Exodus 14:1-31 (NKJV)
¹  Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
²  "Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea.
³  For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, 'They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.'
⁴  Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD." And they did so.

Note: Oddly enough, the Lord directed Moses and Israel to back themselves into a corner.  They had numerous routes into the Sinai Peninsula without having the cross the Red Sea.  The Lord wanted them to be vulnerable, apparently to draw out Pharaoh, whose heart was hardened yet again.  We know that this ultimately led to one of the greatest miracles of the Bible and the ruin of Pharaoh's army, but there's something about glorifying the Lord that required Israel to be vulnerable, maybe not so secure. 

I've learned that "spiritualizing" everything that happens in the Old Testament in order to make personal application can be overdone, but perhaps there is a connection to this strange maneuver and the words of St. Paul: 

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NKJV)
⁷  And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
⁸  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
⁹  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
¹⁰  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The purpose of our lives is to glorify the Lord, but that could mean a lack of comfort and security, two conditions of which I am very fond.  In response to these words, however, maybe I need to pray that the Lord be glorified in my life and to know the power of Christ, even though it is a risky prayer.  It also makes me look at my life with a different perspective.  I have nothing that compares to the vulnerable position of Israel at this point in the episode, or the trials of St. Paul for that matter, but I still have parts of my life that are uncomfortable, that I wish were safer and more secure.  Maybe I need to re-think about the importance of comfort and security in life.  Maybe I need to ask myself if those uncomfortable parts are opportunities for the Lord to be glorified, and if so, how?

Hello, everyone.
My apologies for the length of time between posts.  I've finished Genesis and am now into Exodus, particularly at the point when God passes judgment upon the nation of Egypt.  I found reflecting on the episode with commentary from the Apostle Peter very thought-provoking and a little sobering.  Trying to put into words my thoughts on what it means to "fear" the Lord was difficult, so please forgive me if they seem awkward.  Hopefully this post, like the others, will encourage you to prayerfully study and consider the Scriptures.
-Dan Vellinga 

Exodus 12:1-51 (New King James Version of the Bible) 
¹  Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
²  "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
³  Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.

⁴  And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb.
⁵  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

Compare this with the Apostle Peter's commentary on the event: (1 Peter 1:18-19)  “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Note:  According to the International Critical Commentary, the "aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers" is not necessarily the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, but any number of lifestyles and philosophies, pagan or nonreligious, that served as a substitute for Christ.  An argument against the traditions being the Old Testament sacrificial system is that it was not aimless or vain, but covered the sins of the people and pointed to and was fulfilled by Christ Jesus.  The point is, perhaps, that how we lived our lives before we submitted ourselves to the Lord Jesus was aimless and vain.  There is no point to life, if life is lived without Christ.

One common feature of my (and other's) "tradition" is that I didn't really need redemption.  I was fine, was good enough, was not trapped in sin, was not in danger of judgment.  All lies.  I was not fine, not good enough, was trapped in sin, and was in danger of judgment and separation from a just and holy God.  It may not be as dramatic is it was for those slaves, whose forebears had been slaves for centuries, but I was redeemed from slavery just the same. 

Now, knowing that the Father impartially judges according to my work, I need to conduct my stay on this earth in fear, a reverence for God to whom I am accountable.  The world is like Egypt of old, that entices and enslaves and is at enmity against all who would seek freedom.  Perhaps living in this kind of fear is living with the realization that I no longer fit in this world, am at odds with it and it with me; and that I cannot follow Christ and fit into this world.  I should expect to be controversial sometimes, and that some people will not like me, and that they don't understand when I don't pursue what they deem worthy of avid pursuit.  It is a dying world, and dying world system and it is in denial about its condition.  Living in fear and reverence for the Father does not fit the mentality of this world system.  I need to be more concerned about what the Father thinks than what the world thinks.  

Genesis 47:17-23

Joseph guides the nation through famine, and in the process makes all the land, livestock and people property of Pharaoh.  What is the value of liberty?

"So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.
¹⁸  When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.
¹⁹  Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate."
²⁰  Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh's.
²¹  And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.
²²  Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.

²³  Then Joseph said to the people, "Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land"

Note:  I  note that years later, there arose a Pharaoh who did not know, or care, about Joseph and did not regard his descendants and enslaved them, attempted to kill them and eliminate them as a separate people group.  This is in the context that the general populace of Egypt had sold themselves into slavery to Pharaoh.  Did this include children yet born?  If so, then the entire country, people and land, were property of Pharaoh.  While I can see the desperate situation of the people, I find the sacrifice of liberty to be a horror.  Would it not be better to die than to sell our liberty?  Yet, how would I act, however,  in the face of a relentless drought that had destroyed the entire food supply save what was provided by government?  How much do I love liberty?  Would I defend it, even in the face of dire circumstances?  Would I choose death (here it would be death by thirst or starvation) rather than give up liberty?  Would I choose to immigrate to another land?  Would I be able to do so if I wanted?  What if my life circumstances and the government were like this now?  It's very sobering to consider.

Compare this to the situation described in Revelation in which the "other beast" (the False Prophet?) causes those on earth to worship the Beast.  Revelation 13:16-17 says, "He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."  While Joseph, in ancient times, cleverly guided the people of the whole region through a terrible famine, here we again find the ability to gain food, and even to participate in the economy, used to force people into an allegiance the takes away liberty, and makes the people prisoners to an ruler; this one horrifically evil.  One could consider that this taking of liberty in Egypt happened long ago, but it has happened over and again, and will happen again.  I don't know when, but it makes me wonder about my dependency on the economy and the national food supply for my survival.  What would I do if I could not access either?

Genesis 47:1-10 (NKJV)
¹  Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen."
²  And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.
³  Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers."
⁴  And they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."
⁵  Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.
⁶  The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock."
⁷  Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
⁸  Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How old are you?"
⁹  And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage."
¹⁰  So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

"Life is a journey" is a phrase used so often that it risks becoming trite, even if there is some truth to it.  Still, it is a biblical and valuable concept.  Life is a journey, and the type of journey used by Jacob to describe life caught my attention.  As a Congregationalist minister the word that often describes someone taking a spiritual journey-"pilgrim" resonates in a special way.  Our denomination was founded by people who looked at life as a pilgrimage toward God and were willing to travel far to do it.  So I paused when I found that Jacob, now an old man who has left his homeland and is before the Emperor of Egypt, twice refers to life as a pilgrimage. 

I have barely even a beginner's knowledge of Hebrew, but I looked the word up.  The word here translated "pilgrimage" means "a temporary abode", and by extension refers to a person whose life is a journey back home.  This earth is not the pilgrim's home; heaven is.  That was true for Abraham, the great patriarch (Hebrews 11:10), and it is true for us.  Our home is heaven, with Christ our Lord.  All of this life on earth is a pilgrimage, and we should not expect the comforts and security of a good home if we are on a pilgrimage.  There will always be challenges.

It is interesting to me that the word for pilgrimage is so close to the word for "fear" or "fright".  It speaks to the nature of life in a fallen world.  There are dangers, and as pilgrims to the Lord we must always be conscious that we are passing through and traveling, if not in terms of distance then travelling through the days of our lives, seeking to be pleasing to the Lord.  Don't be surprised when challenges arise, or that there is ultimately very little true security outside of the Lord. 

Perhaps by way of application, we should seek always to be alert to those around us who find that life is "not secure".  Their needs are not met, their home life is not what it should be, they are struggling with health or financial issues.  I find that people facing troubles that remind us that this life is not our home are always nearby.  Sometimes I am among them in some fashion or another.  If we are all really pilgrims, then we should be quick to help each other out as much as we possibly can.  Life is a pilgrimage, and that can be scary sometimes.  Try to look out for one another.

Genesis 44:33  Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.

A good question to ask when pondering a passage of Scripture, especially a story, is, "where do I see myself in this?"  In reading the story of Joseph and his brothers I tend to identify with Joseph, who had to suffer in order to grow into the destiny God revealed in that dream he had as a young man.  But maybe I should be thinking about the brothers who chafed under their father's obvious favoritism and were sick of Joseph and his self-glorifying dreams.  Maybe I am one of the brothers, whose destiny is to honor and serve other and show them respect?  The Scriptures make it clear that our greatest ambition is to be a servant (cf. Matthew 20:26-28). 

Here,in this verse, is a moment of truth.  Judah, who led the brothers to sell Joseph as a slave (after Reuben, talked him out of murder), now bows before Joseph and offers himself as a slave to free Joseph's little brother, Benjamin.  Joseph needed to grow in order to fit the role he saw for himself in the dream, and so did Judah.  Is being the one who receives the honor (Joseph) really better than being one of those who gives honor (Judah and his brothers bowing before Joseph)?  Even the authority given to Joseph was for the benefit of others, including the brothers who hated him.  

Dysfunctional Saints and Family Favoritism

Genesis 42:1-38 (NKJV)
¹  When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"

Note:  Can you be righteous and irritating at the same time?  Jacob is one of the heroes of the Hebrew Scriptures, yet those same Scriptures paint him in a light that isn't flattering.  He is devious, and learns about the sin of being deceptive the hard way.  It is years later, after living with Laban, a father in law who could not be trusted, that Jacob meets the Lord and becomes Israel, and is given a new name to match a new heart.  Still, even then he seems to struggle with integrity. 

            We know that he clearly played favorites.  Leah knew that he preferred her sister Rachel to her, and he did the same thing to his children.  He made no attempt to hide the fact that Joseph was his "golden child", something that was not lost on Joseph, nor on his brothers.  Joseph spent years as a slave to unlearn being the "golden child" so that he could be the person God desired to us to save people from famine.  His brothers spent years with the guilt of what they had done to their brother.  Even toward the end of the story, Benjamin has become the other favorite over the remaining brothers. Finally, at the beginning of the famine. Jacob (note that he is not called "Israel") is the grumpy, irritating old man who speaks in a tone that is disrespectful, and if habitual, galling. 

            A couple of takeaways from this:  First, the grace of God through Christ Jesus is wonderful in that Jacob is just one of many in the Scriptures who are dysfunctional, sinful and often less than honorable, and yet God still is there in their lives.  How great a love Christ has for us, who, as Paul wrote, loved us and died for us while yet sinners and enemies against Him. (cf. Romans 5:6-10).

            Second, note that is seems that family and marriage interactions seem to serve as a means to test the righteousness of an individual.  Jacob had mighty experiences with the Spirit of God, yet deceived his father, his brother, embittered a wife and doesn't seem to be a good father to most of his sons.  I need to take note of family interactions and dynamics.  My flaws may very well show up most clearly to myself and to others there.

            Finally, a note to parents.  You may have a favorite child, but it is probably best to "keep your cards close to the vest" in that case.  If parental favoritism becomes obvious, the results are not good.

Genesis 40:1-23 (NKJV)
¹  It came to pass after these things that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.
²  And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker.
³  So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined.
⁴  And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.

Note:  For Joseph to be prepared for his exalted position of leadership, he needed to learn a servant's heart.

⁵  Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man's dream in one night and each man's dream with its own interpretation.

⁶  And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad.
⁷  So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in the custody of his lord's house, saying, "Why do you look so sad today?"
⁸  And they said to him, "We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it." So Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please."
⁹  Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "Behold, in my dream a vine was before me,
¹⁰  and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes.
¹¹  Then Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand."
¹²  And Joseph said to him, "This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days.
¹³  Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler.
¹⁴  But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.
¹⁵  For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon."
¹⁶  When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, "I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets on my head.
¹⁷  In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head."
¹⁸  So Joseph answered and said, "This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.
¹⁹  Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you."

Thursday, September 13, 2018  Note:  I feel sorry for the baker, who may have had hopes that his dream revealed a similar restoration as the butler, but it was just the opposite.  In three days he was to be beheaded on the king's birthday and his body hung on a tree in disgrace, left for the birds to eat.  Why would the Lord reveal such grim new to him?  What crime, if any, did he commit?

I know that the ghost of Samuel (or Satan or a demon impersonating Samuel-it depends upon who you ask) appeared to Saul and told him that he had less than 24 hours to live. 1 Samuel 28  Furthermore, Peter is told by Jesus that he will die a martyr's death, though He does not reveal a time frame, other than it will be when Peter is old.  John 21:18-19  Is it done as judgment or punishment? Is it warning?

How must it feel for people who listen to a doctor tell them that they have only eight or nine months to live?  I've heard it said that people, and I suspect my father was one of them, who face a potentially deadly disease sometimes realize that they will not survive before anyone else.  Does that help them live out the rest of their days in a better fashion?  Does it help them prepare to die?