girl. The consequences were real. No one in those days (or these days) was going to buy the whole “virgin birth” story. Everyone knows where babies come from and how they’re made! If Joseph wasn’t the daddy, it must be another man – but who?

Gossip would have torn through their town like a wildfire, destroying everything in its path. Then there’s the whole danger of Mary being dragged out in the town square and stoned to death for adultery, killing her and the child within her womb. We couldn’t have that happen right?

No; God, Joe and Mary had to keep this whole thing on the downlow and make sure it played out well with the whole community. So the fear of consequences of what would happen to Mary and the shame that Joseph would have to bear was very real. He wasn’t the one carrying a miraculous child from God, but he would need BIG faith to believe and raise the boy as his own. Notice, even in the miraculous intervention the angel didn’t force Joe to do God’s will. He told him not to fear and then flat out told him the why behind all the mystery. For this child would save his people from their sin! Wow, gives me the chills. The angel didn’t tell Joe that he would raise a warrior, a king, or ruler to conquer Rome and put Israel back on top as a global phenomenon like in the days of Solomon. No, this child would save Israel from their sin. Joseph must have known exactly what that meant because of his own lineage and legacy. Matthew had just told us about Joe’s bloodline, a direct heir of Abraham, Boaz, David and Solomon! Joseph knew his people’s own sin story and the need for a future redeemer. Joseph would not be raising just a king, he’d be fathering the King of kings. He wouldn’t be raising a military hero, he’d be fathering the Savior, THE one and only Messiah. We know the intervention worked because Matthew writes, “When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.” Great job Joe. Great job angel of the Lord. And great job God! Mission accomplished.

Prayer

Dad,
In those moments of decision, Joseph could not have known the part, the role he would play in history. He could not have known the results of his decision and how critical it really was. No, he only knew of fear and faith. He could have only known how he felt when he heard the news about Mary and the faith he had to have to believe the angel and follow through with obedience to marry the girl who was carrying our Savior. We never know how our decisions of faith effect the future. All we know is to trust you and obey. You’re the only one who knows how it all works together. May it be unto me to also believe and obey!