- araratchurch
- Jun 18, 2024
- 3 min read
“When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!””
Genesis 37:18-20 NLT
What happened between yesterday’s part of the story and today is that Jacob has sent Joseph to check on his brothers who were out watching over their flocks. As it turns out, they were not where they were supposed to be (Shechem). When someone informed Joseph that they had gone to Dothan, he is headed in that direction.
As we see in our opening scripture, when the brothers saw Joseph approaching, they began to collude against him.
I was struck when reading the words about them recognizing their brother coming from a distance, that it was probably because he was wearing that beautiful robe, the sign of his father’s favor that had made Joseph’s brothers hate him all the more.
Do you know that when you are in Christ, walking according to His will, you are wearing His robe of favor—the robe of righteousness:
“I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels. The Sovereign Lord will show his justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, with plants springing up everywhere.”
Isaiah 61:10-11 NLT
Now, when anyone walking in the spirit of this world sees that robe, they will resent you, just as Joseph’s brothers resented him.
You see, the spirit behind the world system, the devil, hates the beautiful robe of righteousness God’s children wear. He hates the favor of God it indicates. So, it’s no wonder that those whose heart is with the world system will hate the followers of Christ.
But remember, according to Jesus, when the world hates us, we are in good company, as it hated Him first!
““If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.”
John 15:18-19 NLT
Praise God, the same robe of righteousness that the world hates, is the same robe that assures us that God is working all things together for our good.
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
Romans 8:28 NLT
Yes, people operating according to the world system will hate us because we have put on Christ. But make no mistake, they cannot separate us from His love.
“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”
Romans 8:31-37 NLT
And what of Joseph? Sadly, his brothers are plotting to dispense with him…
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jun 17, 2024
- 4 min read
“One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!” His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them. Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!” This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.”
Genesis 37:5, 7-11 NLT
There is a legend telling of a person who was one of the losers in some Olympic-type games. The loser, being overwhelmed with jealousy, set out to knock down the statue erected in the winner’s image. The story goes that he chipped away at the bottom of the statue until it eventually succumbed, falling over on, and killing, the bitter loser.
Whether or not that story actually happened, the moral is true: The one who lashes out in envy and jealousy, will eventually be destroyed by it.
A story we know most definitely happened, is that of Haman. Indeed, Haman’s jealousy and hatred of Mordecai provoked him to build a gallows on which he planned to hang Mordecai. Not only that, in the process of ending Mordecai, all the Jews would be destroyed! However, Haman’s evil scheme backfired.
“In despair he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden. The king exclaimed, “Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?” And as soon as the king spoke, his attendants covered Haman’s face, signaling his doom. Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.” “Then impale Haman on it!” the king ordered. So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.”
Esther 7:8-10 NLT
Surely enough, Haman was executed on the gallows he intended for Mordecai. Not only that, Haman’s ten sons would suffer the same fate (Esther 9:14).
Yes, the Lord has spoken in no uncertain terms that vengeance belongs to Him.
“Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.”
Romans 12:19 NLT
We also know that the word of God assures that we will receive a just reward.
“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”
Galatians 6:9 NLT
Yes, at the coming of Jesus, all people will receive what they have earned.
“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.”
Revelation 22:12 NLT
Sadly, those who don’t really believe that the Lord brings ultimate justice, will often take it on themselves to take down “Mr. or Ms. Fancy Pants” a notch or two.
In our opening scripture we see that as if it weren’t enough that Joseph was favored by his father, now he is “boasting” of dreams indicating that he will rule over his brothers, and eventually, over even his parents.
(I put “boasting” in quotation marks because this was inferred by Joseph’s brothers and his father.)
It just so happens that they were correct in the interpretation of what were prophetic dreams. But, there is really no indication that Joseph saw himself as boasting. It seems he was simply (to him) telling them his dreams. But—whatever the case—it certainly was not a legitimate excuse for what they would do next.
Alternately, Joseph’s father—though also offended at the implications—set his heart to understand what he had heard.
Understanding as a noun is not the same as understanding as a verb. That is, we may never know why something happened, or why different folks are prettier, smarter, richer, more gifted, more favored, etc., than the rest of their fellows. Inequalities may never seem “fair.”
However, having understanding (the wisdom of God) is having the overall knowledge of how the world works (jealousy, treachery, conniving, etc.), versus how God works (righteousness).
Without God’s wisdom, we may well suppose things that will provoke us into doing terrible things.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jun 16, 2024
- 3 min read
“Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.”
Genesis 37:3-4 NLT
The Fall of man not only put a separation between man and God, it also complicated the relationships among fellow human beings.
The introduction of sin was the catalyst for the “blame game.” That is to say, just as Adam blamed Eve for what he did, his offspring—of which we are all a part—begin to scrutinize each other, comparing themselves among themselves. This tendency toward comparisons and competition often leads to seeing life as a balance in which if one has something that another does not have, the one not having, feels “cheated” and may well use that feeling to legitimize abuse of others.
Additionally, sin also introduced the dynamic where people look to others to define them, to approve them. Bear in mind, that’s looking to another broken soul to tell you who you are.
Accepting Christ brings peace with God. But the fact is, it should also bring peace with our Christian brothers and sisters. Sadly, that is not the case in most of the Church world.
Indeed, James addresses this issue.
“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.”
James 4:1-2 NLT
James speaks of the sinful tendency to want what other people have, and becoming willing to do bad things to get it.
Now, we know that as we learn to trust in the Lord, looking to Him as the source of our sense of well-being, we will decrease our dependence on other human beings to supply our needs, ego, and otherwise.
Given, living in a fallen world, we know that what other people think, or what we think other people think about us, can have a marked influence on our sense of well-being and our behavior. It never feels “fair” when someone is preferred over you.
What we must see in the story of Joseph and his brothers is the fact that it was not Joseph‘s fault that his father preferred him over the others. But that fact didn’t lessen the brothers’ resentment towards Joseph. He became the “reason” for their unhappiness. And on top of that, now he’s gotten this wonderful coat that he is “showing off.”
Wait a minute. Are you kind of feeling a little angst towards Joseph yourself? Is so, why?
The fact is, we have all been there: Whether founded in reality, or founded in our own inner hurts, we have all faced times when we have felt shortchanged.
How in the world does all this tie in with a discussion of justice? Again, to understand justice and injustice, we must know the excuses the devil will weaponize to produce great injustices, even genocides and holocausts.
Friend, our responsibility is to love true justice—not our idea of justice—but God‘s idea of justice. Again, this is only possible within a context of knowing that His ways are perfect; and, in the end, all will be set right. Don’t allow any excuse to provoke you to be a part of injustice in any form. Feelings of resentment, left unchecked, can lead to terrible things. But what about Joseph’s brothers?
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!