THE LORD SPOKE (January 19)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Genesis 45-46

Suddenly it all made sense. The probing questions. The special interest in Benjamin. The unusual invitation to a meal at the palace. Why, he’d even been able to understand their private conversations in Hebrew (Gen. 42:23). This was too much to take in. It was almost beyond belief, yet look at all the evidence.

His Hebrew had a funny Egyptian accent after all those years. He certainly looked like an Egyptian. And what about all this opulence - the steward, the slaves, the banquet hall, all the fancy stuff. How could Joseph have come into all this? But how could he know all about Jacob? How could he keep all their names straight and know such details about their lives back in Canaan? And that hug he gave Benjamin - that wasn’t fake.

When Jacob heard he nearly dropped his choppers. His heart skipped several beats but he also became convinced that it really was his long-lost Joseph. Twenty donkeys braying in Egyptian out in the garage were hard to ignore.

But there was one problem. He couldn’t leave the Promised Land without running the risk of stepping outside of God’s will. So God made a special appearance (Gen. 46:1-4), reassuring him of His approval. In fact, God Himself promised to go down to Egypt with him (Gen. 46:4). He also reaffirmed the great Promise that started with Abraham. God even repeated verbatim His promise to Isaac (Gen. 26:24). And, as if that weren’t enough, He reassured Jacob that his own son Joseph would provide for his old age, death, and the return of his body to Canaan (Gen. 46:4).

Yes, it was too much to believe - humanly speaking. Only God could do such a thing. And only God could pull it off with such class. Such style. Such loving-kindness (hesed).

It was one 450-mile long party. Seventy some people rejoicing at God’s goodness every mile of the way. And what a hug awaited him at the other end (Gen. 46:29). Jacob wanted it to last forever - it had to make up for a lot of lost time.


New Testament: Matthew 19

Matthew 19:24-26 - “...I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Let it be categorically said: there is not now and never was a gate in Jerusalem known as “The Eye of the Needle”, through which camels had to duck to get in. Any commentary that tells you differently is making it up. Ask for a map showing where it is, or some historical document that mentions it. Jesus’ whole point was the ridiculousness of thinking a camel could go through the eye of a needle.

If you look at Jesus’ words in Matthew, he says that passing a camel through the eye of a needle is impossible. In the same sense, it is impossible to work your way into heaven by being good or to buy your way into heaven with all your wealth. The rich young man had no doubt tried hard to earn heaven. Jesus never chides him about his failure in keeping any of the commandments. The young man had probably lived a pretty righteous life. But that’s just the problem. Our best is only pretty good. Not good enough!

Jesus quickly found the one thing that the rich young man was holding back. In his case, it was his wealth. What’s yours? If there is anything that you hold back from God, you may be sure that He will find a way to touch you at just that point. Because He gives us everything, He demands everything. If He were anything less than God, it wouldn’t be worth it. We’d be smarter to hang onto some things, to hold back in case of a rainy day, to make sure we have a cushion to fall back onto. But because He is the omnipotent and sovereign Lord of the Universe, He demands and has a right to our all.

Following Him has its rewards. He promises us “pie in the sky by and by”! But is that why we do it? It had better not be. That kind of motivation won’t get you very far. It won’t sustain you when the going gets tough. But it is certainly a promise with meaning for the present. We’re told that Moses “regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward” (Heb. 11:26).

But does He only promise future reward? Absolutely not. Walking with Him brings immediate rewards and satisfaction. “He rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb. 11:6). His promise is straight-forward: “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life” (Mat. 19:29). Some of that may be in this life. Maybe not. Some of it may not be material blessing, but there’s so much more to real life than material things. We should never fear that by giving something to Him, we will somehow come out on the short end. Our heavenly Father is immensely generous and He is the source of “every good and perfect gift” (Jas. 1:17).