Question: Isn't it possible that we are seeing Joseph go through the normal process of forgiveness, including anger, crying, harshness, toying with, scaring them, putting them in prison, and then eventually reconciling with them?
Answer: Yes! These are classic behaviors, the turmoil of forgiveness and reconciliation. The remarkable aspect of this is Joseph's reluctance to exercise his absolute power over his brothers; he manipulates them but does not take vengeance. Many would have failed the test that Joseph faced here; he passed the test, restrained his power, because of his own insights into justice and mercy.
Question: God is sovereign, just and loving. There are many horrific things that happen here on earth, how come we are quick to blame God and not take ownership ourselves?
Answer: Since the Garden, when Adam blamed Eve and Cain blamed Abel, we humans have shown a strong preference for blame-shifting. It's what we do! That's not what we were made for. Look at Jesus, who not only didn't blame-shift, but took the blame for all our brokenness and violence!
Question: A lot of times we have very subtle idols just like in Egypt where people worshiped Pharaoh; what are some things besides prayer we can do to keep God the centre of our lives?
Answer: As social animals, we need one another's help for that. That might come in an accountability partnership, a small group, etc.
I am greatly helped also by appropriate reading.
Tim Keller's latest book, Counterfeit Gods, is on this topic; I have not read it yet, but have heard his messages on the topic. I'll recommend it on this topic, based on what I've heard from Tim already.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Discipline Has A Face
DISCIPLINE HAS A FACE
6th Sermon: 1 NOVEMBER
Resources: Genesis, Derek Kidner
Genesis, Bruce Waltke
Genesis, Walter Brueggemann
Genesis, in Expositor's Bible Commentary, John Sailhamer
Discipline, a sermon by Tim Keller
Reading: Genesis 41:46--42:28
The story thus far…
Joseph pushed his ten brothers once too often, so they conspired to detain him and sell him to slave traders passing by.
Joseph is sold again to Potiphar, a high-ranking Egyptian, who recognized his unusual abilities and placed him in charge of his entire household.
Potiphar’s wife attempted to seduce Joseph, then when he refused, falsely accused him as the aggressor. Potiphar had Joseph arrested and placed in prison.
After two years in prison, Joseph was given charge of the prison by the chief jailer. While there, two of the King’s arrested court officers had dreams, told Joseph, who then interpreted their dreams accurately. No credit was given.
Two years later, Pharaoh had a dream, called for interpreters, who could do nothing. Joseph’s name was recalled; he interpreted the dream to the Pharaoh’s satisfaction.
Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of preparing for the dream’s fulfillment.
Now that he is out of prison, married to an Egyptian, and the father of two sons, the story grows more complex: his brothers show up looking to buy food for the famine.
NOTICE:
1. Joseph’s sons—the birth account marks the pivot point of the story.
Manasseh—nasa, ‘forget’
Ephraim—hiprani, “made me fruitful”
2. Doublets:
Literary device: doublets to “prove” that God set this up…
Sailhamer, EBC The central theme of chapter 41 is expressed clearly and forthrightly within the narrative itself by Joseph in
v.32: “the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.”
…the ASSURANCE that God will surely bring future events to pass comes from the fact that the dreams relating those events are repeated twice.
• In the previous chapter the “two” (shene 40:2) officials of the king each had a dream.
• “Two” dreams with the same meaning show that God will certainly bring about that which was foreseen in the dreams. One dream was good, the other bad. The dreams and their interpretations are repeated twice, once by the writer in the narrative of chapter 40 and then again by the cup-bearer before the Pharaoh in vv.9-13.
• After “two years” (shenath ayim v.1), the king himself had “two” (shenith v.5) dreams, one part of each dream was good (“years of great abundance,” v.29) and the other bad (“years of famine,” vv.27, 30).
• Within the narrative, each of the two dreams is repeated twice, once by the writer (vv.1-7) and again by Pharaoh (vv.17-24).
The point of the narrative is that such symmetry in human events is evidence of a divine work.
I. The Story
Waltke--The original prophecy to Joseph is about to be fulfilled quickly in the three journeys to Egypt:
first by Joseph’s ten hateful brothers (42:1-38),
second by them and his younger full brother Benjamin (43:1-45:28), and
third by all the brothers and his father, Jacob (46:1-27).
The family cannot find salvation in Egypt until the brothers are first reconciled with Joseph.
a. Scene I 42:1-38
Waltke: In Scene 1 (42:1-38), the first journey to Egypt, Joseph imprisons Simeon, promising his release upon their second journey with Benjamin in hand. However, by clandestinely placing money in their sacks, Joseph gives them the choice of either returning the money, guaranteeing Simeon’s release, or of keeping it and jeopardizing his freedom.
b. Scene 2 43:23
Waltke: In Scene 2, Joseph’s steward returns Simeon to them as soon as, but only after, they return the money to him (43:23). At the end of that scene, Joseph tests the brothers by giving Benjamin preferential treatment, but without envy the joyous brothers drink freely together.
c. Scene 3
Waltke: In Scene 3, Joseph puts the brothers to their final test of loyalty to a needy brother. This time he makes Benjamin alone appear guilty by clandestinely placing his silver cup in his sack and counseling the other brothers to return home in peace. Judah, however, offers himself as a slave in his brother’s place. Joseph is now free to discard his Egyptian mask; they prove they are brothers he can trust through thick and thin. He assures them of his good will.
…he brilliantly regroups the brothers in the same way as in the first scene of this book. However, instead of the brothers ganging up against Rachel’s son (Joseph), they rally round Rachel’s son (Benjamin). Instead of being cold and indifferent to their father, as in Scene 1, they are now filled with compassion for him.
In retrospect, it is clear that Joseph’s harsh, accusing treatment of his brothers serves both to discipline them and to test them, not to vent his spleen. Through his severe mercy they confess their sin and renounce their hateful ways (42:21, 28; 44:16). At the end of the day, he does them only good, not harm.
d. Scene 4
Waltke: In Scene 4, the act’s denouement, the whole family migrates toward Egypt to find salvation with Joseph.
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. The patterns in the story are repetitive but purposeful.
i. Joseph’s ups and downs are repeated for his brothers.
ii. The family’s ups and downs are repeated for Israel.
Waltke: Joseph prefigures Moses at the founding of Israel and Daniel at the end of Israel’s monarchy. All three, oppressed captives in a hostile land, come to power by pitting God’s wisdom against the wise of this world and displaying the superiority of God’s wisdom and his rule over the nations. They prefigure Christ, God’s wisdom, who astonishingly is raised from the cross to rule the world (1 Cor. 1:18-2:16; Rev. 12:1-5). As all were commanded to bow before Joseph (Gen. 41:43), so “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Phil. 2:10),.
iii. …and for Moses
iv. …and for David
Waltke: In the case of Jacob, this pattern was necessary to discipline Jacob and prepare him to become a true covenant partner in God’s blessing. This is less obvious in the case of Joseph. His afflictions are unjust. But each person learns dependence on God. Roop states, “The pilgrimage of Joseph from slave to vice-regent parallels the journey of Israel as escapees from Egypt to the nation under Solomon, the life of David from shepherd’s helper to king, and the story of Jesus from manger to the right hand of God…The presence of God brings life in the place of death, honor instead of humiliation, and fertility over sterility…The story depends not on the prowess of the people, but the presence of God, Immanuel (Matt. 1:20-23).” This pattern of humility and exaltation is the pattern for all saints: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (I Peter 5:6).
Brueggemann—“This narrative affirms that power is a good thing. It celebrates the capacity to make tough decisions, to face crisis boldly, and to practice prudence so that the empire can be fed…This is public power for the public good.”
Cf Christ on the teaching that the first shall be last, Matt. 19:30; 20:16; Mark 9:35; 10:31.
b. The purpose of God is to reconcile and restore, as a true Father.
i. The family was fractured and only God could bring reconciliation.
ii. The reconciled family could then be restored with blessing.
Joseph uses his knowledge of his brothers both to fulfill his calling and to test their love and loyalty to a brother in need.
i. What about the negative side of God’s sovereignty?
ii. Von Rad—What is theologicially noteworthy is the way in which the strong predestination content of the speech is combined with a strong summons to action. The fact that God has determined the matter, that God hastens to bring it to pass, is precisely the reason for responsible leaders to take measure!”
c. God used a roller-coaster to DISCIPLINE Joseph.
i. Privileged son & brother to
ii. Detained captive to
iii. Slave to
iv. Prisoner to
v. Prime Minister of Egypt.
d. Joseph used roller-coaster DISCIPLINE to change his brothers.
i. Joseph moves his brothers back and forth from Egypt to Canaan and back again.
1. Scene 1
2. Scene 2
3. Scene 3
4. Scene 4
ii. Joseph’s harsh tone is not surprising. 42:7
1. His brothers had been harsh to him, threatening death and imprisonment.
2. He was not responding in kind: how do we know?
a. They were not killed!
b. They were not imprisoned!
c. He wept at every contact.
43:24 “The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.
43:30 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
45:1-2 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping.
45:14-15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them.
50:17 Afterward his brothers talked with him. ‘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.”
i. Kidner Behind the harsh pose there was warm affection (42:24, etc.), and after the ordeal overwhelming kindness. Even the threats were tempered with mercy (cf. 42:16-19; 44:9,10), and the shocks that were administered took the form of embarrassments rather than blows. A vindictive Joseph could have dismayed his brohers with worthless sackloads, or tantalized them at his feast as they had tantalized him (37:24, 25); his enigmatic gifts were a kinder and more searching test.
iii. Joseph is doing for his brothers what God had done for him.
1. Dreamer to slave to servant to prisoner to prime minister.
2. Shepherds to hungry to falsely accused to restored.
Kidner—
Just how well-judged was his policy can be seen in the growth of quite new attitudes in the brothers, as the alternating sun and frost broke them open to God.
III. Where do we go from here?
a. God is SOVEREIGN and good.
i. We have all been disciplined, but by imperfect parents; thus, we fear and avoid more.
ii. God superintends such that His people are certain to experience the benefit of His promises.
1. Hebrews 12:
Heb. 12:3 ¶ For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary 1band lose heart.
Heb. 12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
Heb. 12:5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;
Heb. 12:6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”
Heb. 12:7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Heb. 12:8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Heb. 12:9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb. 12:10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.
Heb. 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
2. Philippians 1:6“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
What about us?
b. We can be RECONCILED as we acknowledge the sovereign goodness of God, who DISCIPLINES us through the choices that OTHERS make.
i. Discipline requires firm love.
ii. Discipline involves genuine mercy.
c. The Gospel
Another, greater, Joseph was DISCIPLINED, not for His own sins, but for ours.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
6th Sermon: 1 NOVEMBER
Resources: Genesis, Derek Kidner
Genesis, Bruce Waltke
Genesis, Walter Brueggemann
Genesis, in Expositor's Bible Commentary, John Sailhamer
Discipline, a sermon by Tim Keller
Reading: Genesis 41:46--42:28
The story thus far…
Joseph pushed his ten brothers once too often, so they conspired to detain him and sell him to slave traders passing by.
Joseph is sold again to Potiphar, a high-ranking Egyptian, who recognized his unusual abilities and placed him in charge of his entire household.
Potiphar’s wife attempted to seduce Joseph, then when he refused, falsely accused him as the aggressor. Potiphar had Joseph arrested and placed in prison.
After two years in prison, Joseph was given charge of the prison by the chief jailer. While there, two of the King’s arrested court officers had dreams, told Joseph, who then interpreted their dreams accurately. No credit was given.
Two years later, Pharaoh had a dream, called for interpreters, who could do nothing. Joseph’s name was recalled; he interpreted the dream to the Pharaoh’s satisfaction.
Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of preparing for the dream’s fulfillment.
Now that he is out of prison, married to an Egyptian, and the father of two sons, the story grows more complex: his brothers show up looking to buy food for the famine.
NOTICE:
1. Joseph’s sons—the birth account marks the pivot point of the story.
Manasseh—nasa, ‘forget’
Ephraim—hiprani, “made me fruitful”
2. Doublets:
Literary device: doublets to “prove” that God set this up…
Sailhamer, EBC The central theme of chapter 41 is expressed clearly and forthrightly within the narrative itself by Joseph in
v.32: “the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.”
…the ASSURANCE that God will surely bring future events to pass comes from the fact that the dreams relating those events are repeated twice.
• In the previous chapter the “two” (shene 40:2) officials of the king each had a dream.
• “Two” dreams with the same meaning show that God will certainly bring about that which was foreseen in the dreams. One dream was good, the other bad. The dreams and their interpretations are repeated twice, once by the writer in the narrative of chapter 40 and then again by the cup-bearer before the Pharaoh in vv.9-13.
• After “two years” (shenath ayim v.1), the king himself had “two” (shenith v.5) dreams, one part of each dream was good (“years of great abundance,” v.29) and the other bad (“years of famine,” vv.27, 30).
• Within the narrative, each of the two dreams is repeated twice, once by the writer (vv.1-7) and again by Pharaoh (vv.17-24).
The point of the narrative is that such symmetry in human events is evidence of a divine work.
I. The Story
Waltke--The original prophecy to Joseph is about to be fulfilled quickly in the three journeys to Egypt:
first by Joseph’s ten hateful brothers (42:1-38),
second by them and his younger full brother Benjamin (43:1-45:28), and
third by all the brothers and his father, Jacob (46:1-27).
The family cannot find salvation in Egypt until the brothers are first reconciled with Joseph.
a. Scene I 42:1-38
Waltke: In Scene 1 (42:1-38), the first journey to Egypt, Joseph imprisons Simeon, promising his release upon their second journey with Benjamin in hand. However, by clandestinely placing money in their sacks, Joseph gives them the choice of either returning the money, guaranteeing Simeon’s release, or of keeping it and jeopardizing his freedom.
b. Scene 2 43:23
Waltke: In Scene 2, Joseph’s steward returns Simeon to them as soon as, but only after, they return the money to him (43:23). At the end of that scene, Joseph tests the brothers by giving Benjamin preferential treatment, but without envy the joyous brothers drink freely together.
c. Scene 3
Waltke: In Scene 3, Joseph puts the brothers to their final test of loyalty to a needy brother. This time he makes Benjamin alone appear guilty by clandestinely placing his silver cup in his sack and counseling the other brothers to return home in peace. Judah, however, offers himself as a slave in his brother’s place. Joseph is now free to discard his Egyptian mask; they prove they are brothers he can trust through thick and thin. He assures them of his good will.
…he brilliantly regroups the brothers in the same way as in the first scene of this book. However, instead of the brothers ganging up against Rachel’s son (Joseph), they rally round Rachel’s son (Benjamin). Instead of being cold and indifferent to their father, as in Scene 1, they are now filled with compassion for him.
In retrospect, it is clear that Joseph’s harsh, accusing treatment of his brothers serves both to discipline them and to test them, not to vent his spleen. Through his severe mercy they confess their sin and renounce their hateful ways (42:21, 28; 44:16). At the end of the day, he does them only good, not harm.
d. Scene 4
Waltke: In Scene 4, the act’s denouement, the whole family migrates toward Egypt to find salvation with Joseph.
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. The patterns in the story are repetitive but purposeful.
i. Joseph’s ups and downs are repeated for his brothers.
ii. The family’s ups and downs are repeated for Israel.
Waltke: Joseph prefigures Moses at the founding of Israel and Daniel at the end of Israel’s monarchy. All three, oppressed captives in a hostile land, come to power by pitting God’s wisdom against the wise of this world and displaying the superiority of God’s wisdom and his rule over the nations. They prefigure Christ, God’s wisdom, who astonishingly is raised from the cross to rule the world (1 Cor. 1:18-2:16; Rev. 12:1-5). As all were commanded to bow before Joseph (Gen. 41:43), so “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Phil. 2:10),.
iii. …and for Moses
iv. …and for David
Waltke: In the case of Jacob, this pattern was necessary to discipline Jacob and prepare him to become a true covenant partner in God’s blessing. This is less obvious in the case of Joseph. His afflictions are unjust. But each person learns dependence on God. Roop states, “The pilgrimage of Joseph from slave to vice-regent parallels the journey of Israel as escapees from Egypt to the nation under Solomon, the life of David from shepherd’s helper to king, and the story of Jesus from manger to the right hand of God…The presence of God brings life in the place of death, honor instead of humiliation, and fertility over sterility…The story depends not on the prowess of the people, but the presence of God, Immanuel (Matt. 1:20-23).” This pattern of humility and exaltation is the pattern for all saints: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (I Peter 5:6).
Brueggemann—“This narrative affirms that power is a good thing. It celebrates the capacity to make tough decisions, to face crisis boldly, and to practice prudence so that the empire can be fed…This is public power for the public good.”
Cf Christ on the teaching that the first shall be last, Matt. 19:30; 20:16; Mark 9:35; 10:31.
b. The purpose of God is to reconcile and restore, as a true Father.
i. The family was fractured and only God could bring reconciliation.
ii. The reconciled family could then be restored with blessing.
Joseph uses his knowledge of his brothers both to fulfill his calling and to test their love and loyalty to a brother in need.
i. What about the negative side of God’s sovereignty?
ii. Von Rad—What is theologicially noteworthy is the way in which the strong predestination content of the speech is combined with a strong summons to action. The fact that God has determined the matter, that God hastens to bring it to pass, is precisely the reason for responsible leaders to take measure!”
c. God used a roller-coaster to DISCIPLINE Joseph.
i. Privileged son & brother to
ii. Detained captive to
iii. Slave to
iv. Prisoner to
v. Prime Minister of Egypt.
d. Joseph used roller-coaster DISCIPLINE to change his brothers.
i. Joseph moves his brothers back and forth from Egypt to Canaan and back again.
1. Scene 1
2. Scene 2
3. Scene 3
4. Scene 4
ii. Joseph’s harsh tone is not surprising. 42:7
1. His brothers had been harsh to him, threatening death and imprisonment.
2. He was not responding in kind: how do we know?
a. They were not killed!
b. They were not imprisoned!
c. He wept at every contact.
43:24 “The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.
43:30 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
45:1-2 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping.
45:14-15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them.
50:17 Afterward his brothers talked with him. ‘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.”
i. Kidner Behind the harsh pose there was warm affection (42:24, etc.), and after the ordeal overwhelming kindness. Even the threats were tempered with mercy (cf. 42:16-19; 44:9,10), and the shocks that were administered took the form of embarrassments rather than blows. A vindictive Joseph could have dismayed his brohers with worthless sackloads, or tantalized them at his feast as they had tantalized him (37:24, 25); his enigmatic gifts were a kinder and more searching test.
iii. Joseph is doing for his brothers what God had done for him.
1. Dreamer to slave to servant to prisoner to prime minister.
2. Shepherds to hungry to falsely accused to restored.
Kidner—
Just how well-judged was his policy can be seen in the growth of quite new attitudes in the brothers, as the alternating sun and frost broke them open to God.
III. Where do we go from here?
a. God is SOVEREIGN and good.
i. We have all been disciplined, but by imperfect parents; thus, we fear and avoid more.
ii. God superintends such that His people are certain to experience the benefit of His promises.
1. Hebrews 12:
Heb. 12:3 ¶ For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary 1band lose heart.
Heb. 12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
Heb. 12:5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;
Heb. 12:6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”
Heb. 12:7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Heb. 12:8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Heb. 12:9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb. 12:10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.
Heb. 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
2. Philippians 1:6“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
What about us?
b. We can be RECONCILED as we acknowledge the sovereign goodness of God, who DISCIPLINES us through the choices that OTHERS make.
i. Discipline requires firm love.
ii. Discipline involves genuine mercy.
c. The Gospel
Another, greater, Joseph was DISCIPLINED, not for His own sins, but for ours.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Another Question about Joseph & Sexual Temptation
Lane,
If Joseph "got too close" emotionally to Potiphar's wife, was he then lying when he said to the chief cupbearer, "Now I'm here in jail, but I did nothing to deserve it"? (40:15)
If Joseph "got too close" emotionally to Potiphar's wife, was he then lying when he said to the chief cupbearer, "Now I'm here in jail, but I did nothing to deserve it"? (40:15)
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Temptation of Joseph
The Temptation of Joseph
Genesis 39
Reading: Gen 39:1-20 Temptations of Power, Sex, and Bitterness
I. The Story
Waltke--The events of the biblical narrative often echo previous events. These echoes declare that God is sovereign over history. God instructed Noah to build an ark. Then he brought all creatures to Noah to redeem the covenant people and accomplish the salvation of creation in the midst of natural disaster. Now God leads Joseph to build storehouses, and all people are brought to Egypt. In the midst of the natural disaster of famine, God will redeem the covenant people and rescue the world.
a. Potiphar has purchased Joseph.
i. He was the head of the army of Egypt—a high position.
ii. He was named after one of the deities of Egypt.
William A. Ward, “Egyptian Titles In Genesis 39-50”
…attached to the royal palace guard seems indicated by the description of him as “an officer of Pharaoh” and the fact that he himself could throw Joseph into the prison where the prisoners of the state were kept (Gen. 39:1, 20). Only an officer close to the palace would have this kind of authority.
IRONY…If Joseph was actually made Vizier, he thus had direct personal control over Potiphar.
Joseph as “overseer of the house” of Potiphar (Gen. 39:4).
b. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt responding to his circumstance in a remarkably different manner.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
c. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
d. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
e. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
f. From head of the prison to prime minister of the land.
Along the way…
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Temptation of Power—What temptation? Why refused? How declined?
Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of high position.
i. Difficult to wield power without being overwhelmed by that power.
ii. Potiphar’s wife is all about power, using that power over Joseph. Her power has corrupted her heart.
In contrast…
iii. Joseph used power he was granted to bless those under his influence.
1. Potiphar
2. Later, The head jailer, The cupbearer and the baker in prison, The nation, His family
iv. He was mistreated at the hands of power: [Swindoll]
1. Underserved treatment from family.
2. Unexpected restrictions from circumstances, …either physically or emotionally.
3. Untrue accusations from people.
James descries the tongue as a fire (James 3:5-6). In one day its careless, untrue statements can completely incinerate a reputation that has taken years to build.
b. The Temptation of Sex
i. We know why Potiphar’s wife was seductive.
1. She was power-mad.
Sarna: Sikba ‘immi--Come to bed with me! Her clipped proposition portrays brutish lust.
2. She was flexible.
Further, the attack had flexibility: if Joseph could not be stormed he might be coaxed, for a refusal to be so much with her could look quite unreasonable.
3. She was persistent.
Kidner: v.10—the constant pressure, day after day, was profoundly searching: it was this that would find out Samson twice in his career (Jdg. 14:17; 16:16).
4. She was effective:
Hamilton The word used for the article of clothing by which Potiphar’s wife grabbed Joseph (begged) is the same as that used in the previous chapter to describe the clothing that Tamar …removed (v.14), then put back on (v.19), the widow’s garb.
…it could refer both to an outer garment (2 K. 7:15) and an inner garment (Ezek. 26:16).
By using begged at this point, the narrator may be implying something about Joseph’s own emotional involvement in this story. He is on the verge of acting faithlessly to his master.
This makes Joseph more believable and his story more encouraging to us.
1. His resistance to temptation was being worn down by her persistence.
2. Just before he collapsed, he RAN away.
Knowing Potiphar’s wife was so seductive…
ii. Why did Joseph say “no”?
Kidner Joseph’s reasons for refusal (8,9) were those that another man might have given for yielding, so neutral is the force of circumstances.
1. His freedom from supervision and
2. His rapid promotion, which have corrupted other stewards (Is 22:15-25; Luke 16:1ff.), and
3. His realization that one realm only (9) was barred to him (which others, from Eve onwards, have construed as a frustration) were all arguments to him for loyalty.
Gen. 39:8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.
Gen. 39:9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Gen. 39:10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.
iii. How Did Joseph say NO?
Gen. 39:9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Kidner:
a. By giving the proposition its right name of WICKEDNESS (9)
a. he made truth his ally, and
b. “GREAT EVIL”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife = adultery & fornication
c. contrast Judah, who’s story of consorting with prostitutes we’ve just read
Kidner --saved his honour at the cost of his prospects; the NT recommends it (
19-20—Death was the only penalty Joseph could reasonably expect. His reprieve presumably owed much to the respect he had won; and Potiphar’s mingled wrath and restraint may reflect a faint misgiving about the full accuracy of the charge. But the unfolding story makes it obvious that God who had brought him here was preserving him for his task.
Prison—the Hebrew root suggests a round structure and therefore perhaps a fortress, which is the term used by LXX.
b. by relating all to God (9c) he rooted his loyalty to his master deep enough to hold---“sin against God”
c. by adding a technique that Joseph did NOT have available:
Heb. 3:13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
The temptation of Power
The temptation of Sex
c. The Temptation of Despondency, Despair, and Bitterness.
i. Joseph irritated his brothers; then had a change of heart in the desert.
1. Could he see why he was suffering?
ii. Joseph irritated Mrs. Potiphar, was unjustly jailed.
1. Could NOT see why he was suffering!
2. I’M DOOMED REGARDLESS!!
Imprisoned in a round, plastered, like the cistern in Dothan??
3. When I do bad things, I deserve punishment.
4. When I do well, I don’t deserve punishment.
iii. Dilemma:
1. How well must I do to avoid justice?
2. How poorly must I do to deserve justice?
3. MORALISM HAS ONLY ONE SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM:
a. make perfect choices.
iv. This is the pathway of all human religion.
v. GOSPEL: ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH WAS CAST INTO JAIL UNJUSTLY, SUFFERING CONDEMNATION WITH GUILTY CRIMINALS .
vi. INSIGHT THAT MORALISM CANNOT GIVE…
1. If Joseph had not been sold into slavery,
2. if Potiphar’s wife had not unjustly accused him,
3. if Potiphar had not had mercy on him and sent him to prison,
THEN, Jacob and his clan would not have survived the famine to come.
God was with him!
God was with him!
Westermann
The unifying motif in chapter 39 is that God was with Joseph. The presence of God is an essential part of blessing.
…Yahweh is on Joseph’s side, showering him with success, and this comes to have a wider effect on the house of the Egyptian as soon as Joseph ahs been appointed overseer. For blessing has a growing and pervasive power, just as it does in the story of Jacob in Laban’s houe.
Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and ıto him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
Psa. 1:1 ¶ How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Psa. 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psa. 1:3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
III. Takeaways
Hamilton--Wisdom literature does not outlaw adultery because God disallows it …The sanctions in Prov. 6 include: self-destruction (v.32); wounds, loss of respect, and public disgrace (v.33); a husband bent on revenge (v.34); no way to buy oneself out of trouble )v.35). Prov. 7;23 comes the closest-perhaps—to connecting adultery and the death penalty: “he does not know that it will cost him his life.” In short, the sanctions are not historical but rational.
1. Practical advice: Run!
I Cor. 6:18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
2Tim. 2:22 But keep away from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace, in company with others who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
2Pet. 1:4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.
2. God hates adultery not because He wants to stamp out fun!
…violates His covenant model: no broken covenants
…violates His triune nature: the Godhead interrelate as Father, Son, and Spirit; the angels are not welcomed into that circle; humans participate only indirectly; thus, swirling partners misses the model
This is not about Doing Better! This is about reordered LOVES.
Where does God reorder our loves?
i. Transform a heart, through the desert.
ii. God gave sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.
Genesis 39
Reading: Gen 39:1-20 Temptations of Power, Sex, and Bitterness
I. The Story
Waltke--The events of the biblical narrative often echo previous events. These echoes declare that God is sovereign over history. God instructed Noah to build an ark. Then he brought all creatures to Noah to redeem the covenant people and accomplish the salvation of creation in the midst of natural disaster. Now God leads Joseph to build storehouses, and all people are brought to Egypt. In the midst of the natural disaster of famine, God will redeem the covenant people and rescue the world.
a. Potiphar has purchased Joseph.
i. He was the head of the army of Egypt—a high position.
ii. He was named after one of the deities of Egypt.
William A. Ward, “Egyptian Titles In Genesis 39-50”
…attached to the royal palace guard seems indicated by the description of him as “an officer of Pharaoh” and the fact that he himself could throw Joseph into the prison where the prisoners of the state were kept (Gen. 39:1, 20). Only an officer close to the palace would have this kind of authority.
IRONY…If Joseph was actually made Vizier, he thus had direct personal control over Potiphar.
Joseph as “overseer of the house” of Potiphar (Gen. 39:4).
b. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt responding to his circumstance in a remarkably different manner.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
c. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
d. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
e. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
f. From head of the prison to prime minister of the land.
Along the way…
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Temptation of Power—What temptation? Why refused? How declined?
Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of high position.
i. Difficult to wield power without being overwhelmed by that power.
ii. Potiphar’s wife is all about power, using that power over Joseph. Her power has corrupted her heart.
In contrast…
iii. Joseph used power he was granted to bless those under his influence.
1. Potiphar
2. Later, The head jailer, The cupbearer and the baker in prison, The nation, His family
iv. He was mistreated at the hands of power: [Swindoll]
1. Underserved treatment from family.
2. Unexpected restrictions from circumstances, …either physically or emotionally.
3. Untrue accusations from people.
James descries the tongue as a fire (James 3:5-6). In one day its careless, untrue statements can completely incinerate a reputation that has taken years to build.
b. The Temptation of Sex
i. We know why Potiphar’s wife was seductive.
1. She was power-mad.
Sarna: Sikba ‘immi--Come to bed with me! Her clipped proposition portrays brutish lust.
2. She was flexible.
Further, the attack had flexibility: if Joseph could not be stormed he might be coaxed, for a refusal to be so much with her could look quite unreasonable.
3. She was persistent.
Kidner: v.10—the constant pressure, day after day, was profoundly searching: it was this that would find out Samson twice in his career (Jdg. 14:17; 16:16).
4. She was effective:
Hamilton The word used for the article of clothing by which Potiphar’s wife grabbed Joseph (begged) is the same as that used in the previous chapter to describe the clothing that Tamar …removed (v.14), then put back on (v.19), the widow’s garb.
…it could refer both to an outer garment (2 K. 7:15) and an inner garment (Ezek. 26:16).
By using begged at this point, the narrator may be implying something about Joseph’s own emotional involvement in this story. He is on the verge of acting faithlessly to his master.
This makes Joseph more believable and his story more encouraging to us.
1. His resistance to temptation was being worn down by her persistence.
2. Just before he collapsed, he RAN away.
Knowing Potiphar’s wife was so seductive…
ii. Why did Joseph say “no”?
Kidner Joseph’s reasons for refusal (8,9) were those that another man might have given for yielding, so neutral is the force of circumstances.
1. His freedom from supervision and
2. His rapid promotion, which have corrupted other stewards (Is 22:15-25; Luke 16:1ff.), and
3. His realization that one realm only (9) was barred to him (which others, from Eve onwards, have construed as a frustration) were all arguments to him for loyalty.
Gen. 39:8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.
Gen. 39:9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Gen. 39:10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.
iii. How Did Joseph say NO?
Gen. 39:9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Kidner:
a. By giving the proposition its right name of WICKEDNESS (9)
a. he made truth his ally, and
b. “GREAT EVIL”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife = adultery & fornication
c. contrast Judah, who’s story of consorting with prostitutes we’ve just read
Kidner --saved his honour at the cost of his prospects; the NT recommends it (
19-20—Death was the only penalty Joseph could reasonably expect. His reprieve presumably owed much to the respect he had won; and Potiphar’s mingled wrath and restraint may reflect a faint misgiving about the full accuracy of the charge. But the unfolding story makes it obvious that God who had brought him here was preserving him for his task.
Prison—the Hebrew root suggests a round structure and therefore perhaps a fortress, which is the term used by LXX.
b. by relating all to God (9c) he rooted his loyalty to his master deep enough to hold---“sin against God”
c. by adding a technique that Joseph did NOT have available:
Heb. 3:13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
The temptation of Power
The temptation of Sex
c. The Temptation of Despondency, Despair, and Bitterness.
i. Joseph irritated his brothers; then had a change of heart in the desert.
1. Could he see why he was suffering?
ii. Joseph irritated Mrs. Potiphar, was unjustly jailed.
1. Could NOT see why he was suffering!
2. I’M DOOMED REGARDLESS!!
Imprisoned in a round, plastered, like the cistern in Dothan??
3. When I do bad things, I deserve punishment.
4. When I do well, I don’t deserve punishment.
iii. Dilemma:
1. How well must I do to avoid justice?
2. How poorly must I do to deserve justice?
3. MORALISM HAS ONLY ONE SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM:
a. make perfect choices.
iv. This is the pathway of all human religion.
v. GOSPEL: ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH WAS CAST INTO JAIL UNJUSTLY, SUFFERING CONDEMNATION WITH GUILTY CRIMINALS .
vi. INSIGHT THAT MORALISM CANNOT GIVE…
1. If Joseph had not been sold into slavery,
2. if Potiphar’s wife had not unjustly accused him,
3. if Potiphar had not had mercy on him and sent him to prison,
THEN, Jacob and his clan would not have survived the famine to come.
God was with him!
God was with him!
Westermann
The unifying motif in chapter 39 is that God was with Joseph. The presence of God is an essential part of blessing.
…Yahweh is on Joseph’s side, showering him with success, and this comes to have a wider effect on the house of the Egyptian as soon as Joseph ahs been appointed overseer. For blessing has a growing and pervasive power, just as it does in the story of Jacob in Laban’s houe.
Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and ıto him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
Psa. 1:1 ¶ How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Psa. 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psa. 1:3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
III. Takeaways
Hamilton--Wisdom literature does not outlaw adultery because God disallows it …The sanctions in Prov. 6 include: self-destruction (v.32); wounds, loss of respect, and public disgrace (v.33); a husband bent on revenge (v.34); no way to buy oneself out of trouble )v.35). Prov. 7;23 comes the closest-perhaps—to connecting adultery and the death penalty: “he does not know that it will cost him his life.” In short, the sanctions are not historical but rational.
1. Practical advice: Run!
I Cor. 6:18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
2Tim. 2:22 But keep away from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace, in company with others who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
2Pet. 1:4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.
2. God hates adultery not because He wants to stamp out fun!
…violates His covenant model: no broken covenants
…violates His triune nature: the Godhead interrelate as Father, Son, and Spirit; the angels are not welcomed into that circle; humans participate only indirectly; thus, swirling partners misses the model
This is not about Doing Better! This is about reordered LOVES.
Where does God reorder our loves?
i. Transform a heart, through the desert.
ii. God gave sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.
Friday, October 16, 2009
What about intermarriage in Egypt?
A couple of questions came in response to my statement that one of the reasons God moved Israel to Egypt was to prevent further intermarriage there, as Judah had done in Canaan.
Certainly, that does not mean that Gentiles were unwelcome in the nation of faith. In fact, the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospels contains the names of women who were not Jewish: Rahab & Tamar.
The point of remaining distinct was that of spiritual separation from pagans, not to the detriment of the pagans but preserving the purity of faith in the nation.
The point of preserving that pure faith was to have a faith to offer to the pagans!
As to the "mixed company" leaving Egypt in the Exodus, Walter Kaiser comments:
38 The “many other people” (‘ereb rab; KJV, “mixed multitude”; cf. the “swarms” of flies in 8:21 [17 MT], ‘arob ) were composed of Egyptians (some “feared the word of the LORD” in 9:20), perhaps some of the old Semitic population left from the Hyksos era and slaves native to other countries. Some of this group must be part of the “rabble” (ha’sapsup lit., “a collection”) mentioned later in Numbers 11:4. Thus the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, of a blessing to “all peoples on the earth,” received another fulfillment in this swarm of foreigners who were impressed enough by the power of God to leave Egypt with Israel after all the plagues had been performed. Another aspect of God’s display of his power was so that the Egyptians could, if they only would, be evangelized (7:5; 8:10, 19; 9:14, 16, 29-30; 14:4, 18).
Hopes that helps!!
Certainly, that does not mean that Gentiles were unwelcome in the nation of faith. In fact, the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospels contains the names of women who were not Jewish: Rahab & Tamar.
The point of remaining distinct was that of spiritual separation from pagans, not to the detriment of the pagans but preserving the purity of faith in the nation.
The point of preserving that pure faith was to have a faith to offer to the pagans!
As to the "mixed company" leaving Egypt in the Exodus, Walter Kaiser comments:
38 The “many other people” (‘ereb rab; KJV, “mixed multitude”; cf. the “swarms” of flies in 8:21 [17 MT], ‘arob ) were composed of Egyptians (some “feared the word of the LORD” in 9:20), perhaps some of the old Semitic population left from the Hyksos era and slaves native to other countries. Some of this group must be part of the “rabble” (ha’sapsup lit., “a collection”) mentioned later in Numbers 11:4. Thus the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, of a blessing to “all peoples on the earth,” received another fulfillment in this swarm of foreigners who were impressed enough by the power of God to leave Egypt with Israel after all the plagues had been performed. Another aspect of God’s display of his power was so that the Egyptians could, if they only would, be evangelized (7:5; 8:10, 19; 9:14, 16, 29-30; 14:4, 18).
Hopes that helps!!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Questions Asked via Messaging
Here are the questions that I have received over the past weeks; most of these were answered "live" but I thought those who missed the interaction in the room might enjoy the quality of questions being asked!
Beauty sermons from August 2009:
Q: How do you separate the desire for acquiring beauty from materialism?
A: Tough to do so; the two easily merge. It's helpful for me to think of beauty as something to be savoured rather than possessed. Accumulating "beautiful" objects can quickly degenerate into materialism. We often prove to be simple creatures! The experience of beauty is what I am after, not the grasping of things that remind me of beauty.
Q: Is the glory of God reflected in the beauty of the new Jaguar or just in the 'creation' of nature?
A: I understand that human creative acts can reflect beauty; nature's beauty would be God's direct expression of beauty; our creative acts can mimic that. So, yes, the Jaguar IS beautiful! Not dependable, perhaps, but beautiful...
Q: Can you comment on aesthestics such as those that have adorned the Catholic Church as good or bad?
A: Wow, that debate has been alive since Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer, emptied all the statuary in his Canon's parishes. I am sympathetic to his arguments, which remind us that "no graven image" is to distract us from the beauty and glory of God. Certainly, that goes all the way back to Augustine in the fifth century, so Zwingli's argument was not new.
I do believe that Zwingli over-reacted to the issue. From childhood, I was made to feel uncomfortable with any depiction of Jesus, so that is a struggle that remains. However, the concept of beauty as expressed in painting, sculpture, etc. does NOT contradict the Commandment.
Q: How do we reconcile that the subjectivity of beauty causes some people to look at God's works without seeing beauty because of personality or spiritual disorder?
A: Paul addresses that directly in Romans 1--we are all accountable to recognize the eternal and divine nature of God in his work of creation. Psalm 19:1-6 is a root of this thought from Paul; it's not original with the apostle. We are broken at every level, thus we cannot savour beauty for all it's worth; often, we cannot even perceive beauty. The English proverb imploring the hearer to "stop and smell the roses" echoes the tendency to move too quickly through the day without even noticing beauty around, though the assumption is that the beauty CAN be perceived.
Q: The language you are using is very close to that of Screwtape. Are you saying that we should desire to possess God in the same sense?
A: Yes, I think I am saying that. We perceive the glory of God and by that perception experience Him; this is what Paul was driving home in Romans 1, not just that we are accountable but that He is available to us. Eccl 3's "eternity in their hearts" is a similar idea--we have the capacity to perceive Him, "through a glass darkly."
Q: How does NT Wright deal with the Scripture that states that the old heaven and earth will pass away and there will be a new heaven and earth?
A: Gingerly. Wright expresses the connection between the two as follows: We work hard in the present, fallen earth, believing that God will somehow take the hard work which He inspires and enables us to accomplish now as the "building blocks or stones" which will be used by Him to construct the new heaven and the new earth. He professes not to fully understand such a process, but that without such a connection, he is left with a sense of futility over work done now.
I find his guesses intriguing but not fully satisfying!
Read NTWright's "Surprised By Hope" for more detail.
Joseph's Life Cyle (which is really about Judah!)
Q: What creates favoritism then?
A: We do. This is a sign of our brokenness, our fallenness, but it is a perversion of God's ability to savour each one of us with a special kind of love and joy. He also is fully justified in preferring Jacob to Esau, based in God's own character and intention.
We are made in His image, so we have similar capacities to savour those whom we love, but we distort and twist it into a raw favouritism. Our choosing one over another looks ugly, because it reflects our brokenness rather than God's wisdom and love.
Judah's sons: Er, Onan, Shelah
Q: You imply that Er's death at God's hand was a deserving death because Er was evil. Is premature death a mark of evil and judgment?
A: Yes. Not always the evil of the dying person, though!!! All death is a a result of evil, since the Fall of Adam and Eve. "Premature" death most often happens because of someone else's evil (murder), rather than that of the dead. There are certainly occasions, like Er and Onan, where God directly intervenes and ends a life based on the devastation that is ABOUT to spread if that life were extended. This is God's role as a Just One. Without belief in a just being who makes such decisions, we are left hopeless in a world full of evil.
Q: Is God's will shaped by our culture? Eg, God's reason for killing Onan?
A: I think this question must have been stimulated by the way that I stated the point, and I don't remember precisely how I made the point.
I will say this: God DOES respond to our actions. Several places in the OT, this is plainly stated (God spoke to David: if you do this, I'll do that, etc.).
God's reasons for killing Onan had to do with the SEED. The SEED promised to Abraham was to go through Judah; Onan's refusal to provide offspring brought quick action from God, who at all times works to fulfill his promises to Abraham, without lapse.
On the other hand, our cultural decisions and tendencies do NOT shape God's intentions nor his will.
Q: How do we know that Judah had been with prostitutes before?
A: Several ways. First, Judah never expressed hesitation at bargaining with the veiled Tamar; his negotiations reflect his comfort and experience. Second, Tamar is said to have known his patterns, an apparent reference to his common behaviour with prostitutes. Third, the narrator is brutal about this, contrasting his behaviour with Tamar's, not defending him as innocent but for this one occurrence. Fourth, ALWAYS TRUST THE NARRATOR, one of the cardinal rules of reading narrative literature. Fifth, Judah's entire response of repentance (She is more just than I) is predicated on a new understanding of his moral condition, implying that this sort of thing was not new with him, but is now seen in a new light.
Beauty sermons from August 2009:
Q: How do you separate the desire for acquiring beauty from materialism?
A: Tough to do so; the two easily merge. It's helpful for me to think of beauty as something to be savoured rather than possessed. Accumulating "beautiful" objects can quickly degenerate into materialism. We often prove to be simple creatures! The experience of beauty is what I am after, not the grasping of things that remind me of beauty.
Q: Is the glory of God reflected in the beauty of the new Jaguar or just in the 'creation' of nature?
A: I understand that human creative acts can reflect beauty; nature's beauty would be God's direct expression of beauty; our creative acts can mimic that. So, yes, the Jaguar IS beautiful! Not dependable, perhaps, but beautiful...
Q: Can you comment on aesthestics such as those that have adorned the Catholic Church as good or bad?
A: Wow, that debate has been alive since Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer, emptied all the statuary in his Canon's parishes. I am sympathetic to his arguments, which remind us that "no graven image" is to distract us from the beauty and glory of God. Certainly, that goes all the way back to Augustine in the fifth century, so Zwingli's argument was not new.
I do believe that Zwingli over-reacted to the issue. From childhood, I was made to feel uncomfortable with any depiction of Jesus, so that is a struggle that remains. However, the concept of beauty as expressed in painting, sculpture, etc. does NOT contradict the Commandment.
Q: How do we reconcile that the subjectivity of beauty causes some people to look at God's works without seeing beauty because of personality or spiritual disorder?
A: Paul addresses that directly in Romans 1--we are all accountable to recognize the eternal and divine nature of God in his work of creation. Psalm 19:1-6 is a root of this thought from Paul; it's not original with the apostle. We are broken at every level, thus we cannot savour beauty for all it's worth; often, we cannot even perceive beauty. The English proverb imploring the hearer to "stop and smell the roses" echoes the tendency to move too quickly through the day without even noticing beauty around, though the assumption is that the beauty CAN be perceived.
Q: The language you are using is very close to that of Screwtape. Are you saying that we should desire to possess God in the same sense?
A: Yes, I think I am saying that. We perceive the glory of God and by that perception experience Him; this is what Paul was driving home in Romans 1, not just that we are accountable but that He is available to us. Eccl 3's "eternity in their hearts" is a similar idea--we have the capacity to perceive Him, "through a glass darkly."
Q: How does NT Wright deal with the Scripture that states that the old heaven and earth will pass away and there will be a new heaven and earth?
A: Gingerly. Wright expresses the connection between the two as follows: We work hard in the present, fallen earth, believing that God will somehow take the hard work which He inspires and enables us to accomplish now as the "building blocks or stones" which will be used by Him to construct the new heaven and the new earth. He professes not to fully understand such a process, but that without such a connection, he is left with a sense of futility over work done now.
I find his guesses intriguing but not fully satisfying!
Read NTWright's "Surprised By Hope" for more detail.
Joseph's Life Cyle (which is really about Judah!)
Q: What creates favoritism then?
A: We do. This is a sign of our brokenness, our fallenness, but it is a perversion of God's ability to savour each one of us with a special kind of love and joy. He also is fully justified in preferring Jacob to Esau, based in God's own character and intention.
We are made in His image, so we have similar capacities to savour those whom we love, but we distort and twist it into a raw favouritism. Our choosing one over another looks ugly, because it reflects our brokenness rather than God's wisdom and love.
Judah's sons: Er, Onan, Shelah
Q: You imply that Er's death at God's hand was a deserving death because Er was evil. Is premature death a mark of evil and judgment?
A: Yes. Not always the evil of the dying person, though!!! All death is a a result of evil, since the Fall of Adam and Eve. "Premature" death most often happens because of someone else's evil (murder), rather than that of the dead. There are certainly occasions, like Er and Onan, where God directly intervenes and ends a life based on the devastation that is ABOUT to spread if that life were extended. This is God's role as a Just One. Without belief in a just being who makes such decisions, we are left hopeless in a world full of evil.
Q: Is God's will shaped by our culture? Eg, God's reason for killing Onan?
A: I think this question must have been stimulated by the way that I stated the point, and I don't remember precisely how I made the point.
I will say this: God DOES respond to our actions. Several places in the OT, this is plainly stated (God spoke to David: if you do this, I'll do that, etc.).
God's reasons for killing Onan had to do with the SEED. The SEED promised to Abraham was to go through Judah; Onan's refusal to provide offspring brought quick action from God, who at all times works to fulfill his promises to Abraham, without lapse.
On the other hand, our cultural decisions and tendencies do NOT shape God's intentions nor his will.
Q: How do we know that Judah had been with prostitutes before?
A: Several ways. First, Judah never expressed hesitation at bargaining with the veiled Tamar; his negotiations reflect his comfort and experience. Second, Tamar is said to have known his patterns, an apparent reference to his common behaviour with prostitutes. Third, the narrator is brutal about this, contrasting his behaviour with Tamar's, not defending him as innocent but for this one occurrence. Fourth, ALWAYS TRUST THE NARRATOR, one of the cardinal rules of reading narrative literature. Fifth, Judah's entire response of repentance (She is more just than I) is predicated on a new understanding of his moral condition, implying that this sort of thing was not new with him, but is now seen in a new light.
Joseph & the Multi-Coloured Roller Coaster
Joseph & The Many-Coloured Roller Coaster
Genesis 39-40
Joseph was preferred by God as His own conduit for blessing. 39-40
Preview: Sara’s throat injury
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
I. The Story
A story for the short-sighted; a parable for the defeated.
Joseph on the roller-coaster ride in Egypt:
1. Sold as a slave by his brothers.
2. Rising to the heights in Potiphar’s household.
3. Falsely accused and imprisoned again in the dungeon.
4. Promises from God by the gift of interpretation of OTHER’s dreams!
a. The cupbearer
b. The baker
c. The Pharaoh
5. Rising to the heights in Pharaoh’s court.
a. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt quite different.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
b. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
c. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
d. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
Along the way…
e. Power temptation—Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of the highest position.
f. Sexual temptation
i. “a wicked thing”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife.
ii. “sin”
Gen. 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
Gen. 39:3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen. 39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.
Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Gen. 39:6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.
¶ Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
Gen. 40:4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.
Gen. 40:5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.
Gen. 40:8 Then they said to him, “We have 1had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
Gen. 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but aforgot him.
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
New Orleans was sinking year by year, decade by decade, century by century. Some realized that, others did not.
When debi and I honeymooned there, I was stunned to see with my own eyes that the Mississippi river, held back by a levee, was ABOVE the level of the protected streets. Parts of the city were 18 feet (5.4m) below sea level.
New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen, but few knew and no one listened.
i. God sees Joseph’s character, among his brothers.
ii. God oversees the sale of Joseph by his brothers, preventing his murder through the intervention of the fourth son, Judah.
iii. Joseph’s faith response to God.
1. Gen. 40:8-- Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
2. Gen. 40:15 “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
WE CAN’T SEE OURSELVES AS WE ARE!!
DiSC—we see ourselves as other’s see us…
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
Divine oversight of Joseph’s life and therefore of Abraham’s offspring.
i. Gen. 39--vv. 2,3, 21, 23--’the Lord was with Joseph’
1. This comment from the narrator explains the movements from the pit to the palace.
2. Joseph makes enemies for…
a. good reasons: lording it over his brothers
b. bad reasons: he refused to betray his lord
ii. He accompanies Joseph through the dessert to Egypt.
iii. He transforms Joseph’s heart on the journey.
1. Transformed from self-absorbed brat who might have delighted in the wife’s invitation.
2. Now, character enough to say, “no, this is sin, and this is wrong.”
3. The INNER TRANSFORMATION HAS EXTERNAL IMPACT.
DEEP INSIDE OUR LIVES, GOD’S PURPOSES ARE UNPACKING AND UNFOLDING.
Joseph was not aware of Judah’s move into the Canaanite camp, marrying a Canaanite woman; the drift towards Canaanites threatened God’s good purposes for Israel; the Egyptians mixed with NO-ONE! They wouldn’t even EAT in the presence of outsiders. In God’s good purposes, Israel was being moved into Egypt, to be preserved and to multiply unmixed for several hundred years.
God is at work in our lives: we just can’t yet see it all.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
i. Does this “bad thing” prove God is against me?
1. Things often “go wrong”!
2. Debi’s story:
Her dad was a career Air Force officer; they moved regularly from posting to posting. Twice, the assignment was Guam. During the first assignment, the family moved into officer’s housing, only to be moved again shortly.
You might imagine the frustration of a young mum, having just moved to the island with two very young daughters, only to be told they would have to move again immediately.
So, they did.
A week later, an Air Force plane crashed on approach, INTO THE HOUSE THEY HAD JUST VACATED.
I’m sure my mother-in-law was happy to have moved; and I am happy to be married to the toddler who was NOT in harm’s way.
THINGS OFTEN DO NOT GO THE WAY WE INTEND;
GOD ALWAYS WORKS OUT HIS GOOD INTENTIONS,
EVEN WHEN THEY MIGHT SEEM TO BE GOING AGAINST US.
III. Takeaways
If God is in charge of things, He must be either cruel or incompetent.
i. I’m alone.
ii. I’m deeply wounded by someone close to me, someone I trusted; who’s protecting me??
iii. I’m greatly disappointed by the circumstances of my life; this is NOT the way things were supposed to go.
This story tells us something completely different: God’s wises purposes are a fit with”bad” things that happen in our lives.
* God’s commitment to His own is unbending and without compromise, even though UNSEEN.
* God’s purposes can be recognized if we have eyes to see, but God continues his work even when we remain blind to them.
1. He doesn’t ask us NOT to believe what we see;
2. He asks us to more thoroughly believe what we hear from Him.
* God is delighted with what only God can do.
3. This is not about Doing Better!
a. If good intentions could save the day, they would have!
b. The stories of the Bible have no human heroes;
c. God’s active grace in the stories makes HIM the HERO.
4. Transform a heart, through the desert.
5. Give sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
We can be thankful that God is active in our lives, though out of sight.
ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH CAME TO WALK THE ROADS OF THE CANAANITES; HE SPOKE OF THE DEPTHS OF OUR BROKENNESS, THE GREATER PURPOSES OF GOD THE FATHER, UNFOLDING IN GRACE.
THAT NEW and GREATER JOSEPH WAS ARRESTED, STRIPPED, AND PUT TO DEATH.
All who will hear him, and trust him will become part of his family, and enjoy His friendship, FIND REST FROM WORRY AND ANXIETY, BECAUSE His purposes as good.
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth thee.
Genesis 39-40
Joseph was preferred by God as His own conduit for blessing. 39-40
Preview: Sara’s throat injury
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
I. The Story
A story for the short-sighted; a parable for the defeated.
Joseph on the roller-coaster ride in Egypt:
1. Sold as a slave by his brothers.
2. Rising to the heights in Potiphar’s household.
3. Falsely accused and imprisoned again in the dungeon.
4. Promises from God by the gift of interpretation of OTHER’s dreams!
a. The cupbearer
b. The baker
c. The Pharaoh
5. Rising to the heights in Pharaoh’s court.
a. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt quite different.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
b. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
c. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
d. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
Along the way…
e. Power temptation—Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of the highest position.
f. Sexual temptation
i. “a wicked thing”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife.
ii. “sin”
Gen. 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
Gen. 39:3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen. 39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.
Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Gen. 39:6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.
¶ Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
Gen. 40:4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.
Gen. 40:5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.
Gen. 40:8 Then they said to him, “We have 1had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
Gen. 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but aforgot him.
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
New Orleans was sinking year by year, decade by decade, century by century. Some realized that, others did not.
When debi and I honeymooned there, I was stunned to see with my own eyes that the Mississippi river, held back by a levee, was ABOVE the level of the protected streets. Parts of the city were 18 feet (5.4m) below sea level.
New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen, but few knew and no one listened.
i. God sees Joseph’s character, among his brothers.
ii. God oversees the sale of Joseph by his brothers, preventing his murder through the intervention of the fourth son, Judah.
iii. Joseph’s faith response to God.
1. Gen. 40:8-- Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
2. Gen. 40:15 “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
WE CAN’T SEE OURSELVES AS WE ARE!!
DiSC—we see ourselves as other’s see us…
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
Divine oversight of Joseph’s life and therefore of Abraham’s offspring.
i. Gen. 39--vv. 2,3, 21, 23--’the Lord was with Joseph’
1. This comment from the narrator explains the movements from the pit to the palace.
2. Joseph makes enemies for…
a. good reasons: lording it over his brothers
b. bad reasons: he refused to betray his lord
ii. He accompanies Joseph through the dessert to Egypt.
iii. He transforms Joseph’s heart on the journey.
1. Transformed from self-absorbed brat who might have delighted in the wife’s invitation.
2. Now, character enough to say, “no, this is sin, and this is wrong.”
3. The INNER TRANSFORMATION HAS EXTERNAL IMPACT.
DEEP INSIDE OUR LIVES, GOD’S PURPOSES ARE UNPACKING AND UNFOLDING.
Joseph was not aware of Judah’s move into the Canaanite camp, marrying a Canaanite woman; the drift towards Canaanites threatened God’s good purposes for Israel; the Egyptians mixed with NO-ONE! They wouldn’t even EAT in the presence of outsiders. In God’s good purposes, Israel was being moved into Egypt, to be preserved and to multiply unmixed for several hundred years.
God is at work in our lives: we just can’t yet see it all.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
i. Does this “bad thing” prove God is against me?
1. Things often “go wrong”!
2. Debi’s story:
Her dad was a career Air Force officer; they moved regularly from posting to posting. Twice, the assignment was Guam. During the first assignment, the family moved into officer’s housing, only to be moved again shortly.
You might imagine the frustration of a young mum, having just moved to the island with two very young daughters, only to be told they would have to move again immediately.
So, they did.
A week later, an Air Force plane crashed on approach, INTO THE HOUSE THEY HAD JUST VACATED.
I’m sure my mother-in-law was happy to have moved; and I am happy to be married to the toddler who was NOT in harm’s way.
THINGS OFTEN DO NOT GO THE WAY WE INTEND;
GOD ALWAYS WORKS OUT HIS GOOD INTENTIONS,
EVEN WHEN THEY MIGHT SEEM TO BE GOING AGAINST US.
III. Takeaways
If God is in charge of things, He must be either cruel or incompetent.
i. I’m alone.
ii. I’m deeply wounded by someone close to me, someone I trusted; who’s protecting me??
iii. I’m greatly disappointed by the circumstances of my life; this is NOT the way things were supposed to go.
This story tells us something completely different: God’s wises purposes are a fit with”bad” things that happen in our lives.
* God’s commitment to His own is unbending and without compromise, even though UNSEEN.
* God’s purposes can be recognized if we have eyes to see, but God continues his work even when we remain blind to them.
1. He doesn’t ask us NOT to believe what we see;
2. He asks us to more thoroughly believe what we hear from Him.
* God is delighted with what only God can do.
3. This is not about Doing Better!
a. If good intentions could save the day, they would have!
b. The stories of the Bible have no human heroes;
c. God’s active grace in the stories makes HIM the HERO.
4. Transform a heart, through the desert.
5. Give sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
We can be thankful that God is active in our lives, though out of sight.
ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH CAME TO WALK THE ROADS OF THE CANAANITES; HE SPOKE OF THE DEPTHS OF OUR BROKENNESS, THE GREATER PURPOSES OF GOD THE FATHER, UNFOLDING IN GRACE.
THAT NEW and GREATER JOSEPH WAS ARRESTED, STRIPPED, AND PUT TO DEATH.
All who will hear him, and trust him will become part of his family, and enjoy His friendship, FIND REST FROM WORRY AND ANXIETY, BECAUSE His purposes as good.
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth thee.
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