Moses (part 2) - Welcome Baby Moe

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. 

MOSES AND HIS PARENTS

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. 

“Amram married his father's sister Jochebed and she bore him Aaron and Moses.” (Exodus 6:20)

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. 

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.  

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. 

“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.”

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. 

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. 

“The woman conceived and bore a son and when she saw that he was beautiful she decides to hide him for three months.”

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. 

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:

“It was at this time that Moses was born.  And he was lovely in the sight of God.”

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. 

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? 

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. 

“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.”

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. 

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.

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. 

“When she could hide Moses no longer, she got him a wicker basket.” (Exodus 2:3)

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

MOSES AND THE PRINCESS

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. 

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). 

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.

“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)

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. 

“When she opened the basket she saw the child and behold, the boy was crying.”

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. 

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. 

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. 

“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)

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. 

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. 

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. 

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!” 

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. 

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. 

“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.”

 

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. 

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,

“Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians and he was a man of power in words and in deeds.”

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. 

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,

“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.”

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. 

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. 

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.  

Moses (part 1) - Misery Multiplied

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.   

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. 

ISRAEL GOES TO EGYPT

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. 

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.

“Now, these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob. They came each one with his house hold.”

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.   

“All the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were 70 in number but Joseph was already in Egypt.”

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. 

ISRAEL GROWS IN EGYPT

From there we discover is that Israel grows in Egypt.  In verse 6 of Exodus 1, we learn that Joseph dies.

“Joseph died and all his brothers and all that generation.”

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. 

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. 

“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.”

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. 

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.

“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.”

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. 

ISRAEL GROANS IN EGYPT

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. 

“Now a new king, a new Pharaoh, arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.”

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. 

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. 

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,

“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.” 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

“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.’”

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. 

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. 

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

“But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded, but instead, let the boys live.”

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. 

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. 

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,

“Peter and the apostles answered and said, we must obey God rather than man.”

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. 

“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.’”

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. 

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. 

“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?”

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.” 

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.” 

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.” 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.’”

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.” 

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. 

“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.”

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. 

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. 

“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.”

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. 

Keep in mind that back in Genesis 15 God made a promise to Abraham about 450 years before Moses was born.  

“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.”

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.   

A brief glimpse into the private part of my heart

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.

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. 

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. 

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.   

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.

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.

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). 

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Joseph (part 10) - The Power of Integrity

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. 

JACOB IS REASSURED

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. 

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. 

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. 

“I am God, the God of your father.  Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt.” (Genesis 46:3-4)

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,

“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.”

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. 

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.” 

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. 

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. 

JACOB IS REUNITED

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,

“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.”

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. 

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.

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. 

“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.”

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. 

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.

JACOB RELOCATED

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.” 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

“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)

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. 

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. 

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. 

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? 

“Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.”

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

“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.’”

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. 

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.

“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)

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.

Joseph (part 9) - The Power of Reconciliation

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.

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. 

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.

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.    

“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.”

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.   

“I am Joseph.”

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. 

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. 

RECONCILIATION RESTORES INTIMACY

“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)

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. 

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. 

RECONCILIATION REMOVES GUILT

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. 

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? 

RECONCILIATION REVEALS PURPOSE

“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)

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. 

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. 

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! 

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. 

RECONCILIATION RENEWS HOPE

“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)

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.”

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. 

When reconciliation takes place, comfort happens.  First, comfort was brought to Joseph’s brothers.  The next verse says that,

“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.”

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. 

But this comfort when beyond that.  In verse number 16 there's a different type of comfort. 

“Now, when the news was heard in Pharaoh's house that Joseph's brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.”

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.” 

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. 

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.” 

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,

“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.”

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. 

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. 

Joseph was Jacob's beloved son.  Who was Jesus?  He was God's beloved son. 

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.

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.”

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!”