Thursday, December 22nd, 2005
Edition 3 of the End of the World Dream
The three things:
- Is there a fact to believe here?
- Is there a promise to trust?
- Is there a command to obey?
Topics:
- Doing the Right Thing
- Motivation & Preparation
- Help Others
Genesis 32:22-28
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."
But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
27 The man asked him, "What is your name?"
"Jacob," he answered.
28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
I like this scripture because it is all about overcoming. Struggles can become a good thing if it creates perseverance, which ties into the scripture in Romans 5.
Romans 5:1-5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
I don’t know about anyone else, but when I suffer, I struggle. I wrestle with God. And the only way to handle the situation is to trust in God and persevere. James also says 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. So when I push through, I then mature… maybe just a little, but it is maturing. It is growth. And I reflect on this so when I look at the story of Joseph, it adds a little flavor to the study.
Genesis 37:19-35
19 "Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other. 20 "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."
21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said. 22 "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the richly ornamented robe he was wearing- 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn't there! Where can I turn now?"
31 Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe."
33 He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."
34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son." So his father wept for him.
Wow, the guy has a dream… not a favorable dream… and gets shipped off because of it… he was very fortunate to not loose his life. His brothers were motivated to do the wrong thing. Anger causes motivation, emotions in general cause motivation… so what motivates me? Love? Anger? Frustration? Bitterness? Worldliness? I know I have done some things wrong in my life motivated by unrighteous things… it goes without saying. I am an addict, so selfish gain is definitely apart of my past. I could have heard Joseph’s dream and very easily have sold him out, if not worse. The ray of hope in all this was Rueben, who was, I think, maybe trying to save himself and his brother by putting him in the cistern. There were 9 other angry brothers there… I don’t know if Rueben could’ve taken them, and I don’t he thought he could either, based on his suggestion to place him there in the first place.
Genesis 39:2-6
2 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"
8 But he refused. "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. 9 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?" 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
Now, this is probably a good looking gal. Potiphar was well off, and in those days, I guess you could just go down to the market and buy yourself a wife. And with the Egyptian Credit Card he had, he could drop some money down. So here’s this woman hitting on him, she’s probably never been denied anything in her life, or at least since she was married to Potiphar, and Joseph says NO. His motivation was God. He wanted to please God. His motivation was to do the right thing, not something wicked and sinful to God, but to please God and his master, Potiphar. (I could tie this in to the workplace, pleasing the boss, but I won’t. I don’t have a 9 to 5 right now…)
So, the story continues:
Genesis 39:19-23
19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger. 20 Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined.
But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
So now Joseph is in prison, but he is still taking care of things. Even in the worst of times, God blesses me. If I were to be in prison, would I be looking for the blessings? Or would I be bitter? I think Joseph may have been tempted with bitterness and anger, but his motivation was to please God and he persevered through it all. He became like a manager to Potiphar and the Prison.
Genesis 41:41-49
41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt." 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout Egypt. 47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. 48 Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. 49 Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.
This looks to be the last scripture, but I see that Joseph then prepares for the event as it comes… Egypt stores enough food to feed the world. The United States pretty much feeds the world right now, but how long with that last? I don’t know. (He’s on third.) What I do know, is the preparation I am thinking is the preparation of the soul. How ready am I? More importantly, how ready is my neighbor? Do I share my faith? Is the church growing in abundance? It could also grow more than it is and really the growth of the church is not what I am concerned about. My concern is this: Am I doing my part? I guess I knocked into what I am going to study tomorrow, but it’s never to early to do tomorrow’s work today. Anyway, Merry Christmas! Hope to hear from you all soon.
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