tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-185268702024-03-05T01:13:28.871-05:00Folks, Listen!The weekday blog of Pastor Scott DistlerPastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.comBlogger2163125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-41044760594220279452014-12-10T13:12:00.005-05:002014-12-10T13:12:59.658-05:00A VISION UPDATE THAT WILL BLOW YOUR SOCKS OFF!<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">On behalf of the Vision
Implementation Team, I have been asked to give you a full update on where we
are regarding our Vision Plan as a church and what our direction is in
continuing to implement this plan as we move into 2105. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In case you are unaware, the Vision
Implementation Team is led by </span><b style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Josh Kent</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> and
includes myself, </span><b style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Glen Catt</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">, </span><b style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Bill Blaker</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">,
</span><b style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Steve Dipzinski</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">, and </span><b style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Dave Baragrey, Jr.</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This is not going to be a short update but it
will be a very exciting one.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I hope that
you will read it carefully, prayerfully, joyfully and repeatedly.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">It is amazing what God has
done since we launched our original 3-year Vision Plan back in 2013. Let me review with you what God has already
accomplished as we took steps of faith as a church regarding the following
aspects of our original three year vision plan.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">A Technology Upgrade with an estimated
$220,000 cost including new lighting, environmental projection (in both the Gospel
Center and the Chapel); and all the equipment needed to broadcast to the Chapel
as well as to begin to broadcast on the internet. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS
UPGRADE WAS FINISHED AND COMPLETELY PAID FOR THROUGH DESIGNATED GIVING! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">The hiring of a part-time Technology
Director to launch our broadcast ministry.
</span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS WAS PROVIDED
THROUGH THE HIRING OF DAVE MINIER AND WAS PAID FOR THROUGH 2014 BUDGETED
GIVING! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">Broadcasting the message to the Classic
Service in the Chapel so that this important service was not interrupted by
having to walk down to the Gospel Center.
</span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS WAS COMPLETED! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">The expansion of our nursery to allow us
to bring all of our nurseries into one secure area and provide room for the
many young families God has been and continues to bring into our church. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS OVER
$600,000 PROJECT WAS FINISHED, INCLUDING A LOWER LEVEL GIVING US THE LARGEST
CLASSROOM IN OUR CHURCH, AND WAS COMPLETELY PAID FOR THROUGH DESIGNATED
GIVING! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">The hiring of a part-time Facility
Director to help us better care for and use the wonderful facility that God has
given to us. </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> <span style="color: red;">BY THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS WAS PROVIDED THROUGH THE HIRING OF
CHRIS OLDS AND WAS PAID FOR THROUGH 2014 BUDGET GIVING! </span>Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">The implementation of a much needed building
restoration and maintenance program to bring our facility up to the level where
it needs to be. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY
THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS HAS BEEN FINISHED AND COMPLETELY PAID FOR THROUGH
DESIGNATED AND 2014 BUDGETED GIVING! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">Broadcasting our Sunday worship service
on radio. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY
THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND PAID FOR THROUGH DESIGNATED AND 2014
BUDGETED GIVING! ALONG WITH BROADCASTING
OUR SUNDAY SERVICE LIVE ON THE EAGLE 101.5 WE ALSO HAVE A WEEKLY TAPED SERMON
PROGRAM ON THE PROMISE FM! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Praise the
Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">Broadcasting our Sunday worship service
on the internet. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY
THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS HAS BEEN COMPLETED ALONG WITH A VIDEO ARCHIVE OF PAST
SERVICES! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> Praise the
Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">The hiring of a full-time Children’s
Director to oversee our growing Children’s Ministry. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS WAS
PROVIDED THROUGH THE HIRING OF JULIA RUPP AND WAS PAID FOR THROUGH 2014 BUDGETED
GIVING! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">Increasing the Outreach Budget of our
church to 20% of our General Fund Giving.
</span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY THE GRACE OF GOD, WE ARE NOW UP TO 17% OF
OUR GENERAL FUND GIVING BEING GIVEN TOWARD OURTREACH! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">Seeing 80% of the Adults who attend
E-Free connected to our ministry through Life Groups and Equip-U Classes. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY THE GRACE OF GOD, WE HAVE
MADE GOOD PROGRESS IN THIS AREA. WITH
THE GROWTH OF OUR CHURCH, HOWEVER, THIS IS AN AREA THAT WE ARE STILL WORKING TO
SEE INCREASED PARTICIPATION IN TO REACH THIS LOFTY GOAL. </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Isn’t
absolutely amazing what God has already done?</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> It should in no way surprise
us. After all, He is a God that can do
super abundantly beyond anything we could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20)! In fact, this was especially evident as our
Vision Implementation Team sat down this past week to put a strategy together
to see our 2015 Vision Items implemented.
As we met, we discovered that almost every aspect on schedule for 2015
has already been paid for including the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">New Seating for the Chapel. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY THE GRACE OF GOD, WE HAVE
ALREADY RECEIVED A DESIGNATED GIFT TO PAY FOR THESE CHAIRS TO BE PURCHASED! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">The hiring of a part-time Classic
Service Worship Leader to enhance the music and worship in our Classic Service
each Sunday. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY
THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS HAS BEEN PROVIDED THROUGH THE HIRING OF MARY ELLEN
JOHNSON AND IS PAID FOR THROUGH THE 2015 BUDGETED GIVING! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">The hiring of a full-time Technology
Director. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY
THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS HAS BEEN PUT INTO THE 2015 BUDGET AND THERE IS CURRENTLY
A SEARCH TEAM CONSISTING OF DAVE MINIER, JOSHUA RUPP AND GEORGE LAKE JR THAT IS
COLLECTING RESUMES AND WILL BRING A FNAL RECOMMENDATION OF A CANDIDATE TO ME
FOR HIRING. </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> Praise the
Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">The hiring of a full-time Facility
Director. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY
THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS HAS BEEN PUT INTO THE 2015 BUDGET AND CHRIS OLDS HAS
AGREED TO STAY ON STAFF AS OUR FULL-TIME FACIITY DIRECTOR. </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">The hiring of a Pastor of Adult
Ministries whose main focus will be in helping to lead our adult ministries and
to develop and implement an effective strategy for seeing people connected to
our ministry here at E-Free. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY
THE GRACE OF GOD, THIS HAS BEEN PUT INTO THE 2015 BUDGET AND MARCUS WEGMEYER
WILL BE LEADING A SEARCH TEAM WHOSE TASK WILL BE TO BRING UP TO 3 FINAL
CANDIDATES TO ME FOR FINAL INTERVIEWS. </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">Phase 1 of a 3-part flooring replacement
plan throughout our church facility. </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BY
THE GRACE OF GOD WE HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED A DESIGNATED GIFT TO PAY FOR THIS
PHASE OF THE FLOORING UPGRADE TO BE COMPLETED! </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> Praise the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The remaining vision items
scheduled for the 2015 portion of our vision plan include the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">OUTREACH GIVING! </span></b><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">While we want to continue
on the path to see 20% of our General Fund giving going to outreach, we
realized that trying to make that increase in just 3 years was quite a
step. We are grateful that we have been
able to increase this to 17% and will continue at that percentage in 2015. We will then look to increase this by 1% each
year afterwards until we reach the 20% goal (18% in 2016; 19% in 2017; and 20%
in 2018).<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">TECHNOLOGY!
</span></b><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt;">Because our future vision plan includes
making more steps in saturating our county and northern Michigan with the
Gospel through technology, including a television ministry, our vision plan for
2015 includes doing a full technology evaluation so we know exactly what our
needs are. We estimate this evaluation
to be a cost of around $5,000. This will
allow us to then make a 3-year technology upgrade strategy for 2015, 2016 and
2017. We will wait to conduct this
evaluation until our full-time Technology Director has been hired and can spear
head this element of our vision plan. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">As you can see, we have
some exciting times ahead of us as a church.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">God has already proven Himself faithful to us and He has already shown
us that if we will step out on faith, He will part waters and open doors!</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Please continue to pray specifically that God
will be honored and glorified in all that we do and that He will use us to meet
as many people as possible right where they are and help us to move them to
where He wants them to be!</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Let’s
together believe God for even greater things and let’s be sure that we give Him
all of the glory for any good thing He chooses to do in and through us here at
E-Free!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">On behalf of the Vision
Implementation Team,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Pastor Scott<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-68834737324743457282014-11-22T14:19:00.001-05:002014-11-22T14:19:32.349-05:00Ingathering Sunday at Gaylord E-Free<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxzkNkD-Nw6CdgTwrPjD94izbmWvj5TndqoJZ2xe9_AfYB5HfLPOK1oYGjhTKXCvWECO4NfVArKg9HQtPvvtKKm42qYo5pp0DqJDpB_rQQukD4BFzeo63IDKba1sWkhhWI1Z7CiQ/s1600/477282_325710297484785_1308826136_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxzkNkD-Nw6CdgTwrPjD94izbmWvj5TndqoJZ2xe9_AfYB5HfLPOK1oYGjhTKXCvWECO4NfVArKg9HQtPvvtKKm42qYo5pp0DqJDpB_rQQukD4BFzeo63IDKba1sWkhhWI1Z7CiQ/s1600/477282_325710297484785_1308826136_o.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Tomorrow morning, November 23, will be our annual Ingathering Sunday here at Gaylord E-Free Church. This is a special Sunday here at E-Free. Please find below all of the details:<br />
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We will have all three worship services as usual including our 9am Classic Service in the Chapel and our 9am and 10:30am Contemporary Services in the Gospel Center Auditorium. There will be nursery and our children's ministries for all three of our services but there will be no Adult Equip-U Classes this Sunday.<br />
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We will be welcoming new members into our church family in all three of our worship services as well as dedicating hundreds and hundreds of Operation Christmas Child Boxes. I will be leading the worship in our Classic Service which will also include Angela Wideman providing special music and Pastor Jim leading in a pastoral prayer time. In our 10:30 service only, we will be seeing several people following the Lord in water baptism.<br />
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Along with our regular offering, we will be taking a special Ingathering Offering in all three of our worship services. It is our tradition that we do this on Ingathering Sunday which goes toward a major project or ministry. This year's Ingathering Offering will go towards paying off the remainder of what is owed on our recent nursery renovation and expansion.<br />
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The message in each of the three services will be the conclusion of our "Keep Calm and Journey On" series as we wrap our this series in which we have been reminded of our purpose as followers of Jesus on this journey called life! This Sunday's message, entitled "The Journey Continues" will focus on the influence of Joshua seen in Joshua 23-24 and the need for confidence, courage and commitment as we "Keep Calm and Journey On!" As part of this message we will be reflecting on all that God has done in and through E-Free Church over the past year!<br />
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Following the final service of the morning, we will all move down to the gymnasium end of our facility where we will be enjoying a full Thanksgiving Dinner together as a church family. This dinner is free and everyone is invited to stay and enjoy this time of food and fellowship as we wrap up a great Ingathering morning.<br />
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As always, all of our media ministry will also be operating Sunday. Our 9am Contemporary Service will be aired live on The Eagle 101.5FM. There will also be our video livestream of the 9am Contemporary Service on the web. At 11am on Sunday we will once again be broadcasting our "Folks Listen" radio show on The Promise FM featuring part 2 of the message, "Timeless Truths for a New Generation" which I preached here at E-Free last spring. <br />
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It is going to a great Ingathering Sunday at Gaylord E-Free this Sunday! Be sure to join us either in person, on the radio, or through our live stream!<br />
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Happy Thanksgiving!<br />
<br />Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-48053724012174212652014-08-21T21:53:00.002-04:002014-08-21T22:00:22.297-04:00Gaylord E-Free Making a Difference in Nicargua<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhlsAFvhxiIugftI-9Zi-2qGLF_iN_SXpXgUa5YkxBVTKcbKupTv_RW557S6LHE5uQ1q8Rt5KpwLQ0VTq5TNOPARiw6LnhV-cGTyuPqrNIiCy-UWv0uoR93hUTgXRwuutxK7Otkw/s1600/Nicfav7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhlsAFvhxiIugftI-9Zi-2qGLF_iN_SXpXgUa5YkxBVTKcbKupTv_RW557S6LHE5uQ1q8Rt5KpwLQ0VTq5TNOPARiw6LnhV-cGTyuPqrNIiCy-UWv0uoR93hUTgXRwuutxK7Otkw/s1600/Nicfav7.jpg" height="259" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">It was more than a
privilege to be part of our team from Gaylord E-Free that went to Nicaragua last week. In case you are not yet aware, our church is
part of a “church-to-church” partnership through World Orphans with a small
church in Managua, Nicaragua called “Verbo Sur.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">This church is led by a wonderful man named
Pastor Jairo.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">They are located in one of
the poorest communities in Managua where they also run a Child Development
Center (CDC).</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">This CDC involves academic
programs for preschoolers and a safe place for elementary aged students to come
to when they are not in school as their parents are at work.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">The CDC also involves a feeding program where
up to 150 children each day come to receive a hot, nutritious meal.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">This is crucial as the average child in Nicaragua
only gets one meal a day at best.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The
CDC allows these 150 children to avoid the malnutrition and disease that runs
rampant among children in this poor country.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Our partnership involves
supporting Verbo Sur’s CDC each month but the key to our partnership with Verbo Sur is relational. That is why we send one, sometimes two, teams
to Nicaragua each year. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aJJzf9u0p8iDCGA5L5pX1OyHPPNSjK2wPR7oGmm1Ce49B5AJ2gPAMAx0rm4yQNRpx0YhyvMAHSpv3haRSEUVGZsqBTXL9Qt69bixkVn4yXngrWoujBBS1Rdhjq2NWyYb4HAjXQ/s1600/nic94.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aJJzf9u0p8iDCGA5L5pX1OyHPPNSjK2wPR7oGmm1Ce49B5AJ2gPAMAx0rm4yQNRpx0YhyvMAHSpv3haRSEUVGZsqBTXL9Qt69bixkVn4yXngrWoujBBS1Rdhjq2NWyYb4HAjXQ/s1600/nic94.jpg" height="320" width="309" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">In the past we
asked Pastor Jairo if it would be more beneficial to send the money we spend on
these trips rather than taking the trips.
He insisted that our presence is what they need much more than our
money. He and his staff are starved for
encouragement and soak up our love and encouragement like a dry sponge while we
are there. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrcdNk3udC4dx_jkbTgAuwm7OMd0iulebeINuj9kSBvFDncNp2nrMCCE3XP5Qz3vVgYbNW0N3050X4vYLn6MbZgQC2dwuuaYtFq1asyzB2K_8T56CqIlXISKG5L1s5eccumrGlA/s1600/Nicfav14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrcdNk3udC4dx_jkbTgAuwm7OMd0iulebeINuj9kSBvFDncNp2nrMCCE3XP5Qz3vVgYbNW0N3050X4vYLn6MbZgQC2dwuuaYtFq1asyzB2K_8T56CqIlXISKG5L1s5eccumrGlA/s1600/Nicfav14.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">This was especially seen in
the life of Pastor Jairo’s wife.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">She was
in desperate need of encouragement and love from a godly woman which she found
in my wife.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Though they could not speak
the same language, they connected in a very special way.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Pastor Jairo shared how much Laura’s presence
met to his wife.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">I did not think Pastor
Jairo’s wife was going to let go of Laura when we were saying our good-byes at
the end of the trip.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> Obviously, the most enjoyable part of the trip was spending time with these precious children which included </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">playing with the children and doing crafts with them that we
had brought with us. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1bAL1NvJuR1_vdJvUdZXuycpH7eJkxhdvQf-LjAVfyXWNU6cuZvng9ucYoOK4bInXwBxITIACuO5r2w63DPYVNM4dyhbmOn6Kl2Dd6F4-SPGs1AWsiCfLw7Q2gUZh_odT0a6cPw/s1600/Nicfav17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1bAL1NvJuR1_vdJvUdZXuycpH7eJkxhdvQf-LjAVfyXWNU6cuZvng9ucYoOK4bInXwBxITIACuO5r2w63DPYVNM4dyhbmOn6Kl2Dd6F4-SPGs1AWsiCfLw7Q2gUZh_odT0a6cPw/s1600/Nicfav17.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 21px;">I think each of us on the team was drawn to one specific child. For me it was a boy I affectionately called "onion." I couldn't understand what he said his name was but it sounded like "onion" so that is what I called him. He would come over to me and point at my water bottle and say "agua." I would then have him tilt his head and open his mouth and I would pour some water in it. We did this for hours along with playing with paper airplanes and paper footballs!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">We also participated in a two day medical clinic in which
190 people (adults and children) from the community came to get free medical
treatment that included doctors from Nicaragua.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Each person that came had their height, weight, blood pressure and
temperature checked.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExa1YILFkB4E7mXyg1tuS3hlor7zd6vN7_scxanfttphPDqhMJiHGUyBfyHPTt7hVLlLvEtkzPS9ooFXEmBgwS1bjj6qNJbgFBtoi4uD2xwQCJlO7cjSi0UIYVG3X4WN_ES_z1w/s1600/nic53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExa1YILFkB4E7mXyg1tuS3hlor7zd6vN7_scxanfttphPDqhMJiHGUyBfyHPTt7hVLlLvEtkzPS9ooFXEmBgwS1bjj6qNJbgFBtoi4uD2xwQCJlO7cjSi0UIYVG3X4WN_ES_z1w/s1600/nic53.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">They also received a “d-worming”
pill due to the parasites that are in the ground and the small children also received
some vitamin A.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6k2ehH4_Yc480gQU93aB9p62ZEtG_58cqJlGxy79I20jaj6xnbzUD-m-_NlCR5MsRHztBSjxDj-6tNbUqW0BA8FEhSxpsOT0HWYkQKri3Nw0Z8DtVODe0lBS4LzVgabK7Qw-ImA/s1600/nic73.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6k2ehH4_Yc480gQU93aB9p62ZEtG_58cqJlGxy79I20jaj6xnbzUD-m-_NlCR5MsRHztBSjxDj-6tNbUqW0BA8FEhSxpsOT0HWYkQKri3Nw0Z8DtVODe0lBS4LzVgabK7Qw-ImA/s1600/nic73.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Each person also had
their blood sugar checked and met with a doctor.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">They then received any prescriptions they
needed and everything was free.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Our
partnership paid for all of the medicine that was given out over these two
days.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMn5i1VsygSZB_2rulXWMqdr219aP9vPPhEvhnk8uaQ6JzVTP775ht_jl2wWNI8CBndvhpLTG-KTZNvPDnNi_bsyNZ3qpKQtNdtcqOOb-NRvi4fFV8OvEEg2gNbHn2zrkDEeOpQ/s1600/nic74.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMn5i1VsygSZB_2rulXWMqdr219aP9vPPhEvhnk8uaQ6JzVTP775ht_jl2wWNI8CBndvhpLTG-KTZNvPDnNi_bsyNZ3qpKQtNdtcqOOb-NRvi4fFV8OvEEg2gNbHn2zrkDEeOpQ/s1600/nic74.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">The most beautiful part of
the medical clinic was watching a dear lady from the Verbo Sur church named
Veronica.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The last station in the clinic
for adults was meeting one-on-one with Veronica who talked with them about
their spiritual lives.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Veronica</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> prayed for
each one of them individually and over the two days she personally led 11
adults to Christ.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">When I saw her Bible I
knew exactly why she was so effective.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Her Bible was literally falling apart due to her excessive reading of
it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJcyGqQuHwdrIC12mAz1YdxHaSugzy82nboUR9CdYONVdO9prc1DRLw_MqtuwL5Sr-jaN4S-fYkW6zX7TxugI2rtqyr0Wsjpj8_ibt_6uZLJmb-X0CRI8vEKyDHS3CiLpBjfLGA/s1600/Nicfav1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJcyGqQuHwdrIC12mAz1YdxHaSugzy82nboUR9CdYONVdO9prc1DRLw_MqtuwL5Sr-jaN4S-fYkW6zX7TxugI2rtqyr0Wsjpj8_ibt_6uZLJmb-X0CRI8vEKyDHS3CiLpBjfLGA/s1600/Nicfav1.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">We also were part of a
food distribution day. Our partnership provided
rice, beans and sugar for 50 of the poorest families in the community around
Verbo Sur at the invitation of the church.
These families came to a program put on by the church which included a
message from pastor Jairo before they were each given a bag of much needed
food. Though we provided the food,
everything we provide is given through the church and the staff at Verbo Sur so
the people make the connection with them and not with us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">We also were part of the
Sunday morning service at Verbo Sur.
What a joy it was to be part of their lively worship. I could not understand one word they said
with my ears but I understood every word with my heart. It was truly beautiful to watch these very
poor people who are dedicated to the Lord singing praises in Spanish to the
Lord. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Pastor Jairo was also able to
present 7 of the 11 people who prayed to receive Christ at the Medical Center
that were at church that morning. There
were also several who had come to the food distribution that were there as
well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I had the privilege of preaching
that morning through an interpreter. Our
team got a real kick out of Dennis (the interpreter) as he did not just repeat
my words in Spanish, he mimicked every move and motion I made as well as all of
the up and down inflections of my voice.
Both of our interpreters as well as our bus driver was a very fun and valuable
part of our trip.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">On Sunday in front of his
church I also presented Pastor Jairo a plaque I had made that included a stone
I picked up in a creek at the Valley of Elah in Israel where David most likely picked
up his stone to kill Goliath. On the
plaque I had the verses in Spanish were David picks up the stone and uses it to
kill Goliath. I told Pastor Jairo that
my hope was that it would always remind him that there is no giant that can
come into his life or ministry that is bigger than our God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Our team gelled real well
on this trip and Brent Holmes, who is the Team Lead of our Mission Team and who
led the trip did an outstanding job. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">It was a joy to surround Pastor Jairo and the special staff at Verbo Sur and pray for them before we left them. They will remain in our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 21px;">I came home with great joy in knowing that E-Free Church is making a significant difference in this poor community in Managua, Nicaragua!</span><span style="font-size: 21px;"> </span></div>
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Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-16943323544821429282014-07-19T10:07:00.002-04:002014-07-19T10:07:51.516-04:00Sexuality: Honest Questions; Honest Answers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYMnYtozlp0TS_aWZ60JbhTMMa5Q_KJ9U7UTXyzuHwn_YFoWO5wZsCmjNa5ctFcnr5I0GNJQUDskpW30V_uC8KG18ZWoBNd6axyWuXYkoQ94Xt0904ypc0Pi9opWXw-MzgIOV7mQ/s1600/Sexuality+Series.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYMnYtozlp0TS_aWZ60JbhTMMa5Q_KJ9U7UTXyzuHwn_YFoWO5wZsCmjNa5ctFcnr5I0GNJQUDskpW30V_uC8KG18ZWoBNd6axyWuXYkoQ94Xt0904ypc0Pi9opWXw-MzgIOV7mQ/s1600/Sexuality+Series.jpg" height="148" width="320" /></a></div>
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We live in a culture today that has lost its moral
compass. Unfortunately, this truth about
our culture has also very much influenced the church in America. Many today that are regular church-goers lack
a definitive understanding of where “true north” is when it comes to
Biblical morality and human sexuality.
Beginning this Sunday, July 20, at Gaylord E-Free Church we will be
starting a new 7-week series that we are entitling, <b><span style="color: red;">“Sexuality: Honest Questions;
Honest Answers.” </span></b> The goal of this series
is to give a clear overview of what the Bible teaches about human
sexuality. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We will begin this series by looking at human sexuality
as God intended it. Remember, God is the
one who created sexuality. If we are
going to be able to identify the counterfeits to God’s intention, we must first
have a solid understanding of God’s original pattern and purpose for human
sexuality. From there we will answer the
question, “What does moral purity look like?” Has God's original pattern and purpose for human sexuality changed? Are there lines that should not be crossed when it comes to human sexuality? If so, where are those lines? We will also be taking two weeks during this series to
examine closely what the Bible really teaches about homosexuality. And just as important, we will be answering
the question, “How should the church respond to homosexuals?” <o:p></o:p></div>
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On the final two weeks of this series, I will be doing
something I have never done before in 28 years of being a pastor. Over the first five weeks, you can submit
questions you have about the Bible and human sexuality. For the message portion of our services on
the last two Sundays of our series, I will be giving honest answers from the Bible to your
honest questions. You can turn in those questions
in one of several ways. You can email me
at <a href="mailto:sdistler@gaylordefree.org">sdistler@gaylordefree.org</a>. Or
you can write down your question and put it in the box located at the Welcome
Center outside our church auditorium or place it in a sealed envelope with my
name on it and drop it in the offering.
It is fine to submit questions anonymously. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I would like to invite you to join us for this culturally
relevant series, “Sexuality: Honest Questions; Honest Answers.” Along with attending one of our three Sunday morning
services here at the Gaylord E-Free Church in Gaylord, Michigan, there are also
many others ways that you can be part of this series no matter where you live:<o:p></o:p></div>
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You can listen live to the audio of our 9am service on The
Eagle (101.5 FM) in Northern Michigan or via the radio station’s live stream at
<a href="http://www.radioeaglesports.com/">www.radioeaglesports.com</a> <o:p></o:p></div>
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You can watch the video of our 9am service through our church
website’s live video stream at <a href="http://www.gaylordefree.org/">www.gaylordefree.org</a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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At any time after Sunday you can watch the archived video
of the service also through our church website at <a href="http://www.gaylordefree.org/">www.gaylordefree.org</a> <o:p></o:p></div>
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Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-62522970211950148792014-06-26T20:55:00.002-04:002014-06-26T20:55:46.391-04:00An Open Letter to the Leadership of Gaylord E-Free Church<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">If anything, I tend to over-communicate with the leadership
of our church but I can’t help but share with them what God is doing in our
church here at Gaylord E-Free! During our
MINION WEEK Vacation Bible School this week, I have been sending them an update
email each night to share with them what God is doing. Today’s update was so amazing, I can’t help
put post my letter to our Elders, Staff and Leadership Team publicly for
everyone to see! To God be the glory!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Dear
Elders, Staff and Leadership Team:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
have been part of leading or teaching Vacation Bible Schools for 29 years but I
have never seen God working in a VBS like He is this week here at E-Free. The <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">stories
are too numerous to tell but I can tell you that 10 more kids made salvation
decisions today which means that through 4 days of VBS we have seen 91 kids
make decisions to receive Jesus as the personal Savior! Way to go, God!!!</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Today
was one little boy's first day at MINION WEEK Vacation Bible School. As he left, my wife heard him say to his
grandma who picked him up at the end of the morning, "Grandma, now I know
everything there is to know about God!"</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Tomorrow
is the last day of MINION WEEK but tomorrow night at 7pm is our family
celebration. We have invited all of the parents to join us and all of the
drawings for prizes, including the grand price of 4 tickets to Av</span><span class="textexposedshow">alanche Bay, will take place then! Best of all, I will have
the opportunity to share the Gospel with the parents much in the same way I
have with the children every day this week! Even if you have not been able to
join us for VBS this week, I encourage you to join us this Friday Night!</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now
let me switch gears and show you another way God is working among our children
and our young people. I AM LITERALLY
BLOWN AWAY!!! I told you earlier in the
week of the little boy who brought me 15 pennies out of his piggy bank that he
wanted to give toward our nursery expansion.
Something else happened in this same arena today!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This
morning, two brothers (age 6 and age 7) came up to me at VBS and gave me
envelopes with money in it from their own savings that they wanted to give to
our nursery expansion project. Their mother told me that they have been talking
about this as a family and that it was to</span><span class="textexposedshow">tally these two boys idea to take a large portion of their savings money
and give it to the church to help pay for our new nursery.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">I asked them if they were sure they wanted to give
this money for our new nursery! They smiled and said, "YES!" I asked
them why they wanted to give it. They smiled and said, "SO MORE PEOPLE CAN
LEARN ABOUT JESUS!" I looked at their mother and said, "This is
amazing!" Now it was her turn to smile as she replied, "They're
amazing boys!"</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">I went downstairs and counted the money. One
envelope contained $191.00! The other envelope contained $182.00! Between these
two brothers (ages 6 & 7) they sacrificed (I mean really sacrificed) and
gave $373.00 toward our new nursery!</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">If all of our adults would catch the vision for our
church that these two boys have, nothing would stop us! Though young, these
boys are examples of faith for all of us here at E-Free Church to follow! By
the way, these two boys are also planning to do a lemonade stand later this
summer so they can give more money to our nursery project.</span><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><span class="textexposedshow"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">That’s not
it! I saw on Facebook tonight that 2 of
our teenagers are having a b<span style="background: white;">ake sale and garage
sale tomorrow! There will be coffee,
cookies, lemonade, rice K</span><span class="textexposedshow">rispie treats and much more! All proceeds from the bake sale benefit our nursery
expansion. Here is what they wrote on Facebook, “This is just our way to do
something big for someone little!” <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Our
kids and teens have caught the vision of our church! I could not be more proud
as a pastor! If our kids and teens have caught the vision to the point that
they are sacrificing, I think it is appropriate that I ask each of you in
leadership, have you caught the vision?
Seriously, w<span class="textexposedshow">hat will you sacrifice so that
you can give BIG for someone LITTLE?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Blessings!<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Scott<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-33477617051661760642014-03-06T10:52:00.004-05:002014-03-06T10:52:34.409-05:00Gaylord E-Free Broadcasting Ministry to begin March 23<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Our
purpose as a church is to <b><u><span style="color: red;">MEET</span></u></b> as many people as possible right where
they are (spiritually, geographically and culturally) and help <b><u><span style="color: red;">MOVE</span></u></b>
them to where God wants them to be. As a
result, we have made the focus of our vision to saturate Otsego County with the
Gospel and let it bleed over into all of northern Michigan. A major part of this vision is technology as
we seek to reach every available person by every available means with the Good
News. Our technology upgrade is now
complete and we are ready to begin our broadcasting ministry. Praise the Lord! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">We
have tentatively picked <b><span style="color: red;">Sunday, March 23</span></b>, as our first broadcast Sunday
with our new camera system. On that
Sunday we will look to begin broadcasting live the sermon part of our Contemporary
Services down to the Classic Service in the chapel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Why
are we broadcasting the sermon down to the Classic Service?</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> <b><span style="color: #0070c0;">It is our
desire to see our Classic Service grow in both numbers and effectiveness. Currently the worship portion of the Classic
Service is abbreviated each Sunday so that there is time for the attendees to
walk from the Chapel down to the Gospel Center in time for the message. Broadcasting the message down to the chapel
will allow more time for worship in the Classic Service and it will allow for
the Classic Service to flow uninterrupted.
All of this together will enhance the worship experience in the Classic
Service.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">What
if people still want to be part of the Classic Service worship but watch the
sermon in person in the Gospel Center?</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> <b><span style="color: #0070c0;">There is certainly no problem if there are some who would
still want to attend the worship portion of the Classic Service and then walk
down to the Gospel Center in time for the message. The only difference will be that there will <u>not</u>
be a set time in the Classic Service when those who would like to walk down to
the Gospel Center will be dismissed.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Will
this broadcast be quality?</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> <b><span style="color: #0070c0;">The main reason we have not yet started the broadcast is
to ensure the quality. We wanted to be
sure that the quality was set before launching this phase of our vision. Not only will the picture be high definition
in quality, you will find the quality increased in that you will be watching
the speaker up close rather than from a distance.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">What
else will this broadcast technology allow for?</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> <b><span style="color: #0070c0;">Along with
broadcasting down to the Chapel we will also be able in the very near future to
begin doing a quality video live stream of our worship service on-line as well
as having video archive of services and messages available on our church
website. Down the road we will also be
able to consider expanding our broadcast ministry to television as well as
satellite campuses. <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">We
also continue to be excited about how we see the Lord working in regards to our
Radio Ministry. Currently, along with
the three services that we have here at the church each Sunday, there is also
the possibility for us to share the Word of God with thousands of others each
week through the following avenues:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: 12.0pt;">Pastor
Scott has a weekly live radio show on The Eagle 101.5FM each Wednesday morning
at around 8:20 where he talks about real life from a Biblical perspective<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: 12.0pt;">Our
9am Contemporary Worship Service is broadcast live each Sunday morning on The
Eagle 101.5FM as well as streamed live on The Eagle’s website at <a href="http://www.radioeaglesports.com/"><span style="color: red;">www.radioeaglesports.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: 12.0pt;">Every
Sunday morning at 11am our FOLKS LISTEN show is aired on The Promise FM
(90.5). This is a 30-minuted taped and
edited broadcast of Pastor Scott’s past sermons. FOLKS LISTEN can also be heard on-line at <a href="http://www.thepromisefm.com/"><span style="color: red;">www.thepromisefm.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">PLEASE
BE PRAYING THAT GOD WILL USE ALL OF THESE EFFORTS FOR HIS GLORY!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-84925083903678591332014-03-03T09:51:00.004-05:002014-03-03T09:51:59.983-05:00What Does Forgiveness Look Like?<div class="MsoNormal">
I received a Facebook message this weekend from an old friend of mind who asked me my thoughts on this question, </div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">"How do you know if you have truly forgiven someone? I've prayed with a sincere heart to forgive someone for a hurt they have done but thoughts of the hurt still come to my mind from time to time."</span></b></div>
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I think we were all taught a very unbiblical concept as kids when
we were told that forgiveness means you “forgive and forget.” As a result, whenever we “remember” a past
hurt we struggle with the question, “Have I really forgiven that person?”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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The truth is that the concept of “forgive and forget” is nowhere to be
found in Scripture nor, in my opinion, is it even possible.
I can remember my past hurts – especially the big ones. So if forgiveness isn’t forgetting, what is
it? </div>
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In 1 Corinthians 13 we learn two
things about love. First we learn that
love is patient. The word “patient”
describes being wronged, having the power to retaliate, but choosing not to do
so. I think this is a great definition
of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not
forgetting. Forgiveness means that when
I remember the hurt, and I am tempted to bring that hurt back up in order to use it as a weapon
to get back at the person who hurt me, I choose not to do so. That is forgiveness.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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1 Corinthians 13 goes on to say that love "keeps no record of wrongs." I think it is a
similar concept. I may remember past
hurts, but I don’t intentionally keep that memory tucked away in my mind and heart with the motive to use it against the
person at some point in the future.
Forgiveness says, “Even though I remember how you hurt me, and even
though I am tempted when that memory comes to use it as a weapon against you, I
choose through the power and grace of God not to do so.” That to me is Biblical forgiveness and as well as a quality of Biblical love. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A book that really helped my wife and I when we went through
a time in our ministry when people hurt us deeply was R.T. Kendall’s book, “Total
Forgiveness.” It’s a good read for anyone who wants to know more about what forgiveness looks like!</div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-22555647150681483352014-02-27T10:48:00.001-05:002014-02-27T10:48:51.031-05:00March Gaylord E-Free Preview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2M77nj6O6nHdJe9hDDOGmTLlKB3TQ9PtAOiBtu3HJFrrtSqPQ6JDNTEFVZxR6_JuZXjaxjd5Vk9WGgPZZu9E4-_K3tpXgVtGLupohtDJijFqMKnVP-8QavfqQe8P_H6a-HP7UQ/s1600/477282_325710297484785_1308826136_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2M77nj6O6nHdJe9hDDOGmTLlKB3TQ9PtAOiBtu3HJFrrtSqPQ6JDNTEFVZxR6_JuZXjaxjd5Vk9WGgPZZu9E4-_K3tpXgVtGLupohtDJijFqMKnVP-8QavfqQe8P_H6a-HP7UQ/s1600/477282_325710297484785_1308826136_o.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">God is doing some amazing things here at Gaylord E-Free and the month of March is set to be quite a month for our ministry. Below is an update of just a few of the highlights that will happen in the coming month as we continue to strive to </span><b style="background-color: yellow; font-size: 14pt;">MEET as many people as possible right where they are and help MOVE them to where God wants them to be</b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">:</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">THE TRIAL OF THE AGES<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Over the first 3 Sundays
of March we will be completing our character study in the life of Moses. Beginning March 23 we will start a new 4-week
series that we are calling “<b>The Trial of
the Ages</b>.” Over the 12 hours in
between Jesus’ arrest and His crucifixion He endured six grueling and illegal
trials. We will be digging into the
Gospels and studying what the Bible says in detail about these trials. Over the 3 Sundays leading up to this series,
Pastor Joe will be teaching a <b>Parallel
Points Class</b> on Sunday nights which will follow Jesus from His triumphal
Entry through his arrest. This series
will help to prepare us for the Easter season.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilugcoMcyF0opTdxHr3ZtQzCOMq_zN1l30F6huYeZ9lDSqYVpa9xC6gx3Dm4qpZcPZdVgqj1VkHqsGwbYeImdH1i9BWtB7zl29Nk6c-Klob_zkoh6CcXyKgsRTvs4ZH0hU_2UWXA/s1600/The_Promise_FM_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilugcoMcyF0opTdxHr3ZtQzCOMq_zN1l30F6huYeZ9lDSqYVpa9xC6gx3Dm4qpZcPZdVgqj1VkHqsGwbYeImdH1i9BWtB7zl29Nk6c-Klob_zkoh6CcXyKgsRTvs4ZH0hU_2UWXA/s1600/The_Promise_FM_logo.png" /></a></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">RADIO MINISTRY EXPANSION BEGINS<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It has been absolutely amazing to see and hear
the daily feedback we are receiving from people who are listening to our 9am
service broadcast on <b>The Eagle </b>(101.5). Beginning this Sunday we will expand our
radio ministry to thousands more with our new “<b>Folks Listen</b>” broadcast on <b>The
Promise FM</b> (90.5) which can also be heard on line at </span><a href="http://www.therpomisefm.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">www.therpomisefm.com</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. This will be a 30-minute taped and edited
broadcast of past sermons I have preached here at E-Free. “<b>Folks
Listen</b>” will air every Sunday morning at 11am. The broadcast schedule for the first 13 weeks
is as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mar 2 –
History’s Greatest Weddings (Adam & Eve)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mar 9 –
History’s Greatest Weddings (Esther)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mar 16
– History’s Greatest Weddings (Ruth)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mar 23
– History’s Greatest Weddings (Water into Wine)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mar 30
– History’s Greatest Weddings (Revelation’s Wedding)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">April 6
– Essentials: From God, Through Me, To You (Draw Near)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">April
13 – Essentials: From God, Through Me, To You (Hold Fast)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">April
20 – Essentials: From God, Through Me, To You (Consider How)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">April
27 – Finding Your Style (The Straight Approach)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May 4 –
Finding Your Style (The Story Approach)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May 11
– Finding Your Style (The Seeing Approach)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May 18
– Finding Your Style (The Serving Approach)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May 25
– Finding Your Style (The Social Approach)</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">MARCH MADNESS E-FREE STYLE:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">March 5 – Concert of Worship<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">March 8 – Splash N Skate<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">March 15 – Men’s Conference<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">March/April – Sr High Florida Trip<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">March/April – Israel Trip<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">NURSERY EXPANSION MONIES<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">God is doing some great
things in regards to the funding of our nursery expansion. As of now we have over <b><span style="color: #0070c0;">$227,000.00</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0;"> </span>in cash and pledges which may allow us to break
ground this Spring as we look to raise the remaining monies for this needed
project during construction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">BROADCASTING DATE SET<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">We have tentatively picked
<b>Sunday, March 23</b>, as our first broadcast
Sunday with our new camera system. On
that Sunday we will look to broadcast the sermon part of our services down to
the Classic Service in the chapel. Below
are some questions and answers regarding this possibility:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Why are we
broadcasting the sermon down to the Classic Service?</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> <b><span style="color: #0070c0;">It is our
desire to see our Classic Service grow in both numbers and effectiveness. Currently the worship portion of the Classic
Service is abbreviated each Sunday so that there is time for the attendees to
walk from the Chapel down to the Gospel Center in time for the message. Broadcasting the message down to the chapel
will allow more time for worship in the Classic Service and it will allow for
the service to flow uninterrupted. All
of this together will enhance the worship experience in the Classic Service.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">What if people
still want to be part of the Classic Service worship but watch the sermon in
person in the Gospel Center?</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> <b><span style="color: #0070c0;">There is certainly no problem if there are some who would
still want to walk down to the Gospel Center for the message. The only difference is that there will not be
a set time in which those who would like to do this are dismissed. They will have to do this on their own.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Will this
broadcast be quality?</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> <b><span style="color: #0070c0;">The main reason we have not yet started the broadcast is
to ensure the quality. Not only will the
picture be high definition in quality, you will actually find the quality
increased in that you will be watching the speaker up close rather than from a
distance. <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">What else will
this broadcast technology allow for?</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> <b><span style="color: #0070c0;">Along with broadcasting down to the Chapel we will also
be able in the very near future to begin doing a quality video live stream of
our worship service on line as well as having video archive of services and
messages available on our church website.
All of this will allow us to make even greater strides in our vision
which is to saturate Otsego County with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and having
it bleed over into all of northern Michigan.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">EASTER PREVIEW<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Easter this year is <b>April 20</b>. Due to it being later than usual and in no
way associated with Spring Break, we are anticipating the largest Sunday
morning in the history of our church.
Our theme will be <b><span style="color: #0070c0;">CSI: JERUSALEM</span></b><span style="color: #0070c0;"> </span>as
we set up the empty tomb as a modern day crime scene and use Easter as the
first of 3 Sundays in which we follow the evidence to see exactly what happened
that resulted in the tomb being found empty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">GREEN TURNING RED<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our Vision Tree in the back foyer outside the
Gospel Center is continuing to see the </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">green
apples (indicating the specific aspects of our 3-year vision plan and the cost
associated with each element) turn to red (indicating that those items have
been paid for by someone in our church).
As God lays it on your heart to give a financial gift to see a specific
element(s) of our vision take place, you can simply remove the green apple. You can then place a check in the box that is
at the tree or you may give the gift through the church offering or by
contacting the church office. Either way you give – please be sure to
indicate what specific aspect of the vision plan you are giving the gift
towards. Because we don’t want to
sacrifice present ministry, we do ask that all gifts toward our vision plan be
above your regular giving. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">DON’T FORGET YOUR TARGET THREE<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Don’t forget to follow through on these three
commitments regarding your <b>TARGET THREE</b>. This is <b><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">MEETING & MOVING</span></b>
at its best!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pray for each of them by name daily that they would come to know
Jesus and that God would use you in the process!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Build bridges to them regularly!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Partner with E-Free to get them under the sound of the Gospel!</span></b></div>
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Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-11361756063480452822014-02-21T17:56:00.003-05:002014-02-21T17:56:42.551-05:00FOLKS LISTEN Radio Broadcast Schedule Announced<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtBfYdInjgBw2v27xI1ZtMdZ8MBPYTctOhHitqft_sD9FwRt_ht66Or96n9zFhHEfuNtkeO5Mg6Yy_LwJc46cUMV3KgFhfOhiFOxg_jk7Z-BTx5mOljc9BenVlHlRv0ZFIGozCQ/s1600/The_Promise_FM_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtBfYdInjgBw2v27xI1ZtMdZ8MBPYTctOhHitqft_sD9FwRt_ht66Or96n9zFhHEfuNtkeO5Mg6Yy_LwJc46cUMV3KgFhfOhiFOxg_jk7Z-BTx5mOljc9BenVlHlRv0ZFIGozCQ/s1600/The_Promise_FM_logo.png" /></a></div>
The Promise FM (90.5) has officially released the schedule for the first 13 programs of the new <b><span style="color: blue;">FOLKS LISTEN</span></b> radio broadcast which will debut on Sunday, March 2, @ 11am. <b><span style="color: blue;">FOLKS LISTEN</span></b> is a professionally taped and edited 30-minute broadcast of sermons I have preached here at the Gaylord E-Free Church in Gaylord, Michigan. The first 13 shows will feature the following three message series:<br />
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"<b style="background-color: yellow;">History's Greatest Weddings</b>" - <b><i>a study of 5 great weddings in the Bible including the very first wedding of Adam & Eve; the redeeming wedding of Ruth & Boaz; the royal wedding of Queen Esther; the revealing wedding in Cana where Jesus turned the water into wine; and Revelation's wedding, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.</i></b><br />
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"<b style="background-color: yellow;">Essentials: From God, Through Me, To You</b>" - <b><i>a study of Hebrews 10:22-25 as we seen the need for we as followers of Jesus to draw near to God, hold fast to our hope, and consider how to stimulate other believers to greater love and good deeds.</i></b><br />
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"<b style="background-color: yellow;">Finding Your Style</b>" - <b><i>a study of 5 different styles of sharing our faith with others including Peter's straight approach, the blind man's story approach, the woman at the well's seeing approach, Dorcas' serving approach, and Matthew's social approach.</i></b><br />
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The schedule for the first 13 weeks of <b><span style="color: blue;">FOLKS LISTEN</span></b> is seen below. <b><span style="color: blue;">FOLKS LISTEN</span></b> can be listened in northern Michigan on 90.5 FM or anywhere in the world at <u><span style="color: blue;">www.thepromisefm.com</span></u>.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Mar 2 – History’s Greatest
Weddings (Adam & Eve)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Mar 9 – History’s Greatest
Weddings (Esther)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Mar 16 – History’s Greatest
Weddings (Ruth)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Mar 23 – History’s Greatest
Weddings (Water into Wine)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Mar 30 – History’s Greatest
Weddings (Revelation’s Wedding)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">April 6 – Essentials: From God,
Through Me, To You (Draw Near)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">April 13 – Essentials: From God,
Through Me, To You (Hold Fast)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">April 20 – Essentials: From God,
Through Me, To You (Consider How)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">April 27 – Finding Your Style
(The Straight Approach)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">May 4 – Finding Your Style (The
Story Approach)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">May 11 – Finding Your Style (The
Seeing Approach)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">May 18 – Finding Your Style (The
Serving Approach)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">May 25 – Finding Your Style (The
Social Approach)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-36491123676768475092014-02-21T08:26:00.001-05:002014-02-21T08:26:37.156-05:00Moses (part 2) - Welcome Baby Moe<div class="MsoNormal">
We began our Moses series by looking at the time in which
Moses was born, 350 years after the death of Joseph. All of the Jewish people had been put in to
hard labor and slavery because the new Pharaoh feared their numbers. In order to try to emasculate them, he puts
them into slavery but it doesn't work.
They continue to multiply. They
continue to grow so he issues a proclamation that every baby boy born to a
Hebrew woman was to be thrown into the Nile River. That's the setting when Moses comes in to the
world. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>MOSES AND HIS PARENTS<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Exodus 2 doesn't give us the names of Moses’ parents but if
you jump ahead to Exodus 6 you see the name of Moses' family. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Amram married his father's sister Jochebed and she bore him Aaron and
Moses.” (Exodus 6:20)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Moses is born to a Jewish family living in Egypt at the time
of slavery. The husband's name is
Amram. We do know based on scripture
that Amram was from the tribe of Levi. He
ends up falling in love with a woman named Jochebed. According to Exodus 6:20, Jochebed is also
Amram's aunt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Moses is not their first child. He's actually their third. Their middle child is a son named Aaron who
would have been about 3 years older than Moses. Aaron would have been born prior to the
king's edict to kill all the baby boys. The
oldest child of Amram and Jochebed is a daughter by the name of Miriam. At the time that Moses is born she's a pre-teenager. She's somewhere between age 7 and 12 and
she's going to play a very vital role in the story. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When Moses is born it is during the time of a horrible
Egyptian proclamation. Let me remind you
of that proclamation seen back in Exodus 1:22.
In this verse, the king makes it very clear what is to take place. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Then Pharaoh commanded all his people saying, every son who is born,
you are to cast into the Nile. Every
daughter you are to keep.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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When Amram and Jochebed conceive and she realizes she's
pregnant, this proclamation is in effect in Egypt. I have to believe that every single day for
nine months this couple prayed one simple prayer, “God, please let it be a
girl.” They knew that if it was a boy
they were in big trouble. If it was a
boy, it was going to have to be killed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When Moses is born we see the nature of these parents. According to Exodus 2:1-2, they have a
son. Jochebed
hides the baby for three months. Here's
the question – “Why does she hide him?”
The verse gives us the answer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“The woman conceived and bore a son and when she saw that he was
beautiful she decides to hide him for three months.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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What makes this woman come to the conclusion at the risk of her
own life and the life of her family, to hide this baby boy? It says that she saw the baby was “beautiful.” Don't just wax over that because it's easy to
read that and go, “Yeah, yeah, every mother thinks their baby is beautiful….Big
deal.” Are all babies beautiful? No!
Are all babies precious?
Yes. Are all babies beautiful? No.
Some look like aliens. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There is more to this description. When it says that she saw that he was
beautiful, it's saying that God has put into her heart the fact that this baby
had a special purpose. That's what made
him beautiful. If you jump ahead into
the New Testament, you get to Acts 7 where Stephen is preaching a sermon. At the end of the sermon he will be stoned to
death and will become the first martyr in the New Testament church. In part of his sermon he's going through the
history of Israel and he gets to this part about Moses. Notice what he says about Moses' beauty in
Acts 7:20:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“It was at this time that Moses was born. And he was lovely in the sight of God.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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When it says she noticed he was beautiful, I don't think
it's simply talking about physical beauty.
The Spirit of God put in Jochebed's heart that this baby had a special
purpose. He was lovely in the sight of
God and so for three months this family, in an amazing act of courage, hide the
existence of this baby. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Do you realize how hard that would have been? Everybody knew she was pregnant and now everybody
knows she's not pregnant. How do you
hide the existence of a baby in a land with thousands upon thousands of Hebrew
people living in small huts right next to each other? What do babies do all the time when they're
not sleeping? Among other things they
cry and they cry and they cry. Can you
imagine what a task this was for this family for three months to hide the
existence of that baby boy? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It took such courage that it lands them right smack dab in
the middle of Hebrew's chapter eleven’s great hall of faith - the chapter where
God lists for us all the great men and women who have shown faith in the
Bible. In Hebrews 11:23 it includes the
parents of Moses. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his
parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of
the king's edict.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We already have seen the Hebrew midwives who were ordered to
kill all the baby boys and chose not to because the Bible says they feared God
more than they feared Pharaoh. You and I
will never reach our full potential as followers of Jesus Christ until we fear
God more than we fear any human on the face of the earth. That's where Jochebed is. That's where Amram is. As a result, they hide this baby for three
months. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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During those three months we have no idea what they called
this baby. The name Moses is given to
him around the age of 4 by the princess of Egypt. That wasn't the name given to him by his
parents. The Bible doesn't tell us the
name given to him by his parents. I like
to think it was “Scott” but I'm not real sure about that. We're not sure what it was. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They concealed the baby boy for three long months and now
they realize they can't keep it up any longer.
They're going to put together a plan to save the baby that I believe was
put in their heart by God and it's going to involve a basket. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>“When she could hide
Moses no longer, she got him a wicker basket.” (Exodus 2:3)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The word “basket” is the same word used in the book of
Genesis to describe another floating device that was much bigger in size. It's a word that literally means “ark.” and was
used to describe Noah's ark - different size but same concept. She takes this basket, covers it with tar and
pitch so it is water resistant, and then she put the child in it and set it
among the reeds by the bank of the Nile River.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been to the Nile River.
On one of our trips to Israel we visited Egypt. I remember when we first arrived eating at a
cafe right on the Nile River. As I was
eating and watching the Nile River, in my mind I was trying to envision this
basket floating down the river with the current with baby Moses inside of
it. I was really enjoying this picture
in my mind until it all got popped when I looked down and there was something
floating down the Nile River but it wasn't a basket. It was a big, dead, fat, bloated cow. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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They didn't put the basket in the main part of the Nile
River so the current would just take the basket downstream. That's not what they did. There would have been a tributary coming off
the Nile River with large reeds and they would have put the basket in the
tributary so it would sit among the reeds.
The basket wasn't going to go anywhere.
There was no current. It was just
going to bob there. Interestingly
enough, in doing this, they really obeyed Pharaoh's command. Pharaoh said that
every Hebrew baby boy was to be put into the Nile River. They did.
They put him into the Nile River.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Think about how difficult this was. When Jochebed and Amram put that baby in the
tributary and they walk away, Jochebed had to be thinking, “Will I ever see my
baby again? Will I ever hold my baby
again?” Remember the day that you
dropped your child off at college for the very first time? What a tough day that is for a parent. Can you imagine leaving your baby in that
basket? At this point they were trusting
God completely with that baby's future. When
Amram and Jochebed first married, this wasn't what they envisioned happening to
their child. Moms and dads, we must get
to the point where we are willing to trust God with our children's future even
if it doesn't measure up to what we thought was going to take place. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to verse 4, Miriam doesn't go with them back home. Instead she stood at a distance to find out
what would happen. She's not just hiding
in the distance out of curiosity.
There's a plan that she's going to play a part of and she knows the
plan. They have rehearsed it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>MOSES AND THE PRINCESS<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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I believe that Jochebed and Amram scoped this whole thing
out. They realized that for their baby
son to live someone had to find the baby who had the power to say, “This baby
lives.” In all of Egypt who's the only
person who could disobey Pharaoh's command?
Who's the only person who could say, “I found a baby. I'd like to keep it.” It was Pharaoh’s daughter, the princess
herself. Some things transcend
generations and transcend cultures and one of them is that daughters really do
have their daddies wrapped around their little finger. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Moses’ parents are banking on that when it comes to the
princess. They know that the princess
has a routine. They know that about the
same time she would come down to the Nile River to bathe. This is what we would call a “Divine appointment.” A divine appointment is when God puts the
right person in the right place at the right time for the right purpose. That's what He's doing. He's putting the right person (the princess) in
the right place (the Nile River) at the right time (when the basket's there) for
the right purpose (to find Moses). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Divine appointments don’t just happen in the case of
Moses. They happen in your life. Just about every single day of your life God
is orchestrating the events of your life to get you at the right place at the
right time for the right purpose. At
this very moment God is orchestrating the events of other people's lives, some
of whom you've never even met, to get them at the right place at the right time
so they can rub shoulders with you. God
is always working behind the scenes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile with her
maidens, walking alongside the Nile. And
she saw the basket among the reeds.”
(Exodus 2:5)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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The princess sees something strange. She is down at the river all the time and
that basket's usually not there. Her curiosity
now takes over and she sends her maid into the water to get the basket. All the while Miriam is watching the plan
unfold. The maid takes the basket and brings
it back out. God has accomplished the
divine appointment. He has the princess
at the right place at the right time for the right purpose. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“When she opened the basket she saw the child and behold, the boy
was crying.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Why is that important?
Why is that even in the text? Remember,
she is the daughter of Pharaoh. She
knows Pharaoh's edict. She's been told
that Hebrew people are dangerous and that if they keep multiplying, they're
going to overtake the Egyptians and their dynasty would fall. Her family would lose the palace. When this woman sees that it's a Hebrew baby
boy in the basket she should have ordered the maid to take the baby by the
ankles and drown him in the Nile River.
She is not a lover of Hebrew people.
She's been taught to hate Hebrew people.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But something happens when she opens that basket that
connects to her heart. At that exact
moment God causes the baby to cry. I
don't know if an angel pricked his foot or what but God causes him to cry. There are no coincidences with God. There are no accidents with God. He knows what He's doing right down to the
finite details. Men cave in when women
cry. Women cave in when babies cry. And when this baby cries, he connects right
to this princess's heart. God uses even
the cry of a baby in this whole process to rescue Moses for the special purpose
that he has. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There's a verse in the Bible in the book of Proverbs that
says that the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord and like rivers of water
He turns it any direction he wants it to go.
It doesn't matter how powerful a man or woman is; it doesn't matter what
degree of royalty they attain; if God wants to change their heart, God will
change their heart. And He does just
that with the princess. She is now
connected to this baby. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Then his sister Miriam said to Pharaoh's daughter, shall I go call a
nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?”
(Exodus 2:7)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This baby needs fed. The
Gerber baby food company has not come on the scene yet. The princess has not given birth so her body
can't produce milk at this point. So,
Miriam, just like I'm sure her mom had her rehearse a million times, comes over
and says, “Would you like me to go get a Hebrew woman who's recently given
birth who can nurse the baby?” It's all
part of the plan that God put in their heart.
Pharaoh's daughter thinks it's a wonderful idea and so she sends Miriam
off to find such a woman. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As Miriam races back to the land of Goshen, can you imagine
how her heart is about to explode? She's
got to be running back going, “It worked!
She bought it! This is amazing!” She runs back and she gets her mother,
Jochebed, the mother of the baby. The
princess doesn't know it's the mother of the baby. Jochebed has to put on a pretty good act
here. She has to pretend she doesn't
know this baby. She has to pretend she
has no real interest in the baby, even though it's hers, as she comes before
Pharaoh's daughter. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Pharaoh's daughter asks Jochebed to take this child away and
nurse him for her and offers to pay her to do so. Jochebed left the Nile earlier that morning wondering
if she would ever see her baby again, wondering if she would ever hold this
baby again. Now, not only does she see
the baby, not only does she hold the baby, she gets to take the baby back home
with her because she's going to nurse the baby until the baby is old enough to
go to the palace. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Do you remember the old Ginsu knife commercials? It slices, it dices, it does everything. And just when you thought it couldn't get any
better, the announcer would go, “But wait, there's more!” That's what is happening here. Jochebed comes out and the princess gives her
the baby. How awesome! But wait… There's more! She gets to take the baby home. But wait…There's more! She gets to nurse the baby and continue that bond
only a mother can have with their child.
But wait…There's more! If you
order right now, here's what else happens.
She gets paid to do it! And every
mother reading this is going, “That's how it should be!” <o:p></o:p></div>
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We serve an awesome God!
Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him -- God -- who's able to do
immeasurably more than anything you could ever ask and anything you could ever
imagine.” If there was ever a woman in
all of history that understood that fact, it's a Jewish woman named Jochebed
who not only got to hold her baby again, she got to take that baby home, she
got to nurse that baby and she got paid to do it. What an amazing story. <o:p></o:p></div>
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That leads us to the adoption of Moses. Moses would have stayed in that Jewish home
until he grew. The Bible says in verse
10, “the child grew.” He's not just
weaned, he grew. He would stay in that
Jewish home until it was time to be adopted by the princess. In Egyptian culture of that day, that would
happen around the age of 4. Moses would
have stayed in his own Jewish home for the first four years or so of his
life. Look at verse 10. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“The child grew and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became
her son and she named him Moses and said, because I drew him out of the water.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the first four years of Moses' life he doesn't live in
the palace. The first four years of his
life he's in that Jewish home with his Jewish mom and dad who taught him Jewish
songs, fed him Jewish food, and told him the story of a Jewish God. Then, at age 4, they would have brought Moses
to the palace where the princess would have adopted him. It's at that point in the text that she gives
him the name Moses because the word Moses means “to draw out.” She drew him out of the water. We don't know what his name was before age 4
but at this point his name becomes Moses.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first four years of his life, he's a Jew. The next 36 years of his life, until age 40,
he lives in the palace. Notice what the
book of Acts says regarding his Egyptian years.
In Acts 7:22, Stephen's preaching still.
He says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians and he was a
man of power in words and in deeds.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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For 36 years, from age 4 to 40, he's living in the
palace. He is getting trained with the
best Egyptian education possible, hieroglyphics and the whole nine yards. He's learning it all. He has the best clothes. He has the best textbooks. He has the best teachers. He has the best tools. According to the text, he becomes powerful in
words and in deeds. In fact some historians
that he was being groomed to be the next Pharaoh. This guy has a future as an Egyptian and it’s
a future of power and wealth and prestige.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the age of 40, however, he's going to have to make a
decision. He's going to reach a fork in
the road. He's going to have to decide
at the age of 40 if he is going to fully continue and immerse himself in the
Egyptian culture, which might even land him the job as Pharaoh, or if he is going
to go back and immerse himself in his Jewish roots. Not much of a choice, is it? What's amazing is what the Bible says in
Hebrews 11 he decided to do. In Hebrews
11:24-25 it says this, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, he's 40 years old, refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure ill treatment
with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the age of 40, he makes the decision to turn his back on
his Egyptian connection and to fully immerse himself in his Hebrew connection. What in the world would have led Moses to
make such a decision? I'll tell you what
did it. It was those four years from
birth to age 4 that Moses spent in the land of Goshen with his Jewish parents
learning about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And when age 40 came, we realize that those
four years behind that door marked Joseph for life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I think we have made a mistake in our culture today. I think we have made a big mistake in the
church today. We have undervalued the
importance of those formative years. We
have undervalued how critical birth through age 4 really is. It was what happened during those four years
that far surpassed in Moses' heart what happened in the 36 years that he lived
in the palace. What happens to you
before the age of 5 will mark your life forever. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
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In the church today it is easy to say, “Ah, that's just the
nursery. All they do there is rock
babies.” Tell that to Jochebed. Tell that to Amram. Those four years marked Moses' life forever. It is not just the nursery. They are not just parents of
preschoolers. You are not just a
children's worker. The story of Moses
would have been completely different had it not been for those four years in
that Jewish home. <o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-63496252535317275642014-02-19T12:09:00.000-05:002014-02-19T12:09:24.088-05:00Moses (part 1) - Misery Multiplied<div class="MsoNormal">
The Bible is an amazing book and it's filled with
unbelievably exciting stories. You don't
have to make the Bible more exciting than it already is. We want to begin our journey through one of
those stories and it's going to be the life of Moses. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We're not going to get through the entire life of Moses but we are
going to go from his birth to the Exodus as we study through the first 13
chapters of the book of Exodus. We begin
in chapter one by seeing the times in which Moses was born into. We're going to learn the history behind the
birth of Moses. If you're going to
understand the Bible theologically, you must also understand it
historically. To really understand the
man, you have to understand the time in which the man lived. We're going to break it down into three
areas. We're going to see, first of all,
that Israel goes to Egypt. Then we're
going to see that Israel grows in Egypt and then we're going to end by seeing
that Israel groans in Egypt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>ISRAEL GOES TO EGYPT<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let's begin by talking about how Israel got to Egypt to
begin with. To understand this you have
to know the story of Joseph. Joseph is betrayed
by his brothers which results in his being sold as a slave into Egypt where he
spends many years as a prisoner. Ultimately,
he is elevated to the position of prime minister where only Pharaoh himself was
greater in power. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
God then uses Joseph to save all of Egypt and the
surrounding areas from a horrific seven-year famine. During that famine, Joseph's brothers are
forced to go to Egypt for food. They
think Joseph is probably long since dead.
It ends up that they are reconciled to their brother, the prime
minister. Joseph is again bonded with
his brothers and all of Joseph's family leaves the land where they live and
they come to Egypt where Pharaoh gives them the good part of the land and they
end up living in prosperity in the land of Egypt. That's where Exodus picks up the story in Exodus
1:1.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>“Now, these are the names of the
sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob. They came each one with his house
hold.”<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In verses 2, 3 and 4, he lists the names of his sons. Now, interestingly enough, he doesn't list
them in the traditional way which would be to list them in the order of their
birth. Instead, he lists them in groups
based on who their mother was. If you
remember the story of Joseph, the sons of Jacob were born to him by four
different women. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“All the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were 70 in number but
Joseph was already in Egypt.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We see that when Israel arrives in Egypt, they arrive with 70
men along with women and daughters. There
is 70 of them - that's all. That's how
they start in the land of Egypt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>ISRAEL GROWS IN EGYPT<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From there we discover is that Israel grows in Egypt. In verse 6 of Exodus 1, we learn that Joseph
dies. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Joseph died and all his brothers and all that generation.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To give you a little bit of a timeline, Joseph would have
been 17 when he was sold into slavery.
He would have been 39 when his family moved to Egypt. He then would have lived another 71 years
ruling as prime minister and he dies as the age of 110. Along with him dying, so does his
generation. His dad has already died. All of his brothers have died. All the generations of Joseph are completely
gone. Time is marching on. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From the time of Joseph's death to the time of Moses' birth
is about 350 years. Many of the
following generations have all died. But
during this time, we discover the prosperity of the sons of Israel. Look at verse number 7 and notice what
happens to Israel in the land of Egypt during these 350 years. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly and
multiplied and became exceedingly mighty, that means in numbers, so that the
land was filled with them.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here are the sons of Israel.
They have lived in the land of Egypt now for 350 years. God supernaturally blesses them and they
multiply in amazing fashion. They start
with 70 men plus Joseph, but notice how they end up. In Exodus chapter one, 70 men enter into
Egypt but in the book of Numbers, when they leave Egypt there are over 600,000
men. When you add women and children, at
the time of the exodus there were probably over 2 million Jewish people. It all started with 70 men who entered Israel
350 years prior to the birth of Moses. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God blesses them in amazing ways which, by the way, is
evidence of God's promise. Back in
Genesis 46:3, when Joseph invites his family to come live in Egypt, his father is
hesitant. Should he really leave the
land where he lived and move to Egypt?
So God makes him a promise. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“I am God, the God of your father.
Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt for I will make you a great nation
there.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God keeps that promise.
At the time of the exodus, the Israelites have grown from 70 men to over
600,000 men. They are an amazing number
of people filling the land of Goshen in the region of Egypt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>ISRAEL GROANS IN EGYPT<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Now we get to the time period that leads up to the birth of
Moses. This is not just a time period of
misery it is a time period of misery multiplied. Two things take place. In verse number 8 we find that a new Pharaoh
has come into power. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Now a new king, a new Pharaoh, arose over Egypt who did not know
Joseph.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Keep in mind it's been 350 years since Joseph died. There have been several different Pharaohs
reigning in Egypt during that time. The
Bible doesn't tell us which Pharaoh it was that ruled during the time of Joseph,
or which Pharaoh it was that ruled at the birth of Moses, or which Pharaoh it
was that ruled at the time of the exodus.
But a new Pharaoh comes on the scene and this Pharaoh has no remembrance
of Joseph. If you were to bring up
Joseph's name, he would go, “Joseph who?”
He has no idea about Joseph or what happened in Egypt through Joseph. <o:p></o:p></div>
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How could that be?
How could a Pharaoh not remember Joseph?
Keep in mind that it was 350 years earlier. Let's do a little exercise to see if we can't
plant that into our minds. Let me give
you a year in history and I want you, without cheating and using your
smartphones, to tell me who were the main characters on the world stage and
what were the main occurrences going on at that time. The year is 1664. Who were the main characters? What were the main occurrences? You likely don’t have a clue because it was
350 years ago. So it's not surprising
that this new Pharaoh would have no recollection of Joseph. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For him, there's no sentimental connection at all to the
Hebrew people. They are just a group of
people, a large group of people, living in the land. That results in a nagging problem for
Pharaoh. Beginning in verse 9 you see
the problem and how he deals with it. Here's
what it says,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Pharaoh said to his people, behold, the people of the sons of Israel
are more and mightier than we. Come, he
says. Let us deal wisely with them or else
they will multiply and in the event of war they will join themselves to those
who hate us and fight against us and apart from the land. So, they appoint taskmasters over them to
afflict them with hard labor. And they
built for Pharaoh storage cities. But
the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread
out so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to
labor rigorously and they made their lives bitter with hard labor, in mortar
and bricks and in all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they
rigorously imposed on them.” <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The Israelites have grown to the point that they outnumbered
the Egyptians. For Pharaoh, this is a problem. It also produces fear in Pharaoh's mind and
heart. The fear is that the children of
Israel may join forces with one of their external enemies, and if that were to
happen, the Egyptian empire would topple easily. Based on this fear he decides he needs to
break their spirit which he believes would keep them from multiplying and
becoming an even mightier group of people.
To do so, he puts them into severe slavery. Go back and read verses 9 through 14 and notice
the adjectives and adverbs. This was
hard slavery. They worked
rigorously. They worked in bitter
conditions. This was an attempt to break
their spirit. <o:p></o:p></div>
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He puts them in slavery and they build storage cities. Some people have the mistaken idea that it
was the Hebrew slaves that built the pyramids.
The pyramids pre-date Moses and Joseph.
That's astonishing. I've had the thrill of standing at the foot
of the largest pyramids in Egypt and when you look at these amazing
structures, one of the greatest wonders of the world, it is staggering to think
that they were built in a time period with no modern construction or
engineering equipment. The Hebrew slaves
did not build the pyramids. They already
existed. They built storage cities. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Notice a principle that is worth contemplating. What was it that drove Pharaoh to put the
Israelites in hard labor? Was it his
dislike of the Israelites? Not really. Was it mere racism? No.
The thing that propelled Pharaoh to act in such an aggressive and brutal
nature was his internal fear that they would join with an external enemy. Quite often people who act in aggressive ways
are really acting out of an internal fear that you cannot see. When you look back over your life at the times
that people acted towards you aggressively, even brutally, chances are very
good that it wasn’t really stemming from a hatred towards you as much as it was
from an internal fear of something. In your
own life, when you find yourself being aggressive towards somebody else, you
need to stop and ask yourself, “What am I really afraid of?” Often our aggressive nature is propelled by
an internal fear. That's what happens to
Pharaoh which results in his wanting to break the spirit of the Israelites by
putting them in hard slave labor. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It doesn’t work and instead the Israelites multiply even
more. His problem grows. His fear escalates. Now he has to try something else. He's going to have to get more brutal. He's going to have to get more aggressive to
try to alleviate the fear that's in his own life. He issues a nasty proclamation which really
comes in two phases. First, there is a
subtle phase, kind of an ‘under the radar’ approach. Then, there will be an ‘over the top’
approach. The first approach deals with
the midwives. Pharaoh issues an order to
the midwives in verses 15 and 16. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives and said, ‘When
you are helping the Hebrew women to give
birth, and see them upon the birth stool, if it is a son then you shall put him
to death but if it's a daughter then she shall live.’”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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In order to try to stop the growth of the Jewish people,
because that's what Pharaoh sees as the problem, he goes under the radar and
calls in the midwives who help with all the Jewish births. Two are mentioned by name, Shiphrah and Puah. There would have most likely been more than
two midwives so chances are really good that Shiphrah and Puah were
supervisors. All the midwives probably worked
underneath them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Basically Pharaoh says, “Here's what I want you to do. When you're called to a Hebrew home because a
woman is giving birth and she is on the birth stool (keep in mind in the
culture of that day ladies didn't lay down when they give birth, they crouched
on a stool) and you're helping to deliver the baby, as the baby's coming out,
as soon as you notice the gender of the baby, if it's a boy, smother it. If it's a boy, as it comes out, kill it and
tell the women it was a stillborn. Tell
them that their baby was born dead.’ That's the command to the midwives. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It's amazing to me how cultures change in many ways except
evil continues to progress. What the
king was demanding of the midwives is no different than the modern-day practice
in our country of partial-birth abortion.
That's what the king commands of Shiphrah and Puah, the Hebrew midwives. Notice how they respond. Notice their courage in verse 17. I<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had
commanded, but instead, let the boys live.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Shiphrah and Puah, though they are names most people have
not heard of, are amazing heroes in Scripture.
These are women of great courage because to disobey the king would most
likely result in execution. These women
are caught in a quandary. If they
disobeyed the king, they would probably die.
But if they obeyed the king, they were going to have to disobey their
God. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So they make a decision and this decision is that they fear
God more than they fear the king. They would
rather face the king being disobedient than to face God being
disobedient. One of the number one
reasons today as to why believers continue to live compromising lives in our culture
is, because unlike Shiphrah and unlike Puah, believers today fear man more than
they fear God. They fear their neighbors
more than they fear God. They fear their
co-workers more than they fear God. They
fear their classmates or their bosses more than they fear God. Not Shiphrah.
Not Puah. These ladies said, “We
would rather face Pharaoh and disobey him than face our God and disobey Him.” So they chose not to obey and the children of
Israel continued to grow. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Bible is filled with examples of individuals who walked
in the steps of Shiphrah and Puah, who disobeyed human authority when human
authority called upon them to disobey God.
In the Bible we are told very clearly that we're to obey our authorities
but it is not a blanket submission.
There is an exception. In Acts 5 we
see Peter and the apostles who have been arrested for preaching about
Jesus. They've been beaten, thrown into
prison and told, “You are not to preach about Jesus ever again.” Jesus Himself was the one that commanded
Peter and John and the apostles to go into the world and preach the gospel
so they can't obey the orders of their Jewish leaders. Instead, they continue to preach and they're
brought before their authorities again who question them. Notice how Peter responds, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Peter and the apostles answered and said, we must obey God rather than
man.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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It's very simple. We
are to always obey our authority unless by obeying our authority it causes us
to disobey God. That's the
principle. If you go back to the book of
Daniel, you are introduced to three young men -- Meshach, Shadrach and
Abednego. King Nebuchadnezzar orders
that at the sound of the music everyone is to bow down and worship the idol and
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refuse to do it because God said, “You shall
have no other gods before Me.” The king
brings them in and says, “Don't you realize by not doing this I can throw you
in the fiery furnace?” Look how they
respond. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘Oh
Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this
matter. If it be so, our God whom we
serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire, but even if He
does not, let it be known to you, O King, we are not going to serve your gods
or worship the golden image that you have set up.’”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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They say, “Sorry, King, we can't obey you because to obey
you, we'd have to disobey our God.” Notice
another important principle that we see.
When you're put in the position that you have to choose to disobey a
human authority because by obeying that authority you would be disobeying God,
you must be willing to pay the consequences.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were and they were thrown in the fiery
furnace as a result. God ultimately saved
them but they were willing to pay the consequences. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Notice one more example.
In Daniel 6, Daniel is told that he can't pray. Daniel knows that to obey that command he'd
have to disobey God so he prays anyway and he's thrown into the lion's den. The next morning the king, who has a hunch
that Daniel's God will save him, runs down to the lion’s den. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“The king arose at dawn at the break of the day. He went in haste to the lion's den. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Daniel,
servant of the living God has your God whom you constantly serve been able to
deliver you from the lions?”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I love Daniel's answer.
God did deliver him and Daniel responds and says, “O King, live forever!” Here’s another principle to remember. Even when Daniel is forced to disobey his
authority, because by obeying his authority he would be disobeying God, he
still does so with respect. If the king
threw me in the lion's den and God sent an angel and saved me and the next
morning the king showed up, I'd say something like, “Ha, sucker! It didn't work!” I love how Daniel responds, “O King, live
forever.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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These examples are not teaching that any time you disagree
with an authority you can disobey them.
The Bible doesn't say that. The
Bible doesn't say, “Submit to your authorities unless you disagree with them.” The Bible doesn't say, “Submit to your
authorities unless you don't like them.”
The Bible says, “Submit to your authorities unless their command would
cause you to disobey God if you did it.”
<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the 48 years that I have been alive I can only think of
one time in my life when I was put in that kind of a situation. I was a kid playing little league baseball. I wasn't very good. I had a lifetime batting average
of .034. If you know anything about
baseball, you know how rotten that is. Our
team was going down to the building where they had all the uniforms and
equipment to pick up our gear. Every
team got so much equipment. You could
buy additional equipment if you desired.
As we were walking through the facility, my assistant coach looked at me
and pointed at a doughnut. In baseball,
that's not something you eat. A doughnut
is a weight with a hole in it that you put on the bat as you're warming
up. He pointed to the doughnut and he
said to me, “They have more of those than they need. Put it in your bag.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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What in essence did my assistant coach tell me to do? He was telling me to steal the doughnut. If I obeyed him, who would I be
disobeying? I would have been disobeying
God. As a result, my answer should have
been, “Sorry, Coach, but I fear God more than I fear you. I can't do that.” Instead, I took the doughnut as instructed
and put it in my bag. Someone caught
me. I got in big trouble and when I told
them that the assistant coach told me to do it, he denied the whole thing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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My point is simply that in our culture (at least today) this
is not a common occurrence. In 48 years
I've only been put in this position one time where to obey an authority, I
would have to disobey God. I think
sometimes we're way too good about rationalizing away why it's okay to disobey
authorities we don't like and don't agree with.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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When I was a youth pastor I was trying to teach this
principle to my teenagers so one night at youth group I put white papers all
over the walls of the youth room and I said, “I want to make a list of every
dumb rule that you have to obey. Let's
start with your parent's rules. I want
you to tell me every dumb rule your parents have and we're going to write them on
the walls.” We filled those white papers
and a lot of those rules, frankly, did seem pretty dumb.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I then said, “Now let's go to your school. Let's list all the dumb rules that you have
to follow at school.” We listed many
more. Then I said, “How about youth
group? What are some dumb rules I have
as a youth pastor that you have to obey?”
We had the walls filled with these rules. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I then gave each student a marker and said, “I want you to
go up to the walls and I want you to star any of these hundreds of dumb rules
that if you obeyed them you would have to disobey God.” Not one rule got a star next to it. Even though some of them were really dumb
rules, and even though these students didn't agree with or like them, none of
the rules would have caused them to disobey God by doing it. We are called upon in Scripture to submit to
our authorities with an attitude of respect unless obeying a command of our
authority would cause us to disobey God. That's what happened to Shiphrah and Puah.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Over time, Pharaoh realizes that his command was not
followed and he questions the midwives saying, “Why do I still see baby
boys? How come you haven't done what I
told you?” They respond in verse 19. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“The midwives said to Pharaoh, ‘Because the Hebrew women are not as the
Egyptian women for they are vigorous and they give birth before the
midwives can even get there.’”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I can't help but laugh when I read that verse. I think the thing that makes me laugh the
most is that Pharaoh bought it! They're
saying, “Pharaoh, you know we tried but you have to understand that Egyptian
women, they take a long time to get that baby out, but not those Hebrews. Boom-boom-pop and there it is. It’s all over before we even get there.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, in essence what did they do? They lied.
We could talk about situational ethics all day long. We could bring up all kinds of examples and give
all kinds of explanations as to why this might have been a justifiable lie. But when I look at scripture I see very
clearly the principle that God hates a lying tongue. I really do believe that God could have
protected these midwives even if they would have told the truth. I just wish that we as Christians would be as
zealous to find ways to obey God as we are to find ways to get around His commands. Notice, though, that God still rewards these
midwives. Look at the consequence that they
face in verse 20. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“So God was good to the midwives and the people multiplied and became
very mighty and it came about because the midwives feared God that He established
households for them.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Nowhere in the text does it say He rewarded them for
lying. He rewarded them because they
feared God more than they feared man, seen by their refusing to obey
Pharaoh. As a result, He gives them
households. If you go back and read the
ancient literature, it appears that for the most part in that culture, that
midwives were barren. Barren women
became midwives. Women who couldn't give
birth became midwives to help others give birth. Chances are really good that Shiphrah and
Puah were barren women and as a result of their willingness to obey God, even
though the king had given them a command, God allows them to have families of
their own. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For Pharaoh, however, his problem continues to increase. The children of Israel continue to grow and
Pharaoh’s fear continues to escalate. Now,
instead of an ‘under the radar’ command to the midwives, he gives a public
decree to the masses. Notice the order
he gives to the masses in verse 22. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Then Pharaoh commanded all his people saying, every son who's born,
you are to cast into the Nile River and every daughter you are to keep alive.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Pharaoh now gets aggressive.
He escalates his brutality. He gives
a public decree to every Egyptian in the land that whenever a Jewish baby boy
is born into the world, they are rip that baby out of the arms of its mother
and throw it into the Nile River to drown it.
It's hard to estimate how many thousands of Jewish baby boys were thrown
into the Nile River but many of them were.
It's that culture into which Moses is born. It's that scenario that's going to make the
birth of Moses unbelievably miraculous. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Keep in mind that back in Genesis 15 God made a promise to
Abraham about 450 years before Moses was born.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“God said to Abraham, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be
strangers in a land that is not theirs (the land of Egypt) where they will be
enslaved and oppressed for 400 years (and they were), but I will judge the
nation whom they serve and afterward your descendants will come out of Egypt
with many possessions.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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That's what's ultimately is going to happen. The children of Israel living in misery for
400 years as slaves with baby boys being drown in the Nile River will
ultimately leave that time of slavery with 2 million plus people and many
possessions on their backs and animals.
It didn't matter how powerful Pharaoh was, he couldn't thwart the plan
of God. It doesn't matter how powerful
man thinks he is, man cannot thwart the plan of God. It doesn't matter how powerful Satan thinks
he is, Satan cannot thwart the plan of our God.
And that's what the story of Moses is going to show us in amazing,
vibrant color. <o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-72877416258525360482014-02-16T20:22:00.001-05:002014-02-17T08:02:16.927-05:00A brief glimpse into the private part of my heart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbix-x_T-2D7OIfuu_qniQ6-GIkTnh71qV-gij2s6EXC-ag39QHmqLO3ejBQ3AkrSSAMyB1qr8EriKWwektgwdMU-4o4lQlQNjrkrPpovb4l8ftCW9V79vwKD0R8pKxInGJjLMAw/s1600/joy+and+pappy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbix-x_T-2D7OIfuu_qniQ6-GIkTnh71qV-gij2s6EXC-ag39QHmqLO3ejBQ3AkrSSAMyB1qr8EriKWwektgwdMU-4o4lQlQNjrkrPpovb4l8ftCW9V79vwKD0R8pKxInGJjLMAw/s1600/joy+and+pappy.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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It’s not often that I give a public view of my
heart. Though I do public speaking for a
living, preaching to multiple services at our church which are also
broadcast live via the radio and internet; and though I make dozens of Facebook
posts and tweets each week; the truth is that I tend to be a private person when
it comes to the personal areas of my life.
On the things that are most personal to me, I tend to keep my thoughts
quite reserved. I am the type of person
that if I were having a surgery, I would be prone to not tell a sole (other
than my wife and kids) and just take a few days off without people knowing the
reason and circumstance. But today I
feel led to let others see into my heart, at least in one specific area.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This past Valentine’s Day my wife and I both were faced
with a vivid and emotional glance at our immediate future. We were spending the day together out in
Petoskey, having lunch and catching a movie.
At the end of the movie we put our coats on and I began walking to the
exit thinking that Laura was right behind me.
When I got out into the hallway I turned around only to see that she had
not come out of the theater yet. I stuck
my head back inside and she waved me over to where she was standing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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She was talking to an elderly couple that had been seated
a couple rows ahead of us during the movie.
The wife was up but the husband was still seated. The wife politely explained to us that her
husband had Parkinson’s disease, and after sitting for two hours watching the movie,
his body had stiffened and he could not get up.
Though she had tried, she could not get him out of his seat. As I helped her get her husband up he smiled,
thanked me, and told me how much he had enjoyed the movie. We asked if we could help them walk out to
their car but the wife assured us that now that he was up, though they would
move rather slowly, he would be able to walk to their vehicle. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As Laura and I exited the theater we looked at each other
and both broke down crying. We had just
seen a glimpse into our future. You see,
my dad also has Parkinson’s disease and the progression of his illness has
begun to accelerate. Mom and dad live in
Florida. They were with us last summer
and we were able to see this digression for ourselves. Since then, things have continued that slow,
downward spiral. Recently dad fell and
my mom had real difficulty getting him back up on his feet. Though in his brain he was doing everything he
needed to do in order to get back on his feet, what he was thinking in his
brain was not transferring to his body. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This, along with other issues reacted to his disease, has
made mom and dad realize that living so far away from either me or my sister
would make it very difficult for my mom to be able to take care of my dad as
this disease continues to take its toll.
As a result, my parents have put their trailer in Florida on the market
and, as soon as they sell it, will be moving up here to northern Michigan where
we hope to find them a place to live so that we can be nearby to help care for
my dad. As we saw this dear couple in the
theater, and the way this wife was so loving and patient with her husband, we
saw our future and realized just how much we will need the grace of God in our
lives.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On one hand, I look forward to being able to spend more
time with my dad in the time he has remaining on this earth before his entrance into heaven. On the other hand, I am in no way looking
forward to watching his decline and his ultimate physical demise. I want to be the kind of son to my dad that
this dear wife at the movie theater was to her husband. It was obvious that it took everything this
woman had to take her husband to a movie by herself. It was cold and snowy outside. How much
easier would it have been to just stay home and watch television? Yet, this precious wife wanted her husband to
enjoy as much of life as he could for as long as he was able. That’s my desire for my dad.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We realize that the foreseeable future will not be easy
for my wife and me (though I’m sure we really have no idea the degree of the challenge
that it will be). There will be lots of heartache. There will be lots of pain. There will be lots of tears. There will be lots of trials. Yet, I am convinced that in every season of
our lives, even the most difficult of ones to endure, there is a beauty waiting to
be seen. We saw a glimpse of that last
summer when my parents were with us and we were having dinner out on the back
deck including, Laura, myself, my parents, and my daughter (Joy). <o:p></o:p></div>
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We were talking about silly songs when my dad piped up
and said that he remembered a silly song about skinny-dipping that they use to
sing at Boy Scout camp. Unfortunately,
his demeanor sank when he couldn’t remember the words or the tune. Our conversation continued for a while when out
of nowhere dad said, “Wait! I remember.” He then sang just the first line of that
silly song from his Boy Scout days. That
was all he could remember. Several
minutes later he again said, “Wait I remember another line,” and he added the
second line of the song. This went on
for quite some time. It took a good 45
minutes or more but ultimately he was able to piece together the whole song
(actually, I’m pretty sure it was a combination of two songs that he was making
into one). He taught the song to Joy and
one of my prized possessions and fondest memories is the video I took on my
cell phone of him and my daughter singing this song together as they laughed
and smiled (picture above).<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is that memory that reminds me that even in the
hardest seasons of life there are beauties to behold. The problem is that we can become so focused
and so absorbed on the hardness of these seasons that we fail to see and/or
fail to appreciate the beauty that lies beneath the pain. It is my prayer that in the months and years
ahead, whatever timeframe that God wills, I will be able to look through the
hardness of the coming season of my life and not only see, but appreciate the
beauty that I know will be there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that there is a time for
everything. The wise man then gives a
list of couplets with one side being something positive and the other side being
the exact polar opposite (i.e. there is a time to laugh and a time to cry; there
is a time to be born and a time to die).
Each side of these couplets is different in that one is easy while the
other is difficult, but each side of these couplets is also very similar in
that both sides are part of God’s plan for our lives. That makes each side of the couplet, the
positive and the negative, a season in life that includes beauty.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So there you have it – a little glimpse into the private
part of my heart. If you right now are going
through a difficult and hard season of your life, it is my hope and my prayer
for you that you will be able to see beyond the hardness and take notice of the
glimpses of beauty that I believe are there.
You may have to look deep and you may have to put on your spiritual
spectacles to see them, but there is a beauty that is present for you to view
and to appreciate.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This past Sunday we showed a video in church of a dear
man of God who recently passed away of lung cancer. I had the privilege of interviewing him on
video a couple weeks before he went home to be with the Lord. I asked him how he was handling his physical
condition becoming worse. He replied, “It’s
not worse. How can it be worse when it
ends with me seeing Jesus?” Now there is
a man who can look beyond the pain and horror of a season of his life called “cancer”
and see the beauty. After all, for the
Christian the best is always yet to come.</div>
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Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-46220165169708350242014-02-12T12:28:00.001-05:002014-02-12T12:28:02.003-05:00Joseph (part 10) - The Power of Integrity<div class="MsoNormal">
In Genesis 46 we see a great example of integrity in the
person of Joseph. Here's Joseph. He's not just the second most powerful man in
Egypt, he's really the second most powerful man in the world because Egypt at
that time was the dynasty. Even in an
incredible position of power, Joseph understood the need for integrity. As we look at Joseph we see his integrity in
three different actions. First of all,
we see his integrity in his settling his family. Joseph had sent his brothers back to the land
of Canaan to get their families and father and bring them back to Egypt where
they were going to live in the land of Goshen and Joseph was going to take care
of them. The brothers go back and they
tell Jacob the whole story about Joseph, that he's still alive, and they pack
up and they begin the move to Egypt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>JACOB IS REASSURED<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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This was a serious change of life. Very few changes in life are more serious
than those of geographical location moves.
They're going from the land of Canaan to the land of Egypt. They're going to a strange culture. They will be around people they don't know
who speak a language they don't understand.
As they prepare to move and get to the edge of the land of Canaan, Jacob
is a little bit bothered. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Jacob is 130 years old and the thought of change doesn't
really do anything for him. Human nature
hasn't changed over the centuries. The
truth of the matter still remains that the older we get, the harder it us for
us to get excited about change. This was
a huge change for Jacob and he’s getting nervous so he stops the caravan and he
offers a sacrifice to God. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There's no doubt that part of the reason for this sacrifice
is his saying “thank you” for Joseph being alive. But part of it is Jacob saying, “God, before
I go one step further, before I make this humongous change and move my family
300 miles to a strange culture, I need to make sure You're in it. I need to make sure this is what You really
want us to do.” I love this about Jacob
because he’s finally becoming the spiritual leader of his home. It only took 130 years but he's finally
there. He's not just moving to Egypt on
impulse because Joseph is there. He
wants to know for sure that God is in it.
And God reassures Jacob that he does not have to be afraid as He gives
Jacob several promises. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“I am God, the God of your father.
Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt.” (Genesis 46:3-4)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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It’s as if God is saying, “Jacob, I know change is hard for
you, especially at 130 years old, but you don't need to be afraid because I'm
in the change. I got it covered. I'm in control. Trust Me.”
It then goes on and it says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“For I will make you a great nation while you're in Egypt. I'll go down with you to Egypt. I'll surely bring your people up again out of
Egypt. And Joseph will close your eyes.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Let's break down those promises. First, He says, “Let Me remind you, Jacob, I'm
going to make a great nation of you while you're in Egypt.” That promise wasn't originally given to Jacob. It was originally given to Abraham, his
grandfather. God told Abraham that He
was going to make a great nation out of his seed. It hadn’t happened yet and Abraham has long
since been dead. God made the promise to
Abraham but Abraham didn't see the promise fulfilled. Yet, God would still fulfill the
promise. Never forget a principle we see
all through the story of Joseph - God's timing may not always be our timing but
it's always the best timing. He reminds Jacob
of that promise He made to Abraham which is now a promise to Jacob. <o:p></o:p></div>
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He then says, “I'll go down with you to Egypt.” I love this about God. God doesn't just say, “Hey, here's a
change. Go do it.” God says, “I'm going to go with you through
the change. I know you're feeling
uncomfortable, Jacob. I know you're
anxious. I know I you're not thrilled
about this change but I'm in it. I'm
going to go with you. You don't have to
be afraid.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then He says, “I'm going to bring you out of Egypt.” You're not going to be there forever. Your people won't be there forever. I'm going to bring you out. What God doesn't
tell him is that it would be more than 400 years before this happens. This is like the promise made to
Abraham. Jacob won't see this one
fulfilled but God will still fulfill it.
430 years after they arrive in Egypt, God will bring them out of Egypt
with a new leader by the name of Moses. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then God says something very personal to Jacob. He says, “Jacob, I promise you this. Your son Joseph will close your eyes. He will be the one who buries you. Jacob, I know you were away from your son for
22 years. I know you thought he was dead
for 22 years. But I want you to know,
from the time you get to Egypt until the time you die, you will have Joseph
again. And Joseph will be the one who
will be there when you breathe your last breath.” That must have brought a huge smile to
Jacob's face. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>JACOB IS REUNITED<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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All of Jacob's family now moves from Canaan and starts the
300-mile trip to Egypt. In verses 5 through
27 God lists the names of all Jacob's sons and their sons that made this move. This is the nation of Israel at the time. He lists for us all the men – Jacob’s sons
and grandsons. We can add to that number
all of the wives and daughters. According
Genesis 46:26-27, all the persons belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt (that's
his sons and his grandsons that are listed in that passage, not including the
wives and daughters) were 66 persons in all.
Jacob would make 67. Joseph, who
is back in Egypt, would make 68 and his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, would
make an even 70 men. When you add in the
women, there is anywhere between about 150 to 200 people who enter Egypt. That's the size of Israel when they enter
Egypt. What happens to them while
they're in Egypt? Exodus 1:7 says this,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“But the sons of Israel were fruitful in Egypt and increased greatly
and multiplied and became exceedingly mighty so that the land of Egypt was
filled with them.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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If you remember the story that sets up Exodus 1, there are
so many Jewish people Pharaoh, who doesn't remember Joseph at all as this is
many years in the future, becomes nervous that they'll take over the
country. As a result, he puts them in
severe bondage so that they won't take over the country. 430 years after they arrive in Egypt, after
the 10 plagues, Moses will then lead them out of Egypt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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How many are there of them when they leave Egypt? There were 70 men plus wives and daughters
when they entered Egypt. How many are
there when they leave Egypt? In Numbers
1 we get the exact number. According to
Numbers 1:46, all the numbered men (again, not wives, not daughters, just
the men) who leave Egypt are 603,550 men.
There were 70 men when they entered Egypt. 430 years later there are over 600,000 men when
they leave Egypt. If you add in wives
and daughters, we're talking roughly 2 million people that left Egypt at the
exodus under the leadership of Moses.
God was going to do exactly what he promised Jacob. While they were in Egypt He made them a great
nation and 430 years later He brought them out of the land of Egypt.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Let's go back to Jacob being reunited with Joseph because
it's amazing. After all those years,
22-plus years of thinking that Joseph was dead, Jacob finally gets to see his
son again. When they get close to the
land of Egypt, Jacob sends Judah ahead to go tell Joseph that they are almost
there. Joseph, who is so anxious to see
his dad, already has his scouts looking out for them and sees that they're
coming. Joseph puts on his royal garb,
he hops in his chariot, and he goes out to meet them. For the first time in over 22 years he's
going to see his dad who he thought he would never see again. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Joseph prepared his chariot and he went up to Goshen to meet his
father. And as soon as he appeared
before him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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We could put a pause there.
We don't know how long of a pause but I bet it was a long time. They couldn't say a word. They just hugged and cried and hugged and
cried. Put yourself in Judah's shoes and
Reuben's shoes and Simeon's shoes.
You're standing there watching your father and your little brother
embracing and weeping and embracing and weeping for what seems like an
eternity. You realize you were the one
that caused the pain. What an emotional
moment this must have been. I have a
feeling, even though the Bible doesn't say it, that brothers were weeping, as
well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After what probably seemed like an eternity of hugging and
weeping, Jacob looks into Joseph's eyes, the son who he thought was dead for
22-plus years, and he says, “Now I can die.”
It doesn't get any better than this.
His life is now fulfilled. That
tells me that the whole 300-mile trip Jacob had doubts. Was Joseph really still alive or was this a cruel
hoax? When he sees his face, he knows. He is alive.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>JACOB RELOCATED<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Here's where we see the integrity of Joseph. Joseph has a plan. They're on the outskirts of Egypt. He looks at his brothers and says, “Guys,
here's what's going to happen. I'm going
to take you before Pharaoh. You've stood
before me several times. Now I'm taking you
in front of the big cheese. You're going
in front of Pharaoh, the most powerful man not only in Egypt but in the
world. Let me give you a piece of
advice. When you go before him, tell him
that you are “skilled in being a keeper of livestock.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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In simple terms, what were Joseph's brothers? They were shepherds. Joseph says, “Don't use that term. Don't say shepherd. Say you're skilled in being a keeper of
livestock. It means the same thing. I'm not asking you to lie.” There's no deception here but you have to
understand that shepherds are loathsome to Egyptians. You see it in the text. Egyptians really looked down on
shepherds. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph says, “Listen, if you go before Pharaoh and you use
the term shepherd, you're going to offend him.
We want to be sensitive here.
That's an offensive term in Egypt.
So instead, use a more sensitive term.
It means the same thing but it shows sensitivity.” Here's what it says about Joseph's
integrity. Joseph understood a principle
that I don't think we really get today.
Joseph understood that the choice of our words matter. It did in Egypt all those years ago and it
still matters today. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I think it's harder for us to grasp that today than it ever
has been in the history of the world because today a huge percentage of our
words aren't verbal, they are written. This
means that we have to be more careful today than ever about the choice of our
words. Speech experts will tell you that
communication is broken down into three parts.
First, there are your words which are only 7% of your communication. 93% of your communication has nothing to do
with your words. 28% of your
communication is your tone. Your tone
speaks four times louder than your words.
I can go home at the end of a day and I can say to my wife, “How was
your day?” And she can give a deep sigh
and say, “Fine.” Her words said, “Fine,”
but is that what she communicated? If I
just heard her words it's going to be a long night. Her tone spoke much louder than her
words. <o:p></o:p></div>
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55% of communication is nonverbal. Over half of the way that you communicate is
nonverbal? When my kids were little and
my son hit my daughter and I said to him, Jonathan, “Apologize to your
sister.” He would fold his arms, hunch
his shoulders and grit his teeth and say, “I'm sorry!” His words said, “I'm sorry,” but what he
really communicated was, “Dad, please spank me.” Your nonverbal speaks much louder than
everything else. <o:p></o:p></div>
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E-mail, Facebook, texting, it's all wonderful. But you have to understand that when you send
an e-mail to someone, or send a text message to someone, or post something on Facebook,
all they can see and read are your words.
That means there's a 93% chance they're going to take it wrong. Today, more than ever, we need to understand that
the choice of our words matter. Joseph
understood that. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh and said, my father and my
brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out
of the land of Canaan. Behold, they're
in the land of Goshen.” (Genesis 47:1)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I love what Joseph does here. Even though he's the second most powerful man
in Egypt, he doesn't just presume anything.
He goes in to Pharaoh to make sure Pharaoh is okay with the decision. I love that about Joseph. Sometimes I think we make big mistakes when
we just presume because we have a title or because we have a position that we
can just do something. Joseph gets
permission first. Joseph understands
that integrity means I have to be accountable to somebody. Integrity means I have to answer to
somebody. <o:p></o:p></div>
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That's why I'm so thankful for our elder board here at the
church because that's a group of men who I highly respect and who I make myself
accountable to. Every Thursday I write
them a written report of my week so they know how I spent my time because I
want to be accountable to them. If an
opportunity comes up, I don't want to just presume because I'm the lead pastor
I can do it. Integrity means I
understand the need to be accountable to somebody else. Joseph, even as the second most powerful man
in Egypt, understood that need. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Next, notice the presentation of Joseph. He brings his brothers in before
Pharaoh. It is very interesting because
when the brothers come in before Pharaoh and he asks, “What do you guys do?” They say, “We're shepherds.” They didn't listen to Joseph’s counsel. Yet, Pharaoh gives them permission to
settle. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The next thing Joseph does is to bring his father in to see
Pharaoh. Think about this. Who's Pharaoh? He is the king of Egypt. Not only is he the most powerful man in
Egypt, he's the most powerful man in the world at that time. He lives in a palace and leads millions of
people. Not only that, in the Egyptian
culture, they considered Pharaoh a god.
Who's Jacob? He's 130-year-old hunched
over Hebrew with gray hair and a long beard.
He had just came on a 300-mile trip with all of his family. It's like the "Beverly Hillbillies"
coming to Beverly Hills. He is like
Jed Clampett coming in to see Mr. Drysdale at the bank. He had never seen a palace before in his
life. He lived in a tent his whole life.
Don't you think he'd be intimidated by
Pharaoh, intimidated by the palace? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh and
Jacob blessed Pharaoh.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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What does Jacob do?
Jacob blessed Pharaoh. In our
culture today, when we used the word “blessed,” we mean that somebody did
something nice for us. Somebody gave you
something, they blessed you. In the
Bible, the word blessed is always verbal.
Jacob verbally blesses Pharaoh - he offers a prayer of blessing for
him. He comes walking in and looks at
him and says, “May the God of Abraham and Isaac, my grandpa and my daddy, may
that God bless you. May that God give
you grace. May that God give you
wisdom. May that God cause you to
prosper.” He comes before Pharaoh and
prays a blessing for him. Was Pharaoh a
follower of the God of Israel? No. He was a heathen, a pagan who set himself up
as God. And Jacob prays for him. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Integrity understands how to respond to authorities even if
they don't believe like you. We're
missing that in our culture. Today in
our culture if you disagree with authorities it's okay to bash them. In our culture, if you disagree with an
authority, it's okay to hate them. In
our culture, if you disagree with an authority, it's okay to judge their motive
and attack their character. I think we
can all learn something from Jacob who blesses Pharaoh. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Pharaoh says to Jacob, “How many years have you lived?” Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourning
are 130.” Then he describes those 130
years in two ways. He says, number one,
they were few. “I'm 130. It's just a few.” Today we would be thinking, WOAH! 130 years old? That's older than dirt! Jacob is saying, “I’m 130 and those years
have sure flown by.” The older I get the
more I understand how true that concept is.
He then says, “Not only have I learned that life is brief, I'm going to
be honest. My years have also been somewhat
unpleasant.” Number one, life is short. Number two, life is hard. I think we can agree with him, can't we? Life is short and life can be very hard. Before Jacob leaves, he blesses Pharaoh one
more time and the family settles in Egypt.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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We also see Joseph's integrity in saving the people. When you first read what follows, it looks
like Joseph is a very evil man. You're
going, “Wow, that's harsh!” It is
important that you take yourself out of our modern American mind-set. We live in a culture today where there are lots
of entitlements and handouts. I’m not debating
here if that is good or bad. That's for
other people much smarter than me to debate, but that is the culture we live in
today. Joseph did it differently.<o:p></o:p></div>
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During the seven years of plenty he stores up all kinds of
grain. The seven years of famine then come
and the land is devastated and you can't even grow a weed in all of Egypt. The people need food so Joseph sells them the
excess food that he has stored up. But
the famine is so severe that after a while they run out of money. The people don't have money because they
can't grow crops. The famine is
devastating the economy. They come back
to Joseph and say, “We're out of food again.
We need more food but we don't have any money.” So what does Joseph do? He says, “I'll sell you more food for your
animals.” He didn't give them a handout. If you think about it, it was actually a
blessing because if there's no food, they can’t feed their livestock. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But the famine continues.
They're out of money. They're out
of animals and they're out of food again.
So Joseph sells them more food in exchange for their land. Again, no handout is given. By the way, if you read the text, this was
the people's suggestion. They came and
said, “We'll give you our land for more food.”
If you're in the middle of a famine and you can't grow a weed on your
property, than your land is not very valuable.
No one else is going to buy it from you.
So now Pharaoh owns all the money, all the livestock, and all the
land. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally, the famine ends. Joseph is a very wise individual. He understands there's more at stake than
just the people having food. When the
famine ends, the country has to somehow be able to respond and rebound from
this horrible famine. All the people
lived in pockets of big population so Joseph is going to spread the people out
throughout the whole land of Egypt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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He gives them seed and, obviously, he also gives them
animals to plow with and says, “Here's what I want you to do. I'm going to give you this land. I'm going to give you this seed. I want you to plant. I want you to grow crops. 20% of what you grow comes back to Pharaoh. You keep the rest for your livelihood.” Not only do all the people survive this
horrible famine because they had food, but Joseph's plan allows Egypt to
rebound quickly from this horrible famine by using all of the land to its
redemptive potential when it comes to bearing crops. It was an outstanding plan. We as Americans
look at the plan and go, “How harsh.”
But notice how the people of Egypt responded. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“So the people said to Joseph, ‘You have saved our lives. Let us find favor in your sight. We will be Pharaoh's slaves forever.’”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The people understood that Joseph had their best interest in
mind. That's what integrity is all
about. Integrity says, “Even when you are
the most powerful person, you still have the betterment of others in mind.” When you have to choose between something
that would be best for you versus something that would be best for your family,
what do you choose? When you have to
choose between something that would be best for you personally or would be best
for the organization you work for, what do you choose? When you have to choose between what would be
best for your area of ministry or what would be best for the entire church as a
whole, what do you choose? Integrity
says “It's not about me. It's about the
betterment of the whole.” That's what
made Joseph an incredible man of integrity.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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We've seen Joseph settling his family and Joseph saving his
people. The last thing I want to share
with you is how Joseph now swears to Jacob.
In other words, he makes him an oath.
Jacob lives in Egypt for 17 more years.
He was 130 when he arrived so now he's 147 and it's time for him to
die. Realizing his death is near, he
brings Joseph in and says, “I want you to swear to me, make me an oath, that
you will bury me back in the land of Canaan.
I don't want to be buried in Egypt.”
To the Jewish people, the land matters.
It mattered to Jacob way back then.
It matters to them today. Has
asks Joseph to place his hand under his thigh and swear to him. You read that today going, “He wants him to
do what?” In the culture of that day,
that's how you made an oath to somebody who was close to you. I am so thankful in our culture we just shake
hands, but in that culture that's what they did.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“He (Jacob) said to Joseph, ‘Swear to me,’ and Joseph swore to
him. Then Jacob bowed in worship at the
head of his bed.” (v31)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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In spite of all his failures and shortcomings, in spite of
all the trials and hurts, Jacob finished well.
Jacob the deceiver now becomes Jacob the worshipper. At the end, the important thing about life is
your relationship with God. Jacob went
through a lot. He failed a lot. But after it was all over, he learned that God
is good. Many of you have had a hard
life and there are still some hard roads ahead of you. Many of you, myself included, have had times
of failure. But here's the beauty of the
story. No matter what our past has been
like, we can still finish well. Like
Jacob, we can fall down and we can worship.<o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-85477122702452937362014-02-10T16:47:00.002-05:002014-02-10T16:47:35.019-05:00Joseph (part 9) - The Power of Reconciliation<div class="MsoNormal">
Today we have reached the climatic part of the story of
Joseph. Today is the day when Joseph, 22
years after his brothers threw him into that pit, reveals his identity to those
same men. Joseph's brothers had come to
Egypt to get food because of the famine.
When they arrived, Joseph recognized them but they didn't recognize
him. He tested them because he wanted to
see if they'd really changed. He accused
them all of being spies and kept one of them as a prisoner. He sent the others back with instructions to
return with their youngest brother, Benjamin, in order to prove their story and
their innocence.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Over a course of time they were able to convince their father,
Jacob, to let their little brother Benjamin return to Egypt with them. When they got to Egypt, Joseph saw
Benjamin. He allowed them to buy more
food. He released Simeon but he then
instigated one more test. He took his
silver cup, the one he personally drank out of, and had it placed in the sack
of Benjamin. He then sent his men after
them and they found the cup in Benjamin's sack.
They brought them all back to Egypt.
The brothers began to talk about the evil they did to one of their other
brothers. They begin to come clean and were
even willing to take Benjamin’s place as a prisoner if the Prime Minister would
just allow their youngest brother to return home to their father. Joseph continues the test saying that the cup
was only found in one person's bag and that it would be that person that would
be his slave forever. That person, of
course, was Benjamin. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The brothers had the opportunity to do what they had done to
Joseph 22 years earlier. If they hadn’t
changed, they could have thrown Benjamin under the bus and went back home and
said, “Dad, we’re sorry but Benjamin stole from the guy. There was nothing we could do.” But Judah, the same guy who 22 years earlier
instigated selling Joseph into slavery, stepped up to the plate. He took responsibility and gave a passionate
speech in which he says, “You don't understand.
If Benjamin doesn't go back home, my dad will die of sorrow. Take me.
I'll take Benjamin's spot. I'll
be your slave forever.” And at that
moment Joseph knows his brothers have really changed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is crucial because for reconciliation to take place,
two things have to happen. Number one,
there needs to be forgiveness. Joseph
has already forgiven these brothers. Number
two, there has to be repentance which we now see on the part of these ten older
brothers. As we pick up the story in
Genesis 45, we now see the power of this reconciliation in the first three
verses. These are the climatic
verses. These are the ones where Joseph
reveals his identity. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by
him and he cried out saying, have everyone go out from me. So there was no man with him when Joseph made
himself known to his brothers. He wept
so loudly that the Egyptians heard it through the walls. The household of Pharaoh heard of it. And here's verse 3. This is the big one. Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am
Joseph. Is my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him for
they were dismayed at his presence.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Joseph now knows that his brothers have really changed. Judah has proven that. That change is paramount because it's going
to be through the line of Judah that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would eventually
be born. Joseph has everyone leave the
room so that he can be alone with his brothers.
This is a private matter between him and them. He is so overtaken with emotion at their
repentance that his weeping is heard all the way through the palace walls. Finally, Joseph utters words and for the very
first time these brothers hear him speak in Hebrew. Up until now he's been speaking in Egyptian
through an interpreter. They had no clue
it was Joseph. Now, in their own native
tongue, he says those unbelievable words that I'm sure these guys never thought
they would ever hear. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“I am Joseph.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Put yourself in these guys' shoes. 22 years ago you hated your younger brother so
much that you wanted to kill him. You
opted to throw him in a pit and sell him into slavery. For 22 years you have convinced your dad that
he was dead. For 22 years you've tried
to keep it behind you, to put it out of your mind. Never thinking you'd see him again. They were most likely convinced Joseph was
dead. It had been 22 years. You don't make it 22 years as an Egyptian
slave. They never thought they
would see him again and now, they're not only seeing him, but he's Egypt’s prime
minister. He's the guy who's been
testing them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Can you imagine what's going through their minds? On one
hand, they're shocked. Can you also imagine
the fear? 22 years ago, they wanted to
kill him. 22 years ago, they mistreated
him horribly. Now he has the power of
revenge. Not only is there shock, not
only is there fear, there's also guilt and shame. What Joseph does next is amazing because
Joseph now initiates the reconciliation.
He’s already forgiven them but now he's going to initiate entering back
into a relationship with them. From this
we see four powerful benefits of reconciliation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>RECONCILIATION RESTORES INTIMACY<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please come closer to me.’ and they
came closer and he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph whom you sold into Egypt.’”
(Genesis 45:4)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The first thing Joseph says to these guys is, “Come closer
to me.” When he uttered those words, “I
am Joseph,” these guys were fearful.
They backed off. Now he says, “Come
closer,” which is a word that's powerful.
It doesn't just mean come closer in proximity. There's another Hebrew word for that. This is a word that literally says come
closer in intimacy. I don't just want
you to come closer in distance. I want
us to be intimate again. I want to enter
back into a relationship. I want you to
be able to see me up close, to know I'm really Joseph. I want you to be able to look into my eyes
and know that I have forgiven you. I
love you and I want to once again be your brother. I want to enter back into this
relationship. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph reminds them of the wrong they did. He said, “I'm your brother who you sold into
Egypt.” He doesn't remind them of it to
use it as a weapon. He is saying, “Guys,
you hurt me deeply but that's behind us now.
That's not what I'm interested in.
This isn't about vengeance. This
isn't about retaliation. This is about
us being a family once again.” Intimacy
is restored when there's reconciliation.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>RECONCILIATION REMOVES GUILT<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Not only does reconciliation restore intimacy, In verse 5 Joseph
goes on and says to them, “Do not be grieved or angry with yourselves.” Isn't that an amazing statement? Don't be grieved. Don't be angry with yourselves because of
what you did to me because God sent me before you to preserve life. Reconciliation doesn't just restore intimacy,
it removes guilt. That's the power of
reconciliation. Joseph lets his brothers
off the hook. He says, “I've forgiven
you. I want you to forgive yourselves. I
don't want you to live in guilt. I don't
want you to live in pain. That's not why
I'm revealing myself to you.” The truth
is that sometimes it's easier for us to forgive others than it is for us to
forgive ourselves. Joseph wants his
brothers to understand that God was in this situation the entire time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In 1 Corinthians 13:4 we learn that, “Love is patient.” The word “patient” describes someone who's
been wronged, has the power to retaliate, but chooses not to. Had these brothers wronged Joseph? Without question they had. Did Joseph have the power to retaliate? Yes.
He was the second most powerful man in Egypt. Did Joseph retaliate? No.
Why not? He didn’t because
forgiveness never seeks retaliation. Joseph
wants them to remove the guilt. He
doesn't want them to live with that burden any longer. He lets them off the hook. Tell me, my friend, who today do you need to
let off the hook? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>RECONCILIATION REVEALS PURPOSE<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>“Joseph says, ‘God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the
earth and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me
here, but God. And He has made me a
father (advisor) to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all
the land of Egypt.’” (Genesis 45:7-8)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Joseph wants his brothers to understand that though their
actions threw him into a pit, it was God that was working through the whole
thing. God was doing something even in
the midst of the horror. God was doing
something even in the midst of their evil.
That's the amazing thing about God.
Our God is so incredible, so powerful, and so awesome that there is
nothing He can't use. He can even use
our mistakes. He can even use Satan to
accomplish His own purposes. That's how
amazing our God is. <o:p></o:p></div>
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That doesn't take away the fact that these guys were
wrong. What they did 22 years earlier
was horrible. But our omniscient God,
knowing these brothers were going to do this, still used it to accomplish His
purpose. Think about the story. They take Joseph and they throw him in the
pit. Have you ever thought about the
timing of the Ishmaelites who were traveling by on their way to Egypt? Who do you think planned that? God did!
Isn't it amazing that of all the people in Egypt that could have bought
him as a slave, it was Potiphar that bought him, somebody so high up in the
government? Who do you think caused that
to happen? It was God. Isn't it amazing that he gets thrown in the
same prison at the same time that the cupbearer gets in there? Who do you think made that happen? It was God.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph has a vertical perspective on life. Most of us only have a horizontal
perspective. When things come into our
life that are bad, that are ugly, that are hurtful, when we get betrayed,
mistreated and bruised, we can only look horizontally. We look at how it affects us and how it
messed up our life and how it's making our life difficult. Joseph was able to look beyond that. He was able to see that there was a vertical
perspective. He was able to see that God
was at work and that He had allowed it to happen and used it so that tens of
thousands of people were saved from starvation, including Joseph’s own family who
would have died of starvation had Joseph not been prime minister. What a God!
<o:p></o:p></div>
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When Paul wrote Romans 8:28 under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, I wonder if he had Joseph in mind when he said, “We know that God
causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.” He did it for Joseph and He will do the same in
your life as well. No matter what you're
facing, no matter how much hurt, no matter how much despair and dismay, I need
you to know that behind the scenes God is at work and often it's not until reconciliation
takes place that we're able to begin to see the purpose of what God was doing
all along. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>RECONCILIATION RENEWS HOPE<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>“You shall live in the land of Goshen.
And you shall be near me. You and
your children and your children's children and your flocks and your herds and
all that you have and there I will provide for you for there are still five
years of famine to come and you and your house old and all that you have would
be impoverished if it weren't for me.” (Genesis 45:10-11)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Joseph says to his brothers, “I'm going to take care of
you. I'm going to make sure your needs
are met. I want you to move the whole
family here. I want you to go home. I want you to get your kids, your grand kids,
and I want you to bring them here. I
want to do good to you.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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That's what forgiveness is all about. In Ephesians 4:32 it doesn't just say we're
to forgive. It says we are to be kind
and tender hearted as well. The word
kind means to be useful. Don't just
forgive, be useful. And don't just be useful,
be tender-loving. What's the difference
between kindness and tender-loving kindness?
A Sunday School teacher asked her class that question one day and a Iittle
girl responded saying, “If I were hungry, and you gave me a piece of bread that
would be kindness; but if you spread some jelly on that bread, that would be
tender-loving kindness. You know what
Joseph's doing? He's spreading some
jelly on the bread. He's saying, “Guys,
I don't just forgive you. I'm not just
going to give you a piece of bread. I'm
going to spread some jelly on it.” And
hope is renewed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When reconciliation takes place, comfort happens. First, comfort was brought to Joseph’s
brothers. The next verse says that, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Joseph fell on his brother, Benjamin's neck and wept and Benjamin wept
on his neck. He kissed all his
brothers. He wept on them and afterward
his brothers talked with him.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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There was comfort given to his brothers. As they have this reunion they talk about
those 22 years. They most likely shared
about their kids and their grandkids. Joseph
told them about his two boys, Manasseh and Ephraim. Comfort was given to his brothers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But this comfort when beyond that. In verse number 16 there's a different type
of comfort. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Now, when the news was heard in Pharaoh's house that Joseph's brothers
had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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It not only brought comfort to his brothers, this
reconciliation also brought comfort to Pharaoh and to his household. They all heard the commotion. They all heard the crying. Now, comfort comes to Pharaoh’s household. Everybody wins when reconciliation takes
place. When reconciliation takes place,
everyone's refreshed. When you choose to
forgive, when you reconcile, it refreshes your marriage. It refreshes your family. It refreshes your church. That's what Paul said to Philemon in chapter
1:20. He had written to Philemon saying,
“Philemon, you need to forgive a runaway slave named Onesimus and if you'll
forgive him, you'll refresh my heart because reconciliation brings refreshment
to everyone.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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It also brings refreshment and comfort to Jacob. Joseph sends those brothers home with gifts
and all kinds of wagons saying, “I want you to bring the whole family here.” In fact, he tells them to leave all of their stuff
behind. He just wants them to come – to bring
the family and the animals and he will take care of all of their other needs. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In verse 24, before they leave, he tells them not to quarrel
on the way home. What would they quarrel
about? When those guys got home, what
did they have to do? They had to tell
Dad that they just met Joseph. Isn't
there a problem there? The last time
they told Jacob about Joseph they convinced him that he had been killed by a
wild animal. Now they have to come clean
with Jacob. Reconciliation can never
take place until you're willing to come clean with everyone you've hurt. On the way home there would be the temptation
to quarrel about the whole thing. Joseph
says, “Don't quarrel. Don't mess up a
good thing. This is all about
grace. This is all about
forgiveness. This isn't about casting
blame. This is about our family being
reunited.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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According to the Bible Jacob's spirit is revived. Look at the next verse. This is powerful. Men, this is like watching "Old
Yeller." Even you will want to
cry. Look what happens when they told Jacob
all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them and when Jacob saw the
wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the Bible says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“The spirit of their father revived.
Then Jacob said, “It's enough. My
son Joseph is still alive. And I am
going to get to see him before I die.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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For 22 years, he thought Joseph was dead. Now he realizes that he's going to get to see
him again. What a powerful story of the
benefits or reconciliation.
Reconciliation restores intimacy.
Reconciliation removes guilt. Reconciliation
reveals purpose. Reconciliation renews
hope. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Do you realize what makes this story even more powerful? It’s because in the Bible, Joseph is a
picture of Jesus Christ. Think about
it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph was Jacob's beloved son. Who was Jesus? He was God's beloved son. <o:p></o:p></div>
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What happened to Joseph?
Those who were his very family turned on him. They mistreated him in a horrible way. What happened to Jesus? He came into his own and his own knew him
not. And not only did they not receive
him, not only did they not believe him, they mistreated him. They nailed him to a cross. It wasn't just the Jewish people of that day that
nailed Jesus to the cross. It wasn't
just the Roman soldiers that drove those nails deep into his flesh. The truth is that we nailed Him to the
cross. It was my sin that put Him
there. It was your sin that put Him
there. You and I are as guilty of
hurting Jesus.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But here's the amazing truth. The Bible teaches that if we are willing to
admit that we are sinners; if we're willing to confess that our sins separates
us from God; if we're willing to understand that our sin must be punished and
there's nothing we can do to change it in and of ourselves; if we will come to
God in faith and say, “Jesus, I believe you are exactly who You claim to be,
God in the flesh. I believe that You
died on the cross for me to pay the penalty for my sin, I believe You rose from
the dead, I believe that You are the only way to heaven,” The bible says that
Jesus will say to us what Joseph said to his brothers. He looks at us and He says, “Come closer! I
want to reconcile with you. I want to
forgive you. I want us to be family.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Bible says, “To as many as received Him, to them God
gave the power to become His children.” Through
faith in Jesus our intimacy can be restored with God. Through faith in Jesus our sins can be
forgiven. Through faith in Jesus, our
guilt can be removed. Through faith in
Jesus we can find our purpose which is to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ
every moment of every day. Through faith
in Jesus our hope is renewed and you and I can know for sure that we're going to
heaven. No matter what we're facing
today, through faith in Jesus we can honestly say, “The best is yet to come!” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-32505753827945056212014-02-03T16:31:00.002-05:002014-02-03T16:31:28.420-05:00Joseph (part 8) - When Your Faith Is Tested<div class="MsoNormal">
What do we do when our faith is tested today? As we continue to look at the story of
Joseph, we are going to see what happens to Jacob, his father, when his faith
is tested. First, let me very quickly
catch you up to speed with where we are in this story. Joseph's brothers travelled down to Egypt to
get food because of the famine. When
they got there, they were brought before the prime minister, who was Joseph, but
they have no idea that this was their younger brother who 20 years earlier they
had thrown in a pit and sold into Egyptian slavery. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph put his brothers through a series of tests. Why does he test them? He does so because you can forgive somebody
without their changing but you can't reconcile with somebody who hasn't
changed. You can't enter back into a
relationship with them unless they've changed.
He needs to discern, “Have my brothers changed?” So he accuses them all of being spies and
throws them in prison for three days. <o:p></o:p></div>
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They had told him that they were men from the land of Canaan
and that they had a younger brother who was at home with his father. Joseph ultimately says, “Here's what I'll
do. I'll give you a chance to prove your
story. I'll just keep one of you here as
a prisoner. I'll send the rest of you
back. Bring me back your younger brother
to prove to me your story is true and I'll let you all go home.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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So his brothers, minus Simeon who's thrown in jail, go back
to their father in the land of Canaan.
They tell him what happened and Jacob responds in two ways. Number one, he responds with fear – a fear
that he might lose his precious youngest son, Benjamin. He responds, number two, with continued
favoritism - showing that he still loves the two sons of Rachel more than his
other sons. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Jacob has the opportunity at this point to be the spiritual
leader of his home and say, “Listen, guys, it's a tough situation we're in and
it's a dangerous situation, but we have a powerful God. We can trust this God. Let's go ahead back to Egypt. Let's prove our innocence. Let's get back Simeon.” But that's not how Jacob responds. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Now the famine was severe in the land so it came about when they had
finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt that their father
said, go back, buy us a little food.” (Genesis 43:2)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Notice the time that has elapsed since the brothers got back
to the land of Canaan to this moment. It
has been enough time that all of the grain that they brought back with them has
been eaten so we can conclude that several months have passed. How does Jacob respond to his testing of
faith? The first thing he does is to
delay. He doesn't immediately send
Benjamin to Egypt. Even though Simeon's
life hangs in the balance, Jacob refuses at first to send Benjamin. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The famine continues and the family eats all of the food
they had originally brought back from Egypt and now they're in the same
predicament they were in months earlier.
They are dangerously low on food and the only place they can get food is
back in Egypt. So not only do we see
that Jacob delays, you could also add to this the fact that he was in denial
because he simply tells his sons to go back to Egypt and get more food. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Judah says, “Dad, we can't do that. We told you that the prime minister said to
us that if we return we have to bring Benjamin with us. If we don't bring Benjamin with us, he will
say we are all spies. He will throw all
of us in jail. The only way we can go
back is if Benjamin goes with us.” Then Judah
adds this, “I will take the responsibility for Benjamin. Let me take him back.” Notice what Jacob does in verse 6. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Then Israel said to his sons, ‘Why did you treat me so badly?’”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Jacob is now saying, “Why have you put me in this situation?” I look at this and I want to say, “Jacob,
what do you mean treat <u>you</u> badly?
How about Simeon? He's back in an
Egyptian prison.” But Jacob is consumed
with himself. He's consumed with his
trial. He's consumed with his
feelings. You see, one of the worst ways
that you can respond when your faith is tested is to make it all about
you. When you make it all about you and get
that “woe is me” syndrome.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Jacob says, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the
man that you still had another brother?”
He's saying, “Guys, why didn't you lie?
If you would have lied, we wouldn't be in this mess!” What a great dad he is. We saw this earlier. Jacob's name literally meant “deceiver.” Lying was second nature to him. So not only does Jacob respond to his testing
of faith with delay, he also responds with blame. He blames his sons for the situation he's
in. He shifts the blame for his problem on
to his sons. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Often, that's what we do when our faith is tested. We run into a time in our life when it's
uncomfortable, when it's dangerous, when it's disappointing, when it hurts,
when we have been treated unfairly, and what we tend to do in that situation is
just blame our misfortune on everybody else around us. That's what Jacob does. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I love what happens next because it is Judah that finally
steps up. Judah does what this family
has needed for over 20 years. He steps
up and does what his dad won't do. He
takes responsibility. He says, “Dad,
listen, if you need to blame somebody, blame me. I'll take the blame. If that will make you feel better, blame
me. Put it on me. But this doesn't change the facts. Here are the facts. Simeon's in prison. The only way to get Simeon out is to take
Benjamin to Egypt. We're dying because
we're starving. We are about out of
food. The only place to get food is
Egypt. If we don't take Benjamin with
us, we'll never get food. He'll throw us
all in jail. So Dad, if you need to put
the blame on someone, put the blame on me.
That's fine. But we've got to
take control of the situation. We've got
to do something so I'll tell you what.
You put Benjamin in my care and I'll be surety for Benjamin. If anything happens to Benjamin, if I don't
bring him back to you safe and unharmed, you can kill me.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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That's what Judah does.
He steps up. To put it in modern
vernacular, he “man’s up.” He finally
says, “Somebody needs to take responsibility.
Somebody needs to take the helm.
Somebody needs to take the bull by the horns and since dad won't do it
and none of my other brothers will do it, I'll do it. I will take responsibility.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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And this appears to be the turning point in Judah's
life. Up until this moment, Judah has
been a spiritual and moral failure. We
haven't talked a lot about Judah in the story because our emphasis has been on
Joseph but let me quickly tell you a little bit about Judah. Judah was the one who instigated throwing Joseph
into the pit and selling him into slavery into Egypt. Judah was so wicked that his sons picked up
on his wickedness to the point that God killed his sons. He was such a moral failure that one day
Judah went out to find a prostitute. What
he didn't realize is that she was disguised and it was really his
daughter-in-law and he impregnated his daughter-in-law thinking she was a
prostitute. This guy did not win the
Sunday school awards when he was a kid.
He was a moral failure. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At this point, however, we see a turning. This guy, who's been a spiritual wreck his
whole life, now takes responsibility. That's
what men do. Men take
responsibility. Men take the lead. And that's what Judah finally does. For all of his life he's been a little boy
running around in a man's body. But
finally he changes. Notice what happens
as we continue in verses 11 to 14. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Then their father Israel said, ‘If this must be, then do it.’”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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How's that for obedience?
How's that for courage? How's
that for leadership? Jacob basically
responds saying, “Well, if it must be, then do it.” He responds with total reluctance. He is not courageous at all. He feels his back is against the wall. Don't you love it, parents when your children
obey you like that? Don't you just love
it when they finally do what you say but they do it reluctantly? You can tell by the look on their face, by
their body posture, by their groans and their grunts. Don't you just love it? <o:p></o:p></div>
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I remember when my daughter was younger. She learned sign language and became pretty
good at it which was really cool until the first time I scolded her and she
looked at me and she just waved her hands and walked away in disgust. I don’t know sign language so I had no idea
what she said but I could tell it wasn’t positive. That's what Jacob does. Reluctantly, he says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Take your brother, arise, return to the man and may God Almighty grant
you compassion in the sight of the man.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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In the next phrase we continue to see his ongoing
favoritism. He again shows his disregard
for all of his sons except Benjamin. He
says that “He (that mighty man in Egypt – the prime minister) may release to
you two people, your other brother and Benjamin.” He doesn't even use Simeon's name. And then look at the last line. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“And as for me, well, if I'm bereaved of my children, I'm bereaved.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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He reluctantly agrees, not because he's a man of courage,
not because it's the right thing to do, not because he cares about Simeon who's
in prison, not because his family is starving.
He reluctantly agrees because his back is against the wall. He has no other alternative. And as a result, he wallows in the mire of
self-pity. “And if I'm bereaved of my
children, I'm bereaved.” Woe is me. No one likes me. Everyone hates me. I think I'll go eat worms. That's Jacob.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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To be honest, that's what an awful lot of us do when our
faith is tested. When we get in those
situations in our life that hurt and that are difficult, all too often we
respond the same way. We delay in doing
what we know we should do. We blame
others for the predicament that we are in.
And finally, we reluctantly obey, but as we do we wallow in our own
self-pity. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We're going to move now from the response of Jacob to the
repentance of his brothers and the story really gets good. Here's what happens. They're now going to go back to Egypt. What I want to do is to give you a synopsis
of the story that we find in chapters 43 and 44 of Genesis. <o:p></o:p></div>
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First, we see the aim of the brothers. All 11 of them now will go back to
Egypt. As they do, they have four
purposes. Number one, they want to
return the money they found in their sacks when they left Egypt on the previous
trip. Remember, on their last trip they bought food in Egypt but when they get
home they discovered that the money they used to buy the food was back in their
sacks. They freaked out at this because
they believed they were going to get accused of stealing the money. So one of the reasons they're going back is
to return the money. In fact, if you
read verse 15, you will discover they're not just going to return the money,
they're going to double it. They're
going to return the money times two to show they're men of integrity. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Their second purpose is that they want to prove they're not
spies. That's what the prime minister
accused them of four times on their earlier trip. The only way to prove different was to bring
Benjamin back with them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Number three, they want to attain the release of
Simeon. Simeon has been in jail for
months. He was put in jail while they
were all still in Egypt. Then the
brothers had to travel from Egypt back to the land of Canaan on foot which was 300
miles and would have taken several weeks, maybe even a couple months. When they got back to the land of Canaan,
their dad didn’t act right away. He
delayed for several months until the food they had brought back was down to
just about nothing. He then sent them
back on the 300-mile trip to Egypt, another couple of months. So Simeon has been in the prison for quite
some time and they want to secure his release.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And then, number four, they need to buy more grain because
if they don't bring back more food, the whole family dies. Do you see the importance of this trip? There's a lot riding in the balance and they need
to accomplish these four very big things.
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Upon their arrival, Joseph sees from a distance that they
brought Benjamin. He orders that a feast
be prepared and that they be summoned to come before him. So he sends his steward to go to them and say,
“The prime minister would like you to appear before him.” The brothers are very scared because they think
the reason the prime minister wants them to come before him is because he
thinks they stole the money on their last trip. They think he's going to bring them in,
accuse them all of stealing the money and throw them all in prison, or worse,
kill them all. So they are very, very,
very scared. <o:p></o:p></div>
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They say to Joseph's steward, “We need to tell you
something. When we were going back to
Israel last time, we found the money in our sacks that we had used to buy the
food. We have no idea how it got
there. You've got to believe us. We need you to go back and tell the prime minister
we're innocent. We're even prepared to
pay it back times two. We're ready to
make amends.” I love what the steward
does in verse 23. He says, “Be at ease.” The modern vernacular would be, “Chill out.” Actually, in the Hebrew text, it's the word “shalom.” It's the Jewish greeting even to this
day. It means “be at peace.” It's a wish and a greeting – “God's peace be
on your life.” Then the steward says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Your God and the God of your father has given you treasures in your
sack.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The steward is saying, “Chill out. Be at peace.
You're not in trouble. Why are
you reading so much into this? Don't you
know what happened? Your God, the God of
your great grandpa Abraham, the God of your grandpa Isaac, the God of your
father Jacob has blessed you. That's why
the money was in your sacks.” When your
life is consumed with guilt because you haven't dealt with your past, it
changes your perspective on everything - even the blessings of God. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As I read this I can’t help but to ask myself this question,
“Where do you think this Egyptian steward learned so much about the God of
Israel? Where do you think he learned
about ‘shalom’? Where do you think he
learned about the patriarchs, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Where do you think this Egyptian steward
learned all that?” Well, it's pretty
obvious, isn't it? He learned it from
Joseph. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph didn't just have an impact in saving multiple
thousands of people from physical starvation.
Joseph had an impact in individual lives spiritually. Contrast him with his father. Jacob couldn't even have a spiritual impact
in his own sons' lives in the way he responded to his test of faith. But here's Joseph, and the way he responds doesn’t
just result in him saving thousands from physical starvation, he is bringing
the truth of the one true God to the land of Egypt one person at a time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When you go through the testing of your faith, when you go through
those times of trials and disappointments, and you put the focus back on
yourself, like Jacob did, and wallow in your own self-pity, you will miss some
of the best opportunities God will ever set up for you to spiritually impact
the lives of others. You will impact
people more during times of your affliction than you will ever be able to
impact them during the times of your blessings.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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The steward reassures them.
He brings them water to wash their feet.
He brings them food for their donkeys and then he brings them all before
Joseph and they lay out their gifts before the prime minister. At that moment Joseph sees Benjamin up close. Before he talks about Benjamin, he asks about
his father. He says, “How is your father
doing, the aged father you told me about, is he still alive?” Joseph is showing his heart. For over 20 years he's been separated from
his father whom he loved. I imagine that
for the better part of those 20 years he thought he would never see his father
again but his heart is still connected to Dad. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In verse 29, as he lifted his eyes he saw his brother
Benjamin who he hadn’t seen in over 20 years.
The text says that he saw his brother Benjamin, “his mother’s son.” Don't miss that phrase. Keep in mind that the other ten brothers were
only half-brothers of Joseph. They
shared the same father but Joseph has a different mother than the other ten
brothers. Benjamin is the only one
that's different. Joseph and Benjamin
are full brothers. Not only does the
blood and DNA of their father flow through their veins but the blood and DNA of
Rachel, their mother flow through their veins as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I really do believe that Joseph is caught up, not in just
seeing his little brother again, but when he looks in his little brother's
face, he sees his mom. Benjamin didn't
know his mom. She died giving birth to
Benjamin but Joseph would have had much recollection of Rachel. When he looks in Benjamin's eyes, he sees the
eyes of his mother and his heart begins to break. He says, “May God be gracious to you.” Then notice what he does next. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“And Joseph hurried out for he was deeply stirred over his
brother. And he sought a place to weep
and he entered his chamber where he could be all by himself. And he wept there. Then he washed his face and came out. He controlled himself and said, let's eat.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Make no mistake about it.
Joseph's a real man and real men cry.
But notice, he does it where no one can see him. Now that's a real man. He goes where no one can see him and he bawls
his eyes out. Then he says, “Let's eat.” That's a man's answer to every problem,
right? I just cried. I just wept.
Now let's eat. So he says, “Serve
the meal. It is time to eat.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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At this feast there would have been three different seating
areas. Joseph eats at one table by
himself because he's the prime minister.
His Egyptian staff eat at another table.
And the 11 Hebrew men are at a third table. Now, isn't that kind of strange? Can you imagine being invited to someone's
home for dinner and having them welcome you into their home and say, “It's time
to eat. Now, my husband and I are eating
here at the dining room table but we set up a place for you two at the kitchen
counter. If you want to go in there and
eat, please do.” That would be strange
today but not in that culture. In that
culture, Egyptians would never eat at the same table with Jews. Their eating habits were different. What they ate was different. They just wouldn't do it. It's kind of a weird scenario but it gets
weirder. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The brothers have assigned seats. They're seated the firstborn according to his
birthright all the way down to the youngest according to his youth. In other words, Joseph seats them in
chronological birth order from the oldest to the youngest. They notice this. It can’t be a coincidence. They are now realizing that this prime
minister knows more about them than they thought he did. And the Bible says, “They were astonished.” I think Joseph's dropping the big hint
here. He’s saying, “I know more about
you than you think. You just can't
figure out why I do.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph has the food served to them but Benjamin's portion
was five times as much as the other brothers.
That's called “over the top.” I
don't know what they would have eaten in that Egyptian dinner but let's just
say that this is the menu. They start
with salad. So they bring out a nice,
fresh, crisp salad and every brother gets a salad. But Benjamin gets five
salads. Now, that probably didn't excite
Benjamin. This kid brother's probably
going, “You’ve got to be kidding me, five salads?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Next, they bring out corn on the cob, dripping with butter
and salt. Every brother gets an ear of
corn but Benjamin gets five ears of corn.
And he's thinking, “Things are looking up.” Then they bring out baked potatoes, smothered
with butter, sour cream and bacon bits, which those guys would have had to pick
off because they're Jewish, but nonetheless, they’re smothered with all that good
stuff. And each of the brothers get a
baked potato but Benjamin gets five baked potatoes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then they bring out the main course - T-bone steaks. Nice, thick, juicy T-bone steaks cooked
medium, still pink, the way God intended it, and they bring every single man a
steak but Benjamin, who must be on the Atkins diet, because he gets five
steaks. Can you imagine what the other
brothers are doing? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then dessert - pineapple upside down cake - and every single
man got one piece but Benjamin gets a piece five times the size of all the
others. Folks, that's called “over the
top.” But that's how it happened. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So here's the question.
What in the world was Joseph doing?
Why would he do that? Some
commentators say he was communicating to his brothers, “I know who the only
innocent one is.” I don't think that's
the case because throughout the whole story we don't see one iota of vengeance
or bitterness in Joseph's life. Some say
this was Joseph's way of showing that he loved Benjamin more because he was his
full brother. I don't think that’s the
case either because if there's anyone who understands the consequences that
come with showing favoritism, it's Joseph.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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I believe that Joseph is setting up the final test to see if
his brothers have really changed. What
he just did at dinner is going to set up the final test which will involve the
prime minister's own silver cup. Joseph is
trying to discern if his brothers have changed.
Joseph knows that 20 years earlier, when his father Jacob went over the
top in showing favoritism to Joseph by giving him that coat of many colors, that
his brothers responded to that favoritism with hatred. They hated Joseph and wanted to kill
him. Joseph needs to know if they have changed
so he stirs the pot a little bit. He's
going to show over the top favoritism on Benjamin to see if his brothers still
have the same animosity. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Here's what he does to finish the test. At the end of the dinner he says, “We're
going to send you back to the land of Canaan.
I'll let you purchase more food.
We'll fill the sacks of your donkeys with food.” He then privately says to his steward, “I
want you to take my silver cup, the one I drink out of, and put it in the sack
of the youngest brother.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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The brothers have no idea this has happened. They head back to Canaan, Simeon included, and
just a couple hours after they leave, Joseph orders his men to go get them and
search their stuff, find his golden cup, and bring them all back. He's setting them up. He wants to see how they'll respond when
Benjamin, who just received “over the top” favoritism, looks guilty. He wants to know if they hate Benjamin
because of the favoritism and if they are willing “throw Benjamin under the bus”
like they did him 20 years earlier. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Joseph’s men catch up with them and say, “One of you stole
the prime minister's cup.” They
deny it saying, “None of us stole the cup.
If you find that cup in any of our sacks, we will all become the prime
minister's slaves.” They searched the
sacks and find the cup in Benjamin's.
They bring them back to the prime minister and Joseph says, “What in the
world are you doing? I was good to
you. I blessed you. I gave you food. And now you treat me like this? You steal my cup?” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
In verses 18 through 34, Judah now gives a speech to the
prime minister. It’s the
longest speech in the book of Genesis and it just might be the most
passionate speech in the entire Bible. He
says, “Prime Minister, you need to know how much my youngest brother means
to my dad. If you take my youngest
brother away from my dad, it will kill him and I can't bear to see that happen.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Isn't that interesting?
A little over 20 years ago, Judah didn’t care about his dad's feelings at
all. Remember, they took Joseph's coat,
made it look like he got killed by a wild animal, and for over 20 years Jacob
has believed that lie and Judah has watched his dad suffer in agony because he
thought Joseph was dead. Judah now says,
“I can't do it again. I can't bear to
see my dad hurt even more.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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He has the chance to throw Benjamin under the bus. If he hasn’t changed he could say, “I can't
believe Benjamin did that. I guess he
goes to jail.” And they could have went
back home and said, “Dad, it wasn't our fault.
Your favorite son made a big boo-boo.
He stole the prime minister's cup.
He was guilty. They caught him
red handed. There was nothing we could
do. But instead here's what he says to
the prime minister. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Therefore, please let me your servant remain instead of the
lad. Let me be a slave to my lord and
let the lad go home with his brothers for how shall I go up to my father if the
lad is not with me, for fear that I see the evil that would overtake my dad?”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Basically Judah is saying, “Sir, I know it looks like
Benjamin's guilty. But would you do me a
big favor? Would you let me take his
place? I'll be your slave for the rest
of my life. But please, please let
Benjamin go home because if you don't it's going to kill my dad. And I can't bear to see my dad hurting in the
agony I've seen him hurting with for the last 20 years.” And at this moment, Joseph realizes
something. He realizes that his brother has
changed. Judah's not the same scoundrel
he used to be. Judah's heart is now different.
And that sets up the most amazing part
of the story as Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers. <o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-66696686244028635672014-01-26T15:35:00.001-05:002014-01-26T15:35:23.407-05:00Joseph (part 7) - When Your Past Catches Up With You<div class="MsoNormal">
The truth of the matter is that everyone has skeletons in
their closet. We all have things in our
past that we wish were not there. We
have all made mistakes. We have all hurt
people. The problem is that many of us
are responding to our past by simply ignoring it and hoping that if we ignore
it long enough it will go away. But
there's something you need to understand about your past. Your past will always catch up with you. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
As we continue our journey in the life of Joseph, we now
move the camera from Egypt back to the land of Canaan. We now move the focus away from Joseph and
back on to his ten brothers who ultimately put him in that pit that started the
whole ordeal. And as we do we are going
to see that his brothers' past will catch up with them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I want to remind you about the timeline taking place because
you need to understand that when Genesis 42 begins it has now been over 20
years since Joseph was thrown in the pit.
Remember the scenario. Joseph was
17 years old when his brothers abducted him and threw him in the pit and then
sold him into slavery into Egypt and convinced their father he had been killed
by a wild animal. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At the age of 30, he eventually is brought before Pharaoh
and he's promoted to prime minister of Egypt.
For the first seven years of his tenure as prime minister, Egypt lives
through years of plenty but now the seven years of famine have begun. It's been over two decades since this whole
nightmare began on that day when his brothers threw him in the pit. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>THE BROTHERS SENT<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The first thing we see in the text is Joseph’s brothers
being sent to Egypt in the first three verses of Genesis 42. Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt and
asks his sons a question that many parents still ask of their kids today. He says, “Why are you staring at one another?” Remember, they're out of food but there's
food in Egypt. So Jacob asks. “Why are
you staring at one another? I've heard
there's grain in Egypt. Go down there
and buy some for us from that place so that we may live and not die.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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The famine is not just in the land of Egypt but all the
surrounding lands as well. It's now
affecting Joseph's family back in the land of Canaan. Everyone has heard. The news is out there. It's no secret that even though there's no
food anywhere else there's plenty of food in Egypt. Isn't it ironic that while Jacob realizes that
there's plenty of food in Egypt, what he doesn't realize is that the reason
there's plenty of food is because his beloved son Joseph has been the one in
charge of handling it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph’s brothers are now middle aged men, yet Jacob has to
say to them, “Why are you sitting here staring at one another? Why are you twiddling your thumbs? Has it not crossed your mind that it might be
a good idea for you to go down to Egypt and get us some food?” What I see here is some sort of reluctance on
the part of the ten sons. They're not
eager to go to Egypt. Why? My guess is that they're still living with
the guilt of what they did 20 years earlier.
Most likely, over those 20 years those brothers didn't talk much about
what they did. It was out of sight, out
of mind. Their hope was that if they
just ignored their past it would go away.
The problem is that guilt never goes away until it is dealt with and their
guilt has been brewing for 20 years. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Whenever those brothers think of Egypt, who do they
immediately think of? Joseph. The last thing that happened in their relationship
with Joseph was that they sold him as a slave into Egypt. I don’t think they were reluctant to go
because they were afraid they might run into Joseph. Egypt's a big place. Besides that, I think they pretty much were
convinced he was dead by now. You don't
last as a slave in Egypt long and it's been over 20 years. I think they're reluctant to go because Egypt
reminds them of their past. It reminds
them of mistakes they made that they haven't dealt with yet because they are hoping
that by ignoring them they will go away.
So Jacob has to order his sons to go down to Egypt and to get some
food. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Keep in mind from a geographical point of view that it's
approximately 300 miles from Hebron, where Jacob and his family lived in the
land of Canaan, to Egypt. This is a journey
they would take on foot or with donkeys.
It would be like your dad saying to you here in northern Michigan,
there's food in Ohio. Go get some. And you would have to walk or ride a donkey from
Gaylord, Michigan, to Ohio to get food and then come back. We are not talking a simple day's
journey. We are not talking a week's
journey. We're not even talking a
month's journey. It would be several
months round trip to go to Egypt, get the food and come back. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>THE BROTHERS SILENCED<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Now let's fast forward the story a few months to the
brothers' arrival in Egypt and the next thing that we are going to see are the
brothers of Joseph being silenced. This
is an encounter for the ages seen in verses 6 and 7. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Now, Joseph was the ruler over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of
the land. And Joseph's brothers came and
bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. And when Joseph saw his brothers, he
recognized them. But he disguised himself
to them and spoke to them harshly and he said to them, ‘Where have you come
from?’ And they said, ‘We've come from
the land of Canaan to buy food.’<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Now, put yourself in Joseph's position. You are the prime minister of Egypt. It's been 20 years since you got thrown in
the pit by your brothers and sold as a slave into Egypt. I have to guess that over those 20 years
Joseph daydreamed often about this day that he would be able to face his
brothers again. However, when Joseph
woke up on this morning I doubt very seriously he said, ‘I bet today's the day
I get to see my brothers.’ This was
going to be a shock to him. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph is on his chair.
He's meeting with those who are coming to buy food and he notices these
ten men who are obviously from the land of Canaan. They're bearded. They're not clean shaven like all the other
Egyptians. As he looks closely at them
it becomes very obvious to him who they are.
These guys are his brothers that he hasn't seen in 20 years since they
sold him into slavery. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Joseph has the upper hand on them. Though he recognizes them, according to the
text, they have no clue as to who he was.
The last time they saw Joseph he was 17 years old. He's now going on 40. A lot changes happen in a man's appearance
from age 17 to age 40. Have you noticed
that? You don't think that's true? Pull out your high school yearbook. You have changed and it has not been for the
good either. Joseph changed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Not only that, the Bible says he disguised himself. He would have had the Egyptian royal garb on,
the Egyptian makeup, the Egyptian head dressing, and to make it even more of a
disguise, he talks to his brothers through an interpreter. So it seems to them like he only knows
Egyptian even though he really does know Hebrew. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph is going to put his brothers through a series of
tests. Now, at first glance it almost
looks like Joseph's trying to get revenge but I don't think that's the
case. We have already seen that Joseph
has dealt with his past bitterness. That
is why he named his one son Manasseh (because God removed the sting from his
pain) and the other Ephraim (because God has made him fruitful and blessed him
in the land of his affliction). I don't
think he's being vengeful at all. I
think he's being wise. He has forgiven
his brothers already, but for there to be reconciliation, for him to enter back
into a relationship with them, he has to know that they have changed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Remember that one of the big problems in their past
relationship was that his brothers hated him because he was the favored son of
their dad because he was the firstborn son of Rachel, his dad's favorite
wife. Who's the only other brother that
has Rachel as a mother? Benjamin. Joseph wonders about the welfare of
Benjamin. He’s probably thinking, “If
they did what they did to me, I wonder what they have done to Benjamin?” So he puts them through a series of tests the
try to determine if they have changed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph immediately accuses these ten brothers of being
foreign spies. If you read through chapter
42 you will discover that he makes this accusation four different times. Four times in one chapter he says, “You are
spies.” Notice what they say back to him
in verse 11. This blows my mind. They respond to him saying, “We are not
spies. We are all sons of one man.” Who's the one man? Jacob.
Is that a true statement?
Yes. They're all sons of Jacob. There are four different mothers involved but
they all have the same father. <o:p></o:p></div>
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They then say, “We are honest men.” I wonder if Joseph had to bite his tongue at
that point. They're standing there not
knowing that they are talking to Joseph going, “No, we're not spies. We are men of integrity!” 20 years ago they threw their brother in a
pit and sold him into slavery and for the last 20 years have lived a lie,
convincing their father that his son was dead.
Now they are standing before the prime minister of Egypt claiming to be honest
men. No wonder Joseph puts these guys
through a test to see if they have changed.
Notice what else they say in verse 13.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Your servants are 12 brothers in all.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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There are ten of them standing before Joseph. They said there we're 12 of them. What about the other 2 brothers? Here's what they say. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>“Behold, the youngest (that would be Benjamin) is with our father today
back in the land of Canaan.’<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
That gives Joseph some crucial information. He now knows Benjamin is alive and his father
is still alive. But now notice what they
say about the 12th brother. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“The youngest is with our father today and one is no more.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Who are they talking about?
Joseph. Our youngest brother is back
with our dad and one, well, he is no more.
He kind of disappeared. We're not
really sure what happened to him. This
is how these guys are dealing with their past.
They're dealing with their past by ignoring it. They're dealing with their past by hoping it
will go away. My friend, your past
doesn't go away. Your past always
catches up with you. And it will with
these brothers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph responds by saying, “No, you're spies. I'm going to put nine of you in jail and I'm
going to send one of you back to the land of Canaan to fetch your younger
brother. You bring your younger brother
here as proof that you're telling the truth and I'll let the other nine
go. If you don't bring the younger
brother back, I'm going to kill all nine of them as spies.” Then, instead of just putting one in jail, he
throws all ten of them in prison and he lets them sit there for three
days. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Why does Joseph throw all ten of them in prison? Wouldn't it be cool if each of us had our own
prison and any time somebody annoyed us we could just throw them in
prison? Would that not be cool? Someone cuts you off in traffic, you throw
them in jail. Someone says a mean word
to you, you throw them in jail. I don't
think that's what Joseph did. I believe
that the reason Joseph did this was that he personally needed time to think and
pray. He needed time to regain his
thoughts. Remember, when he woke up that
morning, did he expect to meet his brothers that day? No. He
needs time to think this situation through.
He needs time to pray this through.
He needs time to make sure he's being wise in his decision making. So he throws all ten of them in jail. Ironically, it was most likely the same jail that
he would have spent years in because of them.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
At the end of the three days Joseph gives them a chance to
prove they are indeed honest men. He
does, however, change tactics a little bit.
Instead of keeping nine and sending one, he says “Let one of your
brothers be confined in prison and then the rest of you carry grain back to your
households. Then bring your youngest
brother back to me so your words may be verified and you will not die.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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When Joseph tells them this, something amazing takes
place. The next thing we see is the
brother's sorrow and their guilt comes pouring out. Remember, for 20 years they've been ignoring
their past. But the guilt's been there. You can see the guilt because they're very
reluctant to even go to Egypt and the guilt keeps building and finally, 20
years later, it all catches up with them and the guilt comes pouring out. They're now going to admit guilt. They're going to express sorrow. They're now going to accept punishment. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This is very important because this is the turning
point. It’s going to be a slow
turn. It's going to take several
chapters before it's completed but this is the turning point. This is the point
that turns that past of theirs into what eventually will become forgiveness and
reconciliation. The very first step in
dealing with your past is to quit ignoring it and finally admit it. That's the first step. For 20 years they've tried to ignore it
hoping it would go away. But your past
never goes away. It will catch up with
you. Finally, they admit guilt. Look at verse 21. “<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Then they said to one another, truly we are guilty concerning our
brother.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Keep something in mind.
They are talking to each other while standing in front of Joseph. They're in front of Joseph but they're
clueless about two things. Number one,
they have no clue it's Joseph. They just
think it's the Egyptian prime minister.
They don't realize the very brother they're talking about is the one
standing right there. Number two,
they're clueless to the fact that Joseph can understand every word they're
saying. They think he only speaks
Egyptian. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Put yourself in Joseph's shoes. For 20 years you have had to deal with the
mistreatment and pain that has come into your life because of your
brothers. For 13 of those 20 years you
lived as a slave and a prisoner. And now,
after 20 years, you get to hear those words as the brothers admit, “We are
guilty.” The problem is that at this
point, they're only going to admit it to each other. They're not going to admit it to anyone
else. I'm telling you, it's a slow turn
that they make but this is the starting point.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Secondly, they express sorrow. Look what else they say. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“We are guilty because we saw the distress of Joseph's soul when he
pleaded with us, yet we would not listen.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
As they talk to each other they remind each other of the
look on Joseph's face when they pulled him out of that pit and sold him as a
slave into Egypt. They remind each other
of his words begging them, “Please don't!
Please don't!” For 20 years, even
though they haven't talked about it, they have lived with that memory in their
minds. Every time they close their eyes
at night they see Joseph's face with the fear on it. Every time they dream, they dream of Joseph's
words begging them not to do this. Now,
for the first time in 20 years, they're expressing sorrow over the fact that
they caused distress in Joseph's life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
And then, thirdly, they're willing to accept
punishment. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Therefore, this distress has now come upon us.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It's an amazing verse.
They are saying, “We caused distress on Joseph and now this distress (same
word) is coming upon us.” There's a
principle there we really need to learn.
It comes from Galatians 6 and it says, “Whatever you sow you will reap.” These guys sowed all kinds of distress into
Joseph's life and now they're experiencing distress in their own lives.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Reuben now steps up to the plate. Remember, Reuben's the firstborn son. At this point, Reuben marches right in to one
of those “I told you so” speeches. Remember,
when Joseph was coming towards the brothers in his coat of many colors, the
brothers said. “Here comes that dreamer.
Let's kill him.” Reuben's the one
who spoke up and said, “No, don't kill him.
Instead, let's throw him in a pit.”
Reuben's intention was to come back later and rescue him but Reuben then
had to leave for some reason and while he was gone the other brothers sold him
into slavery. Reuben now pipes up and
basically says, “I told you so.” He
says, “Did I not tell you don't sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen to me.” Keep in mind that though Reuben may have
actually saved Joseph's life, he’s just as guilty. For 20 years he's gone along with the
lie. He's an accomplice to the crime. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Joseph is listening to this whole conversation and look how
he responds in verse 23. Joseph turned
away from them and wept. Joseph is not
in this for vengeance. Joseph is not
carrying resentment. Joseph's heart is
breaking. For the first time in 20 years
he finally hears these brothers say, “We were wrong!” Joseph leaves the room weeping. His heart hurts for his brothers. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
He then comes back but he's still going to test them. His heart hurts but he's still going to be
wise. He's not just going to come in and
say, “Hey guys, surprise! It's me.” He's not ready to do that yet. He's going to test them first. He took Simeon from them and bound Simeon
before their eyes. He had already told
them that he was going to keep one of them in prison while the others went back
and got their younger brother. Keep in
mind that that would probably be at least six months for them to make the round
trip back to the land of Canaan, get their brother and bring him back to
Egypt. So whoever Joseph picks to stay
is going to stay in that jail cell for quite some time. And who does he pick? He picks Simeon. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
I've read that many times but for the first time as I did I
asked myself this question. Why
Simeon? There were ten of them,
right? Why didn't he pick Gad or
Issachar or Zebulon? Why did he pick
Simeon? Was Simeon the firstborn? No.
Who was the firstborn?
Reuben. Back in that day birth
order was very important. You would
think if one brother was going to stay, they would pick the firstborn. Instead Joseph picks Simeon who's the second
oldest. Why does he pick the second
oldest instead of the first oldest? This
is just a guess. My opinion is that this
was Joseph's way of saying thank you to Reuben for saving his life 20 years
earlier. Instead of keeping Reuben, the
firstborn, in the jail for months, he takes the second born. He takes Simeon. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Honestly, if I were Joseph, I would have picked Judah. If you go back to Genesis 37, when Joseph's
in the pit while Reuben is gone somewhere, it was Judah who instigated the
whole idea about selling him into slavery.
He's the one who said, “Hey, let's make some money off the kid. Let's sell him into slavery so we never have
to worry about him again.” Judah
instigated it, and had I been Joseph, Judah's backside would have been in that
jail for several months because I would have been in it for vengeance. The very fact that he picks Simeon tells me
he wasn't in it for the vengeance. He
was testing these brothers. He wanted to
find out had if they really changed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notice now the gift that's involved. Joseph has the food that they buy put on
their donkeys but he does something else.
He puts in their sacks of food the money they used to buy it. Now, why does Joseph do this? I think it was a good thing. I think Joseph was simply showing grace. He was simply showing mercy. He wasn't going to have his family buying the
food. He was going to give it to his
family as a gift. But notice what
happens when they discover the money in verse 27 and 28.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey some fodder he saw
the money. Behold, it was in the mouth of
his sack and he said to his brothers, my money's been returned. It's in my sack.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, at this point, you would think they go, “Wow! How about that? We got free food!” But no, their hearts sank and they turned
trembling and the word trembling is the same word used in other places in the
Old Testament to describe an earthquake.
They were fearful, trembling.
They said, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“What is this that God has done to us?”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In their minds they are now going to get accused of
stealing. This bad situation's become even
worse. That's what guilt will do to
you. When you live with guilt for all
those years and the guilt builds and catches up with you, you begin to see all
of life through the lens of your guilt. It
makes life miserable. Even the good
things that happen in your life are tainted because you can only view life
through the horror of your guilt. And
that's where these brothers are. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The brothers finally get back to the land of Canaan and we
see the grief that's involved. They tell
their dad what happened. They say, “Dad,
when we were in Egypt we went before the prime minister. He accused us of being spies. We told him we were honest men. He wouldn't believe us. He threw us in jail for three days. Then he kept Simeon. He sent the rest of us back. He said if we don't bring Benjamin back, he's
going to kill Simeon.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But more importantly, notice what they didn't tell their
dad. They did not tell their dad
anything about their guilt. They did not
say, “Dad, there's something you need to know.
We really think all these bad things are a result of something we did 20
years earlier and we think we need to tell you about it.” You see, they're willing to admit guilt to
each other but they're not yet willing to take responsibility for it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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How does Jacob respond?
First, he responds with fear. In
fact, look what he says in verse 36. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Their father Jacob said to them, “You have bereaved me of my
children. Joseph is no more and Simeon
is no more.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He's written off Simeon.
The brothers tell him, “Simeon is still alive. He's in jail.
We can rescue him.” But Jacob has
written him off. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“And now you want to take Benjamin?
All these things are against me.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
How's that for the spiritual leader of the home? At the very time of crisis, where the family
needed a spiritual leader to rise up and say, “Guys, we need to seek God. We need to fall on our faces before God. We need to get direction from God. We need to trust God.” Instead, he's filled with fear. And not only does he respond with fear, he
also responds with favoritism. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
This is amazing. How
did Joseph's brothers deal with their past? They tried to ignore it hoping it would go
away. How did Jacob deal with the
mistakes of his past? He just kept on
repeating his mistakes over and over again.
What was one of the major causes for this whole debacle to begin
with? It was Jacob's favoritism of
Joseph. Has Jacob changed? No! Look at verse 38. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“But Jacob said, ‘My son, Benjamin, shall not go down with the ten of
you to Egypt, for his brother is dead and he alone is left.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Do you see a problem with that statement? Weren't there nine other brothers sitting
there? Jacob says, ‘My one son (Joseph) is
dead. You're not taking my other son because
if he dies he's all I have left.’ The
brothers have to be thinking, “What are we, Dad, chopped liver?” Do you see how Jacob's repeating the same
mistakes all over again? Look what else he
says. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“If harm should befall Benjamin on the journey with you, you will bring
my gray hair down to Sheol.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In other words, I will die of grief. Wait!
What about Simeon? If they don't
bring Benjamin back, he's going to die a prisoner in Egypt. I think there's a lot of Christians today who
are really struggling in life because they are responding to their past like
Jacob or like Joseph's brothers. They
are either ignoring it, hoping it will go away, or they just keep repeating the
same mistakes over and over again. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there's hope.
There is good news because if you're willing to quit running from your
past, if you're willing to quit ignoring it, if you're willing to quit
repeating the same mistakes and you're willing to get honest with God, honest
with yourself, and honest with those you have hurt, God can remove the guilt that
is ruining your life and God can restore broken hearts. <o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-3906499719218786152014-01-09T07:55:00.001-05:002014-01-09T07:55:01.709-05:00Joseph (part 6) - Removing the Sting of Being Hurt<div class="MsoNormal">
This is the halfway point of the series. Let me just real quick, before we get into Genesis
41, catch you up to speed on what's happened in Joseph's life so far. Joseph is first mentioned in the Bible when
he's 17 years old. He's the favored son
of his father Jacob. He has ten older
brothers and they dislike him. Their
jealousy toward Joseph leads to envy which leads to hatred which leads to
malice and ultimately they assault him and throw him in a pit. They then bring him up out of the pit and
they sell him as a slave to be taken into the land of Egypt hundreds of miles away. There he finds himself in a totally foreign
culture and he's sold as a slave and bought by a powerful man named Potiphar. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Potiphar's wife ultimately falsely accuses Joseph of a crime
he didn't commit. Joseph now spends
years in a prison. While in prison he
ends up meeting the cupbearer, one of Pharaoh's staff members who Pharaoh got
mad at and imprisoned. The cupbearer has
a dream and it troubles him and Joseph interprets the dream and says that in
three days he was going to be restored to his position. When this happens, Joseph asks the cupbearer
to please remember him and tell Pharaoh of his wrongful imprisonment so that he
can get out of prison. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unfortunately, the cupbearer forgets about Joseph and he
spends two more agonizing years in the prison until one day Pharaoh has some dreams
that trouble him greatly and no one in Egypt can interpret the dreams. At that moment the cupbearer remembers Joseph
and the cupbearer says to Pharaoh, “I think I know someone who can help.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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They bring Joseph out of the prison and he comes before
Pharaoh who tells him his dreams. Joseph
gives to him the interpretation. There
was going to be three years of incredible plenty in the land of Egypt. They were going to have crops like they have
never had. That's the good news. But the bad news is that the three years following
that were going to be years of severe famine.
The famine would be so bad that people wouldn't even remember the three
good years. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pharaoh is so amazed at the wisdom in Joseph and the fact
that his God is working through him that Pharaoh on that day promotes Joseph from
a prisoner to prime minister of Egypt.
Pharaoh tells Joseph that no one in Egypt will lift a finger unless Joseph
says so. In one day he becomes the most
powerful man in Egypt, save Pharaoh himself.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think the reason we can so connect with Joseph's story is
because it's so much like ours. Our live
may not be to the extremes of Joseph’s story, but the path is similar. Most every one of us could talk about a time
in our life when we found ourselves in the pit.
Then it seemed like bad went to worse and we went from the pit to a
prison. Yet, God was faithful in our
lives and ultimately we found ourselves in the palace. That's the story of Joseph. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notice two things as the story of Joseph continues. First, notice that Joseph discovers a reason
for his hurt. Genesis 41:46 says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Now, Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Joseph was 17 when he got thrown into the pit. He's 30 when he comes into the palace. That means for Joseph, his path from the pit
to the prison to the palace took 13 agonizing years. It was 13 years of disappointment after
disappointment after disappointment. It
was 13 years of pain after pain after pain.
It was 13 years of tears after tears after tears. Finally, he's promoted to prime
minister. The verse goes on and says,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the
land of Egypt.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All the land of Egypt isn't just talking about the geography
of Egypt, the emphasis is on the power of Egypt. Egypt was the world power. It was the hierarchy of civilization. No civilization would match it until the
Babylonians. Egypt was a powerhouse and
Joseph was the second most powerful man in the land and in the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>THE MANAGEMENT OF JOSEPH<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Joseph is going to begin to see the reason for his 13 years
of hurt, the reason for his 13 years in the pit and the prison, and it's going
to center around how God used the pit and the prison to prepare him. Joseph is going to end up being the guy
responsible to make sure that some of all the food that grows in Egypt during
the seven years of plenty is stored away so that when the seven years of famine
comes there will be plenty of food for all the Egyptians. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That is major task.
Joseph is going to have to show some amazing leadership skills. He's going to have to display some amazing
management skills. Where did Joseph
learn these skills? Where was he able to
hone these skills? It didn't happen when
he was back in the land of Canaan as a teenager. He was his father's favorite child. He was spoiled rotten. He never had to lift a finger. He had everything given to him on a silver
platter. He didn't learn anything about
leadership and management skills from his dad.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Where did he learn it?
After he gets thrown in the pit and sold into slavery he becomes a slave
in Potiphar's house. Potiphar makes him
the manager of his entire house and Joseph spends whatever time period it was
in Potiphar's house managing his household, managing his estate, managing his
servants and honing in these skills. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When he ends up falsely accused and wrongfully imprisoned, the
jailer makes him the chief prisoner and he puts him in charge of the entire
dungeon system. He's the one who manages
the prison and the other prisoners. Through
his time in the pit and the prison Joseph learns skills that would be needed
for this incredible task he had before him.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Folks, listen, whenever you go through time of affliction
and hurt in your life, whenever you go through pain, whenever you find yourself
in the pit or in the prison, you can bank on this - God is teaching you
something. God is preparing you for
something in your future. And that's
what happens to Joseph. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He begins to realize that God had a reason for all of his
pain. God had a reason for his
affliction. God had a reason for his
path. In fact, notice not just his
preparation. Notice his performance
because it's outstanding. In verses 47
and 48 we read what he does during the seven years of plenty. He manages the entire country so that in
every city there are storehouses and 1/5 of all the crops are set aside so that
they'll be available when the famine comes. And as a result of Joseph's amazing
performance, verse 49 says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Thus, Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the
sea until he stopped measuring it for it was beyond measure.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Joseph's performance was outstanding. Everything he learned in Potiphar's house, in
the prison, now helps him to be the second in command in Egypt and to prepare
Egypt for a time of devastating famine. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>THE MISSION OF JOSEPH<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The famine hits and when the severe years of famine comes,
there are no crops. According to the
king's dream the seven years of famine would be so devastating no one would
even remember the seven years of good.
There are no crops at all. There
is no food at all. This is a devastating
time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Had Joseph not been in place at the right time, Egypt would
have been in a devastating situation because many people would have died of
starvation. However, because of Joseph,
there is plenty of food in Egypt. And
Joseph opens up the storehouses and Egyptians are able to buy food and through
the three most devastating years of famine in the history of Egypt, everyone
survives and they survive because of Joseph.
In fact, not only does Joseph's mission impact Egypt, it impacts all the
lands around Egypt. Verse 57 says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph
because the famine was severe in all the earth.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not only is Joseph able to save all of Egypt from
starvation, he is able to save all the people in the lands around Egypt. If you were able to come and have a
conversation with Joseph, if you were able to sit down with him and say, “Joseph,
the pit had to be horrible. The prison
had to be horrible. But 13 years of that
led you to this spot for this purpose to save tens of thousands of people from
starvation. Joseph, was it worth it?” I don’t think Joseph would even have to think
about it. He'd say, “Absolutely. It was worth it.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God will never take you through pain without a purpose. God will never lead you into the pit without
a purpose. He will never lead you into
the prison times of your life without a purpose. He doesn't bring pain into your life just to
watch you squirm. That is not the God we
serve. He always has a purpose. He will use your pain. He will use your pit. He will use your prison to prepare you for a
purpose that He has for you in life.
That's what He does with Joseph.
And after 13 agonizing years, Joseph is finally able to begin to see the
reason for all of the hurt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There's a second point I want to bring out. This is the one that really stuck with
me. Have you ever had one of those
moments when you've been reading and studying the Bible and maybe you're
reading and studying a passage that you've read and studied many, many times
before, but suddenly you learn something from that passage you never saw
before? Have you ever had one of those
moments? That's the beauty of the
Bible. It's a living book. You can never consume all of its knowledge. I have read the story of Joseph dozens of
times. I've taught on the story of
Joseph. I knew this passage but one day
when I was studying this very passage I noticed something that I never noticed
prior. I remember where I was when it
happened with this passage. I was about
30,000 miles up in the air on a Delta flight on my way to Florida to spend some
time with my dad during my mom's knee surgery.
I was studying this passage on the flight and I saw something I had
never seen before and I could hardly contain myself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is when Joseph's going to discover a relief for his
hurt and we are going to see it in the names he gives his kids. When he's promoted to prime minister he's
also given an Egyptian wife. She bears
him two sons. We are going to meet them
in just a minute. But the importance is
in their names. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why do we choose the names we give our kids today? We do it differently than they did it back
then. I Googled that question this week
and here is what I found. Why do we give
our kids the names we give them today?
Reason number one is because we like the way it sounds. That's the reason. That's how we choose names today. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I got news for you.
That's not how they did it back in Bible times. Have you read some of those names? There is no way some of them sounded
good. You could hardly pronounce
them. But in our day, we give our kids
names based on what they sound like or, number two, because it's unique. We want to give our kid a name that no one
else has which sometimes can be very disastrous. So we find these unique names. Or, number three, we might name them after
somebody we knew. I think sometimes just
the opposite may be true. You always
liked this specific name for your future kid and then suddenly you met somebody
with that name who was a real jerk which resulted in that name being taken off
the short list. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Bible times the names were based on meaning. The meanings of the names were important. The meanings told a story. Today that's really not all that important in
our culture. If I were to ask you what
the names of your children were, most of you would answer correctly. But If I were to say to you, “What do those
names mean?” My guess is nearly 100% of
men and the majority of women would have no clue. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Until this morning, if you would have asked me what the
names of my kids meant I could not have told you. I looked it up this morning. Jonathan means “gift from God.” I would like to tell you that this is why we
named him Jonathan but it had nothing to do it.
My daughter’s name is Joy. Do you
know what the name Joy means? It
blew me away. Joy means joy. That's all it meant. We don't really go based on meanings
today. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They did in Bible times and so what I did on that plane ride
as I was going to Florida was to look at the meaning of the names Joseph gave
his sons and I was blown away. Joseph's
firstborn son he named Manasseh. Why
does Joseph give his firstborn son the name Manasseh? Does he call him Manasseh because it was nice
to say and sounded good? That wasn't the
reason. Does he do it because it's
unique? That's not the reason. Is it because he's named after somebody that
Joseph knew? That's not the reason
either. He gives his firstborn son this
name for a specific reason. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before I give you the meaning I want you to notice verse 49
because this is what I saw on that Delta flight that I had never seen
prior. It was always there. It wasn’t like it was invisible earlier. I just never got it. Look at what it says,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Now, before the year of famine came…”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stop for a second.
Let's get the timeline down. It
takes 13 years for Joseph to go from the pit to the palace. He's 17 when he's thrown in the pit. He's 30 when he becomes prime minister. We are now right before the famine starts, which
is 7 years later. He's about 37 years
old by this time and by this time he's had two sons. Keep reading, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Now, before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Somewhere between age 30 and 37 he has 2 sons. He names the firstborn son Manasseh. We read that today and we go, “Big deal.” But don't miss this phrase. Why does he name him Manasseh? Why didn't he name him Scott? Why does he name him Manasseh? The reason is right there in scripture. We don't have to guess, do we? It is right there. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“For Joseph said, God has made me forget all my trouble and all my
father’s household.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When he says “all my trouble,” what is he talking
about? He’s talking about those 13 years
from the pit to the palace? When he
says, “and all my father's household,” who is he talking about? He is talking about his brothers who threw
him in the pit and sold him into slavery.
Why does Joseph give him the name Manasseh? He says, “I name him Manasseh because God has
caused me to forget all that happened from the pit to the palace which was caused
by my brothers.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does the word Manasseh mean? The word Manasseh literally means “to forget.”
That's why it says God has caused me to forget because it comes from a word
that sounds like the Hebrew root word for forget. Isn't that a strange name to give your
kid? “Hey, forgetful, time for dinner!” That's kind of a strange name. Names weren't given back then based on how they
sounded. Names were given because of
their meaning. His name literally means “to
forget”. Joseph gave him that name
because God had caused him to forget. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What's it mean that God caused him to forget? It doesn't mean that God took away the
memories. We remember what happened to
us. God doesn't just kind of wipe out
that part of our brains so we can't remember.
It doesn't mean that he didn't remember.
Joseph would always remember the people who hurt him. Joseph would remember those brothers. He would remember Reuben and Simeon and the
other eight. He would remember the look
of hatred in their eyes and the laughter that came from their lips when they
sold him into slavery. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph would always remember Potiphar's wife who falsely
accused him of a crime he didn't commit.
Joseph would always remember Potiphar who wrongly imprisoned him. Joseph would always remember the cupbearer
who forgot about him resulting in two more agonizing years in the prison. It doesn't mean he forgot the memory. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph would always remember the places that caused pain in
his life. Joseph would always remember
what it was like to be in that pit.
Joseph would always remember the fear.
He would always remember the tears.
Joseph would never be able to forget what it was like to be in that
prison. He would never forget what it
was like to wake up every morning in that dungeon. Joseph would always remember the rest of his
life what that prison smelled like that.
In fact, I venture to guess the aroma never really left his
nostrils. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So what does it mean when he says, “God has caused me to
forget all my troubles?” I think Joseph
is saying, “While I remember all that happened to me those 13 years, God has
removed the sting from the memory. I
remember the pit. But the memory no
longer hurts. I remember the
prison. But the memory no longer
hurts. God has removed the sting from
the memory.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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You could put it this way.
Joseph's wound had now become a scar.
There's a big difference between the two, isn't there? You see, a wound bleeds. Scars don't.
A wound still stings. Scars
don't. A wound can still have the scab
knocked off of it and you relive the pain again and there's more blood again
and the healing process has to start over again. Scars don't do that. You know what scars do? They just serve as a reminder. When you see the scar on your body, you
remember what happened that caused the scar.
But the scar no longer hurts. The
wound has turned into a scar. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph, over 13 years after first being thrown in that pit, now
sees his newborn baby boy and is able to say for the first time, “God has
removed the sting from the memory.” I
don't know about you but I am so glad we serve a God like that. I'm so glad that we serve a God who, though
it may not be overnight, it may not be in a week, it may not be a month, it may
not be in a year, it may not even be in a decade, we serve a God who one day
can remove the sting from the memories. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I believe with all my heart that we'll each have our
Manasseh moment. We will each have that
day when we'll be able to say, “Though I remember, God has removed the sting.” Folks, listen, if that day doesn't happen to
you on this earth, I can tell you this, it will happen the moment you enter
heaven's gates, when God wipes away every tear from your eyes. By giving his firstborn son this name Joseph was
offering praise to a God who removes the sting from the wounds. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Every time Joseph would see Manasseh, every time Joseph
would call his name, every time Joseph would hear his lovely wife call his
name, Joseph would smile and go, “Thank You, God. You are a God who has removed the sting from
my memories.” Wow! What a God we serve. But it didn't end with Manasseh. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph had a second son and this son's name has just as much
meaning as the first son's name. The
second son he names Ephraim. Why does he
name him Ephraim? He doesn't name him
Ephraim because it sounds nice, or because it’s unique, or because it reminds
him of a great uncle somewhere. He names
him Ephraim because the meaning has great significance to Joseph. Verse 52 says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Joseph named the second son Ephraim for Joseph said, God has made me
fruitful in the land of my affliction.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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What was the land of Joseph's affliction? Egypt!
Up until he became prime minister, everything that happened to him in
Egypt was horrible. It was one
affliction after another after another after another after another. Now he's able to say that God has made me
fruitful even in the land of my affliction.
The word Ephraim literally means “twice fruitful.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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After 13 years of pain, after 13 years of anguish, Joseph is
now able to not just say, God has removed the sting from my memory, Joseph is
now able to say that my God is such an incredible God that even out of my land
of affliction He brought me blessing. Even out of my pain and trauma, He
brought me fruit. Not just a little
bit. He made me twice fruitful. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Not only does Joseph get to be an individual who saves tens
of thousands of people from starvation, but Joseph gets to have a family. Joseph gets to have two sons. At this point in Joseph's life, these are his
gems. These two sons would not exist had
it not been for the land of his affliction.
Had Joseph not been promoted to prime minister he never would have
married that Egyptian wife. He never would
have had Manasseh and Ephraim. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph never would have got promoted to prime minister had
he not been forgotten by the cupbearer in prison. And Joseph never would have been forgotten by
the cupbearer in prison had Potiphar not wrongly imprisoned him. And Potiphar never would have wrongly
imprisoned him if Potiphar's wife hadn't falsely accused him. And Potiphar's wife never would have falsely
accused him had he not been a slave in Egypt.
And Joseph never would have been a slave in Egypt had his brothers not,
when he was 17 years old, threw him in the pit of betrayal. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For the first time Joseph could honestly say, “God, thank
You for Egypt. Thank You for the
pit. Thank You for the prison. Through my affliction, You have blessed
me. Through my affliction, You have made
me twice fruitful.” Every time Joseph
looked at Ephraim, every time he called his name, every time he heard his wife
call Ephraim for dinner, Joseph would smile and go, “Thank You, God. Thank You for my affliction because through
my affliction you have made me fruitful.”
<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think Ephraim is a beautiful illustration of a verse we
read about in the New Testament in Romans 8:28.
It's powerful. It says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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How many is all? All
means all and that's all that all means.
Does all include the pit? Yes. Does all include the prison? Yes.
God works all things together for good.
Joseph is one of those guys who got to see that but even he didn’t get
to see all of its impact. You know one
thing Joseph didn't realize? When he
would sit and watch his sons play and be reminded of God's blessing in his
affliction, he didn't realize that 4,000 years later his story of being in the
pit and in the prison would impact a pastor in Gaylord, Michigan. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We're never going to really know the full scope of Romans
8:28 until we get to heaven. There God
is going to roll back the eternal curtain and we're going to look back at our
life and we're going to see for the very first time how all the pain fit. We're going the see how God used it in ways
that's going to blow our mind. And I
believe it will be one of the greatest moments of worship when we see that and
we go, “What an amazing God we serve.”<o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-83199613872562547792014-01-08T12:17:00.002-05:002014-01-08T12:17:16.393-05:00Joseph (part 5) - Prepared and Promoted<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s been quite a journey for Joseph. He began as the favored son of Jacob, but at
the age of 17, his brothers' jealousy turned to envy which turned to hatred
which turned to malice and they assaulted Joseph and they threw him in a pit. Eventually, they pulled him out of the pit
only to sell him into slavery into the land of Egypt, a land where he didn’t
know the culture, the people, or the language.
There he was bought as a slave by a powerful man named Potiphar and in his
home he was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, which resulted in him landing
in prison. <o:p></o:p></div>
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While he was in prison, he met two staff members of Pharaoh
- the cupbearer and the baker. Each of
these men had a dream and they were troubled by it. Joseph interpreted their dream. For the baker, it wasn't very favorable. The interpretation was that in three days the
baker would be hanged and that's exactly what happened. For the cupbearer, it was a little bit
different. The interpretation for him was
that in three days he would be restored to his position. And he was.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph saw that as an opportunity for him to get out of the
prison. He said to the cupbearer who had
the ear of the king, “When you're restored to your position, please remember
me. Tell Pharaoh the story of my
mistreatment. Tell him how I helped you
so that I can get out of this place.”
But in the last verse of chapter 40 it says that the cupbearer forgot
Joseph. Joseph now spends two more agonizing
years in prison. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A.W. Tozer made a quote that I think describes Joseph perfectly
and is also true across the board. He
said, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He's hurt him
deeply.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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If we're really going to be used by God it is imperative
that we learn the lesson of humility. During
his time in the pit and his time in the prison, Joseph learned this reality. Being betrayed, falsely accused and forgotten
brought about this lesson in his life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally, verse number 1 of chapter 41 says this,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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It's now two years later since the cupbearer was restored to
his position. For two full years Joseph
has woke up every day in the dungeon.
He's gone through the same daily monotonous routine in one of the most
horrible places you could ever find existence.
And two years later on the particular evening Pharaoh has a dream. It's no coincidence that on this particular
night Pharaoh has a dream. God is at
work behind the scenes orchestrating the whole thing. In fact, he really had two dreams. His first dream dealt with cows. His second dream dealt with corn. Both dreams, however, said the same
thing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In his first dream Pharaoh is standing by the Nile
River. The Nile River is a fascinating
river. I've had the opportunity now to
visit Israel three times and Jordan a couple of times and also visit Egypt. Egypt's
a fascinating place. When we arrived in
Egypt the very first thing we did was to have lunch at an outdoor cafe
overlooking the Nile River. It was my
first view of this famous river. As I
looked at the Nile River, I was trying to picture a little basket with baby
Moses in it floating down the water. My
whole mental vision got popped because instead, floating down the Nile River
right in front of us as we ate was this big, fat, bloated dead cow. That was my first view of the Nile!<o:p></o:p></div>
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In Pharaoh’s dream, out of the Nile River came seven fat
cows and they start grazing. Now the
dream takes a deeper turn into the bizarre.
Following that, out of the Nile River came seven sickly looking
cows. The seven sickly looking cows
literally devour the seven fat cows.
Now, that's a strange dream. When
Pharaoh woke up after that dream, he had to be thinking, “Maybe I should not
have eaten that burrito right before I went to bed.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then he has a second dream.
The second dream is likened to the first except this one deals with
corn. In the second dream, he has a
stalk of corn and the stalk of corn has seven full ears that grow from it. On
that same stalk grew seven thin ears of corn.
Just like with the cows, the seven thin ears of corn literally devour
the seven full ears of corn. He has both
of these dreams in the same evening. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Pharaoh's dreams now turns into Pharaoh's despair because
since he had two strange yet similar dreams he's very troubled. He believes the gods are trying to tell him
something but he can't figure out exactly what it is. So verse number 8 of chapter 41 says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Now, it came about in the morning that his spirit was
troubled. So he sent and called for all
the magicians of Egypt and all of Egypt's wise men and Pharaoh told them his
dreams but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Pharaoh is so troubled that he calls for every wise man in
Egypt, every magician, every intellectual person, every spiritual guru, to be
brought in to the palace. Pharaoh tells
them of the dreams but none of them can interpret either of them. As a result, Pharaoh grows even more troubled
which is very noticeable, especially to those who are around him often. The cupbearer would be one of those
individuals. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The cupbearer now remembers Joseph. Don't overlook this. For two years the cupbearer forgot all about
Joseph. Suddenly, he remembers
Joseph. Now, who do you think is
orchestrating the thoughts in the minds of the cupbearer? It's God.
Remember, we saw last week that, <b>“God's
timing may not always be our timing but it's always the best timing.” </b>Verses 9 through 13 tells us what
happened,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh saying, I would make mention
today of my own offenses.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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He's taking a chance here.
He's going to remind Pharaoh about two years earlier when Pharaoh got so
mad at him and the baker that he threw them into prison and then had the baker
executed. He goes on and says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Pharaoh was furious with his servants and he put me in confinement in
the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker. And we had a dream on the same night, he and
I. Each of us dreamed according to the
interpretation of his own dream. Now, a
Hebrew youth was with us there. A
servant of the captain of the bodyguard and related them to him and he
interpreted our dreams for us and it came about that just as he interpreted for
us, so it happened, he restored me in my offense but he hanged the baker.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Basically the cupbearer says, “King, I got an idea for
you. I just thought of something. I just remembered that in the prison there was
this guy named Joseph and he was there for a really bad rap that wasn't his
fault. When I was there he interpreted
one of my dreams and it came true.
Maybe, just maybe, he can help you.”
Pharaoh's desperate. A prisoner
who might be able to help is better than no one who can help so he calls for
Joseph to be pulled out of the dungeon and brought before him. They take Joseph out of the dungeon. He shaves.
He puts on new clothes and he comes before Pharaoh. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For the last several years Joseph has been in prison. We don't know how many years. We know it was 13 years from the time he was
thrown into the pit until the time he comes before Pharaoh. We know that the last two years for sure he was
in the pit. What we don't know is how
long he was at Pharaoh's house before he got thrown into the prison. But suddenly, after years in the prison,
Joseph is standing in the Egyptian palace.
Can you imagine what was going through his mind? For years he's only seen dinginess, darkness,
and horridness. Now he's surrounded by palatial things. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When all of this was going on in the palace - Pharaoh was
dreaming, he was calling in his magicians, he was telling them the dream and no
one could answer it - during that whole time, where was Joseph? He was in prison. Did Joseph have any clue that any of this was
happening in the palace? No. He didn't know that Pharaoh was having
dreams. He didn't know that there was a
big discussion at the palace about what the dreams meant. He didn't know that the cupbearer was finally
going to remember him. He had no clue. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The day that Joseph got pulled out of the prison and taken
before Pharaoh, did he know when he woke up that morning that this was going to
happen? Not at all. He woke up and it was just another day in the
dungeon. That's often how God
works. We're in that waiting
pattern. We remain faithful. And finally the day comes. When we first wake up we have no idea it's
going to be our day. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A little bit later on in Bible history there will be a man
named Moses who one day will be out in the wilderness shepherding his flock and
he'll come across a burning bush and God will speak to him out of the burning
bush and it will change his destiny.
When Moses woke up that morning to go tend the sheep, did he have any
idea that was going to take place?
No. But it was his day. And if you're in one of those waiting
patterns, I want you to know something.
Your day will come. God is at
work behind the scenes orchestrating the events of your life and you don't even
know what He's doing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph now gets rewarded.
Notice two things about Joseph. Notice
first that after 13 years of this journey he's been on, we see his humility. Pharaoh brings him in and says, “I have had
two very bizarre dreams. I need to know
what they mean. No one can tell me. My cupbearer said that when he was in prison
you interpreted one of his dreams and it came true. So I'm asking you, can you interpret my
dream?” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, if I would have been Joseph after all those years in
the prison, now standing before the throne in the palace of Egypt, I at this
point am going to see this as my shot. This
is my opportunity to rise from the ashes and make something of the rest of my
life. I’m going to take matters into my
own hands. At this point, I'm ready to
look at Pharaoh and say, “Pharaoh, I can help you out, my friend. Tell me your dream.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph does just the opposite. He answers, “No.” Pharaoh says, “Can you interpret my dream?” Joseph says, “Nope. I cannot do it.” In fact, look at verse 16. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Joseph then answered Pharaoh and said, it is not in me.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Joseph has this opportunity to elevate himself but instead he
says, “Pharaoh, I'm sorry. I'm not your
guy. I can't help you.” Then he adds
this phrase:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“But God will give Pharaoh an answer.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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At this point Joseph does something amazing. He has the opportunity to elevate himself in
front of the king, but instead he humbles himself and elevates his God. As you go through the rest of this chapter,
take note of how many times Joseph brings the attention of Pharaoh back to
God. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Now, Joseph said to Pharaoh, God has told the Pharaoh what he's about
to do.” (verse 25)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>“God has told the Pharaoh what he's about to do.” (verse 28)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>“The matter is determined by God and God will quickly bring it about.”
(verse 32)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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What does Joseph do all the way through the
conversation? He is careful never to
take one iota of credit for himself but over and over and over and over
again to draw all of the credit to God. Joseph
has learned an amazing lesson. He has
learned the lesson of humility. The
Bible teaches it so clearly. The Bible
tells us that if we will humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, He will
lift us up. The Bible also says that if
we will exalt ourselves, He will humble us.
God is very good at doing both. He's very good at exalting the humble and He's
equally as good at humbling the self exalted.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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I've seen that in my own personal life. I've told you through this series just a
little snapshot about some of my story and the hurt I went through in ministry. As bad as that hurt was and as much as I
believe mistreatment was part of it, now that I'm a few years away from those
events and able to more clearly process it, I'm able to see some areas where
God is saying to me, “Have you changed this yet? You know, you weren't totally innocent.” One of the things that God made very vivid to
me is the fact of how arrogant I had become.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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The church I pastored had seen pretty amazing growth. In fact, we were one of the fastest growing
churches in our denomination. I had other
pastors calling me and asking, “What is the secret to your church’s
growth?” You know what happened? I didn't see it back then but I can see it
now. I read my own press. I began to somehow think that some of the
good things that were taking place may just have been because of me. One of the things that God did through my
time in the pit of betrayal and my time in the prison was to humble me. He showed me that if anything good ever
happens in my life, only God deserves the credit. If anything good ever happens in my family,
only God deserves the credit. May we
never forget that if anything good ever happens in and through our church, it
is God alone who deserves the credit.
Joseph had learned the lesson of humility. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Not only do we see the humility of Joseph, we also see his
wisdom. Pharaoh tells Joseph all about
his dreams and Joseph interprets the dreams just as he had for the cupbearer
and for the baker. The seven fat cows and
the seven full ears of corn represented seven years of abundance. There was going to be seven years of great
abundance. They were going to have crops
in Egypt like never before seen. That
was the good news. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But there was also bad news.
The seven thin cows and the seven sickly ears of corn represented seven
years of famine that would come right after the seven bountiful years. The seven years of famine would be so bad
that people wouldn't even remember the seven good years. That is what was meant by the thin cows
devouring the fat cows and the thin ears devouring the good ears. That's how bad it was going to be. The fact that God gave Pharaoh, not one, but
two dreams, said that these events cannot be changed and that they were going
to have happen very soon. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After he gives Pharaoh the interpretation, he then offers
Pharaoh a little bit of advice. He says,
“Pharaoh, here's what I think you should do.
I think you need to appoint an overseer, someone wise, who during the
seven years of abundance can take a part of all the crops that are grown and
store them away so that there's food in Egypt during the seven years of famine.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That sounded like a wonderful idea to Pharaoh. In fact, it sounded so good, and Pharaoh sees
such wisdom in the advice, that he appoints Joseph to that very position. Joseph now goes from the pit to the prison to
the palace. He's now promoted to the
second most powerful man in Egypt – much like what we might call a prime minister. Outside of Pharaoh himself, no one in the
land would be more powerful than Joseph.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Then, Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on
Joseph's hand and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put gold necklace
around his neck and he had him ride in his second chariot and they proclaimed
before him, bow the knee, and he set him over all the land of Egypt, and
moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, though I am Pharaoh, yet without your
permission, no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”
(verses 42-44)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, let me ask you - was it worth the wait? For Joseph, was it worth two additional years
in prison? If he would have gotten out
of prison two years earlier when the cupbearer was restored, it is likely that
he never would have become prime minister of Egypt. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I find it interesting that one of the things Pharaoh says is
that everyone who comes before Joseph, everyone you pass by him will have to bow
down. I love God's sense of
justice. As the story moves forward,
Joseph’s brothers are going to show up in Egypt looking for food. That same group of brothers who threw him into
the pit and sold him into slavery will stand before him because he is the one
in charge of the grain. They're not
going to recognize that it is Joseph and when they walk into the palace they're
going to bow down before him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember that little dream he had 13 years ago that got
those brothers so mad at him? The dream
said that one day they would bow before him.
Folks, listen, God always keeps His word. It may take 13 years and there may be some
down times in the process, but God always keeps His word. Joseph’s life is a great reminder to us of
the law of timing. If you're in a
waiting pattern, you need to remember the law of timing which says, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“God's timing may not always be our timing but it's always the best
timing.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That day that Joseph got out of that prison and became the
prime minister of Egypt was 100% an act of God.
God did the whole thing. And He
did it in His timing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-69547925772504142002014-01-08T09:40:00.004-05:002014-01-08T09:40:44.270-05:00WINTER AT E-FREE<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In case you haven’t
noticed, winter is here in northern Michigan.
I am one of those who love winter, but even if you don’t personally like
the cold and snow, there is much to be excited about as we look at the next
three months here at E-Free. Below is
just a taste of what is happening. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: 12.0pt;">MOSES</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">
– January through mid-March we are doing a 10-week study as part of our Sunday
morning worship services through the life of the Old Testament Character,
Moses!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: 12.0pt;">THE ART OF MARRIAGE</span></b><span style="color: red; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">– Our
Counseling and One Another Ministries is bringing this tremendous marriage
conference back to Gaylord E-Free in early February!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: 12.0pt;">SKATE AND SPLASH</span></b><span style="color: red; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">–
This will be a March outreach sponsored by our Children’s Ministry that will be
a one day event at the local Sportsplex that gives us an opportunity to build
bridges to hundreds of families in our community and begin the process of meeting
them where they are and moving them to where God wants them to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: 12.0pt;">MEN’S CONFERENCE</span></b><span style="color: red; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">– Our
annual Higher Call Men’s Conference will return in March. Last year over 900 men filled the Gospel
Center for this Saturday event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s going to be a great
winter here at Gaylord E-Free! Be sure
to check out our church website at <b><u><span style="color: blue;">www.gaylordefree.org </span></u></b>for all the details to all of these events and
more!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-44163520374553492014-01-07T19:39:00.000-05:002014-01-07T19:39:17.725-05:00Joseph (part 4) When You're Forgotten<div class="MsoNormal">
Through this series we've seen Joseph in his dysfunctional
family. We have seen Joseph in the pit
of betrayal. And we have seen Joseph
dealing with temptation which ended by seeing him thrown into a prison for a
crime he did not commit. As Joseph spends
time in that prison we learn through his example what we should do when we feel
like we've been forgotten. What do you
do in those times in your life when you feel like maybe even God has forgotten
you?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My guess is that Joseph may have felt like he had been
forgotten by everyone, even God. He finds
himself in prison for a crime he never committed. By this time his brothers had completely
forgotten him. To his beloved father, he
was just a distant memory. Chances are
very good that even as Joseph sat in this Egyptian dungeon that he must have
faced the temptation of giving in to the feeling that maybe, just maybe, even
God had forgotten him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of us have had a time in our lives when we felt like
even God forgot us. How do you respond
during those times that you're in the prison?
How do you respond during those times when it feels like even God has
forgotten you? I want to give you three
ways. We're going to call them laws
because each one will begin with a letter that spells out the word
"law." <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>L = LEAN ON GOD’S PRESENCE<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first law begins with the letter "L." When you feel like you've been forgotten,
what do you do? Number one, you lean on
God's presence. Notice two things. First of all there's a fact involved as seen
in Genesis 39:20 which says,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“So Joseph's master (that's Potiphar) took him and put him into the
jail, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in jail.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember what has happened to Joseph. This journey for Joseph to the jail has been
a journey of great hurt. His brothers
took him, assaulted him, ripped off his coat of many colors and they threw him
into a pit. He ends up sold into slavery
into a land hundreds of miles away, a foreign country where he didn't know the
culture, didn't know the language, and didn't know the people. His father has been convinced through the
lies of his brother that he's dead.
There in Egypt he becomes a slave in the house of Potiphar. He does very well as a slave but then he gets
falsely accused by Potiphar's wife and now he lands in an Egyptian jail. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don't think of Egyptian jails like modern-day prisons. Later on in chapter 40, when Joseph recounts
what happened to him, he will call it a dungeon. It is dark, dreary, ugly, horrible place to
exist and that's where Joseph finds himself.
However, verse 21 presents a contrast to that. It begins with the word "but." In
contrast to all of that history, in contrast to all of those misfortunes, in
contrast to his mistreatment, in contrast to him being in jail for a crime he
never committed, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“The Lord was with Joseph.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have to believe that Joseph's feelings were contrary to
that. My guess is that as Joseph sat in
jail day after day rehearsing the events of the last several years, rehearsing
his brother's betrayal, the time in the pit, his time in Potiphar's house, his
being falsely accused, my guess is that Joseph felt like God had forgotten
him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Folks, listen, when you go through the lowest times of your
life and it feels like you've been forgotten, and it feels like even God has
forgotten you, it is there that you reach a fork in the road where you have to
make a decision. Are you going to lean
on your feelings that tell you God has forgotten you or are you going to lean
on the fact of the Word of God in which Jesus said, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“I will never leave you nor forsake you?”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you lean on your feelings, you're going to be in
trouble. If you lean on the fact of the
Word of God in spite of what your feelings say, there's hope even in the prison
of life. That's why Proverbs 3:5-6 says that
we need to, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Trust in the Lord with all our heart and not lean on our own
understanding.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don't lean on your feelings.
Your feelings are deceiving. When
your feelings tell you that God has forgotten you, your feelings have deceived
you. When your feelings tell you that
God has forsaken you, your feelings have deceived you. One of the most critical things that you can
do when you're in the prison of your life is to remember that you cannot lean
on your feelings. They will deceive
you. You must lean on the fact of the
Word of God. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, Joseph was mistreated.
Yes, he was falsely accused. Yes,
he was in a horrible situation. But no,
God had not forgotten him. And verse 21
is very clear. The Lord was with Joseph
even in prison. In fact, in verse 23 it
repeats it. The Lord was with him even
in prison. And when you as a follower of
Jesus Christ face the lowest times of your life, the same is true for you. The Lord is with you. “I will never leave you,” Jesus said. “I will never forsake you.” Even in the worst and most unfair of
circumstances, we must lean on the fact that God has not abandoned us. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And that's what Joseph has to do as he sits in prison day
after day. As his feelings cry out to
him, saying “God has forgotten you,” Joseph must lean on the fact of the truth
of the Word of God and the character of God and know that God has not forgotten
him. Not only is God with Joseph, but
God is at work behind the scenes. He
always is. And the end of verse 21 says
this, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“But the Lord was with Joseph in prison and extended kindness to him
and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. And 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.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Joseph found grace in the eyes of the chief jailer. Not only was God with Joseph in the lowest
time of his life, but God was working in the situation. We learned earlier that even when you find
yourself in the pit of betrayal God has a purpose. And He has a purpose for Joseph in prison as
well. The chief jailer sees that the
Lord is with Joseph, much like Potiphar had, and the chief jailer puts all of
the prison under Joseph's control. He's
now responsible for all of the prisoners in the dungeon. He is now the manager. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There was a purpose for Joseph being sold into slavery. There was a purpose for Joseph being in the
prison. It was while he was serving
Potiphar and those years in the prison that Joseph learned all of those
management skills, those leadership skills that would be necessary for him to
know when he became the second in command in all of Egypt and is able to save
all of Egypt and the surrounding areas from starvation due to a famine. Even though Joseph feels forgotten, even
though Joseph is in a horrible position, God has a purpose in Joseph's
life. And God is working behind the
scenes. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Folks, listen. You
will never go through a trial, you will never go through a hurt, you will never
go through a heartache, you will never go through pain in which God does not
have a purpose and isn't at work in your life.
You never go through hurt for no reason.
God doesn’t waste anything. Joseph wasn't sold into slavery for
nothing. He wasn't put in the prison for
nothing. He is learning valuable
lessons. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
David, much like Joseph, often found himself in a place
where he felt forgotten but in Psalm 119:11 David realizes something. He comes to a conclusion. It's an amazing verse. It goes in contrast to a lot of the teaching
you will hear today that says God never wants you to hurt. God never wants affliction in your life. Just have enough faith and there will be no
affliction. Psalm 119:11 says just the
opposite:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“It is good for me that I was afflicted.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imagine that. It was
good for David that he went through this time of affliction. It was good for Joseph that he found himself
in the pit of betrayal. It was good for
Joseph that he spent years in the prison.
And notice the reason why. David
said, it's good for me that I was afflicted.
Why? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“That I may learn your statutes.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you realize, my friend, that you learn more about God
during the low times of your life than you ever learn during the high
times? It's during the low times of your
life, during the times in the pit and the times in the prison, that you really lean
into the presence of God and you learn some of the greatest truths you'll ever
learn about God. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My Grandpa Distler was a pastor for over 50 years. I remember just before he died of cancer
being able to go out to California to spend some final time with him. I’ll never forget those final conversations I
had with him while sitting by his bed.
His body was riddled with cancer and he wanted me to have some sense of
what he was experiencing. He took my
hand and he placed it underneath his pajama top and he led my hand from tumor
to tumor. I remember saying to him, “Grandpa,
do they hurt?” He said, “Oh, they hurt.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then he said something I will never forget. He said, “Scott, for over 50 years I've
preached Proverbs 3:5-6,” and then he quoted it, “Trust in the Lord with all of
your heart, do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will
direct your paths.” He went on to say, “For
over 50 years I have preached that passage but for the first time in my life I
really understand what it means.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It's when you go through the difficult times of life, it's
when you go through the adversity, it's when you go through the affliction,
it's when you go through the heart ache, it's when you go through the pain,
that you learn more about God than you ever dreamed possible. David said, “It's good for me that I was
afflicted.” Joseph would be able to
ultimately say, “It was good for me that I was in the pit and in the prison.” At the end of the story he'll say, “Though
man meant it for evil, God used it for good.”
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What's the first thing you need to do when you feel like God
has forgotten you? You need to refuse to
follow your feelings and instead lean on the fact of the Word of God and lean
on the presence of God in your life even when you find yourself in the pit or
in the prison. That's law number one. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>A = ASSIST OTHERS IN NEED<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Law number two to remember when I feel like God's forgotten
me is that I need to assist others in need.
First, there is a need to be SELFLESS.
As Joseph is in prison in charge of all the prisoners, two of Pharaoh's
key staff members, the cupbearer and the baker, do something to make the king
furious. The cupbearer's job was to
taste all of the food and drink before it was given to Pharaoh. He would do this for two reasons. Number one, he would do this to make sure
nothing was poisoned. If the cupbearer
fell over dead, the king didn't eat. The
second reason was to make sure that the food was quality. If the food didn't taste good, it wouldn't go
to the king. That was the job of the
cupbearer. As a result, the cupbearer was
one of the closest servants to Pharaoh.
He had the king’s ear because kings ate all the time. The cupbearer was always in his
presence. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then there's the baker.
The baker's the one who prepares the food. He prepares the food and the cupbearer tastes
the food. These two guys did something
that makes Pharaoh furious. We don't
know what it is but I think we can safely assume it had something to do with
food because their jobs are connected in that way. The result is that Pharaoh throws them both
in to jail. God is working behind the
scenes seen in the fact that it is Joseph who is the one who cares for the
cupbearer and the baker. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Think about that.
Here's Joseph in prison for a crime he didn't commit. The last several years of his life have been
nothing but mistreatment and misfortune.
And what's he doing in the prison?
He is serving other people. His
focus is on the other prisoners. We
usually do just the opposite. When we
get in situations where we feel like we have been forgotten, when we feel like
God's forgotten us, we put the focus right back on ourselves and we wallow in
our own self-pity. Joseph, realizing
that God's presence is with him and realizing that there's a purpose in his
pain, puts all of his energies into serving the other prisoners and God brings
two very particular people under Joseph's care.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you grasp this principle it can really be exciting. When you go through the lowest times of your
life, when you go through the hurt and the pain and the heartache that comes at
times with life, when you get in those situations where you feel like God's
forgotten you, God will cause you to rub shoulders with people who you would
never have met had you not been in that situation. If Joseph not been in prison would he have
met the cupbearer and the baker?
Probably not. God was doing
something big. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I remember when I went through one of the prison times of my
life and for a six-month period found myself out of local church ministry. For those six months I worked in an insurance
office. No offense to you insurance
agents but that was like a death sentence for me. God's calling on my life was to preach but I
found myself instead sitting in an insurance office. Looking back, I am so thankful for that time as
it was while I was there that God allowed me rub shoulders with people I never
would have met had I not gone through this hurtful time in my own life. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One person in particular that I met had a deep spiritual
issue in their life and over the six months that I worked there I was able to
work with this person and counsel them which resulted in an incredible victory to
take place. When I left the insurance
office to go back into ministry, I remember getting an e-mail from this person
that basically said, “I know what you went through was very hurtful but I'm so
thankful that you went through it. Had you
not gone through that time of hurt you never would have ended up at the
insurance office where you had a ministry in my life.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think we often miss some of the most incredible
opportunities to minister in the lowest times of our life because we're
wallowing in self-pity instead of realizing that in that situation God is allowing
us the opportunity to rub shoulders with somebody who we never would have met
otherwise. That's what happens in
Joseph's life. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Along with the need to be selfless there is also the need to
be SENSITIVE. The baker and the
cupbearer have a dream and it troubles them.
In the Old Testament God often spoke through dreams. The Bible wasn't completely written yet. I personally don't believe that God speaks
much through dreams today. I'm not
saying it's impossible but I don't think that's the way God speaks today. I think the way God speaks today is through
his Word but back in that day the Word wasn't completed and dreams were often
an avenue in which God spoke. The baker
and the cupbearer have a dream and it troubles them. In Genesis 40:6 it says. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold they
were dejected. He asked Pharaoh's
officials who were with him in confinement in his master's house why are your
faces so sad today?”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Where's Joseph at?
He's in prison. Why's he
there? He’s been falsely accused. What's the last few years of his life been
like? They’ve been horrible. And what does he notice in prison about these
two other guys? He notices that their
faces look sad. Most men don't even notice
when their wife gets a haircut. He
notices that their faces look sad.
That's mind boggling to me. I
have to think that in that Egyptian dungeon most prisoners' faces looked pretty
sad. But on this day, the baker and the
cupbearer's face look even sadder than normal and Joseph notices it. Even in the lowest time of his life, because
he's leaning on the presence of God and realizes God has a purpose, he is
sensitive to the needs of people around him.
When you're in the lowest times of your life, one of the best ways to
start every day is to say, “God, today, make me sensitive to the needs of
people around me.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally, there is also the need to be SERVING. In verse number 5, the cupbearer and baker have
a dream that trouble them. In verse
number 6 Joseph notices that their faces look sad. In verse 8 they say to Joseph, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“We have had a dream and there's no one to interpret it. And Joseph said to them, do not
interpretations belong to God? Tell it
to me, please.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I'm amazed that Joseph is in any way open to the “dream
thing.” Remember when he had a dream
issue earlier in his life what happened?
He ended up in a pit of betrayal.
But he's open to how God's going to use him and he's willing to serve
these guys in prison. Even in the
situation he's in, even after all he's gone through he's willing to serve these
guys. So he says, “Tell me the dream.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>WAIT ON GOD’S TIMING<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Law number one says that we must lean on the presence of God,
even if our feelings tell us that God has forgotten us. Law number two says that instead of wallowing
in self-pity, we need to assist others in need. Law number three states that we must wait on
God's timing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The cupbearer dreams about a vine and the vine has three
branches. The branches bud and then
blossom. They then produce wonderful clusters of grapes and the cupbearer in
the dream takes the grapes, squeezes them into Pharaoh's cup, and takes the cup
to Pharaoh. Joseph interprets the
dream. He says the three branches on the
vine are three days. In three days,
Pharaoh is going to restore the cupbearer to his position as cupbearer. Joseph
interprets the dream of the cupbearer and in verse 14 he asks the cupbearer for
just one favor:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>“Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you and please do me a
kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this place.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Joseph is putting a plan together in his mind. He sees a way for God to get him out of the jail. The cupbearer has the ear of Pharaoh and
Pharaoh is the only guy who can pardon Joseph.
He has it all planned out what God should do. We're going to get the cupbearer back in
place and the cupbearer's going to tell the king about me and my unfortunate
story. Pharaoh's going to have pity on
me. He's going to pardon me and I'm
going to get out of this dungeon. You
see, Joseph at this point sees a glimmer of hope. Joseph sees this as his opportunity. In his mind, this is God orchestrating the
events to get him out of prison. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The baker also has a dream.
The baker notices that the interpretation that was given to the
cupbearer was very positive so he too tells Joseph his dream. In his dream he
saw three baskets of bread on his head. If
the three branches in the cupbearer's dream represented three days, what do you
think the three baskets represent in the baker's dream? In the top basket there were all sorts of
baked food for Pharaoh. And the birds
were eating them out of the basket. He
then asks Joseph to tell him the interpretation hoping for the same favorable
outcome as the cupbearer’s dream produced.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph gives the interpretation. The three baskets are three days. Just like in three days the cupbearer would be
restored to his position, in three days Pharaoh would hang the baker and the
birds would eat his flesh. I appreciate
Joseph’s integrity. He was honest. If I had been Joseph, I may have said
something like, “You know, I'm kind of tired right now. I'll tell you the interpretation later. It's just not coming through right now. We'll get to it later.” But Joseph speaks the truth to him even
though the truth wasn't a fun thing to hear.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Three days later it's Pharaoh's birthday and he throws a
great feast. Just like Joseph said, the
cupbearer is restored to his position while the baker is hanged. When they restore him to his position, Joseph
is elated. He's thrilled. He's excited because in his mind the
cupbearer's going to go in to the king and say, “I need to tell you about a guy
in prison. I need to tell you his story.” The result in Joseph’s mind would be that the
king would respond by saying, “What an unfortunate person,” and then pardon Joseph. But Joseph’s elation turns to despair. Genesis 40:23 says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Yet, the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph but forgot him.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Joseph has been in prison for a while. He finally sees a way out. He believes that God is orchestrating it
through the cupbearer, but in the end, the cupbearer totally forgets about
Joseph. In fact, Joseph will remain in
prison for two more agonizing years. For
the next two years, every single day Joseph will continue to wake up in his
cell never ever seeing the light of day.
I wonder how often in those two years Joseph questioned God. Joseph had it all planned out. The cupbearer would go in and tell the king
who would release Joseph. It seemed so
simple. Why didn't God allow it to
happen? Why does Joseph have to spend two
more years in prison? There's a law I
want to share with you. I call it the
law of timing. And here's what the law
of timing says. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>“God's timing may not always be our timing but it's always the best
timing.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>If Joseph would have gotten his way, Joseph would have been
pardoned. But what would have happened
to Joseph? He was still Potiphar's
property. He probably would have went
right back into slavery. Let me ask you
a question. What's better, to get out of
prison two years earlier and go back into slavery or to be in prison two more
years and end up second in command in Egypt and have the opportunity to save
thousands upon thousands of people from death and become an example of the
power of forgiveness? Which was
better? Pretty obvious, isn't it? </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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When Joseph's forgotten in the prison, when the cupbearer
doesn't say a word, Joseph's probably thinking, “God, where are you? Why didn't you come through?” But what Joseph didn't realize at that time
is that God was still working. And if
Joseph would wait on God for two more years, something far better would take
place. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When Jesus walked on earth He had a very good friend that
lived in Bethany named Lazarus. Lazarus
had two sisters, Mary and Martha. One
day Lazarus got so sick that he was about to die and Mary and Martha had it all
planned out. They would call for Jesus
and He would come and heal Lazarus. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So they call for Jesus but He purposefully waits to come. Why does He wait? He does so because God's timing isn't always
our timing but it's always the best timing.
He doesn't show up until Lazarus has been dead and buried four
days. When He shows up Lazarus' sister
says to Him, “if You had been here our brother would not have died!” What was she saying? “You blew it.
You're late. It was all planned
out, Jesus. All you had to do was show
up. You didn't come.” In the minds of Mary and Martha, God was
late. But God's timing isn't always our
timing but it's always the best timing. Jesus
was about to do something far more incredible than healing Lazarus before he
died. He raises the old boy from the
dead. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Maybe you are wondering if God will ever show up in the hurt
of your life. Based on the examples in
the Word of God, I can assure you that God's timing may not always be your
timing but it's always the best timing.
I love the verse in Ecclesiastes 3 that says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>“He makes all things beautiful in His time.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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What do you do when you feel forgotten? Number one, you lean on God's presence. Number two, you assist others in need. Number three, you wait on God's timing. It may not always be your timing but will
always be the best timing. <o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-2370545171993946022014-01-06T10:10:00.005-05:002014-01-06T10:10:52.595-05:00Joseph (part 3) - Dealing with Temptation<div class="MsoNormal">
In Genesis 39 we continue through our story and our series
on the life of Joseph. In our previous
message we saw Joseph in the pit of betrayal.
That was a message that really was very practical for many of us, but this
part of the story is even more practical.
Though many of us have at some time in our lives been in the pit of
betrayal, not all of us have. However,
all of us have faced temptation. And
though not all of us will find ourselves in the pit of betrayal in the future,
all of us will find ourselves faced with temptation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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From the story of Joseph I want to share with you four laws
that you need to know if you're going to resist temptation. This is practical to all of us. It doesn't matter if you're male or female,
young or old, rich or poor. It doesn't
matter if you grew up in church or not.
All of us need to know how to resist temptation. And that's exactly what we're going to see.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>LAW NUMBER ONE: </b></div>
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<b>Resisting
temptation is not founded on the reality of your circumstances, but rather, on
your commitment to Christ.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Let’s think about this from the life of Joseph. Joseph was the favorite son of his father
Jacob. He had ten older brothers. His mother died in childbirth with his
younger brother Benjamin. The ten older
brothers developed hatred toward Joseph because he was their father's
favorite. As a result, one day his
brothers assaulted him, tore off of his back the coat of many colors given to
him by his father, and then they threw him in a pit. Ultimately, they took him out of the pit and
they sold him to a group of Ishmaelites who were on their way to Egypt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph found himself on the slavery block in Egypt, in a
foreign land with a foreign culture where everyone spoke a foreign
language. He didn’t know a soul. He had been betrayed by everyone he thought
was close to him and he feared he would never see his father again. Those are certainly difficult
circumstances. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When our circumstances become difficult in our life, it
becomes much easier for us to give in to temptation. Things aren't going good. We wonder if God's abandoned us. As a result, it becomes very easy to
rationalize away our need to be obedient.
And Joseph is about to face a very difficult temptation, even in the
best of circumstances. If you look at
just his circumstances, it would seem to me like Joseph, more than anyone else
in the Bible, is a guy who might just have a right to rationalize his actions
away. But he won't. Notice what the Bible says in Genesis
39:1. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>“Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt and Potiphar, an Egyptian
officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the
Ishmaelites who had taken him down there.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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So what happens to Joseph?
He ends up a slave in the home of Potiphar. Potiphar was a very powerful man in
Egypt. In fact, according to the text,
he was the captain of the bodyguard. In other
words, he was the one who was in charge of the elite group of men whose job it
was to protect the palace and protect Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He was a very powerful and a very rich
man. I'm sure he had many slaves. And he ends up also buying Joseph. <o:p></o:p></div>
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That wasn't coincidence.
God is always at work behind the scenes orchestrating our lives even in the
midst pf difficult circumstances. Joseph
gets bought by Potiphar and he becomes a slave in his home. This is where he will face this enormous
temptation. The reality of his circumstances
was very difficult. If anyone seemed to
have an excuse to rationalize away their actions and indulge in sinful
pleasures, you would think it would be Joseph. <o:p></o:p></div>
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However, in spite of the fact that his circumstances were
difficult, Joseph's relationship with God remained strong. Even through the difficult situations. Even through betrayal. Even through loneliness. Even through grief. Even through being sold as a slave and being
in a foreign land with a foreign culture and a foreign language. His commitment to God remained strong. We know this to be true because in Genesis
39:2, the Bible says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“The Lord was with Joseph so he became a successful man.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Even in the midst of his difficult circumstances, his
commitment to God remained strong. Folks,
listen, if you and I are going to resist temptation in our life we have to
understand that our resisting temptation is not founded upon the reality of our
circumstances but on the resolve of our commitment to God. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The question I have for you is not, “What's the reality of
your circumstances?” That is an important
question but it's not the key question.
The question I have for you is, “In spite of your circumstances, whether
things are going wonderful or things are going horrible, how is the resolve of
your commitment to God?” How committed
are you this day to loving God with all of your heart, soul, strength and
mind? How committed are you today to
obeying God no matter what circumstance you find yourself in? The key to resisting temptation is to
understand that resisting temptation is not founded on the reality of our
circumstances, but rather, on the resolve of our commitment to God. <o:p></o:p></div>
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You also see this with Daniel in the Old Testament when he is
tempted in Babylon. He stands firm and the
Bible says he had purposed in his heart to obey God. He had a commitment. He was resolved in that commitment. Circumstances wouldn't change that
commitment. How is your personal
commitment to God? How strong is
it? How resolved are you? If you are not strong in that commitment,
when the reality of our circumstances goes south, and I guarantee you that they
will, you will be far more likely to succumb to temptation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>LAW NUMBER TWO: </b></div>
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<b>Resisting
temptation can become even more difficult with success.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Not only do we become more prone to giving in to temptation
when our circumstances are bad, but on the flip-side, when we find successes in
our life we also become more vulnerable to temptation. The more success we have as a person, the
more prone we are to develop a heart of pride and arrogance. The more prideful we become, the more vulnerable
we become. What's the Bible say about
pride? It says that pride comes before
the fall. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When success takes place in your life, it can breed an
attitude of pride. It can breed a heart
of arrogance. And when pride and
arrogance build up in your life you become more and more vulnerable to
temptation. Not only does success bring
about pride but success also brings about an attitude of self-sufficiency. The more success I have, the more I depend on
myself. The more money I have, the more
I trust in my money instead of God. The
more power I have, the more I trust in my power instead of God. <o:p></o:p></div>
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With success comes vulnerability to temptation. Joseph had many successes. First, there was some <b>SPIRITUAL</b> success in his life.
Genesis 39:3 says, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused
all that he did to prosper in his hand.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Joseph's spiritual success was so good that even a pagan
like Potiphar noticed it. That's how
well he was doing spiritually. The Lord
was with him and he was having success, and even a pagan guy like Potiphar
noticed the success he was having because of his relationship with his
God. So there was spiritual success in
Joseph's life. Can spiritual success
lead to pride? You bet it can. Can spiritual success lead to self-sufficiency? Sure, it can.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not only was there spiritual success, we also see in Joseph's
life that there was <b>VOCATIONAL</b>
success. Notice what happens to him even
as a slave in Potiphar's house. Look at
verses 4-5:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“So Joseph found favor in Potiphar's sight and became his personal
servant. Now, Potiphar had many servants
but he elevates Joseph to the chief one and he made Joseph overseer over his
house and all that Potiphar owned he put in Joseph's charge. It came about that from the time he had made
him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed
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.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Now that’s vocational success. He gets promoted to top slave, and as the top
slave, he's in charge of all Potiphar's house.
Everything that Potiphar owned was now under the control of Joseph. Joseph had the Midas touch. Everything he managed prospered and as a
result, Potiphar, who was already very powerful and very wealthy, now becomes
even more powerful and wealthier. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph is experiencing spiritual success. He’s experiencing vocational success. Now there is a third type of success that
we're prone to overlook it but we shouldn't.
It's in the text for a reason.
There was also what we could call <b>PHYSICAL</b>
success. Look at verse number 6. The very end of the verse, the last sentence
says this:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>“Now, Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Don't just gloss over that.
Joseph was very handsome in form and appearance. In other words, he had a beautiful, handsome
face and he was very well built. To put
it in modern vernacular, he was a hunk.
That was Joseph - Joseph the hunk.
There's no other way to put it.
He had physical success. There
are only three men, other than Joseph, described in the Bible with that phrase -
King Saul, King David and David's son, Absalom.
Those are the three. Add Joseph
to this list of Biblical hunks. They're
the only four individuals in the Bible who are described as being “handsome in
form and appearance.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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There's no coincidence that the very next verse after that
sentence describes a sexual temptation that comes into Joseph's life. Now, again, I'm not saying if you have no
success you'll have no temptation.
Remember, the reality of our circumstances often causes us to fall into
temptation. But these successes made
Joseph a bigger target. Resisting
temptation can become more difficult with success. The higher you go up the ladder, the more
vulnerable you can become. The more you
acquire wealth, the more vulnerable you can become. The higher position you attain, the more
vulnerable you can become. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Here's what often happens.
When success comes into our life we tend to become so prideful and so
self-sufficient that, even though we may not even realize it, we let down our
guard. Folks, listen, Satan is sly. He is a deceiver. He's a schemer. The moment you let down your guard, he will
pounce. The truth is that with success
we need to raise the guards around us, not lower them. Resisting temptation can become more
difficult with success. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>LAW NUMBER THREE: </b></div>
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<b>Resisting
temptation requires a firm response<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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If Joseph did not have a firm response, there's no doubt in
my mind that Joseph would have fallen.
There comes a point in the story where Potiphar’s wife desires Joseph
and propositions him sexually. We see
this in Genesis 39:7: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>“It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with
desire at Joseph.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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She says to him, “Lie with me.” Potiphar's wife now very abruptly
propositions Joseph. Stop for a second. Gentlemen, put yourself in Joseph's
sandals. You've been betrayed by your
own family. Your dad thinks you're
dead. In your mind, you'll never see him
again. You are now a slave living in a
foreign land where you don't know a soul.
You barely know the language. You
barely know the culture. And this very
powerful woman (and my guess is if it's Potiphar's wife she probably was fairly
attractive because he's a powerful, rich man) propositions you to a time of
pleasure. <o:p></o:p></div>
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My guess is that most men would have fallen at this
point. Unlike King David who also faced
sexual temptation and fell quickly, Joseph directly and firmly resists. Verses 8 and 9 tell us that “he refused.” Do you see that commitment? Remember, resisting temptation is not founded
upon the reality of your circumstances but on the resolve of your
commitment. Why was Joseph able to
resist the temptation? I believe it was
because he wasn't focused on his circumstances.
He was resolved in his commitment and took a firm stand. Joseph responded to Potiphar’s wife saying, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“He refused and said, ‘Behold, with me here, my master does not concern
himself with anything in the house. He's
withheld nothing from me but you because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin
against God?’”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Notice two things about his response. He knows that if he were to give in to the
temptation it would dishonor and hurt his master. And he says, “I can't do that. I can't dishonor my master. I can't hurt my master. He's been good to me.” Joseph understood a principle that I don't
think we totally get. It's impossible
for you to give in to temptation and have it only hurt you. Whenever you give in to temptation, it hurts
others. And usually it hurts those who
are closest to you. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
You can't give in to temptation without it hurting your
spouse. You can't give in to temptation
without it hurting your family. You say,
“But my family doesn't even know about what I'm involved in.” That doesn't matter. You can't sin and have it only affect
you. Every time you choose to sin, you
hurt those closest to you. You hurt your
spouse. You hurt your children. You hurt your parents. You hurt your church. The examples of that are all throughout the
Bible. And Joseph said, “I can't do
that.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But notice again the last line of the verse – “How could I
do this great evil and sin against God?”
If you ever had any doubt as to if Joseph kept his commitment to the
Lord strong through the pit of betrayal and into slavery, this should answer
the question. It's obvious. And that is so very important because this
temptation was not a one-time done deal.
Potiphar's wife continues this seduction but Joseph doesn't give her an
opening. Verse 10 says that, “It came
about as Potiphar's wife spoke to Joseph day after day.” Don't miss that. This wasn't a one-time temptation. This was a daily temptation. This was the type of temptation that will
wear you down. This temptation occurred
day after day after day after day as she continues to proposition him. Joseph refuses to give an opening. Verse 10 goes on and says, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“It came about as she spoke to Joseph day after day that he did not
listen to her.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That's important.
Joseph gets to the point where he says, I'm going to refuse to listen to
the temptation. I'm going to do
everything I can not to listen to it.
Now, when you compare him with King David you find that David did just
the opposite. David initiated more conversation. Joseph won't even listen. If you and I are going to resist temptation, you
have to quit listening to it. It is
speaking to us from everywhere. It
speaks to us through advertisements. It
speaks to through magazines. It speaks
to us through movies. It speaks to us
through music. It speaks to us through
TV shows. It speaks to us through jokes. It speaks to us through relationships and
friendships. If we're really going to
resist temptation, we have to quit listening.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don't take me wrong.
I'm not jumping off the ledge into legalism. I'm not doing that. I'm not saying all secular music is wrong
because I don't think it is. I'm not
saying that all movies and all TV are wrong.
I'm simply saying this. There are
portions of every one of those examples where temptation speaks to us. You know
what it is. You know the TV shows you
watch in which temptation speaks to you.
You know the movies you go see in which temptation speaks to you. You know what relationships you have in which
temptation speaking to you. You know
what websites you go to that has temptation speaking to you. You know what magazines you peruse that has
temptation speaking to you. Folks,
listen. If we're going to resist
temptation we have to take a firm response and a firm response says, I won't
listen to temptation. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not only would Joseph not listen to her, he would not “lie
beside her” either. Potiphar's wife tried
the direct approach and Joseph refused.
Now she tries to lure him in. She
no longer just says “lie with me,” she says, “Hey, Joseph, come here. Just sit down next to me as I recline on my
couch. Just come lie down next to me.” She tries to lure him closer. And Joseph says, “No. I won't sit next to you. I won't lie down next to you.” If you and I are going to resist temptation,
we have to take a firm response and a firm response says, “I won't do anything
that takes me one step closer to it.” I
Thessalonians 4:3 says, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“This is the will of God for your life that you abstain from sexual
immorality.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What is sexual immorality?
The word used in this verse describes any sexual involvement outside of
God's plan. There's only one way to
define God's plan if you take the Bible literally. God’s plan is that sex is to be involved in a
relationship between one man and one woman in the bonds of marriage. If it's not one man and one woman, it's not
God's plan. If it's not in the bonds of
marriage, it's not God's plan. We are to
abstain from anything outside that plan.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our mind-set today asks, “How close can we get to the line
of sin without crossing it?” However,
the word abstain means to stay as far away from the line as possible. Resisting temptation requires a firm
approach. Joseph knew that if he sat
down next to Potiphar’s wife, if he were to lie down next to her, he was taking
one step closer to falling in the trap. If
you're going to really resist temptation in your life, you need to do an
inventory. What is in your life that's taking
you one step closer to the line of sin?
What shows are you watching that take you closer to the line? What movies do you watch that take you closer
to the line? What websites do you look
at that take you closer to the line?
What magazines do you look at that take you closer to the line? Resisting temptation requires a firm
response. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The passage also says that Joseph wouldn’t even “be with
her.” In other words, if she was inside,
he stayed outside. If she was outside, he
went inside. If she's upstairs, he’s
downstairs. If she's downstairs, he’s
upstairs. He did his best not even to be
with her because resisting temptation requires a firm response. Potiphar's wife now becomes desperate. She resorts to a desperate, drastic measure
as seen in verse 12:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Now it happened one day that he went into the house and none of
the men of the household were inside and she caught him by his garment.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now it is no longer just a verbal proposition. Now it's a physical proposition. The sense of touch is now involved and she
says to him, “Lie with me.” Joseph at
this moment leaves his coat in her hands and he runs out of the house as fast
as he can run. Why does he run? He does so because he understands his
weakness. He understands that when she
grabs him and he can now feel her touch that if he stays there any longer, he
will probably give in. When you get to
that point where you realize if I stay here any longer I will probably give in,
you have already overstayed your welcome.
And sometimes the only thing you can do is run. That's what Paul told Timothy, a young
pastor, in 2 Timothy 2:22, when he says, “Flee youthful lusts.” If you don’t start running you are going to
fall. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some of you are involved in relationships right now that you
shouldn't be involved in. Some of you
are feeling attractions to somebody who's not your mate. Some of you are playing with fire on the
internet. And I'm here to tell you that the
greatest thing you can do if I just described you is run. Run from that temptation. Stay away from that individual you're feeling
those feelings towards that you shouldn't be feeling those feelings toward. And if you can't handle the computer, quit
using the computer at home. If you’re a
man and you are struggling with the computer, here's what you need to do. Have your wife set up the password so the
only way you can get on the computer is if your wife puts in the password. That's some good accountability right
there. That will help you. You may think that is somewhat extreme but
there are times you need to be extreme because resisting temptation requires a
firm response. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>LAW NUMBER FOUR: </b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Resisting
temptation does not always result in immediate positive results.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I'm reading the story of Joseph and I see Joseph stand
firm against that temptation, especially in the culture we live in today where
that temptation is so flaunted, I just want to cheer. I just want to applaud. I want to give him a standing ovation. If I were God, I would bless him and put all
kinds of riches on him and put him on a pedestal and give him the spiritual gold
medal. That’s not what happens. Potiphar's wife's desire for Joseph now turns
to anger. The chapter goes on and says
that she gives the following report to her husband, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“The Hebrew slave whom you brought to us came into me to make sport of
me and it happened as I raised my voice and screamed that he left his garment
beside me and he fled outside.” (Genesis 39:17-18)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What's the old saying?
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Why does she get so angry? My
guess is that I don't think Joseph was the first person she ever
propositioned. I think she did so with
most of the slaves but I think Joseph was the first one to say no. And in her anger, she accuses him and notice
what Potiphar does: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Now, it came about when his master heard the words of his wife his
anger burned and Joseph's master took him and put him into the jail, the place
where the king's prisoners were confined.” (Genesis 39:20)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Joseph just resisted a very difficult temptation under very
difficult circumstances and how does he get rewarded? He gets thrown in prison. But don't miss the next verse. Genesis 39:21 says,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“The Lord was with Joseph in the prison.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Resisting temptation many times has a cost. It may cost you your job. It may cost you that promotion or that
raise. It may cost you a
friendship. It may cost you some mockery
or scorn. For Joseph, it cost him years
in the prison. But as we will see, God
had a purpose. Think of Galatians 6:9. I love it.
Let me paraphrase it:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Never get tired of doing what is right because in due season --
and that's the key phrase -- in due season you will reap harvests of
blessings if you don't get discouraged and give up.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Never get tired of doing right. You may not see the result immediately but I
promise you this - God always rewards obedience. In due season, Joseph will get rewarded. He will go from the prison to the
palace. He will go from being a prisoner
to being a Prime Minister. It's an
amazing story. And I guarantee you, if
you will resist temptation, in due season God will honor you, as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-76988880884827933682014-01-05T16:51:00.001-05:002014-01-05T16:52:22.113-05:00Joseph (part 2) - Dealing with Betrayal<div class="MsoNormal">
Most people are somewhat familiar with the story of
Joseph. Here's a young man about 17
years of age whose brothers will ultimately turn on him. They will assault him. They will attack him. Then they will throw him into a pit and
eventually sell him into Egypt where this teenage boy will become a prisoner
and a slave. What caused his brothers to
do such a despicable act? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>The CAUSE of Betrayal<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s begin by talking about the causes of betrayal, which in
its very essence, will all bottle down to jealousy. Jealousy is one of those things that
unfortunately today we view as “no big deal.”
It has become one of those respected sins. In our minds, it's not a big sin so who
cares? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, jealousy always leads to something worse. It never stays at simple jealousy. Once it runs its course, jealousy will
ultimately turn into envy. There's a big
difference between jealousy and envy.
When you're jealous, that means somebody has something that you wish was
yours. When you're envious, you want to
deprive that person of having that item since you can't have it either. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For example, if you purchased a brand new fully loaded SUV, an
$80,000 vehicle, and I wished it were mine that would be jealousy. But if while you were away I slashed the
tires and poured sugar in the gas tank so you couldn't drive it either, that
would be envy. Jealousy, if left
unchecked, always leads to envy. But it
doesn’t stop there either. Envy will always
lead to hatred and hatred will always lead to malice. But it all begins with jealousy and we’ll see
that in the life of Joseph's brothers. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Joseph’s case there were three causes of the betrayal that
took place at the hands of his brothers.
Cause number one is seen in Genesis 37:2:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Joseph was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a
youth along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives,
and Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A lot of people look at this verse and see it as Joseph bringing
this betrayal on himself. After all,
look at him. He was a tattle tale,
right? No one likes a tattle tale. But is that really the case? I don't think so. I see the first cause for Joseph's betrayal
as his <b>FAITH</b>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, Joseph brought a bad report back to his father about
his other brothers but keep in mind the character of his brothers. What kind of men were they? They were rotten. They were evil. It was his brothers in the city of Shechem that,
when their sister was assaulted, tricked all the men into coming into a state
of weakness though being circumcised and then murdered all of them taking their
wives, children and possessions for their own.
These were evil men. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember, Reuben, the oldest? He had an affair with one of Jacob's concubines
who was the mother to two of his step brothers.
These were wicked men. So when it
says that Joseph brought back a bad report, I don't think Joseph came home and
said, “Dad, Reuben stole my lunch box.” It
is more likely that his brothers were doing something very wicked, very evil,
something that would damage the family name and even bring danger upon
themselves. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, is that tattling?
I don't think so. If you had a
child and that child was doing something very evil, something dangerous, and
your other child knew about it, wouldn't you want them to tell you? I don't think it was a simple case of
tattling. This young man, Joseph, had a
character of obedience. He had a desire
for righteousness. Later in his life he
would end up in Egypt where he would be seduced by a beautiful and powerful woman. Though he would have every reason to
rationalize away why it would be okay to have that moment of pleasure, he will
resist giving into that temptation. Joseph
was a man of character and righteousness.
It was his faith that his brothers despised. It was his righteousness that caused jealousy
within their life. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So we see that one cause of his betrayal was his faith. In Genesis 37:3-4, we see the second
cause. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Now, Israel (that's Jacob, their father), loved Joseph more than all
of his sons because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a very colored tunic. His brothers saw that their father loved him
more than all their brothers and so they hated him and could not speak to him
on friendly terms.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you see how their jealousy has not only gone to envy but
to hatred? And one of the chief reasons for
this was his <b>FAVORISTISM</b>. That's cause number two for his
betrayal. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We see from the text that his dad made a grave mistake. He not only loved Joseph more than he loved
his other sons, he showed it. He displayed
it. This was a learned trait. Isaac did the same thing. Jacob had a twin brother named Esau and Isaac
loved Esau more than he loved Jacob and now Jacob does the same thing. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons. Why was this so? First, it was because Joseph was the son of
his old age. Jacob was 91 years old when
Rachel gave birth to Joseph. And not
only that, but when his beloved Rachel was giving birth to his last son,
Benjamin, she died in childbirth and for those reasons Jacob loved Joseph more
than the others and he showed it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the ways he showed this favoritism was to have made
for Joseph a multicolored coat. In the
culture of that day one of the ways you showed your wealth was through
extravagant dress. This very colored
tunic was extravagant. It would have
been very expensive to make. It was
tailor made and the very wording of the text showed that that it was a tunic
that went right down to his wrists and all the way down to his ankles. In other words, it wasn't a working
tunic. Joseph didn't have to do much
work. He was daddy's favorite. And he now has this coat of many colors that reminded
his brothers how much their dad loved Joseph more than he loved them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This doesn’t mean that Joseph is without fault in his
relationship with his brothers. As we
will soon see, when Joseph goes to find his brothers when they end up taking
him and throwing him into the pit, he will be wearing his coat of many colors. I don't think he was wearing it in order to
rub it into his brothers' face. I don't
think he was even thinking through the fact that his wearing that coat in front
of his brothers would just infuriate them more.
Without realizing it, wearing that coat in front of them was like
pouring salt in the wound. Sometimes
when we find ourselves in the pit of betrayal, though what was done to us was
evil and wrong, chances are really good that if we are honest with ourselves we
will be able see things we did to make matters even worse. And there's no doubt Joseph did this when he
wore that very coat in front of his brothers.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So reason number one for his betrayal was his faith. Reason number two was his favoritism. There's a third reason that his brothers end
up betraying him and that was because of his <b>FUTURE</b>. We see this in Genesis
37:5:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Then Joseph had a dream and when he told it to his brothers, they
hated him even more.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Joseph had two dreams that he shared with his family. In dream number one he's out in the field
with his brothers and they're binding sheaves and Joseph's sheaf stands up
straight and his brothers' sheaves all bow down to Joseph's sheaf. When Joseph tells his brothers about this
dream it infuriates them. “What are you
saying, Joseph, that we're one day going to bow down to you?” Then he has another dream where the sun, the moon
and 11 stars all bow down to him and again his brothers are infuriated. Their jealousy turns to anger. “How could you say that one day we're going
to bow down to you?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Obviously, we know the rest of the story. We know that's exactly what will happen. We know that at the end of the story his
brothers will bow down to him. But his
brothers didn't know it at the time. And
when Joseph told them the dream it made them even angrier. Some would say that what Joseph was doing was
bragging. Why did he tell them about the
dream? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don't think he was bragging. Who put the dream into Joseph's mind? Who put the dream into his heart? Who caused him to have the dream to begin
with? It was God, wasn't it? God was showing Joseph his future. God was showing Joseph the great ways that He
was going to use him. Folks, listen, when
God puts a passion in your life, you can't keep it silent. And those who dream big dreams for God often
become the target of betrayal. And
that's what happened to Joseph. His
faith, his favoritism, and his future all take the jealousy that was birthed in
the heart of his brothers and turn it to envy which then turned into hatred and
ultimately took on the form of malice in which they do the unthinkable. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>The CRIME of Betrayal<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“His brothers went to pasture their father's flock in Shechem and
Israel (that's Jacob) said to Joseph, are not your brothers pasturing the flock
in Shechem? Come and I'll send you to
them and he said to his father, I will go.” (Genesis 37:12-13)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notice first of all the <b>PLACE</b>
of the crime involved. The Bible says that his brothers have the father's flock
over in the region of Shechem. Does that
name ring a bell to you? Shechem was the
location where their sister, Dinah, was assaulted and all of the brothers
tricked the men in the city to a moment of weakness and slaughtered all of them
taking their wives, their children and their possessions as their own. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let me ask you something.
If you lived at that time in the region around Shechem, what would be
your opinion of Jacob's family? You
probably wouldn't think very highly of them.
So when Jacob hears that his sons have the sheep over in Shechem, over
60 miles away from the homestead, he becomes concerned. As a result he sends Joseph to go check on
them. This tells me that, though he might
have loved Joseph more than the others, Jacob still did care for his other
sons. He sends Joseph to find them. When Joseph gets there, they've already moved
north another 15 miles to Dothan so they're now 75 miles away from their
homestead and here's what happens. Genesis
37:18-19 then says: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“When his brothers saw Joseph from a distance before he came close to
them, they plotted against him to put him to death.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There's a <b>PLOT</b>
that's involved in this crime. As his
brothers see him coming, while he's still a distance off, they begin to plot
against him. They begin to conspire to
do something evil, even to kill him. Here
we see a very important principle.
Folks, listen, betrayal always involves recruitment to a conspiracy. That's what happens. They all get together and they conspire
against him. Betrayal never happens out
in the open. Betrayal doesn't happen by
just one person. There's always recruitment
to the conspiracy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does that teach us?
It teaches us that any time someone comes up to you and begins to talk
to you negatively about another person behind their back, all kinds of red
flags and warning bells ought to go off in your mind and in your spirit. Betrayal is done behind the back. Betrayal always involves recruitment to
conspiracy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nowhere in the New Testament will you find one example where
God tells us that this is the way to deal with people. Not one.
The Bible says if you have something against someone you're to go to
that person. The Bible says if you know
a brother who's in sin, you're to go to that brother. Nowhere in scripture do we ever find any
foundation for getting together in secret and talking about someone else behind
their back. Always avoid the secret
conspirator. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“So it came about when Joseph reached his brothers that they stripped
Joseph of his tunic, the very colored tunic that was on him, and they took him
and threw him into the pit. Now, the pit
was empty without any water in it.” (Genesis 37:23)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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We've seen the place and we've seen the plot. Now notice the <b>PIT</b>. Notice what the
brothers do. They conspire while he's
away to kill him. Reuben, the oldest, steps
in and says, “No, let's not kill him. We
don't want his blood on our hands.” So
they decide that when he gets to them, they would lure him over towards the pit
and there they would do the unthinkable.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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So as Joseph made his way to them, obeying his father's
command to check on them, his brothers assault him. They attack him and this attack would have
been very violent. Remember, they originally
wanted to kill him – that’s violent. The
Bible says they strip off his coat of many colors. They strip it off because this is the symbol
of their hatred. This is the symbol of
their jealousy. This reminds them of
their father's favoritism. And Reuben
convinces them instead of killing him to take him and throw him in a pit. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A pit in those days would have held water during the rainy
season. It would have had a very, very
narrow opening and would have been shaped like a vase with a larger
bottom. There was no way to crawl out. They take Joseph and they throw him into the
pit. When Reuben, the oldest, stood up
to his defense and said, “No, let's not kill him, let's throw him in the pit,” he
had a plan. If you read the whole text,
Reuben's plan was to come back and to rescue Joseph later. There was at least one of these ten older
brothers who still had some conscience about them. He knew what they were doing was wrong. He knew it was evil. And he had a plan to stop it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For some reason, however, Reuben will leave and while he's
gone his brothers will take Joseph, pull him out of the pit and they will sell
him into slavery into Egypt. When Reuben
comes back, he'll find out what they've done.
After that, Reuben will then go along with the plot. He'll go along with the cover-up. He'll join them in faking the whole thing to
their father and convincing Jacob that Joseph was dead. There's something else about betrayal you
need to understand. Even though there
might be a few who see what's happening is wrong, at the end of the day they
will most likely succumb to the pressure and they will cave in and be part of the
plot. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We learn something more as we carefully notice just the
beginning of Genesis 37:25, <b>“Then they sat
down to eat a meal.” </b>What did these
brothers do? After they took Joseph and
threw him in the pit, while he's at the bottom of the pit all alone screaming
out in fear and pain, they sit down next to the pit and they have lunch. They have a feast. They laugh and they eat. This is a striking principle. Those who are involved in the act of betrayal
often feel a sense of satisfaction afterwards as they rationalize in their mind
a justification to their hurtful actions.
This is seen as Joseph's brothers sit down to a meal while their brother
screams in the pit. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>The CONSEQUENCE of Betrayal<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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We have seen the cause of betrayal. We have seen the crime of betrayal. The final point is the consequences. What happens next? Look at Genesis 37:28:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Then some Midianite traders passed by so they pulled Joseph
up. They lifted him out of the pit and
they sold him to Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver. Thus, they brought Joseph into Egypt.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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As they're having lunch together, with Joseph screaming in
the pit, a group of Midianites and Ishmaelites come by who are on their way to
Egypt. They're traders. What do they do for a living? They buy things from you and take it
somewhere else and try to make money off of it.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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So his brothers come up with a brilliant idea. They say, “Reuben's right. Let's not kill our brother. We don't want his blood on our hands.
Instead, let's make some money. Let's
sell him to the Midianites, to the Ishmaelites.
Let them take him into Egypt where we'll never see him again. We'll never have to deal with him again. We'll never have to see his face. We'll never have to see his coat. We'll never have to hear about his dreams. We'll be rid of the goody two shoes forever.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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And that's exactly what they do. They sell Joseph. It says they sell him for 20 pieces of
silver. That was the price in that day
of a handicapped slave. That's how much
they thought of Joseph. That was the
price you would get for a slave that had no value. And that's what they sell him for - hardly what
you would call a profit. There are ten
of these brothers. That means they each
get two pieces of silver. Big deal. It’s obvious that the real issue to them
wasn't the money, it was getting rid of Joseph. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“So his brothers took Joseph's tunic.
They slaughtered a male goat and they dipped the tunic in the
blood. And they sent the very colored
tunic to their father. And said, we
found this. Please examine it to see
whether it's your son's tunic or not.” (Genesis 37:31-32)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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They have to cover up their betrayal. They have to cover up their wrongdoing. They have to convince their father something
happened to Joseph. So they take that
coat of many colors that they hated so much and soak it in the blood. Remember, they are 75 miles away from home
with the sheep so they send the blood stained coat back to their father with a
note saying we found this coat. Please
tell us, is it your son's? And Jacob
becomes convinced his precious favored son is dead. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Betrayal always involves falsehood. It always involves some sort of lie. And betrayal always hurts more individuals
than the person who gets betrayed.
Joseph wasn't the only person who got hurt in this story. Jacob, who at this time is well over 100
years old, is now living in daily grief and daily sorrow convinced that his son
is dead. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The pit of betrayal is a horrible place. Chances are really good that many of you know
what it's like to be in the pit. Chances
are very good that many of you reading this have found yourself at some point
in your life in the pit of betrayal.
Maybe you were betrayed by a mate, a friend, a parent, a sibling, a
child, a co-worker, or a ministry partner.
Chances are good that some of you are in the pit right now. Every day when you wake up you're living in
the pit. For some of you, the pit is
just ahead of you in your journey. Because
of this let me share four truths that we learn about the pit of betrayal. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>The PAIN in Betrayal<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Truth number one involves the PAIN in betrayal and it says that
the pain that comes from betrayal often gets worse before it gets better. That's what will happen to Joseph. Many people say, “Joseph is a great story
that shows how he went from the pit to the palace.” Yes, ultimately, he'll get to the palace. Yes, ultimately he'll be the Prime Minister
of Egypt. Yes, ultimately he'll save
Egypt from starvation. But let me remind
you that for Joseph the path from the pit to the palace was not a direct
route. <o:p></o:p></div>
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He didn't go from the pit directly to the palace. He first went to the prison. He only spent a few hours in the pit but he
would spend years in the prison, waking up every morning in an Egyptian dungeon
because he would be falsely accused. For
years he would never see the light of day.
In reality, the pain from the betrayal got worse for Joseph before it
ever got better. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Many people find themselves in the pit of betrayal and they
cry out to God to rectify their problem and things get worse and you know what
they do? They turn their back on
God. They think God's abandoned them and
I need you to know something. The pain
that comes from the pit of betrayal often gets worse before it gets
better. That does not mean that God has
forsaken you. That does not mean that
God has abandoned you. And the worst
thing you can do when you're in the pit of betrayal is to turn your back on
God. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I remember a time in my life when I was in the pit of
betrayal. I remember how tempting that
was. I remember every day while in that
pit praying the same prayer. Every day, I
would pray, “God, when this is over, no matter what it looks like and no matter
where I'm at, my prayer is that I will be more in love with Jesus than I am
today; more in love with my wife than I am today; and more in love with the
local church than I am today.” By the
grace of God, He answered every single one of those prayers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>The PURPOSE in Betrayal<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The second truth deals with the PURPOSE in betrayal. God has a purpose that He's fulfilling in
your life even in the midst of betrayal's pain.
He has a purpose. God will never
lead you through pain, heartache and hurt for nothing? He'll never do that. Every time you experience pain and heart ache
and trials and affliction and hurt, every time you find yourself in the pit of
betrayal, God has a purpose. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Think about it in the life of Joseph. You know where Joseph will end up,
right? He'll end up being the Prime Minister
of Egypt. He will manage the entire
country and he will save the country from starvation. I have a question for you. Where did Joseph learn to manage like
that? He didn't learn it at home. He was spoiled rotten at home, the favored
son of his dad who never had to do a thing.
Where did Joseph learn the lessons, the skills needed to manage the
country of Egypt? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Because of his being thrown in the pit, he's sold into
slavery where he becomes a slave to a powerful man named Potiphar and
Potiphar puts him in charge of his entire home and there Joseph learns the
skills of how to manage. After he's
falsely accused and he's thrown into prison, you know what happens next? In prison he will find grace in the eyes of
the jailer who will put him in charge of the entire prison and for over a
decade he will manage the entire prison system.
Joseph, while in the pit and the prison, learned the very skills needed
to manage all of Egypt when he became the Prime Minister. I can tell you from experience the greatest
lessons I have ever learned in my life I learned in the pit of betrayal. God has a purpose for every pain. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>The PRESENCE in Betrayal<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Truth number three deals with the PRESENCE in betrayal. God's presence is with you through every
painful moment of betrayal. I love this.
In Genesis 39:2, when Joseph is taken into Egypt, the Bible says, <b>“But the Lord was with Joseph in Egypt.” </b>When he's falsely accused and thrown in
the prison, the Bible says in Genesis 39:21, <b>“The Lord was with Joseph in the prison.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Folks, listen, God's presence is with you through every
painful moment of betrayal. When my wife
and I went through our time in the pit, that's what kept us going. Every evening, after living through a day of
hurt and pain, we'd sit on the back porch with a cup of coffee and we'd answer
this question – “How did we see the fingerprints of God in our lives today?” Sometimes those fingerprints were very little
but those were the things that we clung to because they showed us that God was
with us in our pain. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>The PATIENCE in Betrayal<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The final truth deals with the PATIENCE in betrayal. The healing of the pain caused by betrayal
often takes many years to complete. It
doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't
happen in a week. It doesn't happen in a
month. It doesn't even happen in a
year. But over time, it does happen. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>T</b>hink about
Joseph. The first 17 years of his life
he's the favored son of Jacob. For the
next many years he's a slave and a prisoner in a strange land. Finally, he becomes the prime minister of
Egypt. In this position he gets married
and has a son. As we will see, he will
name his first son a name that means "God has removed the sting of the
memory." It took many years but finally
Joseph was able to say that though he remembered every detail of the betrayal,
God had removed the sting from the memory.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What now?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The pit of betrayal is not a fun place. But if you find yourself in it, there's a
simple question you need to ask. Most
people in the pit like to cry out to God with the question, “<b>Why me</b>?” That’s the wrong question to ask. When you're in the pit of betrayal, the
question you need to ask God is, “<b>What
now</b>?” <o:p></o:p></div>
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What are You trying to teach me now, Lord? <o:p></o:p></div>
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What are You trying to show me now? <o:p></o:p></div>
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What are You preparing me for now, God? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Because even though it hurts, I know You have a
purpose. And even though it hurts, I
know Your presence is with me. <br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-73136807862062037322014-01-04T19:26:00.002-05:002014-01-04T19:27:18.517-05:00Joseph (part 1) - Dealing with Dysfunction<div class="MsoNormal">
Joseph is an Old Testament patriarch who is undoubtedly one
of the greatest heroes in all of Scripture but the family background that he
was born into is an amazing picture of dysfunction. In fact, his family just may have been the
most dysfunctional family you'll ever find in the Bible. This isn't the Brady Bunch. This family is dysfunctional beyond anything that
you could imagine. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We are introduced to Joseph’s family in Genesis 25. Notice some of these dysfunctions and this is
just a partial list. The family that
Joseph is born into is one of favoritism, rivalry, deception, betrayal, hatred,
threats, polygamy, rape, murder, incest and much more - and all of that is
prior to the story of Joseph even beginning.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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\Let’s begin by talking about Joseph's father. His name was Jacob and Jacob was a twin. His twin brother was named Esau. Jacob and Esau had a horrible case of sibling
rivalry. But this case of sibling
rivalry didn't begin as young adults. In
fact, their sibling rivalry did not even begin as small children. Their sibling rivalry actually went all the
way back to when they were in the womb. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The twins’ mother's name was Rebekah. Their dad's name was Isaac who was also one
of the four patriarchs of the Old Testament - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and
Joseph. Interestingly, Isaac actually
lived longer than any of the other patriarchs but he has the least amount said
about him in the Bible. Isaac’s wife, Rebekah,
conceived twin boys and these twins, Jacob and Esau, had a case of sibling rivalry
that literally began in the womb. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“But the children (Jacob and Esau) children struggled together while
within her.” (Genesis 25:22)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Imagine being pregnant.
Next, imagine being pregnant with twin boys. Now imagine being pregnant with twin boys who,
while they are in your womb, are struggling with each other. “You're in my space!” Can you imagine what those nine months were
like? Can you imagine how difficult that
pregnancy must have been? In fact, it
was so difficult that Rebekah asks God about it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>“So she went to inquire of the Lord.
God, why are my babies struggling with each other in my womb? And the Lord said to her, two nations are in
your womb and two people shall be separated from your body. And one people shall be stronger than the
other and the older shall serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:22)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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So the rivalry of these two boys, Jacob and Esau, began
while they were in the very womb of their mother. This pre-natal rivalry was seen very
graphically when the time of the birth came. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“When her days to be delivered were fulfilled </b><i>(and I'm sure she was glad when those nine
months were over)</i> <b>behold, there were
twins in her womb. Now, the first came
forth red all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. Afterward, his brother </b><i>(that's Jacob)</i><b> came forth with his hand holding on to Esau's heel so his name
was called Jacob.” (Genesis 25:24, 25)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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In the womb they were struggling with each other and at
least part of this struggle appeared to be the desire to be born first. Keep in mind that in the culture of that day
being the firstborn son was a position of great honor. Today, being firstborn isn't as big of a
deal. Back then if you were the
firstborn son, you were the one that carried on the family. You got twice the inheritance of all the
other children. It was a position of
honor. So they are struggling for this
right. This is like the Indy 500 right inside
of Rebekah's womb. Who's going to cross
the finish line first? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Esau won! He pulled
ahead at the end. He got to come out
first. But Jacob was fighting to the
very end, grabbing a hold of Esau's heel as if to try to pull him back in so he
could get out ahead of him. I bet
Rebekah wished epidurals had been invented back then. These boys were against each other from their
very birth. To make matters even worse, their
parents then poured gasoline on the fire of their rivalry. Before we see that, notice first how the boys
were described:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“When the boys grew up Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the
field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.” (Genesis 25:27)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Unlike me, Esau would have fit very well into northern
Michigan. He was covered with hair. He was a hunter. He spent most of his time out in the
woods. That was Esau. While Esau was out hunting the animals, Jacob
was home feeding the animals. He was a
peaceful man who lived in the tents.
Esau was a man's man. Jacob was a
mama's boy. As a result of this,
favoritism became evidenced. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Now Isaac loved Esau.” (Genesis 25:28)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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That didn’t mean that Isaac didn't love Jacob. It simply meant that he loved Esau more. He favored Esau, and worse yet, he showed
it. Verse 28 gives us the reason why
Isaac loved Esau more. It says Isaac
loved Esau “<b>because he had a taste for
game</b>.” In other words, Dad loved the
taste of wild game. And what was
Esau? He was a skilled hunter. So why did Isaac love Esau more than
Jacob? He favored him because Esau could
provide for Isaac something that satisfied his own flesh - wild game. You see, Isaac's love for Esau wasn't based
on Esau. Isaac's love for Esau was based
totally on selfishness because Esau provided for him something that would
satisfy his flesh. So Isaac loved Esau
more than Jacob.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Isaac’s favoritism towards Esau was not the end of the
problem. The end of verse 28 says, “<b>But Rebekah loved Jacob</b>.” Now, why did Rebekah favor Jacob? She did so because he was a mama's boy. He was home in the tent all the time. My guess is that it was through Jacob that
Rebekah was finding her sense of security.
As a result you have these two boys in a heated sibling rivalry and
gasoline is poured on to this fire by their parents when Dad loved Esau more
than he loved Jacob and when Mom loved Jacob more than she loved Esau. This was a family in huge dysfunction. How in the world could God ever use a family
like this? <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you jump ahead to chapter 37 you learn a principle that's
worth seeing. The principle can be
simply put as “like father, like son.”
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>“Now Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons.” (Genesis 37:3)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Folks, listen, this is a principle that we must learn. We can’t afford to deny it. We must understand that though children hate
the mistakes they see in the lives of their parents, they are prone to make the
same mistakes. What parents do in
moderation, children often do in excess.
The child of an alcoholic hates the fact that their parent is an
alcoholic but statistics tell us that children of alcoholics are more prone to
become alcoholics themselves. And that's
the case in most every situation no matter what the scenario is. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I guarantee you Jacob hated the fact growing up that his dad
loved his brother more than he loved him. I’m sure that he despised the fact that his
dad showed that favoritism but what does Jacob do when he has sons? He makes the very same mistake. He repeats the mistake of his father. He shows partiality to one of his sons that
we'll ultimately create an explosion of violence. <o:p></o:p></div>
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You see, moms and dads, here's the truth. We can't take our own sin lightly. We can't just casually say, “Well, no big
deal. We all have weaknesses.” We need to understand that the weaknesses we
demonstrate to our children they are prone to repeat when they become adults
and they become parents. And that's
exactly what happened with Jacob. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Let’s get back to the twin rivals. This sibling rivalry between Esau and Jacob lasted
throughout their childhood, and when they become young adults, things get even
worse. We now move to the part of the
story where Jacob and Esau are going to have an encounter in which Esau is
going to sell his birthright. Again you
need to keep in mind that in the culture of that day the birthright meant
that was your portion as the firstborn son.
Remember, as the firstborn son, you were the head of the home once your
father passed on. As the firstborn son,
you got twice as much of inheritance as anybody else. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We now get to the point in the story where Jacob is going to
trick his brother out of his birthright.
Jacob knows how to deceive people.
In fact, the very name Jacob means “deceiver.” He now goes into motion. Esau was out hunting and Jacob knew Esau's
routine. Jacob knew that when Esau came
back after a long day of hunting, he was going to be famished. So Jacob, at just the right time, prepared a
pot of lentil stew. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As is his routine, Esau came home and he was famished. He walked in the door saying, “I am starving
to death.” As he did, he got a whiff of
the aroma of that wonderful, delicious, succulent lentil stew and fresh baked
bread. When you think you're starving to
death and you suddenly smell the wonderful aroma of food, what happens to your
hunger? It escalates. Esau couldn’t wait any longer. He said,” Jacob, can I have some of your
stew?” Jacob had this all planned
out. He now has Esau exactly where he
wanted him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
“Brother,” Jacob said, “You can have some stew in exchange
for your birthright. Sell me your
birthright for the stew.” His brother
responded, “What good is my birthright if I'm dead from starvation? I'll take the stew.” Jacob took that opportunity to seal the deal.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Jacob said first swear to me so he swore to him. I'll give you my birthright, and sold his
birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave
Esau bread and lentil stew and he ate and drank and rose and went on his way,
thus Esau despised his birthright.” (Genesis 25:33, 34)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The rivalry continued to grow. The dysfunction mounted and reached its
climax not long after when their father Isaac has become aged and knew he didn’t
have many more years to live. He had
also become blind. He went to Esau, his
firstborn son, and said, “Esau, it's time for me to give you the firstborn
blessing.” We don't really do that today
in our culture but back in that day it was huge to receive the blessing of the
firstborn. So, Isaac said, ”I want you
to go out, I want you to hunt some game, bring the game back, cook me my
favorite dinner and then I am going to give you the firstborn blessing.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Esau had no intention of keeping his word when he swore to
Jacob to trade his birthright for the stew, so Esau went out to hunt the
game. Meanwhile, Rebekah, the wife who
loved Jacob more, overheard the conversation.
Jacob was a very good deceiver and you know why? He was a great liar because the apple didn't
fall far from the tree. He learned how
to do it from his mama. Remember, we
tend to repeat our parent’s mistakes. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rebekah brought Jacob in and said, “Here's what you're going
to do. You're going to go in to your
father and pretend to be Esau. I'm going
to make his favorite dish. You take it
in to him and receive your brother’s blessing.”
Isaac is hesitant with the plan because Esau was covered with hair. Surely, his father would know that he was not
Esau.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But Rebekah had that all figured out as well. She took goat skin and put it on Jacob’s hands
and neck so that when Isaac touched him he would feel the goat skin and think
it was Esau. She also had Jacob wear
Esau's clothes so he would smell like Esau.
Remember, Esau was a skilled hunter who spent most of his time out in
the fields. His clothes smelled a little
bit different than Jacob's. So Jacob put
on Esau's clothes and the goat skin and he goes in to his dad. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“He came in to his father and said, my father, and he said, here I
am. Where are you, my son? Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your
firstborn. I have done as you told
me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my
game that you may bless me.” (Genesis 27:19)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jacob has no trouble lying to his dad but Isaac was suspicious
saying, “You say you're Esau but it's the voice of Jacob. Come close that I can touch you.” When he does, Isaac touched him and felt the
goat skin. He smelled his clothes and said,
“I guess it really is Esau” and he gave Jacob Esau's blessing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When Esau returned and found out what had happened, he was
furious. He was incensed and vowed at
that very moment that he would kill his brother. He said, “<b>The days of mourning for my father are near</b>.” In other words, my father's going to die
soon. “I'll wait until that's done. Then, I will kill my brother Jacob.” How in the world could God use a family like
this? How in the world could God raise up
a hero out of a family background like this?
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rebekah was fearful for her beloved son Jacob. She knew that Esau was serious so she sent
Jacob to go live with her brother Laban.
Jacob was now on the run. He was
a fugitive. He went to live with his
uncle and that's the last time he ever saw his mother and father again. He would see Esau again but he would never again
see Isaac or Rebekah. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As if it wasn’t already, now the story really gets
strange. Laban had two daughters who
would have been first cousins to Jacob.
Back then that wasn't a big deal.
Their names were Rachel and Leah.
Leah was the firstborn but Rachel was far better looking. According to the Bible Rachel was beautiful
in appearance (her face) and in form (her body). In other words, Rachel, the younger sister,
was drop dead gorgeous. She was a
ten. She was a supermodel before
supermodels came on the scene. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In contrast to Rachel's beauty, the Bible says that Leah had
“<b>weak eyes</b>.” In our culture today it would be like saying,
“Hey, I've got this girl you've got to meet.
She has a very nice personality.”
In other words, in contrast to Rachel, Leah had fallen out of the “ugly
tree” and hit every branch on the way down.
So on one hand you had Rachel who was drop dead gorgeous. On the other side you had weak-eyed Leah.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As you can imagine, Jacob fell madly in love with Rachel and
said to Laban, “I will work for you seven years if I can have Rachel as my wife.” Laban agreed to the terms so for seven years
Jacob worked for Laban and finally the wedding day came. He had been counting down the days for seven
years. And he married one of the
daughters of Laban. In that culture the
bride wore a wedding veil all the way through the consummation of the marriage. When this was complete, Jacob got the shock
of his life. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“It came about in the evening of their wedding that he (Laban) took his
daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob and Jacob went in to her.” (Genesis
29:25)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Laban had pulled the old “switch-a-rooney.” Jacob had not married Rachel. He had married “weak-eyed” Leah. SURPRISE!
He immediately ran out of the tent to Uncle Laban and said, ”What have
you done to me? Was it not for Rachel
that I served you? Why have you deceived
me?” Is that not the pot calling the
kettle black? This was the great
deceiver himself. This was the guy that
deceived his brother out of his birthright and deceived his dad out of the
firstborn blessing and now he was upset because someone had deceived him. There is a verse in scripture that fits this story. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Do not be deceived. God is not
mocked. Whatever a man sows this will he
also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jacob sowed deception and now he reaped it. Laban said, “Well, we have a custom here that
the older daughter has to get married first.”
Now, what does that say about weak-eyed Leah that her dad had to trick
somebody into marrying her? Laban said, “I'll
tell you what, Jacob. If you'll commit
to work for me for another seven years I'll give you Rachel, as well. You can have both my daughters as your wives.” Everyone knows that can’t work but Jacob was
so in love with Rachel that he agreed and Rachel became his wife, as well. Suddenly Jacob was married to two women who
just happen to be sisters. He's married
to the beautiful Rachel and he's married to weak-eyed Leah. And as you might imagine, favoritism again
showed its ugly head.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Jacob loved Rachel more than he loved Leah.” (Genesis 29:30)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I told you earlier that we tend to repeat the mistakes of
our parents. Remember what Jacob's
parents had done to the rivalry he had with his brother? They had poured gasoline on it. How did they do this? They did it by showing favoritism. So what did Jacob now do to the rivalry that
existed between Rachel and Leah? The
very same thing his parents had done. He
showed favoritism which was like throwing gasoline on this horrible fire. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The story now takes another unbelievable dysfunctional
twist. Just when you think the story can't get any weirder, it does. In the culture of that day the greatest
blessing of any man was to have sons.
Daughters were okay but sons were the real deal. The more sons you had the more blessed you
were considered. In the culture of that
day the greatest blessing a wife could bestow upon her husband was to bear him
sons. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God saw that Leah was rejected by Jacob and He had
compassion on Leah. He closed the womb
of Rachel and He opened the womb of Leah.
Leah was now able to do what Rachel could not do. She gave Jacob not one, but four sons - Reuben,
Simeon, Levi and Judah. As a result, Jacob
began to be drawn to Leah because Leah had now given him the greatest blessing
a man could have - sons. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Guess who noticed? Rachel
saw that her sister was starting to get their husband's attention. Rachel knew she couldn’t have kids so she
needed to stop Leah in her tracks. As a
result she went to Jacob and said, “I want you to take my handmaiden, Bilhah. I want you to sleep with her. She will now be your concubine. She will bear you children. The children will come out of her womb but
they'll be my children.” For some odd reason
Jacob thought that was a good idea.
Jacob slept with Bilhah and she gave him two sons, Dan and
Naphtali. So if you're keeping score, it
was now Leah 4 and Rachel 2. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the meantime Leah realized that her womb had now closed
and she couldn’t bear any more children.
She also saw that Rachel was bearing Jacob sons through Bilhah. Leah realized that two could play at that
game so she went to Jacob and said, “Jacob, I want you to take my handmaiden
Zilpah. She'll be your concubine. I want you to sleep with her. She'll bear you sons. The sons will come out of her womb but
they'll belong to me.” Jacob also saw
this as a good idea so he took Zilpah and she bores him two more sons, Gad and
Asher. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Leah had become fertile
again. I don't know if she ate the right
herbs or what but she again became fertile.
She bore Jacob two more sons, Issachar and Zebulun. Again let me ask, “How in the world could God
ever use this family?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, in her old age, God blessed Rachel and she gave
birth to the hero of our story – Joseph!
When she gave birth to Joseph, Jacob was 91 years old. Ultimately, Rachel gave him a second
son. His name was Benjamin. However, in giving birth to Benjamin in her
old age, Rachel died. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“It came about when she was in severe labor that the midwife said to
her, do not fear for now you have another son and it came about as her soul was
departing for she died in childbirth that she named him Ben-Oni but his father
called him Benjamin so Rachel died and was buried.” (Genesis 35:18-19)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Joseph's mom was now gone.
This meant that Joseph was now going to get raised by three women who were
all mothers in some way, shape or form to all of his older brothers. Do you see the family that Joseph is born in
to? Folks, this isn't the Brady
Bunch. This is one messed up family. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you keep reading you will find yet more dysfunction. Leah also gave to Jacob a daughter named
Dina. Dina ended up going into a city
named Shechem and in that city she was raped. Her brothers decided to get revenge so they went
to the city and tricked all the men of the city in to being circumcised. While they were in pain and running fevers
that resulted from their surgical procedure, the sons of Jacob killed all of
them and took all of their money, women and children as their own slaves. How could God ever use this family? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And if that's not bad enough, Reuben, that's Jacob’s
firstborn son of Leah, went in and slept with Bilhah, his father's concubine. The Bible says that Jacob heard of it. But then there's a period. That's part of the problem with this
dysfunctional family. Dad knew all that
was going on but never stepped up to the plate.
Dad never did anything about it. When
his daughter got raped, dad didn't do anything about it. When his firstborn son had an affair with one
of his concubines, dad didn’t do a thing about it. How in the world could God ever use this
family? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But somehow, some way, from this messed up family comes a
man named Joseph. A man who would save
thousands upon thousands of people from starvation and a man who would become,
next to Jesus Christ Himself, the greatest example of the power of forgiveness
in all of the Bible. And believe it or
not, he came out of this highly dysfunctional family. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the day and age in which we live today, all of us can
look back and see dysfunction in our family history, can't we? In fact, many of us today are still living
with the scars of that dysfunction. We
carry it around like a chain and ball wrapped around our ankles. As a result, we are laden with thoughts that tell
us that we can't amount to much. God
could never use me - not with my family history. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I want you to understand that dysfunction does not have to
be permanent. There is a little poem
that says, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Though you can't go back and make a brand new start, my friend, anyone
can start from now and make a brand new end.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can't go back and change the dysfunction of your
past. You can't go back and change your
family history. Joseph could not go back
and change his father Jacob. He could
not go back and change Grandpa Isaac and Grandma Rebekah. He couldn't go back and change his
brothers. But Joseph was able to do something
that none of the others in his family did.
He was able to break the cycle. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He was able to say, “Enough is enough. I will not make the same mistakes that my
dysfunctional family made in the past. I
will break the cycle. I will make a new
future for my children and my grandchildren.”
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>While you can't do much about your ancestors, you can influence your
descendants greatly.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Isn't that good to know?
Folks, listen. I don't know what
kind of background you come from. I
don't know what kind of dysfunction or hurt is in your family history. But I know this. Joseph is living proof that you can break the
cycle of dysfunction through the power of God.
And even though you can do little about your ancestors, you can
influence for the positive your descendants greatly. You can make a difference in the lives of
your kids and your grand kids and your great grand kids. And Joseph is living proof. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It wouldn't be easy for Joseph. We'll see that Joseph's dysfunction will land
him in a pit and though he'll only spend several hours in the pit from there
he'll go to a prison, to a dungeon, where he'll spend years before he's
released and elevated. It wouldn't be an
easy road but Joseph would break the cycle of dysfunction. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So can you!<o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-3503187663618727092013-11-30T15:14:00.001-05:002013-11-30T15:14:43.899-05:00450,000 Pageviews<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">I wish I had the time to blog more regularly as I really enjoy doing so. Right now, however, priorities and time restrictions keep me from giving more of my time to writing. It was exciting, however, to see my "Folks Listen" blog recently surpass <span style="color: red;">450,000</span> pageviews. Thanks to all those who drop by my blog. Lord willing, I will be able to get back to regular blogging in 2014!</span></b></div>
Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18526870.post-91130955981688339412013-11-25T21:02:00.003-05:002013-11-25T21:02:35.739-05:00Bountiful Harvest and Divine Appointments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Few nights of the year can even come close to matching the excitement of the Monday night before Thanksgiving in Gaylord, Michigan. That is Bountiful Harvest delivery night. Bountiful Harvest is a lay led ministry that brings 8 area churches together to make a difference and deliver the love and Gospel of Jesus to hundreds of people in our county. Tonight over 100 vehicles hand delivered full Thanksgiving meals to 670 homes. Each of these homes represents a family that is struggling financially. Along with the full Thanksgiving meal, each family also received the book, "The Purpose of Christmas," written by Rick Warren.<br />
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Our family always looks forward to participating in making these deliveries. As we take the meals into the homes we are assigned, we have the opportunity to meet these precious families and learn a little bit about them. We then ask if we can pray for them. If the are open to that (as was all of the families we delivered to tonight) we ask them if there is anything specific we can pray about for them. Sometimes they have specific things for us to pray about and sometimes they don't. Either way, we are able to stand in their homes and pray for God to reveal His love for them and to bless them. For many, this is most likely the first time that anyone has ever prayed for them in their home.<br />
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<br />
Each Bountiful Harvest I believe that God sets up a Divine Appointment. Tonight was no different. At one of the stops we delivered a meal to a mother who was home by herself. When I asked her how she was doing she hesitantly said, "fine." I responded by saying, "That answer didn't seem real confident." This mother said that they were going through a hard time. She then broke down crying and told our family that her 13-year old daughter had just attempted suicide 2 days ago. We were able to stand with this mother in her kitchen and pray for her teenage daughter and for her as a mom. I was then able to give her one of my cards and tell here that if I as a pastor could help in anyway that she could call me any time. <br />
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We also had another home that was a "cold call." All of the homes that are delivered to get a call in advance to let them know to expect the food delivery. This was a home that they could organizers could not get a hold of. We were so glad we still went to the home. We met a single mom there of 3 beautiful children who were eager to show us their play tattoos they had just put on their arms. The mom then shared with us that she really desires to get her kids into a church that has an active and fun children's program. What a thrill it was to tell her all about our children's ministry at E-Free and invite her and her precious children to join us!<br />
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Those are just 2 stories from 670 deliveries made tonight. How wonderful it is to be part of a church that truly believes in meeting people right where they are and help mover them where God wants them to be!Pastor Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13083240222410408003noreply@blogger.com2