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).

THE LORD SPOKE (January 17)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Genesis 41-42

The last time he saw those ten faces, he was looking up from a pit. Yet “as soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them” (Gen. 42:7).

What unfolds is déjà vu for Joseph. Just as he’d dreamed those many years before, here were his brothers bowing before him. Naturally, he was anxious to find out about his father and his little brother, Ben. Unwittingly, the brothers spill out just the information he wants to hear. Now... how to organize the reunion?

In the process Joseph learned some things, like the brothers’ remorse over what they’d done to him, like Reuben’s feeble attempt to save him, like his father’s fragile health. He still had some lessons to learn from God through this experience too. But what’s so gratifying in the text is the change in the brothers’ attitudes.

When struck with apparent calamity, they ask, “What is this that God has done to us?” (Gen. 42:28). At last, they have come to the point of recognizing God’s hand in their lives and seeking His direction instead of plowing through without Him. Enough of their own determination. Isn’t it time we seek His face?

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.

Adelaide A. Pollard


New Testament: Matthew 17

Where and when did it happen? The traditional site of the Mount of Transfiguration is Mt. Tabor on the north edge of the Jezreel Valley, near Nazareth. But that mountain had a large Roman fort on top during the first century. It’s possible that Jesus was transfigured in the middle of a Roman fort but not very likely. Matthew appears to place the event in the region of Caesarea Philippi (see Mat. 16:13) and a much more likely candidate is Mt. Hermon or one of its lower slopes. It is identified as “a high mountain” (17:1) and the brightness (“shone like the sun”, “white as light”) seems to fit Hermon’s snow-covered peaks.

Peter’s desire to put up three shelters (huts, tabernacles?) may be a hint as to the time of year. The Feast of Tabernacles is called Sukkot in Hebrew, which word means “shelters” or “huts”. It falls in September/October and commemorates the passage of the Israelites through the wilderness. For one week families build huts behind their houses, eating meals and occasionally sleeping inside with their children to tell them the story of the wilderness wanderings and God’s mighty provision in bringing them to the Promised Land. Did Peter want to detain Moses and Elijah for awhile in his sukkah? Wouldn’t they have had some magnificent stories to share in the huts?

Moses and Elijah are there to represent “The Law” and “The Prophets”. In other words, all of Scripture was there to support the testimony about the Christ. Jesus was the final objective of the Law (= the “schoolmaster to bring us to Christ”) and the fulfillment of all the messianic prophecies. How fitting that these two Old Testament characters should be present to give testimony to this.

You can hardly blame Peter for piping up and jabbering in his joy at the occasion. But the booming voice of God comes down, as if to say, “Will you just shut up for awhile and listen?!” The words must have stayed ringing in Peter’s ears for some time afterwards: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (17:5). What a fantastic confirmation of Peter’s own confession in the previous chapter!

As always in Scripture upon seeing any manifestation of God, whether angel or otherwise, the reaction of those present was utter fear. The disciples fall on their faces, quaking. Jesus’ comforting words begin with, “Don’t be afraid.” There follows a sensitive “teaching moment”. Don’t you wish you could have been there? Especially for the part where “they saw no one except Jesus” (17:8)?!

THE LORD SPOKE (January 16)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Genesis 38-40

Sterling character. The two words seem to go together - just not very often. Everyone has character. It may range from tarnished to polished. But sterling character speaks of a high standard, something genuine and trustworthy.

Joseph had it. Character is what you are when no one is looking. Character is what you’ll do when you think you can get away with it. Character is what’s really inside you when the surface is scraped away.

Joseph had the external layers scraped away several times. First, his own brothers sold him as a slave to a band of Ishmaelites from Midian on their way to Egypt. Check that out on a map and you’ll wonder what they were doing clear up in central Israel near Dothan. By the time he lands in the house of Potiphar, an important theme is established in the text: “the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master” (Gen. 39:2).

Then there was the affair with Potiphar’s wife. Actually, the non-affair! Joseph’s sterling character was put to the test like never before. A young man, not without hormones, in a remote place where no one would know, with an opportunity like you wouldn’t believe. Joseph’s sterling character landed him in jail and another surface was scraped away. But again, in that raw condition we’re told that “the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden” (Gen. 39:21).

Yet a third time “the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did” (Gen. 39:23). And another surface was scraped away when his prison mate, the royal cupbearer, forgot him and left him moldering in the jail. How many chances are you going to get in prison? This lost opportunity was cause for despair.

But the peacock’s feathers were genuine. Though he’d strutted a little too much in early days, Joseph’s true colors showed and in the following chapters God is going to exalt him to an almost unbelievable level. From disgraced slave in prison to distinguished second-in-command in the palace! And many times over in what follows, Joseph’s sterling character is going to collide with God’s amazing grace.

Make you want to work a little on your own character, doesn’t it?!


New Testament: Matthew 16

“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” So said Peter, and Jesus blessed him saying that these words came by revelation from the Father in heaven. Jewish people then and now don’t come easily to this conclusion. Knowledge of the deity of the Messiah won’t come easily from a quick reading of the Old Testament. That’s why so many Jewish people still don’t see it. Oh, it’s there; it’s just not easy to pick up on if you don’t have eyes to see and a heart to believe. However, it you look to the New Testament quotes and references to messianic passages of the Old Testament, it stands out clearly.

Many are the New Testament references to the deity of the Messiah but few are the Old Testament statements. One is found in Psalm 2. There the reference is to the Lord and “his Anointed One” (Hebrew = mashiah) and he’s called the Son (vs. 7 & 12). Another text is Isaiah 9:6 where the promised child is also called “Mighty God”. One more is in Proverbs 30:4 where we’re told that the Holy One has a son. So, it’s there but it has been conveniently side-stepped for centuries. The fact that Peter saw it clearly came by revelation from the Father.

What follows in Matthew 16 retains great significance for us today. Jesus identifies Peter’s great confession as the rock upon which He will build His church (vs. 17-18). It’s certainly true. Apart from a person recognizing that Jesus is the Son of God, there is no salvation. It is what qualifies Him to be our savior. He said himself, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Peter adds, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

What’s so amazing in the continuation of this chapter is that a very short time later this same Peter is used as a tool of Satan. Having made such a great confession, you’d think he be forever home free. But no! In verse 22 he contradicts the Lord who rebukes him, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (16:23). What a sting that must have left. But Peter didn’t run away. Again in the next chapter, he is the one closest to the Lord, never letting Him out of sight, always wanting to speak to and of Him.

Yes, Peter made lots of mistakes. But he failed falling forward. Even when he fell back, he picked himself up and pushed forward again immediately after. He’s an example to us. Don’t you want to be like that too? “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5-6).