Wondering and Alarmed (Gen. 50:15)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 02-21-2008

 

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  Wondering and Alarmed

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                         Reference: Genesis 50:15

 

            Message of the verse:  “15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!’”

           

            The question is when was this statement given?  The answer is it could have been when all of the family was heading to Canaan or when they returned from burying their father.  Another question is why this statement was given in the first place?  The answer to this question is that the brothers still did not believe their brother Joseph and all that he has done for them.  They must have thought that it was only a plot to get them all to Egypt so when their father did die that Joseph would then get even with them.

 

            What Joseph did for his brother and their family was grace, he was doing something for them that they did not deserve because of the sin that they had committed against him, yet Joseph saw the true picture as to why he was sent to Egypt, and that was to preserve life, which is what he was doing, not only his families’ lives were saved but the people in Egypt too, for if it were not for Joseph they would not have prepared for the famine and would have died too.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The writer of the letter of Hebrews speaks about unbelief in Hebrews 12:1, (I realize that I have used this verse in an earlier SD, but it is relevant to this SD too and this time I will include verse two too).  “1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  These verses do not mention that unbelief is the sin spoken of in verse one, yet for two reasons I believe that this it what the author was writing about:  The author just spent a whole chapter talking about the great faith of some of the OT heroes and the first thing he writes about after that is a sin that so easily entangles us and it seems to me that unbelief is the sin that entangles all believers.  The other reason I believe that he is writing about unbelief is because Pastor Jacobs said so and I have great respect for his knowledge of the Scriptures.

 

            The point here is that the brothers of Joseph were suffering from the sin of unbelief, unbelief not only in their brother Joseph but also in God and this can cause a great deal of problems in a persons life.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Not to doubt the love of God that was demonstrated for me through Jesus Christ on the cross, for after all Paul wrote that this act of great love was done for me whenever I was an enemy of God, how much more will He do for me now that I am His child.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 1:9-11

 

9. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,
10.  so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;
11. having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.