Joseph

Today is our last day in this series.  We will be talking about Joseph.  I'm going to do something a little bit different today.  Rather than telling you what I think about this story, I want you to tell me what sticks out to you.  And then we will wrap things up.


So here are the main points and the chapters where they are found:


1.  Chapter 37 - Joseph's dream and sold into slavery


2.  Chapter 39 - Potiphar's Wife


3.  Chapter 40-41 - Jail and Pharaoh


4.  Chapter 42 - Brothers first journey to Egypt


5.  Chapter 43-45 - Second journey and Joseph reveals himself


6.  Chapter 46-50 - Migration, Joseph's shrewdness, and the blessing




So, I would like for you to read through all of it if you have time today.  If not, I challenge you to take a story that you DON'T know as well as others.  Study that and let me know your thoughts below.

Jacob

Yesterday we looked at Isaac, so today we will look at his son - Jacob. 

Remember, Jacob's story can be found in Chapter 25 all the way to the end of the book of Genesis!  As mentioned yesterday, SO much more is covered with Jacob and Joseph than Isaac.

I'm not sure if it was frowned upon by God or not, but Jacob was a trickster from  the moment he was born.  He would rather use his mind than his muscles!  There are several accounts where he tricked people into giving him what he wanted!

In Genesis 25:19 - 34 we see two different stories.  The first is that Jacob and Esau were fighting in the womb - something that would continue throughout their early years!  God speaks to Rebekah and tells her in verse 23 that Esau would serve Jacob (older serving the younger).  This will come into play in Ch 27.

Later on in 25 we see the story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob.  We touched on why that was such a huge deal but I didn't have the time to really develop it.  Here's why it was such a big thing:

The firstborn would get the birthright.  We see in Deuteronomy 21:15-17 they get a double portion of the inheritance!  Money, land, livestock, this was a HUGE deal (especially when there was a lot of siblings!).  So rather than splitting the estate down the middle (in this case) Esau was in line to get 75% and Jacob 25%.

So why would you "trade" something so valuable for a bowl of soup?  The price was so steep, the reward was so small!  Esau lost focus on what was important!  He focused on the "right now" and couldn't see the bigger picture. This is the same for us.  We can lose sight of what's important both spiritually and physically.

Physically, we can look at something that we want to buy.  "I need it now!!!", we say and splurge on that item.  Rather than focusing on our long term financial strength, we buy what makes us happy now.  Then later on, and after thousands of dollars of interest, we are left unhappy.

The same thing happens to us spiritually.  We lose sight of what the bigger picture is so many times.  Rather than making an easy decision, we dwell on a sinful thought.  Or we "trade" our relationship with God in for something earthly.  Then when we are left all alone and hurting, we realize that we made a huge mistake.  Praise God that He doesn't leave us where we lie!  He restores us just like the Prodigal Son!  But it would be better by far if we kept the proper focus and didn't get into those situations!!!

Isaac

Today we will look at Isaac.  As we talked about on Monday night, his story can be found in Genesis 24-26.  Obviously, he is mentioned earlier with the story of Abraham, but this is where we focus on his adult life.

As I was saying on Monday night, not a whole lot is mentioned about Isaac in the Bible.  Proportionately to his father and his son, he is just a blip on the radar.

Take a few minutes right now and read through Genesis 24-26.  Then come back and continue here.  www.youversion.com 

We see in the beginning of chapter 24 the care and concern that Abraham took when sending out his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac.  He has his servant swear an oath.  This is found in verses 1-4.  You probably never thought about what the term "Put your hand under my thigh" means.  It is a very serious, and extremely gross ritual.  I won't explain it here, but if you are truly interested in finding out, we can talk!

The reason for the seriousness of the oath is that Abraham didn't want his son marrying a Canaanite woman.  God had revealed to him that they were the enemy and would be destroyed.  He didn't want his son being tied with them.  This is a great example of purity.  We should follow Abraham's example and strive for this kind of purity.  To not "settle" for whatever comes along, but to hold to God's promises and believe that He will carry them out.

Then in the rest of chapter 24 we see the beautiful story of Abraham's servant finding Rebekah and ultimately bringing her back to Isaac.  This is so foreign to us in our culture!  We ultimately decide who we will marry in America, not so in their time.  So this was really quite normal.

The thing I like about this story is that Abraham's servant prays and asks God for some VERY specific things!  In verses 12-14 he prays for God to give him a sign, and by that he would be able to know that that woman was the right one for Isaac.

In verse 15, I love how it says that before he could get done praying God sends Rebekah to the well!!!  I mean, COME ON!  How awesome is that???  How many times have you been praying for something and it is answered BEFORE YOU GET DONE PRAYING???  This servant must have felt really blessed!  She ends up saying exactly what he was looking for and they then left for home.

This portion of Scripture really brings me back to John 15 (vine and the branches).  I'm sure that at some point in your life you have struggled, or at least wondered what God's will is for your life.  We sometimes pray and ask God for things, and He doesn't answer.  We wonder if we are praying the right prayer, or if we are doing something wrong.  Let's look at why I think this prayer was answered so quickly.

1.  God made a promise to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation.  Well, that won't happen if Isaac isn't married!!!  So God is obviously going to answer this prayer - because it is in line with His promise, and God can't lie (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18)

2.  Abraham was obeying God by not searching after a woman that was ungodly.  Simply put, he was searching after the very woman that God wanted to give to him.  We can claim God's promises, but if we go looking in the wrong places - God will probably not answer that prayer. 

3.  The servant went out and looked for the woman!  He didn't lay on his bed and say, "God please have the perfect woman for Isaac fall out of the sky".  God wants us to obey Him and walk by faith.  Not that we "earn" God's blessings, but if we are earnestly seeking after Him, we will find Him (Hebrews 11:6, Jeremiah 29:13, Psalm 119:2, Psalm 63:1)

Monday Night Recap

Last night we continued our overview of the Bible.  For those of you who weren't able to be there, this will help you stay up to date with what we are discussing.  Take a minute and print off the lesson sheet and look through the powerpoint slide show and fill in the blanks.



                                           


                                                                                

We started off by reviewing the past lesson about the Creation Era.  Then we dove into the Patriarch Era.  Patriarch means "The male head of a family or tribe".  And that is why this Era is called such - it deals with the fathers of both the Israelite nation and our faith.


The first person that we are going to look at is where it all started - Abraham.  His story is told in Genesis 12-23.

We see that in Genesis 11:31-32 that Abram's (yes that was his original name) Dad, Terah decided to move the family from their hometown of Ur to Haran.  As we discussed, Ur was on the Southeast corner of the "Bible Land" just south of where Babylon was.  As it states in Ch 11, their original intent was to go to Canaan (the promised land), but they got as far as Haran and decided to stay there instead.

Then God called him to leave his new found home and to go to the land that He will show him!  Notice that God didn't give him a road map, a GPS coordinate, or even a star to follow!  He just trusted God to lead him to the land that he was supposed to go!!!

What would you do if God called you to do something so major as uprooting your family and heading out to someplace that you didn't even know where???

Later on in Chapter 12 we see that Abram is forced to go to Egypt due to a severe famine in the land.  He comes up with a plan to tell everyone there that Sari is his sister and not his wife.

I find it interesting that people in the Bible would do amazingly hard things, but then at the next opportunity they would become foolish and not trust in God!  This is basically what Abram did!  We can all learn from this as there might be things that are easy for us to follow or accept from God - and then there are other things that might seem extremely hard.  But we need to remember that God is in control and He will watch over ALL the affairs of our lives!

The next couple of chapters deal with Abram's nephew Lot and him splitting up and also some battle scenes!

The next major theme comes in chapter 15.  Here God tells Abram that he is going to have a great family.  In verse 5 God tells him that his offspring will be more numerous than the stars in the sky!  God also predicts the bondage in Egypt and then the eventual takeover of the promised land.

In chapter 16 we see once again where someone who isn't in direct contact with God derails someone who was.  Remember back in the Garden of Eden when Eve listened to Satan and convinced Adam to eat of the fruit?  We have the same circumstance here!  Abram was promised by God to have many descendants, but Sarai wanted kids - NOW!  She came up with the plan to have her servant Hagar bear a son from Abram.  Obviously not God's plan!!!  

But we see that Abram doesn't really object, and goes though with it!  Sarai hates her and the baby and kicks them out.  The lesson we can learn from this is that when we go outside of God's will and plan, He sometimes allows us to do that - but there are consequences!!!  When Hagar bore Ishmael, it began the Arab race.  If you are up on your current events, there has been nothing but fighting between the Jews and Arabs for centuries!!!  But just like David and Bathsheba later on, God still allows His blessing to come to Abram.

Now is where the story gets really interesting!!!  In chapter 17 we see that when Abram is 99 years old, God changes his name.  Abram means "Exalted Father", but Abraham means, "Father of a multitude of nations"!  So God is renewing his contract with Abraham.

There is a little break in the action and we see the story shift back to Lot and his family.  The familiar story of the destruction of the "Twin Cities" (aka Sodom and Gomorrah) can be found in chapter 19

Then in chapter 21 - FINALLY!!! The birth of Isaac!  God kept his promise!  When Abraham was 100 years old he had a son.

Then in one of the most unthinkable things happens!  In chapter 22 we read about the account of how God tested Abraham in the sacrifice of his son.

Think about what Abraham must have been going through!!!  He was old!  He finally had his son to carry on his name!  God had followed through on His promise - only to ask him to KILL HIS OWN SON!!!

But we see in the text that Abraham didn't even think twice about it.  Early the NEXT morning, he set out.  God then showed him the place where he wanted to have the sacrifice.  The neat insight to Abraham's faith is found in verses 7-8 where Isaac asks where the animal is.  Abraham replied that God would provide the sacrifice!

He was walking in blind faith.  He trusted God so much that I fully believe that he had two thoughts going through his mind.  1.  God would provide a lamb for the sacrifice.  2.  That if God didn't provide the animal that he would be able to raise Isaac from the dead.  Abraham went headlong into what God had asked him to do - no turning back.

I ask myself if I would be able to do the same thing with any of my children and I am glad that God hasn't asked me to do that!!!  Because I am not sure if I would be able to go through with something like that.

Well, the story continues as Abraham binds his son and places him on the alter.  He raises the knife and starts to plunge it into his son when an angel stops him!  Not only that, but all of a sudden there is a ram caught in some brush right next to him!

This is an excellent example of how God provides for us.  An animal that didn't do anything wrong took the place of Isaac.  Just as Jesus took our place on the cross.