Messing up is easy for me

 

Genesis 43:15-25

Have you ever messed up, not just a little mistake, I mean real bad, and it required you to do whatever you could to make things right?  I remember a time, when I was totally misunderstood by the Vice President of Procurement at Exxon; over the Electrical contract that had been rewarded to one of 3M’s many distributors.  He heard, that I had said that they made a big mistake, in choosing that distributor, and shared that information with the distributor, who was at that time one of 3M’s largest.  In truth, I was only trying to understand why Exxon would put their trust in such a bad distributor.  They returned my vote of confidence, by trying to get me fired.  I did what Jacob told his sons to do, I ask for an appointment with the V.P. of Procurement, and I came with hat in hand, and 3M’s largest gift box.  We kept the Exxon account, and that distributor was not able to end my career.

Joseph’s brothers were not looking forward to their return to Egypt anymore than I was looking forward to my humbling visit to the V.P. of Procurement.   But there was no other way, the encounter with the leader who had accused them of being spies, had to take place in order for them to get grain and the return of the older brother Simeon.  What happened was not expected, and caused the brother to fear that they were going to be taken as slaves.  So before entering the house of the ruler, they told the steward of the house about the money they found in each sack, and that they wanted to pay it back, and also pay for the grain they came to take home.   They also wanted the steward to understand that they came with gifts for the man of the house. 

Now let’s look at the response of the steward of Joseph’s house; “He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid.  Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you.  I received your money.”  (Genesis 43:23)  What happened next was the return of Simeon and they were given water to wash their feet and the steward made sure their donkeys had fodder.  It is at this point, they were told that the man who they feared was on his way to the house to have lunch with them and the brother prepared the present for Joseph’s coming.

Can you identify with these brothers?  In my case it looked like a twenty-five year career was over and it took weeks, before I knew for sure if I was going to be sacrificed to appease this large distributor, who was pulling out all the stops to get me fired.  It is in times like this, that many of us turn to prayer, and in my case, my knees had calices.  It is without question, that the brothers of Joseph came to the same conclusion as I had, that God is in charge.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A lesson I learned from my Daughter

Genesis 43:10

The lesson I learned while eating dinner with our four-year-old daughter!  Before telling that story, it might be helpful to give a little background about my early childhood, and how it affected my behavior as a dad.  First, let me state, that we were poor in regards to others we lived around; I sure wish they were using the new word for poor back then, under resourced sounds so much better, and when food was placed on your plate it was eaten.  If dad was at the table and you had a death wish, you would complain about the food.  Let us go back to the lesson Natalie taught her daddy at the age of four.

I began to notice that Natalie always ate first, the things that she did not enjoy and so one evening while eating dinner, I ask this question, “Why are you eating the cabbage first, it is not your favorite, is it?”  Her reply changed my behavior, “I do not like cabbage, but I have to eat it because mother put it on my plate, so I am getting rid of what I do not like, so I can enjoy what I do like.”  What wisdom from a four-year old child, if only her dad had learned that truth, how much better life would have been.  I did what most of us do; I put it off till the last, I looked at it, I thought about it, and when it was hominy, I choked on each bite, as it grew in my mouth, it was the last thing I ate.

Jacob/Israel had done the same thing, he was letting fear control his actions, and it was easier to put off what needed to happen; and that was sending Benjamin with his brother to buy supplies that the family must have, to survive.  It’s crunch time, little food is left, the stock is running out of feed and the ladies are wondering how they can make the food stretch, the servants are complaining and Jacob is putting off making any decision.  Judah finally got the courage to tell his father the following; “If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”  Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds.” 

It is so easy to procrastinate, and especially when it is something, you do not enjoy, add fear to that, and it will freeze your actions, even to the point of harm to yourself or your family.  It happens everyday, in business, in Churches, in Governments, and in the family; if only we can learn the lesson my daughter taught her dad, at the age of four.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Why do we return to Egypt?

 

Genesis 42:29-38

Egypt is often used in the Bible as an analogy, a place people run to, and most of the time it is totally out of the will of God. This time God has arranged Egypt as a shelter for His chosen people.  God has sent Joseph to Egypt to be the provider of shelter and food during a time of famine, like the world had not seen.  God did not send Joseph with great acclaim; Joseph did not come with commendation, but as a slave.  Now that is not the model I’ve learned from Corporate America, if you want a person to end-up running a company or a Nation, you build-up his resume with all kinds of accomplishmen unless you are God.

The brothers return home, and this should have been the best of times, they had food for the family, they were back home, but they were back home without their brother Simeon.  And after telling daddy how bad the man who was over Egypt had treated them; they opened the grain sacks and each one had the money they had paid for the grain in their sacks, and fear came over them. 

Now the conditions that Joseph set for them to return to Egypt for more grain, was totally unacceptable to Jacob/Israel, he was not going to lose another son, no matter what Reuben promised him.  Is it not strange what happens when you are hungry and have no choice left, but to do what you fear, and that is what Jacob/Israel did, he agreed to the terms?

It is important to understand that Jacob tried to get the brothers to return without Benjamin, but Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, “You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you will not send our brother with us, we will not go down and buy you food.”  (Genesis 43:3-4)  It is also important to note that God was keeping His promise to Abraham.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Absurd

Genesis 42:10-24

Have you ever used the absurd to get the truth out of someone?  My mother was good at this; often she used the ridiculous in order to extract the truth.  I remember the time my brother Freddie pushed me off the roof of our house and I landed not on my head and not on my feet, and as I was laying there crying, mother ask, “Bobby, were you trying to fly?”  It took only seconds, for the ridiculous to turn into the truth of what Freddie had done to his sweet, little innocence brother.

Joseph knew that his brothers were not spies, so why did he use this preposterous indictment on his brothers?  He did it for the same reason my mother did, he wanted the truth, he wanted to know how his family was, and especially, how his younger brother Benjamin was doing.  Had they also got rid of Benjamin?  Picking up the story in verse thirteen, “And they said, “We your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.”  Joseph had the information he wanted, and yet he still called them spies, and he locked them up for three days, while he came up with a plan to get food to his father’s family and also to teach his brothers a lesson that would be passed on till this day.

After the three days, Joseph told them that one of them would be confined while the others took food back to the family, but if they returned without the younger brother he would die.  Now all of this time Joseph has used a translator and his brothers had no clue that he could understand what they were saying.  So the brothers agreed to the terms, and then what had been not said for thirteen years came out; “They said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen.  That is why this distress has come upon us.”  And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy?  But you did not listen.  So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.”  Now this was too much for Joseph and he turned away and wept, and when he returned he took Simon from them and bound him before their eyes.

Never has it been more profound, that a man’s ways will find him out, or we will reap what we sow; Joseph’s brother have a long trip home to remember the cries of their seventeen year old brother Joseph, and how jealousy and hate had caused them to plot to kill him, and then to sell him as a slave.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Is it time to bow down?

Genesis 42:1-9

I have never gone to bed hungry and I’m not sure I know anyone who has, unless it was the time I refused to eat what was on my plate, and by my choice, I was ask to leave the table and my stomach was hungry the next morning.  Jacob and his large family and his servants were in need of food, they had not made a crop, nor had any of their neighbors, and the flocks were not going to make it much longer.  Now everyone had heard that Egypt had food and so Jacob called in his sons and sent ten of them off to Egypt to acquire grain and supplies for the livestock and sheep.  “But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.” (Genesis 42:4)

I personally do not mind shopping, but I have no desire to shop on the day after Christmas where the whole world is out looking for sales or returning gifts they do not want; it’s crazy and you will not find me at a mall on those days.   The ten sons of Jacob were standing in line with all their Canaanite neighbors and many others who had come to Egypt looking for food.  I wonder if Joseph came into the minds of these brothers?   Surely, they still thought about the Midianite traders, to whom they had sold that dreamer, the one who said, “My brothers will bow down to me,” it seems as if they were taking him to Egypt. 

It is important to recall that it has been at least thirteen years since his brothers had seen Joseph, and he is now a man and he is dressed like an Egyptian ruler; his brothers would not have recognized him or expected to see him in this setting.  Picking up the story in verse six, “Now Joseph was governor over the land.  He was the one who sold to all the people of the land.  And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.  Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them.  “Where do you come from?” he said.  They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”  And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.  And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them.  And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” (Genesis 42:6-9)

It would have been much better to be at the mall the day after Christmas, than to be these ten brothers standing before Joseph. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The First World Food Bank

Genesis 42:

Have you had the joy of spending time with two and three year old children, aren’t they sweet, until one of them sees something in the hands of the other that he/she wants, and hell on earth breaks out.  Now the good-news is that they grow-up and become civilized; refined, educated, enlightened and polite, in most cases, but many are still driven by that same flesh that desires to want what someone else has.  God calls that greed or coveting and the apostle James has this to say on the subject; “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?  Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?  You desire and do not have, so you murder.  You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” (James 4:1-2)

With that as our backdrop, look at the pickle Joseph is in; he and Egypt have something that everyone in the world wants and must have to live, he has food.  Joseph is not just dealing with the people of Egypt but with a great need for food, from both friends and enemies all over the world.  The national treasure is no longer gold and sliver, it is food, and it is Joseph’s job to make sure that some king, acting like a two or three year old, does not come into the land and take what he wants.  

It could be that all foreigners had to come through Joseph in order to buy the grain they needed so that he could make sure they were not spies, working for one of the neighboring kings.  I’ve come to this assumption, it is as important having a plan on keeping your wealth, as it is to accumulate it. 

So Joseph’s job continues to expand and with it comes greater power, he is not a man you want to be on the wrong side of.  But Joseph has by faith listened to God, it is who is at work, it is all part of His plan to provide and protect Jacob who is now called Israel, and the twelve tribes that will come from him.  And as we move on in the story of Joseph, we will see the hand of God all over the place.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Food Czar of the world

Genesis 41:47-57

Was your mother like mine, was she always telling you to eat the hominy?  I hated hominy!  Your mother may have chosen some other grotesque item like chicken gizzards to use as a teaching tool, or how many children around the world will go to bed hungry, and would love to have anything, even hominy or chicken gizzards?  First and foremost, I knew why we ate hominy and chicken gizzards, they were cheap, hominy was five cents a can and mother could afford that, but not green beans that cost twenty cents a can.  Now mother was not trying to feed the world, her job was to feed five people for One hundred and twenty dollars and that $120.00 covered all the needs of the family for one month and that included, food, school clothes, lunches, electrical and water bills.  We ate a lot of hominy but I could not eat a chicken gizzard!

Mother’s job was just to feed five people and she did a great job with that assignment.   As a child, I learned the story of Joseph, as I’m sure you did, but did not grasp the magnitude of the assignment God had given this thirty-year-old man.  His job was to prepare during the seven plentiful years and they were abundant in production, for seven years of famine, where nothing was produced.  This is what is recorded; “During the seven plentiful years, the earth produced abundantly, and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food from the cities.  He put in every city the food from the fields around it.  And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.” (Genesis 41:47-49)

Long before any man had come up with a national warehousing and distribution system, God had shown it to Joseph.  The bad news is that only Egypt got the news on the famine that was coming, and only Egypt was prepared.   Now Joseph’s job has increased, he is  Food Czar of the world.  Verse 57 states; “Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.”

How different this story would have been if Joseph had not listened and believed God, but the good news is, he did.  You and I also have a story and it is important that we also listen to Joseph’s God and do like Joseph did; first he listened, next he believed and trusted what God was telling him.  Then he put God’s plan for his life into action and that action was a blessing to everyone.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Hope you see what Pilate didnot See

Genesis 41:46-49

One day in prison and the next day you are the “man,” number one in all of Egypt, whatever you say people do, and you’re only thirty years old.  I’ve known a few men who have been given the big promotion and in the recorded history of man, only a few have been exalted like Joseph and only one other who God has exalted more than Joseph.  Joseph came from an affluent family and ends up in a foreign country with no status, no papers, and he was sold to the highest bidder.  It is thirteen years later and he is the leader of Egypt; he has been given a wife and he has had two sons by her.  

After his marriage to Asenath, the daughter of an Egyptian priest, Joseph went through out the land of Egypt doing a survey of its resources and people by regions.  The seven years of prosperity had begun for Egypt and also for Joseph, because his sons were born during these seven years.  His first son was named Manasseh, meaning “Forgetting,” it seems that God has given Joseph the ability to forget and forgive all the years of suffering and rejection and not hold bitterness against his brothers.  The second son was named Ephraim “Doubly Fruitful,” a thankful heart to God who had prospered him in the land where such darkness had surrounded his first thirteen years in Egypt.

The other person I alluded to was announced by the angel Gabriel, he was not forced or stolen from his kingdom, but in agreement with his Father’s will, he came to earth in a most unique manner, the Holy Spirit of God placed the Son of God in a virgin named Mary.  As a baby, both angels and shepherds visited him and soon after wise men came and brought gifts to this newborn king.  He spent thirty-three years on planet earth, the earth he had spoke into being, and He came as a servant and not as a king, and John records Pilate’s questioning Jesus about being the “King of the Jews.”   The following is in John 18:36, “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world.  If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.  But my kingdom is not from the world.”  Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?”  Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king.  For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”   Pilate did not listen!

Pilate is nothing like Pharaoh, Pharaoh could see God was all over Joseph, but this arrogant, prideful governor Pilate was too full of himself to understand that Joseph’s Creator was standing in front of him.  If you are a Pilate and not a Pharaoh, the God of Beginnings has brought you to this site today, so that “Truth” might once more confront you.  I pray you are wiser than Pilate.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Job & Joseph, had the right Attitude

Genesis 41:41-45

In the time of Joseph, a person’s name often had great meaning.  Pharaoh has taken off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck; however, Pharaoh knows his people and if Joseph is to be second in command, he must have a new name, an Egyptian name.  This is what Henry M. Morris states on page 587 in the “Genesis Record”: “Because of Joseph’s alien background, Pharaoh decided to confer, insofar as possible, Egyptian citizenship and social status on Joseph, making it easier for him to be accepted as second ruler by the Egyptian people.  He gave him an Egyptian name, Zaphnath-paaneah, the exact meaning of which is somewhat doubtful.  It has been variously interpreted as “Abundance of Life,” “Savior of the World,” Revealer of Secrets,” “God’s Word Speaking Life,” “Furnisher of Sustenance,” and so on.  This variety of possible names at least indicates that Pharaoh probably conferred a name on him which was expressive of his unique contribution to Egypt at this time in her history.”

Joseph is thirty years old and people all over the land of Egypt are calling him “Savior of the World,” or some other name of great importance and he never forgets that he did not save himself, in fact he understands the “But God” very well.  But God, and God alone rescued him from being killed by his brothers, but God had him sold to Potiphar, the captain of the kings guard, but God allowed him to be put into prison, and but God has now put him over all of Egypt.

Has God put you in a high position?  If so, how are you doing?  Are you a Joseph type, or do you believe the lie, that it was your ability, your skill set and intelligence that brought about your place in life.  If you’re full of self, take this counsel from Job in chapter 42:5-6, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”  Each of us will see the Lord, and it is far better to agree with Job on his testimony while on earth, than at the judgment.

Form the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

From prison to greatness in one day

Genesis 41:37-40

From prison to greatness in one day; how does a young man of thirty handle this kind of acclaim?  This is what happened to Joseph; they removed his prison clothes, they gave him a bath and a shave, and he finds himself in from of the most powerful man in his world.  This Pharaoh has the power to put you back in prison, take your life, or put you over all that he controls, and the only thing he is keeping from you is the throne.  This is what Pharaoh told him; “Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” 

It is a good day in Egypt because the king has an understanding of this truth, “And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God.” (Genesis 41:38)  It is clear to Pharaoh that Joseph has the Spirit of God all over him, by his speech and his actions. Joseph did not have weeks to put together his résumé, his only hope was to trust God to show up and dazzle the king, and folks you and I should learn this important lesson from Joseph.

I ask, how can a young man handle this kind of acclaim, you know his hands were sweating as he came out of the darkness of that hole they called a prison, and entered into the greatness of the Pharaoh.  It seems only natural that he is more than a little blown away by how the Pharaoh believes the interpretation; he did not have time to get on his Mac and do graphs or charts, his only resource was God.

And now he has been placed over the whole works, he is the most important person in Egypt he is Time magazines, Man of the Year.   He wins the Noble Peace Prize and everyone who is anyone wants to know this young man.  How can anyone handle this success?  Joseph never believes the press; he knew who he was and he knew whom his God was, and he put his trust in his God and not in his ability.  Major Thomas may have learned this from observing Joseph’s life; “I can’t, you never said I could, You can and You promised You would.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Joseph the dreamer - God the Interpreter

Genesis 40

Often, when I am reading or studying the Bible, I want to know the rest of the story, and that is so true when it comes to the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker. Why did they get put into prison, did one of them try to poison the king, or did they set a bad table?   We do not know the answer, but we do know that the king was angry with them.

You might ask, was the hand of God all over this?  Was it God’s plan to arrange some jail time for these two officers, so that Joseph could be over them and minister to them, and later interpret their dreams?  This is what we know, both men had a dream and it troubled them because they did not understand the meaning.  They told Joseph about the dreams, and that they had no one who could interpret and Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”  (Genesis 40:8b)

It look’s like Joseph the dreamer has become Joseph the interpreter of dreams, and yet he is clear, it is not him doing the interpretation, but God.  So the cupbearer goes first and tells his dream and Joseph tells him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days.  In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer.”  (Genesis 40:12-13)   The chief baker saw the interpretation was favorable, now this should have been a hint that he might be guilty, and he was.  The interpretation of his dream was in three days the king would also lift his head, not to restore him but to cut it off and hang him from a tree, so others in the kingdom could learn from his mistakes.

These two men were in very high offices, and it is clear that Joseph was put in charge of them to make sure they were treated well while in prison, and this is all that Joseph ask of the cupbearer; “Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house.  For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”  I can just imagine the exchange, the cupbearer is so excited, in just three days he will be back on top, and I can hear him saying, “Joe, my dear friend, you just ask and I will do it for you.”  But words are cheap, and this is the account of what did happen in verse twenty-three, “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Are you in a hurry?

 

Genesis 39:23

Are you in a hurry?  Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why, what is the rush, and am I ready for the position, do I have the tools to carry out the task?  Joseph was seventeen, and he was handsome, he was intelligent, and the boss liked him, he was a young man with a great future.   He was now a slave in Egypt, but God was with him, and he was still on the way to being a great man. (Note: it is important to understand that Egypt always depicts flesh and sin.)  But he’s no longer “the man,” no longer the general manager or CEO of Potiphar’s estate, he has been placed in jail and he is now running the jail, but God is still his God and his blessings are very clear to everyone.

I’ve had the opportunity in my business life to watch a young man who has great skills and when you are blessed with those kinds of gifts, it sometimes is difficult to wait. Often, a person who has the gifts will find himself or herself becoming impatient with the organization and it’s current leadership.  It seems such a waste to not be moving up the ladder of responsibility, but often God, in His wisdom knows you need a little prison time, to grow dependent on the One who has given you the intelligence and the skill set that sets you apart.

Joseph believed himself to be ready at the age of seventeen, but we find that his plans were redesigned and his goals were shattered and it was thirteen years later that he was ready for the job that God had set him aside for, look at (Genesis 41:46.)  If you study the life of King David, the same thing happened to him, and the same could be said about the Lord Himself.

Henry Morris stated it the best on page 568, the fourth paragraph of the Genesis Record; “Joseph was faithful in whatever came to him during those otherwise frustrating thirteen years, and no doubt was diligent in pondering the ways of the Lord, until the time finally arrived when God judged him properly seasoned and ready for the great work he would accomplish for his people and for the world.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Joseph did not have the Prison Blues

Genesis 39:21-23

I’ve never been in prison, but I have been to a prison, to visit a relative and it is a place of confinement, of guards, bars, barbed wire, and gates that have one purpose, to take from you the freedom to do as you please.  You are under someone’s control, and you will abide by his or her rules.  You rise, eat, and sleep when you are told, and the keeper of the prison may be kind or evil.  

Young Joseph has gone from being sold by his brothers to a group of Ishmaelites, who sell him as a slave to Potiphar the Egyptian; who made him manager of his house and all he had, and Potiphar wife cries rape and now Joseph is in prison.  For how long, no one knows, he may just rot in the king’s prison.  Shall we pick-up the story in verse twenty-one; “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.  And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison.  Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.  The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him.  And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.”

If that’s prison, sign me up!  Joseph is being shown the steadfast love of God.  His time with God is so great that Joseph would not have traded places with the king.  Prison with God’s steadfast love being poured out on him, far exceeded anything Joseph could imagine.   From a worldview, young Joseph got the screws put to him, his no good brothers wanted to kill him, but instead sold him as a slave, and his new master Potiphar was so impressed with his slave, that he put him over all that he owned, and now it happens again in prison.  Both Potiphar and the keeper of the prison saw the hand of God all over Joseph, and both put him over what they had control of.

If God is with you, if His steadfast love is all over you, does it matter where you are?  I knew a lady who had cancer, and she said it was the best thing that ever happened to her because God’s steadfast love renewed her everyday.   It rebuilt her family and it renewed her relationship with her husband.  Is it because of our friendship with the world, and the desires of the flesh, that we are not accustomed to seeking the steadfast love of God?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Sin's pleasure are short lived

Genesis 39:6-20

I had some set backs in my life, but I’ve never gone from the head of the heap to prison dungarees.  I’ve also not been called handsome in form and appearance, as young Joseph is in verse six of this chapter.  God is all over Joseph and his master puts him in charge of all he has with one exception, his wife.  It would be easy for a man so young to become prideful and full of himself, but Joseph is a man of integrity.

All was well till the wife of Potiphar began to desire sex with him, and anytime her husband was not home she would come and say, “Lie with me.”  Picking up the story in verse eight, “But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.  He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

Joseph is just a young man, but what understanding he has of who he is, and that sin brings pleasure for only a moment, that a man reaps what he sows, and sex outside of the marriage bed is forbidden by God.  Joseph had a relationship with God, he knew that God was his protector and provider, and he would not let lust destroy the fellowship he knew with God.

Now that only made Potiphar’s wife want him more, and many men have fallen for a woman like Potiphar’s wife.  King Solomon many years later gave this account of such a woman; “Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life.” (Proverbs 6:25-26)

You may ask, how did Joseph’s integrity work for him?  The answer is, it cost him everything and he was put in the king’s prison.  Potiphar’s wife grabbed his garment on a day when he was in the house working and all the other men were somewhere else; in his haste to get out of there, he left his outer garment and she claimed rape.  It must have been a low moment for Joseph, but he is still in fellowship with his God.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Joseph trusted God to do it all for him

Genesis 39:1-6

I wonder how often dreams die early deaths, and most of the time it happens when all the voices are saying, no way.  It may be the lack of money, and often it is the lack of a plan, and it is imperative to believe in the dream.  But our brothers did not sell us so that they would not have to hear about our dreams; that is where Joseph found himself.

The Scriptures are not clear in this area, but from all outward appearances, it looks as if young Joseph just believed that God was in charge of his life and that he was going to put his trust in him only.  It is clear, though the Bible is silent on Joseph’s attitude that he did not act like a victim.  Can you recall a time when the boss came to you and said, “ It is very clear that God is all over you and because of that one thing, I am putting you in charge of my estate?  That is what happens to Joseph the dreamer, the one who had been sold to the Ishmaelites and they have now sold him to Potiphar who is an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian.

Picking up the story in verse four, “So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.  From the time that he made him overseer of his house and over all that he had the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field.  So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.”

Every Christian should have that testimony with his employer.  God is with you, He desires you to be His ambassadors, to stand out as people who bear His name, people who walk in integrity and who can be trusted to give our best, so talk with God the Father on how to be a man like young Joseph. On a very personal note, looking back on my career, I would lose my testimony of being a person who could be trusted when I got full of self, and when I tried to stand for my rights or the rights of a fellow worker, Joseph let God vindicate him, and so should we.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

She is more righteous than I

 

Genesis 38

Often while reading the Scriptures, a chapter seems to be out of place; we have this great story of Joseph and right in the middle of it, we are interrupted with a new story of Judah and Tamar.  Why is it there, why Judah and not the other brothers, and what are we to glean from this chapter?

We know that Judah is the forth son born to Jacob and Leah, that he played an important role in keeping his brothers from killing Joseph.   Then we have this account of Judah marrying a Canaanite woman name Shua, and he had sons with her, the first being named Er, next came Onan and the third was named Shelah.

It’s like fast-forward, because the next thing we see is Judah finding a wife, named Tamar, for his son Er.  Picking up the story in verse seven, “But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”  So Onan was obedient to his father up to a point, he went in to Tamar as he was instructed to do, but would waste the semen on the ground so as not to give offspring to his brother.  Then in verse ten, “And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also.  Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “ Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows-up” – for he feared that he would die like his brothers.  So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.

Judah has lost two sons to this woman and he is not about to let Shelah go to this woman, so he sends her back to her father’s house and he hopes to be done with her.  Sometime later, Judah’s wife dies and after a time he and a friend went to Timnah to his sheepshearers and Tamar was told that her father-in-law is going to Timnah to shear his sheep.  So Tamar takes off her widow garments and puts on a veil, and goes to the road where Judah and his friend would pass, on the way to Timnah.

Judah thought she was a prostitute, and he asked her how much and she said a young goat, and since he did not have a goat, she ask for some sort of payment until Judah could get a goat.  He said, “What do you want?”  Tamar asked for his signet and cord and staff in his hand, and he agreed.  As soon as he left, she put back on her widows garments and went back home.

He sent his friend back with the goat to pay for the service, and she was nowhere to be found and some three month later, he was told that his daughter-in-law had been immoral, and was pregnant.  In verse twenty-four, “And Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned.”  As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.”  Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.”  And he did not know her again.”

What we think is a suggestion, from God is never a suggestion, and it is always a command. God is very serious about His commands!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A plan to get Joseph to Egypt

 

Genesis 37:25-36

A friend of ours co-authored a book on “Family Secrets,” and how they destroy a family.  It may be a drunk in the family, and that person is the mother and the family endures much pain and is held in bondage to her secret.  It may be a dad who is sexually abusive and the mother kept silent, so that she and her kids are not put out into the street.  It matters not the secret, they cause great harm in a family!

Israel’s sons were not of the same mind, they did not all want to kill Joseph; in fact, the elder Reuben had a plan to not only save his life but to return Joseph to his father.  It seems like Reuben being the oldest, may have also been very busy taking care of the management of his father’s flocks, and the other brothers took advantage of this opportunity.

When you have this many co-conspirators it becomes clear that all of them may not be on the same page, and Judah did not have the stomach to kill his younger brother.  The brothers had just sat down to eat, and Reuben was away from the group; he may have been doing paper work or the new budget, but he was not eating with the group.  The brothers saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, on their way down to Egypt.  Judah, also a son of Leah, came up with a plan; that he would not be part of taking the life of his stepbrother Joseph.  Beginning in verse 26, “Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?  Come let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.”  And his brothers listened to him.”  It is always true that a better plan will win out.

The real plan of the brothers has not changed, they still plan on taking the robe of many colors to dad with blood on it, and they tell him how wild animals have torn Joseph to pieces.  The blood on the robe will not be Joseph’s, but the blood of a goat.  It is important to state that all the brothers became co-conspirators; they all lied to their dad, to cover up what had been done.  And while his father wept for his favorite son Joseph, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt, to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

Often, I miss the real story, the story of how God is at work; it is God who placed these plans in the hearts of both Reuben and Judah, because he had planned to use Joseph for His glory in Egypt.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Do you have a Reuben in your life?

Genesis 37:12-28

Do you have a Reuben in your life?  They may be someone who likes you or they may have distain for you, and even despise you, but are being used by the Lord to rescue you from a person or persons who desire to cause you harm and maybe even death.  Joseph’s brother Reuben was not a fan of his younger brother, and you might say he detested Joseph, yet God put in his heart to be the one who saved him from a sure death, at the hands of his brothers.

Joseph was instructed by Israel to go find his brothers; it seems like Joseph had become the little spy in the family, and dad used him to keep up with his other sons.  So Joseph is looking for his brothers where they had told Israel they would be, and a man found him wandering in the field and asked, “What are you seeking?”  “I am seeking my brothers,” he said.  “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flocks.”  (Genesis 37:15-16)

Joseph was told that they had gone to Dothan and that is where he went, but his brothers saw him first and it does not sound like they were excited to see him.  Verses 18-20, gives this account; “They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him.  They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer.  Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.  Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.”

I’m sure each of these brothers believed that the voice they were hearing was their voice, and their thoughts, but it was the voice of hate, the voice of jealousy, the voice of Satan, and they were going to act on that voice and kill the younger brother, the dreamer.  They would have done so, but the God who had put the dreams in Joseph, was also His protector and provider, and Reuben was the tool He used to rescue Joseph from a sure death.

“Reuben, told them not to “Shed no blood; cast him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him” – that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father.  So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore.”  The robe of many colors was a symbol of a father’s rejection of the older ten brothers, of his love for the tattletale, of his outward reward to the young arrogant brother.  They could remember how different it was for them before Rachel was with child; she was always Jacob’s favorite wife, and how her no good son was the only one that the dad had eyes for. 

If they only understood, but then you and I have the Bible, we have read the stories; we still listen to that voice, the one that tells us to be jealous, the one that tells us it is all right to hate our brother, the one that wants us to destroy those we do not understand, or who disagree with us?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Joseph was not a daydreamer

Genesis 37:5-11

Are you a dreamer, a person who daydreams?  I am, I’ve always been, and often when I was very young, I dreamed that I was a super hero, and frequently I would save someone who was important.  I would dream I was the quarterback of the Roy Miller Buccaneers and win the game in the last seconds.  I was always the hero in my dreams; I was always successful and got the acclaims of the ladies and those who were important.  But I was not like Joseph I never shared my dreams with anyone.

Being the younger brother is always a challenge, and in my case, it was very often your older siblings who wanted you to stay away from them, especially when they had friends over.  They came up with signals and even a strange language, like pig Latin, and when that did not work, they would yell at mother, “Make him leave us alone.”  So I do have some understanding of what Joseph is up against.

One day Joseph had an outlandish dream, and because his brothers did not respect him, and he was daddy’s pet, and a tattletale, he thought, “I will tell my brothers how they will bow down to me, in my dream.”  Sharing the dream was not a wise move, it did not endear him to his brothers, and in fact it made them hate him even more.  This was the dream he shared with them; “He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaves arose and stood upright.  And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.”  His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us?  Or are you indeed to rule over us?”  So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.”

Sometimes, the pet of the father, does not know when he is well off, and it seems as if young Joseph is not going to keep his dreams to himself, once more he tells his brothers and his dad about a new dream that he has had; “Behold, I have dreamed another dream.  Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”  But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed?  Shall I and your mother and brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”  And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.”

Unlike my many fantasies, and daydreams, Joseph dreams were from God, and God was telling him what would happen in the future.  What seemed to be a foolish act of pride was God using it to accomplish his plan.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

An unwise father and his little spy

 

Genesis 37:1-4

Jan and I only have one child, and often young couples that we taught would tell us that we never were parents, because having only one child took little or no skills.  We never had the rivalries of children with each other or for our attention, and often we would agree that the more children the more challenges and also more blessings.

Jacob/Israel has twelve sons and two of them came when he was very old, from Rachel whom he loved.  Joseph is the older of Rachel’s sons and has become the apple of his daddy’s eye.  It has become clear to all the other brothers, that Rachel’s sons are very special to their father, and that Joseph is his favorite.  In fact, Israel made Joseph a special robe of many colors, and in doing so caused a separation between Joseph and his brothers.

At the age of seventeen, Joseph was pasturing the flocks with his brothers.  He was much younger than his brothers the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives.  “And Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.” (Genesis 37:2)  Now that is not the way to win friends and influence people, and it looks to his brothers like Joseph was Israel’s little spy or tattletale; and because of this, they began to hate him.

A wiser father may have handled the problem different, but Israel was more like a grandfather to Joseph than a dad, and yet we must always remember that God had a plan and the actions of Israel and Joseph, with the other brothers, were playing into that plan.  Verse four states; “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.”

Jacob/Israel, did not mean to send this message to his sons, he did not mean to wound Joseph, he did not mean to cause strife and hatred in his family, but he did by his outward expression of love for Joseph.  If only Israel had been able to have read Dr. James Dobson’s book on raising boys.  There may be many regrets, but the good news is today we have many authors, many books and even classes on how to manage a family, and it is a wise man that takes council from God’s word and these many resources.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

To Prosperous

Genesis 36:6-9

It is clear that God had blessed both of the twins and now they are too prosperous to live in the same area.  Both have large flocks, many servants and God in his wisdom has arranged that through prosperity and not hatred the brothers would go different pathways.  Esau and his family could not be part of the plans God had for Israel, “Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan.  He went into a land away from his brother Jacob.” (Genesis 36:6)

Our Creator and our God said this to Rebekah before they were born, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23)  And you may have forgotten why Rebekah was having this conversation with the Lord, the answer is found in verse 22; “The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?”   These brothers did not begin the war after they were born; it had begun in the womb.

Esau was the first-born and entitled to inherit three quarters of Isaac’s wealth and the blessing, but he sold his birthright to his younger brother for some stew.  The Lord had looked down in time, before it had happened, and saw that Esau was not a man of integrity or of faith and that the younger bother was.  God arranged the reunion of these brothers and God prospered them to the point that they would have to go separate ways.

The descendants of Esau and Israel led different paths, with Edom settling east of modern day Israel forming tribal chiefs, while Jacob traveled west of the Dead Sea and north along the Jordan river in accordance with the lands that were granted by God to the people of Israel, his inheritance. 

In my 67 years of living on planet earth, it has become clear that often I misunderstand the ways of God, but that does not give me license to not follow his Commandments.  It is a wise person who studies Esau and Jacob’s lives to see the heart of God.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A season of Sadness

Genesis 35:16-29

A season of sadness is being encountered by Israel, and at the same time a son is born to him.  Rachel, his beloved wife, the one who had stolen his heart so many years ago, as she brought her fathers sheep to be watered.  Rachel was having her second son, it should be a time of feasting and joy, but it’s a time of tribulation; Rachel has gone into hard labor and as she was dying she gave birth to a son that she named Benoni.  Rachel has been praying for a second son for some fifteen years, it was Jacob/Israel’s twelfth and final son and yet Rachel knew that giving birth to him had cost her life, so she named him Benoni, “Son of Sorrow” but Israel changed his name.

Israel is about 105 at this time and his wisdom comes forth in the renaming of his last son.  There is no doubt that Israel is in great pain and suffering in the lost of his soul mate but he does not want his last son tagged with that name and the burden that would come with it, so he calls him, Benjamin, meaning “Son of the Right Hand.”

During the time of sadness, Reuben the oldest of Israel’s twelve sons had an affair with Bilhah, one of Israel’s wives, the mother of his younger step-brothers Dan and Naphtali.   When Jacob/Israel learned of the affair, he more than likely put a stop to it, but the Scripture does not tell us of any punitive actions against either party.  However, in all things we reap what we sow and later Reuben will lose his birthright because Jacob/Israel never forgot and could not excuse such actions. (Genesis 49:3-4)

In this season of sorrow the last thing that happened was the death of Isaac at the age of 180 years.  The good news is that both brothers were still in fellowship and together they buried their father.  When the Bible states that he was gathered to his people, it is telling us that he was buried in the cave that Abraham purchased in Mamre; where Abraham, Sarah and Rebekah were buried.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Clear Title

Genesis 35:9-15

Jan and I have only owned three homes in our forty-four years of marriage, and each time we acquired one of these homes, we were instructed by the lender to buy “Title Insurance.”  Why does anyone need Title Insurance? Title insurance is protection against loss arising from problems connected to the title to your property.

Before you purchased your home, it may have gone through several ownership changes, and the land on which it stands went through many more. There may be a weak link at any point in that chain that could emerge to cause trouble. For example, someone along the way may have forged a signature in transferring title. Or there may be unpaid real estate taxes or other liens. Title insurance covers the insured party for any claims and legal fees that arise out of such problems. The last thing a person wants when selling or buying is a title that will not standup in a court of law.

In 1948 the state of Israel was reestablished and in November 1947 the United Nations decided on partition of Palestine (Palestine was never a Nation, it was an area where Jews and Arabs lived together) into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an UN-administered Jerusalem. Partition was accepted by Zionist leaders but rejected by Arab leaders leading to the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine. Israel declared independence on the 14^th of May 1948 and neighboring Arab states attacked the next day. Since then, Israel has fought a series of wars with neighboring Arab states, and in consequence, Israel controls territories beyond those delineated in the 1949 Armistice Agreements.  (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia) The writer added the highlighted area.

It sure sounds like Title Insurance would have helped this area of the world and so lets go back to the original owner of the land, our Creator, and observe whom he gave clear title to.  “And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.”  So he called his name Israel.  And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply.  A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.  The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”  Now that is what I call “Title Insurance” not from some governing body but from Creator God.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice