Obey or Not

DEVOTION

EXODUS

OBEY OR NOT

Ex 1:15-22

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?" 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive." 20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. 22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live."

NIV

We are at the setup for the birth of Moses, but first we should deal with the situation at hand. The Pharaoh is trying his hardest to eliminate the birth rate of the Israelites by having all the male children killed at birth by the midwives. This may be the first attempt at social engineering. Males, of course not only would product more Israelites but they would grow into possible warriors that could overthrow the Egyptians. Our lesson is in the attitude and actions of the Hebrew midwives. Although we have been told within the New Testament to obey the laws of the land, which is those who have been placed in authority over us,

1 Peter 2:13-17

13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

NIV

Still it appears the midwives did not know about this statement recorded in 1 Peter. Instead we have an example of exactly the opposite, not obeying the every authority instituted among men such as the king, the Pharaoh who was the supreme authority. Was it no God’s will for them to obey the command of Pharaoh? What we are told is their disobedience to Pharaoh was a result of their faith, their fearing God. It is one thing to live life under the authority of the land in which we live. We know the laws and pretty much confine ourselves to live within the constraints of them, except for those occasions we think we can get away with it.  That is to say we should abide by the rules of the road, which means, no speeding ever. When we speed we are disobedient to God, it is sin. We know we should not steal, such as cheating on our taxes. There may be other laws we think are not proper or are an evasion of our privacy and thus we tend to ignore them. Whatever the case, we should be living as believers in a land obeying all the laws showing our good behavior, which would silence any foolish talk about Christians. But when it comes to the will of God, this has a different story. When God’s will supersedes the law of the land, we need to obey God first.

Acts 4:18-20

18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

NIV

Without recounting the whole of chapter four, this passage has the main point. Peter and John refused the law of those in authority over them, their religious leaders so to speak, because they were imposing a rule against the will of God. We need to be careful here, not to interpret this to mean we can refuse to obey the speed limit because God wants to get someplace right now. We cannot excuse the disobedience of the law except when it comes as a result of being restricted sharing the gospel, healing the sick in the name of Jesus, giving more than the law allows, or whatever else God desires us to do in his name. When the government declares pastors or churches must marry same sex people, then no matter the cost, we need to refuse that law for it clearly violates the law of God. It does not mean we should no love them, but we cannot follow that law. Because the midwives obeyed God rather than Pharaoh, God blessed them and gave them families of their own. Yes, we should live among the world being fine examples of law abiding citizens, but not at the expense of the gospel. When we stand up for God, he stands up for us. Live good lives among the people, but never relinquish our command to share the gospel. 

Remembering or not

DEVOTION

GENESIS

REMEMBERING OR NOT

Ex 1:11-14

11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.

NIV

We know this history, the story of the forced labor, the enslavement of the children of Israel, yet what has to do with our lives? The fact that exists within the framework of this ruthless treatment of them is they continued to multiply. No matter how hard they worked during the day, they still were finding the time and strength to multiply. This was not just by chance, but by the promise of God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We will see in the next passage even the woman were worked ruthlessly. But God’s promise continued to be fulfilled. The more they were opposed, the more they multiplied and spread. A people who were one honored guests in the land were now dreaded. Some believers may have the opinion that as believers we should be living on a bed of roses. Our lives should be everything nice, always good things, always on top of the world. But we know that is not the case. Many believers suffer untold miseries, especially in certain parts of this world. It might be true that most of us believers living in America have a rather good life. But the point is we may not be promised the good life, but simply promised eternal life. Now we have more truths to read about and that Jesus told us he came to give us life and life more abundantly. He also told us that we could ask anything in his name and the Father would give it to us. That is as long as it is according to his will. He has given us the gifts of the Spirit, the armor of God, the fruit of the Spirit, and so much more, then what appears the children of Israel had when then were in Egypt. But what we are not told about them is their continued worship of God. Looking forward we know it was many years of this forced labor before they cried out to God. It does appear in that portion of text that God all of a sudden remembered them, but this is not the case, but we will get to that when we get there. The point here is their oppression was from the world and they were not seeking after God, even though he was making good on his promise by seeing to it they multiplied. Did they not remember what God had promised their forefathers? Had they forgotten about God and his promise to them? Because of the text and the content of their lives, it appears they were not remembering God. Again, as we look forward in the scriptures, which is looking back into the history of the children of Israel, we see many times when then turned away from remember God, they were taken into captivity. When they remembered God, he redeemed them from their situation. Over and over again this scenario played out in their lives. This has to be our lesson. The reason we could experience some real tough times in our good life, is we forget God. Sure we don’t actually forget God, but we forget to worship him, to truly worship him, trusting him completely with our lives. Yes, believers are being murdered in parts of the world. The Apostles were murdered for their faith. But that too is the key, for their faith. We may experience some horrific treatment by the world, but if it is because of our faith, so be it. But the point here is the children of Israel, from what we are told or not told, were not remembering God. We must think had they remembered God right away, they would have been on their way long before the situation became what it was. Had they remembered God, they would have been headed back to the land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob long before the new Pharaoh came into power. We have to believe they became complacent in their trust in God, living what they considered the good life in the land of Goshen within Egypt. We cannot become complacent in our good life, forgetting everything we are, all that we have, is from the hand of God. We need to always be giving him all the credit, all the honor, all the glory for all things in our life. We should always be remembering God in all we say and do. Let us not forget about him, thinking about our plans, our abilities, our success, our desires, and our life. 

Forgotten

DEVOTION

EXODUS

FORGOTTEN

Ex 1:1-10

1:1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. 8 Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 9 "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country."

NIV

It seems right to continue with the children of Israel in our devotion time. We cannot leave them now as there are many lessons ahead as we travel the road to the Promised Land with them. But for now they are certainly still in the land of Egypt and Joseph and his whole generation have died and as God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob their descendants were becoming extremely numerous. We know from looking ahead their numbers exceeded over a two million people. What we do not know is the population number of the Egyptians. What we know is the new pharaoh did not know the story about Joseph and how he saved the country from starvation as well as made the pharaoh such a wealthy and powerful ruler actually owning all the land as well as the people. This is an amazing fact in itself. We would think a man as great as Joseph, with the great deeds he did for the benefit of the pharaoh would have been remembered by all men for all times. His name should have been embossed in the walls of history. But that is not the case, he and all he did in the land of Egypt has been forgotten because the new pharaoh, like most people, was totally self-absorbed with his own situation, his own power base, his own success. He had no basis for the fear he had of the people of Israel. He could have merely had a meeting with them and asked if they were happy in his land, or did they ever what to return to their own land from which they came. We are not told he ever actually talked with them, or found out anything about them other than he was afraid because of their numbers and that they might turn against him. So what is our lesson? Is it in the fear of the pharaoh? We are going to see his response to his fear next. Could our lesson be in the forgetting of Joseph? Certainly today those who do great things for the society in which they live have been immortalized in either books, or now on the internet, with thousands of records regarding their lives and deeds whether good or bad, righteous or evil. With the advent of Ancestry.com we have the ability to research many of our ancestors thus remembering their lives, their loves, their children and perhaps none of their deeds, unless they were famous. So it seems difficult to think that we would ever be forgotten as Joseph was in the land of Egypt. Yet there may be situations in our lives when we or our deeds are forgotten. How many people of our past lives remember us? The job we held forty years ago, the position we had thirty years ago may have been forgotten by those who hold those jobs or employ those people today. We want to think that we make some mark in this world, that we accomplish something of significance so our name will be remembered. Some of us take pride in the fact some people remember us and what we did for them many years ago. But will we be to some extent like Joseph was in the land of Egypt? Sure he was remembered by his people, but not by the world he lived in, Egypt. We will be remembered by some of our people, our fellow believers, but two to three generations from now the world in general will have forgotten us. A few people may have made such a mark in the cultural theirs names will remain, but we will not be among that group. Yet God, who knew us before we were formed in the womb, will never forget one shred of our lives, except of course our sin. Well he may never actually forget it, but he will never bring it up to us, ever. Yet he will always know everything about us, he not only knows our name, he knows our heart, our every thought. The amazing thing is, he will always still love us and he immortalizes us in Christ. We will forever be remembered for all generations, for all of eternity. Although the world may forget us some day, with God, we will never be forgotten.  

Aid of God

DEVOTION

GENESIS

AID OF GOD

Gen 50:22-26

22 Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father's family. He lived a hundred and ten years 23 and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph's knees.   24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." 25 And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place." 26 So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

NIV

We have come to the end of the life of Joseph. We have seen so much to learn from him. Once again even in his last words to his family he gives us one last lesson. First it is interesting that his sons, sons are counted has his. That is the meaning of the phrase, placed on his knees. Although we are told he speaks to his brothers, the original word here is used in the widest applications and thus it could imply his brethren, his fellow Hebrews, all the descendants of Israel that came down into Egypt during the famine. His actual brothers may or may not be alive as Joseph was the second to the youngest of all of them. Nevertheless our lesson is not in this fact, but in his words. He affirmed to them God would surely come to their aid and take them up out of Egypt to the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the land he promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is interesting that Joseph used the words, “come to your aid”. They were living the good life at this point. They were given the land of Goshen, the best part of Egypt, the fertile area to pasture their flocks. They had food and water and were living under the protection of Joseph through the grace of Pharaoh. Why would God have to give them aid? Could they not just pack up anytime they wanted and travel back to their promised land? It is evident his words were prophetic in nature as some hundreds of years later they would need the aid of God to bring them out of Egypt. But our lesson is in those same words and carry the same meaning. We are in a land that is not ours. We need the aid of God to bring us out from this land into the Promised Land, the kingdom of heaven. We cannot just pack up and travel there on our own.

1 Cor 15:50-57

50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."  

55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"  

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

NIV

No, we need the aid of the Lord God to take us out of this land.  Just as he sent Moses to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt and take them to the Promised Land, he sent Jesus to bring us out of this land and take us to the ultimate Promised Land. We can see this in two ways. First in our life on this earth and second at the moment of our death. Because of Jesus we can be carried out of the life of sin and death, from the city of darkness that we once lived in. He brings us into the light of God. Although we are still on the same earth, we actually live in a different world. But as in the sense the children of Israel were trapped in Egypt, we are trapped in this world, in our bodies. Because of Jesus, we can and we will be brought out of this place and be lead into the Promised Land, the new city of Jerusalem. We will see other lessons looking forward watching the children of Israel's rebellion against Moses, wanting, wishing they were still back in Egypt because the journey is too difficult. Enough said, we will get to that lesson later. But let us keep our eyes on Jesus. On the truth that he is our aid, he has come to take us out of here and bring us to the place he has promised us. Jesus is the aid of God. 

The place of God

DEVOTION

GENESIS

THE PLACE OF GOD

Gen 50:18-21

18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

NIV

There is something to be said about being humble, but the actions of the brothers does not appear to be motivated by humility but rather fear and/or self-preservation. Nevertheless the result is the same in their bowing before Joseph declaring their servitude. Although we might be able to take our lesson from this, it is the words and heart of Joseph which offer our lesson. He told them he was in the place of God. Although his brothers surely intended to do him harm, God intended it for good. There may be times in our lives when it seems things are not going as well as we had planned them. We might even have experienced some truly rough patches. Joseph thought he had life by the tail as a youth. He was his father’s favorite. He was the only one who had a coat of many colors, he was getting visions from God and things were simply going so well. Then thrown in a cistern and sold into slavery. So much for the good life. But then he lands in the best of places, in charge of a rich man’s holdings. But because of false accusations he ends up in prison. Once again he lands on his feet and is given charge of the prison. He helps people know their dreams and gets forgotten for years, but then the final lifting up to the second in command of all Egypt. Isn’t that just like our lives? We think we’re getting ahead and then the bottom falls out. Then somehow we make it back, we might make a few changes in our plans and things start looking up again. Then another setback. Another adjustment. What we have to come to grips with is that we are in the place of God.

Prov 16:9

9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

NIV

When we realize we are exactly where God desires us to be, we can live at peace with our situation, whether that be in good times or bad. He has a purpose for our lives, and he brings about that purpose according to his will. The good work that he started in us, he will finish as well. Our lives are a series of events, experiences which teach us about our relationship with him. We learn to depend on him more and more through each situation. We learn to trust his plans for us more than ours. We learn to be content in whatever circumstance we are in, for we know God has us in the palm of his hand. Our whole life is for the purpose to bring honor and praise to God. He works in each person, but some close off their hearts and minds. Some refuse to even acknowledge his existence. They have buried any knowledge they ever had of him with evil thoughts and deeds. But we are not one of those. We have heard his voice calling us to himself. Therefore we live as one of his, submitting to his authority in our lives.  So we live with peace, with joy, with contentment, with thanksgiving in our heart and mind, because we are in the place of God. 

Wept

DEVOTION

GENESIS

WEPT

Gen 50:12-17

12 So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them: 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. 14 After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father. 15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 17'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

NIV

Life must go on. The funeral was over, the time of mourning was over, and the living must proceed with whatever they do. The language here does seem a little strange when it says that when Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead. It makes it sound as if they had no idea he was dead until the funeral was over. Oh, that was our father we just buried, and mourned for seventy days? They knew he was dead, they were at his bedside when he breathed his last. But what this passage, these words are conveying is the idea that after all the mourning, the viewing, the funeral and more mourning and grieving were over, they now considered their relationship with Joseph without the intervention of their father. The thought that all that Joseph did for the family was out of respect for his father and now that he is gone, they are afraid he will now exact his revenge on them for their mistreatment of him those years before. They were afraid he held a grudge against them. So they invoke the name of Joseph’s father. It is interesting they did not say our father, but your father. What we are seeing in all this is the relationships between siblings after the last parent dies. What appears to be have been the case in this family was again a dysfunctional relationship between the brothers. In the beginning, they could not agree as to how to get rid of Joseph. Now they are in his debt and their father is gone. How will this relationship endure after the patriarch has gone? Sometimes we see this very same scenario play out in our lives with our siblings. There could have been some tensions between us, but we remained civil out of respect for our parents. After their death, the civility may either turn hostile or disappear completely, simply all going our separate ways, never speaking again. These brothers made an attempt, whether what they said was the truth or not, to establish a working relationship with Joseph. His response to their message was to weep, again, giving us a picture of Jesus. Joseph had a good heart. He was not a perfect man by no means, but he did have a relationship with God and thus his heart was softened toward his brothers. We will see this all play out in the next portion of this narrative. But this should, even now, just knowing he wept, give us an insight into how we should respond to our siblings when we are all that are left after the death of our parents. That age old phrase, that blood is thicker than water, should bear some truth for us. If we are at odds with any of our siblings as believers, such as Joseph was, we should not take the opportunity to take revenge, but we should respond with the love of Jesus. This may be harder than simply saying we should. Sometimes there are years of dysfunctional behaviors that need to be hurdled. Jealousy, envy, and mistreatment based on hatred are just a few of the attitudes Joseph’s brothers needed to deal with now. Perhaps we might have to acknowledge certain attitudes we carry regarding our siblings before we can weep and carry on as Jesus would have us do. Although each of us may have moved on with our own lives being married with children and even grandchildren, all that is left of our original family is our siblings. Should we not make every effort to be at peace with them? Should we not love them as Jesus does? If the only thing that was holding any relationship between us was a parent, we are missing something in the truth of the word of God. Maybe we should have wept. There is still time. 

Weeping and Mourning

DEVOTION

GENESIS

WEEPING AND MOURNING

Gen 50:1-6

50:1 Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, 3 taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. 4 When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh's court, "If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, 5'My father made me swear an oath and said, "I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan." Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.'" 6 Pharaoh said, "Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do."

NIV

It is alright to cry. There is nothing wrong with lamenting the passing of a loved one. Yes, we today have faith in Jesus Christ, the first born of those who inherit eternal life. Are we then saying all those who believed in God in the Old Testament did not inherit eternal life? Did Jacob not go into the presence of God upon his death? We have to conclude he did, as did his father Isaac and his father Abraham, along with Noah and Adam as well as many others. It would seem unlikely that God condemned those who called upon his name, even though they were still sinners. But the point here is not about the outcome of Jacob at his passing, but rather the response of Joseph as well as all of Egypt. First he wept, for he was going to miss the presence of his father. Joseph had spent too many years as it were away from his father. He did not get to enjoy all the good times, having all those memories. But in the later years of his father’s life he reunited and rekindled their relationship. Now it was once again time to be without him.  There are certain people with whom we have relationships that remained completely intact during the course of our lives. There are others we seem to spend years somewhat estranged, but we have opportunities to reconnect. In both cases there is going to be a time when they or we pass into eternity. Weeping and grieving are a natural response. We will miss the presence of our loved one. If we are the one passing they will miss our presence. Life is not the same without this member of the family. Surely Joseph would miss his father, but there is more to this lesson. After he wept, he became the Joseph he had become, and directed, being the second in command of all Egypt, to have his father embalmed, prepared for his burial. Without going into the lengthy detail of the embalming process the Egyptians used, it took forty days. Then all of Egypt mourned with Joseph over the loss of his father for seventy days. We sort of do this, at least for that one evening at a viewing or as some call it a wake. We come to mourn with the remaining members of a family who lost a loved one. But then life most go on. Things most go on, we cannot mourn forever. We are going to see the funeral procession from Egypt to Canaan, and that lasts for a long time, including more mourning. We follow that example, but again for a much shorter ride and length of time. What we can say is that it is alright to mourn, to experience grief because one we love has stepped into the presence of God. That is, of course, if they are a believer. What about those family members who are not believers. There may be more of a reason to mourn and grieve for them, then for ourselves. If we are not in their presence at the exact moment of their last breathe, we are never sure of their last words or thoughts about their sin, about God, about Jesus and their relationship with him. So we may never know their outcome until we reach heaven. Then once there we are assured there is no weeping, no tears. But what that also brings to our thoughts is the responsibility we should have to ensure our loved ones, our family know the truth. What they do with that truth is up to them, but they will have heard it and in those moments, if they are fortunate enough to have moments, before their last breathe they have the opportunity to repent and see Jesus. Still it is alright to mourn.