The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man...

Genesis 39:2, RSV 

We might be tempted to read right past this phrase if we didn't know the setting. You see, Joseph had just been sold into slavery - by his own brothers! Why did they do that? It was because Joseph was highly esteemed by his father and his brothers were jealous. So they tied him up, threw him in a hole, and when the first group of likely people came along who would take Joseph in a direction far away from his father and his home, they sold him.

And now Joseph is a lowly slave. The situation would seem desperate except for one large factor: God! Joseph had found favor in the eyes of the LORD and the Lord was determined to make Joseph a successful man. It didn't matter that Joseph was now a slave in a houseful of slaves, God was determined to give Joseph success so Joseph became the slave in charge of all his master's household. 

Then, just when things seemed to be going great, Joseph was betrayed and sent to prison. But no matter, for God was determined to make Joseph successful. So, despite the fact that Joseph was just one prisoner in a jail full of prisoners, he soon was placed in charge of them all, again, because God was determined to make Joseph a success. Then, when the time was right, God brought Joseph out of prison and placed him as an official of Pharaoh in a kingdom full of officials - not just any official, but one who would be placed in charge of the entire nation of Egypt.

How do you go from being tied up in a hole to being the chief official under the most powerful ruler in the most powerful kingdom on earth? We just read it: 

The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man"

So what does that have to do with us today? Just this: If you and I set our hearts upon God, if we will serve His Son Christ Jesus with all of our hearts, then it doesn't matter where we start out. You can be in prison or a slave or tied up in a hole - it simply does not matter when you have the favor of God and His power behind you. The fact is that when the LORD is with you you are, by definition, a success. 

If this is true, (and it is true, you know) then what can keep you from being a success if you are determined to serve God and His Son? Nothing! How can we know this? The Bible tells us so! This is why we study!

Commit to the LORD whatever you do and your plans will succeed.

Proverbs 16:3, NIV 

Today is day 10 of the thirty day challenge to study through the Books of Moses, as a part of the overall challenge to study through the Old Testament in 120 days. The reading for today is Genesis 37-40. May God richly bless you and give you success as you commit your life to He and His Son!

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil which we did to him." ... His brothers also came  and fell down before him, and said, "Behold, we are your servants."

But Joseph said to them, "Fear not, for am I in the place of God?"

Genesis 50:15 & 19, RSV

"Am I in the place of God?" This is one of the great questions asked by man, and we would do well to remember what was meant by it. Joseph clearly had the authority to put his brothers to death for any reason at all. He didn't even have to have a reason, for he was Pharaoh's second in command. But that wasn't the point. The point was that Joseph was not in the place of God, so he had no right to take revenge on his own behalf. While he had a governmental right to punish, he hadn't the God-given right to get even, and he had no intention of violating that principle.

In our own lives, we often have the opportunity to see this principle in action. Now that we have read the Bible and studied it, we know for ourselves what God has said on certain matters. And since we have the obligation to teach God's truths to others, sometimes it is taken the wrong way. For example, the New Testament teaches a clear plan of salvation. Since we have a clear responsibility to teach the Good News, some people will mistakenly think that we are judging they or their ancestors.

For example, I often get questions like: "So, do you think because my grandmother was not baptized that she is burning in hell right now?"

I am glad that Joseph came before me, because he gave me the answer to that question over 2,500 years ago: "Am I in the place of God?"

So, while I know what the Bible teaches when it comes to things like the relationship between salvation and baptism (and so do you, if you have been honestly studying the Word of God), the fact is that I am not in the place of God! It is God who will judge, not I, so I would never speculate on whether somebody's deceased relative is saved or not: it is simply not in my realm of privilege or responsibility!

If you and I will be careful to read and study the Word of God, we will indeed understand the things that men can understand. This means that we can know the difference between right and wrong, we can know what God says about salvation and worship and everyday living, and we can know what His revealed will is. And while we may have certain positions in the church and in society that will give us the authority and responsibility to carry out certain functions - including punishment if that falls under our area of duty - we will never have the right to certain things such as vengeance or eternal judgment -

For we are not in the place of God! And, quite frankly, I am very grateful that we are not!

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written,

"Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the LORD."

Romans 12:19, RSV

Today is day 12 of the 30 day challenge to study through the books of Moses, with Genesis 46-50 being the text for today. May God richly bless you as you seek His will, while always remembering that you are not in the place of God!

Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take the fifth part of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine which are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.

Genesis 41:34-36, RSV 

Perhaps one of the most difficult lessons for men to learn during good times is the necessity to prepare for the bad times. Note that I did not say to worry about the bad times, for that would result in a perverse lack of joy during the seasons of God's greatest blessings. What I mean is that people should make some provision for the future, because no one knows what will come upon them during their time here on earth. 

In this particular time of history, God did reveal to men that bad times would follow good. Acting on this knowledge, Joseph advised that some provision be made for the bad times that would surely come. His advice was heeded, and many nations were spared from starvation and certain death. But they did so at the cost of their freedom!

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if the people of that time had just possessed a little foresight? They, too, were to enjoy seven years of abundance and they could have set aside a little something for the future. They did not have to know that bad times would come, nor did they even have to know the length of the period of abundance that they would experience before hand, all they had to do was exercise a bit of common sense and put something aside.

How about you? You don't need a prophet to tell you that bad times will come in life - it is common sense! People lose their jobs and their health. There are periods of famine, of war, of disaster, and of economic turmoil. There are also times of incredible "once in a lifetime" opportunities that we could take advantage of if we would just set aside a bit of something when things are going well.

I am convinced that we all need to learn the lesson of the seven years of abundance and the seven years of famine. And what is that lesson? After you have taken care of God's things first, and after you have taken care of your family's needs, put a little something aside for the future. If you should have the pleasant experience of setting aside too much, then you can help take care of others during their times of crisis.

Bad times always seem to follow good. If you are prepared, then you will not spend all of your time scrambling for survival with those who were less prudent. That means that you will have more time to serve God and more resources to help those who are less fortunate. Foresight helped save the nation of Egypt during one of the worst disasters of history, and a little foresight can make all of the difference for you and your family.

Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

Ecclesiastes 11:2, NIV

Today is the 11th day of the 30 day challenge to study through the Books of Moses, with Genesis 41-45 being the text for today. May God richly bless you as you have the foresight to prepare for His service during good times and in bad! 

At a lodging place along the way, the LORD met him and sought to kill him.

Exodus 4:24, RSV 

One of the most confusing passages to me in all the Bible used to be the one you just read above. God had just selected Moses to lead His people out of Egypt, but then on the way back, the LORD was about to kill him. As if that was not confusing enough, the very next thing we read is of Moses' wife performing a circumcision upon their son Gershom, and that somehow caused the LORD to relent from His decision to kill Moses.

Why did God do that? What is going on?

This is where your having read and studied the Word of God will help to make a seemingly random and confusing act become clear. So how can we make any sense of this passage? By using the facts that God has already given us in His Word to this point. Since God does not tell us exactly why He sought to kill Moses, let's look at the facts that He has given us.

First, in Genesis 17:9-14, God gives Abraham the covenant of circumcision. Abraham's male descendants were required to be circumcised on the eighth day. Any who were not were to be cut off from God's people because they (obviously their parents) had broken the covenant. The second fact that will help us to understand this event is that God was sending Moses to rescue His people the Israelites - descendants of Abraham - from their bondage in Egypt. In Exodus 4:22-23, God had commanded Moses to say this to Pharaoh: "Thus says the LORD, Israel is My first-born son, and I say to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me: if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your firstborn son."

The third fact we have is that God met Moses on the way back to Egypt to kill him, but God relented from killing Moses as soon as his wife Zipporah circumcised his son. So what does that have to do with clearing up the mystery? Well, here is what I believe we can discern from the facts that God has left us: Since all Israelites had to be circumcised or be cut off from their people, Moses had violated the covenant. We are not told his reasoning for doing so, we just know that his son had not been circumcised.

Since Moses was on his way with the incredible task of revealing God's will to Pharaoh and to Israel, and since part of the message he was to take to Pharaoh was that the first-born children of Egypt would die if Pharaoh did not obey God and free the Israelites - God's people of the covenant - and Moses had not even kept that covenant by circumcising his son Gershom, Moses was about to be punished. But, as soon as Moses and Zipporah obeyed God by keeping the covenant of circumcision, God relented on His punishment and, as they say, the rest is history.

So what does all of this have to do with us today? For one thing, God has made a covenant with all people who would follow His Son. While we are no longer commanded to be circumcised in the flesh to be people of the covenant, God's covenant still has numerous facets contained within it that we all must obey, lest we risk being cut off from His people forever. And if God was willing to put to death even Moses for violating His covenant, do you think that we will fare any better at the Judgment, should we find ourselves to have fallen short of God's covenant with all Christians?

This is why we study!

Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22, NIV

Today is the 13th day of the 30 day challenge to study through the Books of Moses, with Exodus 1-4 being the text for today. May God richly bless you as you seek to find all the answers in His holy Word!