Category Archives: Genesis

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Useful Idiots

Genesis 44:1-47:31

Useful Idiots

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 45:5 (NLT)

Go Deep: Useful idiots!  That’s what I would call Joseph’s brothers.

Twenty-two years after they had sold him into slavery, the brothers are now standing before Joseph, and they don’t even recognize him. They have been blinded by two decades of thinking he had long since died, their perspective jaded by the haunting fear, guilt and shame of what they had done. (Genesis 44:16)  Finally, it is time for the big reveal, and the expected reaction would be that he would now exact revenge, make them pay dearly, and do to them what they had done to him.

But Joseph was cut from a different cloth than these lousy brothers.  His submission to the sovereignty of God allowed him to see the pain they had inflicted not merely through his own perspective alone, but through a perspective that saw God working through their evil actions. Joseph recognized that in all the circumstances of life, big and small, good and bad, God had been inexorably bringing the currents of his personal history to a providential conclusion.

Joseph’s submission to the sovereignty of God is revealed three times as he discloses himself to his brothers with words to this effect:  “Don’t beat yourself up; it was God, not you, who sent me here.  You had a plan and God had a plan, and God’s plan trumped yours.  You were simply unwitting but useful instruments in his hands.” (Genesis 45:5,7,8).  Joseph’s brothers might have been idiots for selling him into slavery twenty-two years before, but they were useful idiots in the hands of the Providential Ruler of all mankind.

The bottom line to Joseph’s story is that God is in control. He turns what is meant for evil to our good, extracts glory for himself even in the most impossible circumstances, and no matter what, always, always, always fulfills his sovereign purposes.  His is in control!  His is the Sovereign God of the universe, the Providential Ruler over the affairs, big and small, of all mankind, the Incomparable One who works all things for his glory.

And here’s the kicker:  He works all things not only for his own glory—but for your good!  That’s right—for your good.  Now why would the Sovereign, Providential, Incomparable One bother with little old you?  Simply because you’ve surrendered your life to him; and when you did that, you, perhaps even unwittingly, signed up to be on his sovereign plan.

So here’s the deal: If you have a few idiots making your life difficult, just remember, in God’s hands they are useful idiots.

Just Saying… Perhaps, like Joseph, people close to you have deeply hurt you.  To trust that God will use what was hurtful for his glory and your good may be the hardest thing in the world for to do right now—but do it anyway.  To grow bitter and withhold forgiveness is not only to discount the Sovereignty of God, it is to activity work against it—and that is always bad for you.  As Anne Lamont says, “Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.”  So don’t be a rat.

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Two Views

Genesis 40:1-43:34

Two Views

The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him…
Genesis 40:23

When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream…
Genesis 41:1

So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon.
Genesis 41:14

Go Deep: As you read the prison portion of Joseph’s story, you can’t help but be impressed with this young man’s deep and abiding trust in the goodness and sovereignty of God.  Joseph believed in the core of his being that God was in control, and that God was fundamentally good, and those beliefs became settled law for Joseph.  Neither his current circumstances nor his emotions at the moment would trump the fact that his life was in God’s hands.  So when Joseph’s ticket out of prison, the cupbearer, forgot about him and when Joseph languished for another two years in a squalid Egyptian jail, Joseph trusted.

I would like to think that’s how I would react to the disappointing and hurtful things that will get thrown at me in life.  I’m guessing you would like to think that about yourself, too.  The “Joseph way” is certainly a heroic way to do life—and one that must be so pleasing to the Father who takes such delight in our trust.

But to live life like Joseph, you have to understand that there are two views of the road ahead.  The first view is the human perspective.  That is where you simply and only see what is right in front of you—which means that sometimes all you see are bumps, barriers and big, old hairy difficulties. Obviously, it is quite normal to look at the world from such a point of view; you are human, after all.  But if that is the only view you have, you will be prone to discouragement and enslaved to the emotional ups and downs that come from being slapped around by life.

What you really need to have in order to live the “Joseph way” is an eternal perspective. That is the other view, and it is a grand one! The “Joseph way” of viewing life comes only by way of fundamental trust in the care and competence of your Heavenly Father.  It understands that while you may be languishing away in your prison of unexpected and undesirable circumstances, God is above it all and he clearly sees the road ahead of you.

If you can’t learn to enfold your human perspective into that kind divine perspective of ruthless trust in the God who is in control of all things and works all things to his glory and your good, get ready for a frustrating stay in Pharaoh’s prison.  If you can order your life by the “Joseph way”, everything that comes your way—especially the bad stuff—becomes fodder for the God who takes what was meant as harm and turns it to good. (Genesis 50:20)

Just Saying… One of my favorite writers, Brennan Manning, poignantly writes, “The splendor of a human heart which trusts that it is loved gives God more pleasure than Westminster Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, the sight of ten thousand butterflies in flight, or the scent of a million orchids in bloom.  Trust is our gift back to God, and he finds it so enchanting that Jesus died for the love of it.”

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Staying Pure On A Sexually Polluted Planet

Genesis 36:1-39:23

Staying Pure On A Sexually Polluted Planet

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife
took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he refused!
Genesis 39:6-8

 

Go Deep: A while back a Newsweek article began with this attention-grabber:  “In the [near future] you’re going to have better sex than you’ve ever had before…[not] a single sexual fantasy…will go unfulfilled.”  Now that really grabbed my attention—not so much for my sake, but I knew you’d be interested!

All kidding aside, you and I would both agree that we live in a sex-obsessed culture.  We are constantly bombarded with messages, images, and opportunities that urge us to gratify every sexual desire.  On prime time TV in a given year, you’ll watch 20,000 sexually suggestive scenes—20,000!

As a result of this relentless sexual bombardment and a cultural philosophy of boundary-less sexual gratification, we now have more abortions (around fifty million since Roe v. Wade in 1973), illegitimate births, cohabitation of couples without marriage, adulterous affairs, addiction to pornography, sexually transmitted disease, sexual predators and sexual exploitation than ever before.  Nine million Americans carry a venereal disease—that’s even more than those who battle alcoholism.  It’s predicted that 100 million will die from HIV/AIDS in Africa alone in the next 20 years—100 million!  At best, the world’s sexual philosophy doesn’t work—obviously!  At worst, our so-called enlightened age, rather than giving us that sexual freedom it promised, has instead unleashed a tsunami of sexual degradation and destruction.

God has a better way—a higher sexual ethic to which he calls his children.  I Thessalonians 4:3-4 says, “God wants you to be pure and to keep clear of all sexual sin.  For God hasn’t called us to be dirty-minded and full of lust but to be holy and clean.”

Now God’s people haven’t always got this right, but there was one man who did—Joseph. Under the most intense pressure and rationale to compromise sexually, he didn’t.  He remained pure in a polluted environment.  Notice the rich theology in Joseph’s response:

“With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:8-9)

When you look at Joseph’s response to Potiphar’s wife, it is obvious that he had thought this through ahead of the temptation and had resolved long before the seduction to stay sexually pure.  Here’s the thing: If you wait until the moment of intense passion to decide what your values and boundaries are going to be, you’ve waited too long.  Authors Young and Adams write:

“Nothing interferes with logic and common sense more than the sex drive.  For years we referred to this as the ‘brain relocation phenomenon,’ which occurs when you are passionate about someone and you start to get intimate.  Here’s how it works. Once the hormones kick in, the brain dislodges from the skull and slowly moves down the body through the neck, shoulders, chest, stomach, and finally, below the waist. This process takes 10 to 20 minutes for women and about 3 seconds for men.”

And once that happens, you are thinking with your hormones, not your head!  The truth is, you are a moral agent, created by God with a will.  And you must resolve ahead of time to honor God with your sexuality, including not only sexual intercourse, but all the behaviors that contribute and lead to the point of no return.  How can you do that?

First, resolve to make God’s standards your standards!  Psalm 119:9 says, “How can one keep his way pure?  By living according to your Word.”

Second, resolve to manage your mind, especially your media intake!  Proverbs 15:14 says, “The fool feeds on trash.” What you feed your mind is just as important as what you feed your body.  Every temptation starts in the mind.  Proverbs 4:23 says “Be careful how you think, your life is shaped by your thoughts.” The battle for purity is won or lost in your brain.

Third, resolve to magnify the consequences of sin!  Do a cost-benefit analysis of sexual sin! Proverbs 6:26 says, “Immorality may cost your life.”  Proverbs 6:32 says, “Anyone who commits adultery doesn’t have any sense.  He’s destroying himself.”  Even if you don’t want to take God’s word for it, just look at the steady stream of recent studies on the results of the so-called sexual revolution. For instance, one study noted that when couples live together before marriage, there is an 80% higher likelihood of divorce than couples who don’t. Women in these relationships are twice as likely to be physically abused and four times more likely to experience depression than married women.  And that is just one of many studies similarly confirming the unintended consequence of boundary-less sex.  When you put the world’s sexual philosophy under the magnifying glass, who in their right mind would want that?

Perhaps by now you are saying, “Enough already, I’m convinced.  God’s got a better way.  But what do you do when you’ve already blown it sexually?”  Well, here is what you need to know: There is grace and forgiveness and mercy and love to cover any sexual sin you have experienced.  Have you ever noticed that some of the people most attracted to Jesus were those who had failed miserably in the sexual department: The woman who’d been married to five different husbands, and was currently living with a guy…a woman caught in adultery…prostitutes who’d sold their bodies for money.

And how would Jesus respond to them?  He would look them right in the eye and just love them.  And he will gladly forgive you where you have messed up and heal you where you have been damaged and give you strength where you want to resolve to live a new kind of life.  That is just what Jesus does!

Just Saying… Francis Schaeffer said, “The Bible does not minimize sexual sin, but neither does it make it different from any other sin.”  If you have messed up sexually, God has a great gift for you: Forgiveness.

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Who Was That Masked Man?

Genesis 32:1-35:29

Who Was That Masked Man?

Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have
struggled with God and with men and have overcome.
Genesis 32:28

Go Deep: There was a day when entertainment didn’t come through the television set; it came through the radio.  Believe it or not, I can remember those days—at least the tail end of them.  But in the good old days of radio, before my time, the folks were entertained with shows like “The Adventures of Sam Spade”, “Fibber McGee and Molly”, “The Shadow” (“the Shadow knows—bwahaha), and of course, “The Lone Ranger.”  The Lone Ranger, who was known as “The Masked Man”, was the greatest! He would ride into town, save the day, then ride off into the sunset with a “Hi-ho, Silver, away!” to the tune of the William Tell Overture.  And invariably an awestruck bystander would ask the question, “Who was that Masked Man anyway?”

“Who was that masked man anyway?” may be your response to the mysterious wrestling match that took place between Jacob and the unknown assailant here in Genesis 32:22-32.  Of course, if you’ve grown up around the Bible, you’ve been instructed that Jacob’s opponent was God.  But when you read the text, that’s not so clear.  From Jacob’s perspective, his opponent was nothing more than a man (Genesis 32:24)—perhaps a shadowy assassin from Laban’s clan or a hitman from Esau’s tribe—both men whom Jacob had cheated and had sufficient reason to “rub out” the cheater!

But as the death match (“wrestling” would be far too tame a term if you were in Jacob shoes) continued through the night, and Jacob held his own against this stranger, it began to dawn on him that this was no mere human he was fighting.  As you get to the end of the story and the two opponents finally speak, the stranger is identified—as least vaguely—when Jacob exclaims, “I have seen God face to face.” (Genesis 32:30)

We get a little more insight into the stranger’s identity all the way over in Hosea 12:4, when the prophet writes that it was none other than the Angel of the Lord who was duking it out with Jacob.  The Angel of the Lord is identified as God himself throughout Scripture (for instance, Acts 7:30), and has even come to be known in Christian theology as a pre-incarnate revelation of Jesus Christ.  So who was that masked man anyway?  I think it is safe to say that Jacob was wrestling with none other than Jesus.

Now all that information may be nothing more than relatively useless Bible trivia to you, but there is something in this story with which you and I can identify: Wrestling with God.  Jacob wrestled with God, and the essence of the wrestling match was over who was going to run Jacob’s life, and how.  It had been clear to Jacob throughout his life that God wanted to bless him, but Jacob, whose name meant “deceiver”, had tried to manipulate and coerce those blessings into reality.  Jacob wanted it done his way.

I’ll bet you can relate to that; I sure can. You know that God has promised to bless you, but perhaps you are trying to force his favor according to your timing and to your liking.  But it won’t work that way—it never does.  God can’t be God of your life if you’re trying to be God of your life, too.  There is room for only one throne in your personal world, and guess what, God gets it.  When you resist, the wrestling begins.

Learn from Jacob, my friend.  The only way to go with God is by way of surrender.  Jacob learned that the hard way—and he was left with a lifelong limp—but at the end of the day, Jacob’s fundamental approach to life changed from deceptive striving to faithful obedience.  It is the surrender to a life of faithful obedience and ruthless trust that, as Andrew Murray wrote, must become “the essential characteristic of our lives.”

Are you wrestling with God?  The sooner you cry “uncle” the better off you’ll be!

Just Saying… What C.S. Lewis said is true: “The full acting out of the self’s surrender to God therefore demands pain: this action, to be perfect, must be done from the pure will to obey, in the absence, or in the teeth, of inclination.”

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Living The Dream

Genesis 28:1-31:55

Living The Dream

Jacob had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth,
with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God
were ascending and descending on it.
Genesis 28:12

Go Deep: Leo Burnett was an advertising executive named by Time magazine as one of the twenty most influential people of the twentieth century.  He created such memorable icons as the Jolly Green Giant, Tony the Tiger, the Pillsbury Doughboy, and my personal favorite, Charlie the Tuna.  Leo once said, “When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won’t come up with a handful of mud either.”  I like that!

One of the delightful gifts God has given mankind is the ability to dream—to see into that which is not yet, to envision a brighter tomorrow, to reach for the stars.  And though our dreaming and our reaching may be perverted by human pride, selfishness and greed, even still, the very capacity to dream has been implanted in our DNA by the Creator to remind us of the kind of inexpressibly delightful world he once created for us, and will recreate for his redeemed children in the age to come.

And once in a while, God gives us a dream.  We have other dreams, of course, not from God but rather birthed out of our own life experience, recent (or even archived) sensory intake, or perhaps from too much pizza the night before.  But on occasion, God will allow our mind to slip into that unseen, spiritual dimension through a vision, or more likely, a dream, where we get a sneak peak into God’s reality.  Usually that experience will be a bit blurry, since human beings typically have a wee bit of trouble wrapping their minds around such infinite things, but our spirits are left uplifted by it nonetheless.

God gave Jacob quite a dream—one of heaven intersecting earth in which the angels of God traveled back and forth, presumably to ensure that God’s will would be carried out in Jacob’s life. (Genesis 28:12) The dream also included God himself promising to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant through Jacob as well as a reminder of God’s presence and protection for Jacob as he journeyed through life. (Genesis 28:13-15)

For Jacob, this dream became a truly defining moment.  He named the place of the dream Bethel—the house of God—and he built an altar of remembrance there. Later, after God had fulfilled many of the dream’s promises, Jacob returned to Bethel (Genesis 35), which now was a sort of spiritual touchstone, an ongoing reminder of God’s sovereign right to rule over Jacob’s life and his promise to graciously and generous provide Jacob with all he needed and desired. Bethel kept Jacob reaching for the stars even while he was trudging through the mud.

The whole point of this dream was to reveal to Jacob what God was already doing—guiding, providing and protecting Jacob on his journey, even when Jacob was unaware or unable to see the Invisible Hand.  So what does that mean for you and me?  Simply that God-inspired dreams might be nice, but our faith doesn’t need to rest on them.  What God might graciously reveal in a dream is simply what God is doing 24/7 in your life anyway.

Award-wining journalist Belva Davis said, “Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality.”  Even better, through Jacob, God’s word says to you, “Don’t fear the space between your reality and God’s promises.” You see, when you are walking with God, you are living the dream!

Just Saying… Don’t fear the space between your dreams and your reality—God is there.  Faith is not dependent on dreams, neither is it dissuaded by reality.  Faith trusts in the God who says, “Do not be afraid, I am your shield, your very great reward.” (Genesis 15:1)

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The Unintended Consequences of Divine Blessing

Genesis 24:1-26:35

The Unintended Consequences of Divine Blessing

Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold,
because the LORD blessed him…[but] the Philistines envied him.
Genesis 26:12, 14

Go Deep: We all want to live in the zone of God’s blessings, but are we willing to pay the price for those blessings?  You see, sometimes—not always, but sometimes—those blessings bring unexpected and undesired consequences into our lives. Sometimes our blessings will arouse the envy of those who are not so blessed. Sometimes their envy will morph into open conflict with us. And sometimes, our success creates so much pain and discomfort for the non-blessed that it fundamentally changes the relationship.

That is not always the case, but sometimes it is, and we need to be ready for those unintended consequences if we desire to live under Divine blessing. It just might be that God’s favor upon your faithfulness will painfully expose a tender area in another’s life, and there will be a hurtful reaction toward you.  Some people won’t be able to handle your success, and will do everything they can to pull you down to their level of dissatisfaction. For those reasons, it could be that God’s favor will force you to leave your comfort zone. But fear not, for if that’s the case, that forced move will always be to a larger zone where greater blessing can be received.

That’s what happened to Isaac here in Genesis 26:12-32.  God’s hand of blessing was upon Isaac, and he began to prosper in ways that made others envious—and not in a complimentary way.  Isaac’s harvest that year was a hundredfold, and he “became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.” (Genesis 26:13) That didn’t sit well with the locals, whose lack of success was exacerbated by Isaac’s uncommon success.  As a result, Isaac was despised, and ultimately forced to leave the very land that had produced his blessing. But God was with Isaac, and continued to favor him exponentially until Isaac had far outgrown the small minds and petite faith of those who were envious of him.  God had a better place of greater blessing for Isaac, but it took those unintended consequences of blessing to get him there.

I suppose that is the kind of problem you want to have if you’re going to have a problem. Now I am in no way promoting arrogance toward those who are not as blessed as you.  If at all possible, you are called to leverage your blessings to bless others.  But sometimes—not always, but once in a while—your blessings may produce some unintended consequences.

If that’s the case, keep your eye on God—that’s what Isaac did. (Genesis 26:25) What you suspect are unintended consequences might just be intentional maneuvers on God’s part to make you even more blessable.

Just Saying… Eric Hoffer said, “The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” Is something forcing you out of your comfort zone? Take a second look at it—it may be a blessing in disguise, forcing you from the comfort zone to the blessing zone.

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When God Tests

Genesis 20:1-23:20

When God Tests

Some time later God tested Abraham … “Take your son, your only son, Isaac,
whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a
burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
Genesis 22:1

Go Deep: I’m guessing this story in Genesis 22 raises a few questions for you.  I mean doesn’t this “Divine ask” violate everything we know and trust about the character of God?  How could a loving God ask such a cruel thing of Abraham?  And if God did that to Abraham, what kind of tests will he put me through?

If you’re feeling a little upset with “the God who tests” about now, here is my advice:  Relax, take a deep breath, and step back for a broader view of God.  Once you go a little deeper into this story, and look at it through the lens of the entire Bible, here is what you will come to understand about Divine tests:

First of all, God’s tests are never without preparation.

Notice the very first line of this story: “Some time later…”  With God, time comes before testing. Typically, the word “test” conjures up negative images. Tests are the enemy; they are set-ups for failure; the harder the test, the more unfair the teacher.  But those kinds of tests and that kind of teacher have no place in an accurate theology of God. This test came only after the events of Abraham’s life that we have been reading about since Genesis 12.

God didn’t suddenly spring this test on Abraham—and he’ll never spring one on you.  This is no pop quiz; it is not without context.  Abraham has now walked with God for about 30 or 40 years, and God has been preparing him through lesser tests all along the way.  God didn’t test him like this until he knew Abraham was equipped for it.  And God will never give you a test that you cannot pass.

Divine tests only come when you are prepared!

Second, God’s tests are never without purpose.

In Genesis 22:12, the Lord stops Abraham from slaying Isaac, and says, “Now I know that you fear God.” This word “test” is used eight times in the Old Testament when God does the testing and each time it is used in the Old English sense of the word: “to prove.”  God’s testing is not to expose, but to prove.  When God says, “now I know”, that wasn’t for God’s benefit, it was to give Abraham confidence that his faith in God was no foolish faith. You see, Abraham’s faith was tested, God’s faithfulness was tested, and both were proven trustworthy in Abraham’s mind.

Divine tests will always prove that your faith in God is never misplaced.

And third, God’s tests are never without provision.

Genesis 22:14 says, “So Abraham called the place ‘The LORD will provide.” The emphasis here is not on the provision, but “the Lord who provides.” The most important provision here for Abraham is a prophetic revelation of the person and his plan of God. The physical provision, whatever that might be, is always secondary to a deeper revelation of the One who provided it!  Through this test, Abraham learned what God wants you to learn: He is the Lord who provides!

Divine tests always result in a deeper revelation of God to you.

Now that you know about divine test, dare you say, “bring it on!”?

Just Saying… Oswald Chambers wrote, “Faith never knows where it is being led, but it knows and loves the One who is leading.”